章 12: Indecisive
Jay and the other heroes were in the same tent as the three generals, sitting on the round table.
A war council.
Two particular generals were missing.
They were awfully quiet.
No one really knew where to start.
“Gentlemen,” The two-headed general began after dreading the subject for the last twenty minutes or so. “I trust you know that after two hundred years of the demon’s dreadful rule, we have finally achieved freedom just a decade ago.” He looked around the room. Just the heroes, and two other generals, no soldiers… “So, the soldiers are getting restless. We’re so close to wiping them out. To make sure we’re never again enslaved!”
He had two heads; an ogre- almost double the size of a typical human. And both heads spoke while complimenting the other.
“Yes, I understand.” Jay paused. “Many of our soldiers were injured and many have passed away into the afterlife.” His voice gradually rose high as his whole body shivered. “Yes, we far outnumber the enemy. But we have to take into account that we are down to one hundred and fifty thousand men. And they still have those damn serpents!” He slammed his fist on the table, making a hole in it. His teeth rattled.
Jay had a good sense of justice. He practiced martial arts in high school and always stood up for the weak. When he got transported to this world, and found new powers, he thought this was the best opportunity to save lives. To become a hero.
But then he learned, to save lives, he had to take lives. The world wasn’t as simple as just swinging a sword and having your way.
To become a hero- he had to live with the consequences.
Everyone remained quiet, again.
“Yes, that’s where I’d like to propose a plan.” Duran grinned, his feet above the table. He wasn’t in his light armor and nor was he wearing his thick coat. Rather, he was just rocking a Hawaiian shirt, showing off his abs.
“And that is?” The fairy general asked. Her translucent wings twitched ever so slightly as she focused on the young man.
The fairies had a policy to never get tangled into the business of humans. But, as the country just next to the Demon realm- Nasth, they had no choice but to join this war.
Meanwhile the fox general just kept quiet, watching over the whole thing. And he had no plans on talking. His eyes were closed and it was almost as though… he was sleeping?
“So, they summoned a human just like us, right? What’d you say we use that and bring her over?” Duran lowered his feet and for once sat down properly.
“That huh?” The girl in chainmail hummed. Her arm holding her head above the table. Her legs crossed, thigs on full exposure. “Though are we certain they summoned a human?” She crossed her arms, emphasizing her chest slightly.
“Yes, I’m confident.” Duran had seen it himself. A human summoning hundreds of fire arrows. But before he could get near, the spell completed and the barrier blocked his way.
The men in the room often found their eyes locked on to certain parts of her body. And the girl in chainmail only grinned when she saw those stares.
She welcomed them.
“Miss Seine, please show some decency.” Layns said, unable to focus. He didn’t want to talk either. But sitting next to the girl in chainmail, Seine, had quite the effect on him.
His face was constantly flushed and he could feel his own heart rocking past the manufacturing limit quite often.
“Oh dear, didn’t I tell you to call me Sei? You can also just call me Sis, if you want?” She winked, lightly tracing her hand over his hair.
Among the seven heroes, four were teenagers and three were adults. Seine was one of the three adults. When she first came into this world, she didn’t have any clothes on. Some argued, she wasn’t even a hero. After all, all the heroes who came to this world bore at least one or in very rare cases two sacred treasures. Seine, meanwhile, didn’t have anything.
Layns grimaced. He was already having a hard time just being in this room and he had to deal with this too? Why did it have to be her? Why did he have to sit next to her?
Just keeping his eyes closed wasn’t working.
“Eyes on the prize Gentlemen,” Shreya said. “By that are we referencing Ellen’s sacred treasure?”
Shreya was the other adult in the room. Meanwhile, the last adult- lady Susan was left behind in the capital. Susan was the oldest of the bunch but as she wasn’t here, Shreya was the oldest. She was awfully conscious of that and if anyone even mentioned her age-
“Yes.” Duran smiled. “It should work wondrously.”
“But I’m not sure if it’ll work on another hero,” Ellen said, digging her fingers into a lemon pie. She liked sour things.
Ellen, the youngest of the bunch- also the shortest. Her green hair was carefully braided with colorful hairclips, forming an awkward twintails and her dress was specially made by the head tailor of the country. But she often preferred wearing a chubby tracksuit instead.
“Right. But remember it worked on me!” Duran wanted his point to go across.
But Ellen never paid him any attention.
She was young- a middle schooler and she did whatever she pleased whenever she pleased. Apparently, she was from a rich family and her parents had spoiled her a bit too much.
And that mentality didn’t change when she crossed worlds.
“Yes, but that’s because you’re an idiot,” Ellen said, not even glancing at Duran. Her tone, playful.
“The hell you say, brat!” Duran shot up, thunderously approaching her. His shirt rocked with the wind, exposing his bare toned chest.
But Ellen still didn’t bat an eye, instead- “Bind.” The words left her mouth, almost like a command.
“Um guys… let’s not do this…” Layns tried but everyone just ignored him.
Three hot yellow rings bound Duran’s arms, hands, and legs. He fell on the ground, crawling like a worm. “You damn brat!” He fumed. “Cleave!” He tore through the rings: crooks formed on his face and his veins bulged.
Sweats formed and dripped from his body. His glare, very threatening.
“Knock it off you two!” Jay again slammed his fist on the table, this time not quite making a hole. He’d controlled his strength. “Fighting amongst ourselves will get us nowhere. We need to figure out a way to deal with this situation. The demons hold the key for us to go back home. We have to defeat them first to get the key. And to defeat them we have to work together. Besides, if we don’t defeat them, the people won’t be able to rest assured either.”
Duran’s veins hadn’t calmed down and neither did he, but he still took his seat grumpily.
“Now,” Ellen still ate her pie like nothing was wrong with the world. “I’ll give it a shot. But I can’t make promises.”
“We’ll also try to make her understand. If she’s from our world, then she should understand. Let’s hope she’s reasonable,” Layns said.
“Or we could just pour some sense into her.” Seine said, licking her lips.
Layns again closed his eyes and this time he was definitely going to keep them closed.
Seine burst into laughter and soon others also chuckled.
The tension lifted slightly but-
“Yeah, we’re not out of options,” Jay said, forming a fist. “And the serpents weren’t almighty either.” He took a deep breath. “We got this.”
***
The meeting was over but no decision was made.
They had three other meetings such as this but it was always basically the same thing.
They agreed that they had to deal with the demons and perhaps with this new summoned human. They also agreed that perhaps using Ellen’s sacred treasure would be effective. But the chances were slim. After all, Ellen had already used that treasure on every one of the heroes to check its potency and it only worked on Duran and Jay. Her sacred treasure had manifested as a glass chalice. And every time she used it, more and more cracks appeared even if it didn’t work: so, its uses were finite.
Sigh. Shreya sighed. Her hair was again getting on her nerves.
It was maybe close to midnight and yet, she spent her time sitting tight on the chair, head slumped back, looking up.
She and Layns were the only ones here.
“You’re not going to leave?” Shreya asked.
The tent was empty. The heroes and the generals had long left. The two had skipped dinner.
“The moment I leave, those soldiers would surround me and start flattering and asking me about things.” His head was on the table, buried in his arms. “Let’s wait till it’s midnight.”
“It ‘is’ midnight.” Silence ensued… “Isn’t it high time you learn to get used to this? We are in another world you know.”
Layns sighed. He kept quiet for a while. “Think…” He again sighed. “I’ll go on a journey.” He looked at Shreya through his arms. “Since, we are in another world, you know.”
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