“Hero Kael, are you really leaving?”
A girl, no older than 7, grabbed Kael’s pants with her little hand and spoke with a pout.
“I need to go.”
Kael nodded lightly as he crouched next to her.
“Can’t you stay for one more day?”
Another boy, again, no older than 8, spoke up as well.
It wasn’t just the two of them. The Hero was surrounded by children of Greyvale Town. Not a single one of them wanted Kael to leave.
Not only had Kael saved their town, during the victory feast party that the Town Head, Elda, arranged yesterday night to celebrate the Hero and express the town’s gratitude, Kael played with the children and danced together with them, instantly getting close to all of them.
“Yes! Please stay for one more day!”
“You can stay with me in my room!”
“No! Stay with me!”
“No! He will stay with me!”
Very quickly, more and more began requesting Kael to stay in the town for another day, and Kael…
He was having a hard time turning them down.
He had noticed this before as well, but he had been particularly weak in front of children. Even back in Estwyn, he had gotten close to Town Head Tobias’s granddaughter, and now this…
“Hero Kael! Please stay for one more day!”
“Yes! Hero Kael! Please stay with us!”
The children spoke together, staring at Kael with hope and expectation shining in their eyes.
“…”
Once again, Kael couldn’t turn them down.
But then,
“Hero Kael cannot stay.”
A voice was heard.
The children turned towards the cloaked woman who had come together with Hero Kael. Once she got their attention, the woman continued.
“There are thousands of children like you that Hero Kael needs to save. If he rests here, more Beasts will destroy more towns.”
“Are there more beasts like those…?”
One of the girls questioned with a nervous look on her face.
“Yes, there are many of them.
But worry not, the Hero will beat them and protect everyone.”
“He will?”
“He will, but you have to let him go.”
Lavinia smiled.
Half of her face was still hidden underneath the cloak she still hadn’t removed, but her gentle voice was more than enough for everyone to be at ease around her.
The children, however, lowered their heads with uncertain looks on their faces. They didn’t want to let Kael go, but they also wanted him to beat those evil beasts…
Then suddenly,
“If you pray for him to Lord Feraos and become good children who listen to their parents, then Lord Feraos will help the Hero, making him even stronger. That way, he can defeat those evil beasts and return to you faster.”
Lavinia suggested, and in an instant, the children’s eyes brightened up.
“Will he really return after defeating them!?”
“Of course, why would he not?”
“Really??”
“Do you promise??”
“I promise.”
“Okay! Then you should go and beat those beasts!”
One of the boys shouted as he clenched his little fists.
Kael smiled at that. He stood up and stared at Lavinia, who simply nodded and backed away. Dealing with the Town Head and other town folks wasn’t much difficult.
Kael quickly said his greetings and left. Lavinia mostly stayed silent, just like she did yesterday night, even during the party. People did try to approach her, but the Princess made it very clear that she didn’t wish to be bothered, so others kept a distance as well.
Kael’s children were similar as well. Other than Imperia, everyone else returned to the Sanctuary. Kael was surrounded by humans, and just the thought of being in the presence of so many humans repulsed them.
Even Imperia didn’t directly interact with any human. She remained in Kael’s pocket, telling Kael what he needed to know.
“You were unexpectedly weak in front of those children.”
After the two of them left the town, Lavinia commented casually as she glanced at Kael. These were one of the rare times when she initiated a conversation herself.
“I couldn’t say no to them.”
Kael answered without thinking.
“You smiled a lot when you were playing with them yesterday. I usually only see you that happy when you are with your Bonds.”
Kael momentarily paused at those words. Then his eyes shined with a strange light, and,
“We saved them.”
He muttered.
“They are just children. They are pure. They have done nothing wrong, yet they were forced to live in fear because corrupted beasts invaded their town. Most of them would have been orphaned if things had gone south. It…
It puts a strange weight on my heart when I think like that.
But when I see them smile and laugh heartily when they are around me, it reassures me.
I haven’t failed them.
I… I did what I was supposed to do as a Hero.
It makes me feel… accomplished.”
Lavinia smiled at Kael’s words.
But the Hero wasn’t done. The smile on his face suddenly faded and was replaced by a heavy look,
“I just…
I just wish we could have saved everyone.”
He muttered as he glanced at Lavinia.
“It feels even worse because I know we could have done that. Igni would have been able to take care of them all. We could have stopped them before they even reached the town. We could have prevented those fifteen deaths as well.”
“…”
Lavinia looked into Kael’s eyes, somewhat taken aback. The burdensome look on Kael’s face… she didn’t like seeing it.
“Thousands of people die every day. You cannot protect everyone, Kael.”
She tried to comfort him in her own way.
“I would still like to save those who I can.
This was something we could have prevented.”
“You would have been overwhelmed.”
“I could have taken care of the Sky Beasts with Cirri, and Igni would have taken care of all Land Beasts from the air. It wouldn’t have been difficult. I also had Vitaria to deal with the troublesome ones, and Imperia would have made sure none escaped.”
‘Your name wouldn’t have been known then.’
Lavinia thought inwardly, but obviously, she couldn’t say anything out loud.
“You cannot solve every problem alone, Kael. You and your Bonds were overwhelmingly stronger this time, but that won’t be the case all the time.
Anything can take you by surprise. A Corrupted Beast can suddenly get much stronger than it should be, the number of Corrupted Beasts might suddenly increase. We are fighting what we do not truly understand. There are too many variables that even Imperia wouldn’t be able to factor in.
It is better for that surprise to harm others than you or your Bonds you love.”
Lavinia answered, and this time, Kael couldn’t come up with a counter.
It was indeed difficult to win against the Princess.