Bab 36: The Beginning
"Sit."
Ale asked the four people in front of him to take a seat.
Since he had quite a bit of explaining to do, and talking to them by looking up constantly hurt his neck, he wanted them to at least take a seat before he started.
But the four of them showed to sign of sitting down. If anything, they lowered their heads even further down as if they were trying to hide from Ale's gaze.
'What the-?'
"Sit down? Hey, c'mon? Am I scolding you or what? Why are you all acting like that?"
"...."
"So you weren't scolding us...?"
Although the other three kept looking down, Xion actually looked up and asked back, getting jabbed by Kevin from the side.
"No I- why would I-? Is that how it looks like?!"
*Nod*
Ale was shocked learning this new side of him. Apparently, he scolded people without even realising it himself.
To him, it just looked like he was sharing his opinion, a little strongly perhaps. But he didn't really have any thoughts on reprimanding them.
"I'm not.. I didn't mean to.. haah.. anyway.. just take a seat please."
He started adding please at the end of his sentence to make it sound more mild. But to the others, the sudden change in his attitude brought even more unease.
The four of them sat down shakily, wondering what Ale was going to do next. Would it be a hour long lecture? Kneeling on their knees? Or maybe some other innovative punishment?
"First, let me do the introductions."
"They are Phil and Gary, my knights, and Kevin, my butler. The three of them are my close friends and aide."
"Nice to meet you!"
Xion responded enthusiastically as Ale introduced his people to him one by one. Since Xion was the outgoing, extrovert type, he was always happy to meet new people.
"And this one... as you can see.. is a demon. His name is Xion."
"N-nice to.. meet you..?"
The three of them looked confused and weirded out, but they still tried their best to keep up a positive attitude.
"He accidentally came into our world, crashed and fell in the middle of the forest."
"Accidentally?"
"Yeah. He was also severely injured. So I gave him a temporary shelter and some food. That's all."
"Oh.. I see."
The three of them responded in sync as they heard Ale's explanation. Helping out someone in pain, that definitely sounded like Ale. There was only the issue of that someone turning out to be a demon.
"I know it doesn't look good. That's why I wanted to keep it a secret from everyone."
"A secret..."
"But is this really alright?"
"Won't you get into a lot of trouble if people found out?"
The three of them were worried about Ale's and the duchy's safety. If news of them sheltering Demons spread out even by mistake, there'd be severe consequence for sure.
"I know... But.. It just felt unfair."
While Xion quietly listened to their conversation, he finally understood what type of risk Ale was taking just by letting him stay there.
It was clear that Ale had many people that he cared about, and people that loved and cared for him as well. To risk all of their safety and reputation just to shelter some demon he met by chance, it made Xion wonder what Ale was thinking.
"Unfair?"
"So what are you going to do next, young master?"
"Is he going to keep staying here?"
Faced with all those important questions, Ale leaned back on the sofa and looked at Xion's direction.
Although that guy often had a careless expression on his face, when it came to matters like this, one could actually see a different kind of expression on his face.
This time, he was clearly uncomfortable and bothered. Although he didn't have a place to stay, he also didn't want to bother his benefactor and risk their safety.
In the end, all he could was wait for Ale to make a decision. On the other hand, the troubled expression on his face looked so out of place and unfamiliar to Ale, that he was actually stunned for a while.
"He can stay, as long as he wants to. It's not a big deal."
"Sorry?"
"But-?"
"Is that really okay?"
"Yeah, I don't want to trouble you guys either, Ale."
All four of them looked surprised by Ale's decision.
Although it was a decision that sounded a lot like Ale, he was also not the type to put his own people in danger. So as much as they wanted to accept Ale's decision, they also couldn't understand some part of it.
As for Xion, since Ale had already been acting distant and told him to leave the mansion multiple times already, he thought it was obvious that Ale would ask him to leave. He didn't expect Ale to say something like that at all.
"What's there to think about? If 'they' come pick a fight with me over something like this, I'll just have to show them who's the boss around here."
Ale spoke those words as he leaned further back into the sofa and looked up. While they all wondered who Ale was talking about, they subconsciously followed his line of sight and saw what Ale was looking at.
"The Royal Family?!"
Ale was looking at the Royal family's symbol that was hanging on the wall right above their duchy's. Although Xion didn't know what these symbols meant, the reaction of the other three made it clear to him what Ale was talking about.
"Young master, are you serious?!"
"Isn't that too reckless even for you?"
"If it's the Royal family, umm.. no, that still.. "
"Ale, what are you talking about? Why would you do something like that for my sake? We barely even know each other."
Xion wondered what was going through the head of this weird human. No matter what type of reason he could think of, it still didn't make sense.
"Let me clarify some things, since it has come to this."
Ale sat up straight and looked them in the eye as he spoke. Just his posture was enough to show them his determination and the severity of the situation.
"First of all, I'm not planning on going to wars with them. If that's what you're imagining."
"I'm not an idiot, although I don't know why I even feel the need to clarify that."
"It's also not solely because of you, Xion. It's more of a personal issue, which you just became a part of."
"And lastly, I won't let anyone under me get hurt because of my careless decisions, never again."
The look in Ale's eyes when he said those last words definitely held more meaning than anyone there could ever imagine.
This was the determination of a person who lost his everything in his last life. Never, in a million years would he let there be a reoccurrence of the past, the future that he saw in his memories. Even if that meant taking on the entire world by himself.
"Also, did you guys forget? It's the Royal Family that needs to bow down to me."
Ale activated a part of his holy light attribute as he said those words with a smirk on his face. In a world that where people believed in gods and deities and worshipped them blindly, someone like Ale, one with such pure holy light would be considered the second coming of the Gods themselves.
"Ack! That hurts!"
Although it was just a portion of Ale's power, it was enough to create a burning sensation all over Xion's body. The funny thing is, Ale wasn't even using the power on Xion, it was just a side effect.
"Ah.. I'm sorry."
Ale stopped using his power and looked at the three in front of him with a confident smile on his face. Now that the three of them remembered where exactly Ale's confidence was coming from, their heart could finally rest in peace.
Of course, part of that peaceful feeling was because of Ale's attribute, light, which put people's mind at ease. But they didn't need to know that.
"Of course.. If it's our young master.."
"Then nothing is impossible."
"Yeah, we just need to follow his instructions and everything will be okay!"
The three of them, with their rejuvenated energy, stood up and nodded their heads in unison.
"Now that that's been cleared, isn't it time you tell me why you all are here?"
Ale came down to the point straight away after he was done explaining things on his part.
"That..ah!"
"We completely forgot!"
"The Duke! He sent us to deliver a message!"
"Father? What's wrong?"
Ale leaned forward as he waited for them to respond.
"That.. He asked me to deliver these words - "You were right. We need to make preparations soon." That's all. I don't know what he meant though."
"Ah.. "
Ale's eyes grew bigger as he realised the meaning behind those words. It was finally starting.
"What's wrong, young master?"
"What did the Duke mean by those words?"
All four of them looked at Ale with curiosity and suspense. The heavy atmosphere that suddenly dawned upon them gave them chills.
"War."
That was all Ale could say. But the weight of that one word brought heavy silence all over the room. It was finally starting. The hellish future that always hunted Ale in his dreams, the nightmare he couldn't escape from, this was going to be the starting point of that story.
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