The Path of Ruin

Kael and Manar made their way to the two-story building next to the palace. Soon, they were inside.

What they saw was the kind of sight Kael had been expecting.

This was the building where the palace healers worked. There were beds for many patients, medical supplies, and more. There would normally be few or no one here. But... this time, it was quite full.

As Manar had predicted, a large military unit was injured and it was hard to see an empty bed, at least on the first floor.

Just then, one of the healers scurrying inside saw the pair, and his eyes widened.

"Ah, finally!"

He grabbed the bag from Kael's hand without even asking what it was and rushed into a room without saying anything to the duo.

"What... happened here?"

Manar's question, asked in a low voice to himself, was answered quickly and unexpectedly.

"The Empire... It is coming, that's what happened."

On a bed quite close to the entrance was a soldier who appeared to have lost an arm. His condition was not too bad, except for the missing arm, but he had such an expression on his face... as if he had narrowly escaped death.

Manar squinted his eyes slightly when he saw him, and a look of sadness appeared on his face.

"Gab... were you in the scout troop? Why didn't you tell me?"

Kael waited in the background for the dialog between the two. 'Empire' and 'coming' were important words, after all.

As the eyes of the man whose name, or shortened name, was Gab, fixed on Manar, probably a close friend of his, he continued with an expression as if he was screaming that he was mad.

"Forget about me, Manar... You must escape from here, everyone must get away from this kingdom before it is too late... They... They are coming..."

Manar looked at his friend with an even sadder expression. Then, he sighed.

"Everyone knows the war is coming, Gab, but everyone who can escape is already too late. And-"

Unexpectedly, however, Gab suddenly jumped up from his sickbed and stood over Manar. His face suddenly showed signs of terror.

"No, no! There is no war, Manar! It's not going to happen...! The Empire... the Empire doesn't even take us seriously, it doesn't even need to!"

Manar put a hand on his friend's shoulder. Even though his action was very sudden, it didn't scare him at all.

"Calm down, man, calm down..."

But Gab pushed Manar's hand back over his shoulder.

"No, no you don't understand... It was one person who did this to us, Manar, one person. A unit of almost eighty men was destroyed at the hands of one single human. She didn't kill a single person, she left everyone alive on purpose. She wasn't even sweating when it was all over. Just... just..."

He paused, his eyes widened, as if remembering things he didn't want to remember. As the strength in his legs disappeared, he fell back onto his bed. His unfocused eyes fixed on the ceiling. The corner of his lips curved upwards slightly and he smiled painfully to himself.

"She was laughing... Hahahaha... That woman was just laughing..."

Manar's expression suddenly changed as his friend spoke. He looked around, at the condition of the soldiers. Some of them were indeed badly wounded, but just as he had heard, not a single one had died.

This was... serious. Much more serious than he had thought.

After a while, he turned around. He looked towards Kael, who was quietly watching the whole thing from behind. He then let out a deep sigh.

"Go back to the greenhouse, your work here is done. At least for now..."

Kael nodded meekly. He actually wanted to hear more. What was happening here... was as important to him as it was to everyone else.

If the Empire was really coming for the kingdom, then... everything he thought about the future would change.

Halfway to the greenhouse, he paused, looking up at the huge palace. Somewhere inside, he was sure, the king whose brother he wanted more than anything to kill was comfortably enjoying himself. Now, of course, if the Empire was really at the gates, that comfort must have been translated into endless worry about the impending end.

He thought for a moment.

Actually... if the Emperor killed the king, wouldn't they kill his brother too, to leave no royal family? As long as the king's brother got what he deserved, did it matter who brought about his end? Yes, he wanted revenge, but... it was hard to do. In fact, it was almost impossible. His fate as a slave, the limits of what he could do, were clear.

This time, his eyes left the palace and traveled far away. The walls of the palace largely blocked his view of the outside. Yet the light gray sky was still in front of him.

'Empire, huh...'

He turned again and continued towards the greenhouse. But this time, he was much more thoughtful, his eyes fixed on the ground.

He had heard a few things about the Empire. It had taken over almost the entire continent in just nine years. There were only a few kingdoms left. The kingdom he was now a slave to, the Kingdom of Arcanoa, was one of them.

He didn't know why they had left the kingdom alone until now. Yes, the Kingdom of Arcanoa was not a very big one. It was actually quite small... but its position on the continent was quite important. That's why he had previously thought that the king was on good terms with the emperor and that's why he hadn't attacked yet. But now... that was clearly not the case.

The emperor probably had a reason for ignoring this place, and now that reason was gone.

He took another deep breath.

'If they are really going to end this kingdom... I hope they make sure the king's brother suffers too.'

And so, he reached the greenhouse. He put all his thoughts aside so as not to be distracted in front of Elsin, prepared to go inside... but then paused again at the sound he heard.

His eyes quickly darted to where the sound had come from, the entrance to the palace that was not far from the greenhouse. The huge gates of the palace were creaking open, attracting the attention of almost everyone around.

Kael focused his attention on the gate in the center of the walls. Yes, the greenhouse wasn't too far from the entrance, but it wasn't close either. He had to focus to understand what was happening.

And so, he saw six people entering the palace.

Five of these six were palace soldiers. Two of them were even knights, he could tell by the armor they were wearing. The other three... even if they were not knights, they were relatively strong enough to stand out from the other soldiers. He had even heard that one of them was a knight candidate.

But none of that mattered. Because... these five people had not entered the palace just like that. They surrounded the sixth person who had entered the palace with them, as if to protect him.

As Kael continued to study them, he realized that this thought was wrong. No, these five people were not protecting the person he had taken in between them. They were... they were afraid of that person. They were protecting their surroundings from this person.

Kael couldn't help swallowing. He focused on the person among the five, trying to figure out who it was.

Thanks to the brown robe he wore from head to toe, it was impossible to see his face. But he looked like a skinny man. A lock of blond hair peeked through his hood, the brightest yellow Kael had ever seen.

Nothing more than that could be said about the man. But... As Kael continued to look at this man, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. It was as if there was something, something not right... something that was affecting him. He felt like he was going to lose himself as he looked at this man. But he couldn't take his eyes off him either. It was like he was locked in.

It was like... it was like seeing a beautiful, really beautiful flower.

The soldiers and the robed man moved steadily through the garden towards the palace. Kael could not rest until they were finally out of sight, his eyes following them constantly. Finally, when these six people entered the palace, his eyes widened. He looked around, at the other people. And what he saw... were dozens of people, just like himself, staring at the palace gate, not understanding what was happening.

He was not the only one affected. Everyone in the palace garden was mesmerized by the man from earlier.

"Hey, what are you standing there for? Come in, we have more work to do!"

When he heard Elsin's voice from inside the greenhouse, he swallowed involuntarily, turned to the door, and entered the greenhouse. But his mind could never forget what he saw. Even if he didn't want to be distracted in front of Elsin, there was only one thing on his mind.

'Who was... that man?'

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