章 10: One of Them and One of Us
The woman in front of him was the same species as the bastard who killed his parents.
Naturally, Wilbert knew that they were different people, but that did not make it any easier when the memories of someone who looked like this woman standing over his parent's warm corpses surfaced in his mind.
Although he wanted to accept the staff and just move along, he simply could not move. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth to stop himself from saying something that he might later regret.
After a minute of silence, and despite Bairn's urging, Wilbert did not move. The cyrmex noticed the twisted expression on the boy's face.
"Wilbert, is it? Is there something the matter?"
"I…" After beginning to speak, Wilbert clamped his mouth shut. Honestly, he just did not know what he would say and did not want to get into trouble with this high ranking officials.
Noticing his reaction, the female cyrmex smiled. "Feel free to say what you want to say. We won't hold it against you."
Abel and Bairn quickly agreed with her, so Wilbert slowly replied in a dark, rage-filled tone, "One of your people killed my family, my entire village."
"I see." The woman did not seem offended by what he said. "Judging from your reaction, that should've happened fairly recently. I will not apologise on behalf of someone I've never met or for something I have not done, but as one of the soldiers who should have protected you, I, Geada, do apologise."
After saying that, Geada lowered her head toward Wilbert.
Seeing that someone so high up was lowering their head to him, Wilbert became flustered. "There's no need. It's not your fault but the fault of the man who did this."
An embarrassed expression appeared on Wilbert's face. "I know it's not your fault, and my reaction was very childish, but as you said… it happened just yesterday."
'Yesterday…' As Wilbert said that, he realised just how much had happened in one day. 'They say time flies when you're having fun, but I wouldn't call this fun…'
"I'm sorry for your loss." The three officers expressed their condolences before Bairn asked, "What do you plan to do, seek revenge? I should warn you, cyrmexes are naturally adept at magic, and their tough exterior makes them formidable warriors. I won't try to stop you from seeking revenge, but you should hear the risks beforehand."
Wilbert smiled in appreciation. "Thank you, but I know the gap between me and that man better than anyone. Today is the first time that I've touched a real sword, and that man was clearly an experienced slaughterer."
At which point, he turned to look at Geada. "Where do cyrmexes come from? I think I should at least have somewhere to aim for."
"Hmm." The cyrmex touched her chin. The cold metal touching the soft, warm flesh would have frozen anyone else, but such a sensation did not seem to affect her, "Like most races in the world, we are spread everywhere. However, if I had to name a place that has a high cyrmex concentration, it would be the Frost Gale Republic in the north due to the naturally cool weather."
Nodding, Wilbert replied, "The Frost Gale Republic… Thank you, That's very helpful."
"No problem. Now then, will you give the basic mage training a go?"
…
Half an hour later, Wilbert left the training grounds under the impressed gazes of the three instructors and with three more skills under his belt.
[Wind Barrier], [Wind Cutter], and [Basic Thwack]—two spells of the lowest tier and a staff attack. However, that was not to say that wind was the lowest tier element. The reason all the spells were wind was because the training staff was a wind staff.
After asking Geada several questions, Wilbert had learned that each spell would require runes to cast, and runes were split into various elements. The basic elements were earth, wind, fire, and water. Staffs imbued with the power of an element could negate the need of runes of that element when equipped. Thus, the trainees had no need to waste expensive runes on learning such basic new spells.
As he exited through the gates of the training ground, Wilbert was no longer thinking about the same things as when he had entered. Before, he had been concerned about the terms introduced by the weird boxes, but after, he was thinking about testing his new skills, learning what else the strange interface could do, and how best he should use his skills to slowly torture that cyrmex if he ever saw him again.
…
"Who really was that kid? Why did you personally show him around?"
The captain turned to Abel and replied, "He's both one of us and one of them?"
There was a confused look on Geada's face when he said that. "I don't understand. One of us? One of them? Who exactly?"
With a smile, the captain explained, "As you know, I can vaguely detect when a strong adventurer passes, which is why I keep an eye on the crowds when I have time. When I saw that lad, I got that same feeling. But when I spoke to him, it became apparent that he isn't one of them."
"How is he different?" Neither of the vice captains really understood what he had said.
"His mouth moved when he spoke."
"His mouth moved?"
"I don't think I've ever seen someone speak without moving their mouth, except for some performers."
The captain's answer confused his vice captains even more.
"Ah, I suppose you wouldn't have noticed it. Perhaps it's illusion magic, or maybe only some can see it, but those strong ones don't need to move their lips to talk."
Seeing as the two still did not really know what he was talking about, Bairn sighed. "Come with me to the gate. When one of them approaches, I'll point it out to you. If you're able to perceive it will be down to you thought."
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