Mirion

We came out onto the plains.

After hours of walking, even though my injury was slowing down our pace, we were still making good progress.

Beautiful golden wheatfields stretched on for miles as we walked past them.

“…Zenzo…” the girl murmured under her breath, “…can you tell me about your past…?”

“…do you really want to know? …I don’t really… want to talk about it…” I answered truthfully.

The girl seemed disappointed, yet understanding.

Her depressed face was too gloomy to refuse…

“Fine, I’ll tell you… let’s take a break…”

And so, during rest, I indulged the girl in some storytelling.

“It was a loud night. The storm was wailing for three days straight, with no end in sight.

“The thundering sky was illuminated by occasional lightning strikes, and the accumulating rainwater flooded the village, all as if the heavens were passing judgement upon it.

“According to grandpa, that's when I was born, bringing with me a stop to the detrimental forecast.

“Saples village, Acolatum... A place surrounded by hilly grasslands with winding roads leading to every household.

“It wasn’t exactly the biggest village, but still big enough to make remembering everyone’s name feel like a hassle…”

Nostalgia washed over me.

The vivid memories were clear but seemed so far away after everything that’s happened, that it was as if they never existed in the first place.

“Everyone knew who grandpa was though, the village’s golden arms... When something broke down, he would be the one you would want fixing it… the only other person who rivaled his reputation was Aunt Rauna, the village healer…”

And so, I continued, telling her about how even though I didn’t have a lot of things others had, I was still happy because grandpa was there with me; how I used to spend time with other kids building something silly; how we practiced sword fighting; and how all of that came to an end.

“Beginner in every element, I was deemed to have been able to wield magic. So when I turned 12 years old, I had to hold an audience with an Oracle.”

“…what… is an Oracle…” the girl asked warily.

I paused, looking at the girl. No wonder she didn’t know. She grew up in a remote village.

But it was too early to explain about the corrupt world we were living in, so I went with a simplification.

“…a person with enough power to ruin your entire life in an instant…” I answered darkly.

…

We resumed walking after I stopped on an unpleasant note.

On our other breaks along the way, I told her about what happened in Neveria and how I was labeled a criminal.

How I fell into Aireven, uninvited, and how everything kept stacking against me to the point where people started thinking I infiltrated the place.

But despite everything I went through there, I reassured her that they were nice people.

“…why did you not stay with them…?” she asked.

I went quiet for a moment, thinking about my spontaneous departure.

“My presence put them in unnecessary danger. If I stayed with them, I wouldn’t be able to protect everyone from…” I thought of the best way to phrase it, “…the people who were after me…”

“…why were people after you…?” she asked, sympathetically.

“…because I was labelled a criminal… and criminals have money on their heads…” I explained reluctantly.

I felt very guilty for having her accompany me, yet keeping her in the dark.

“…I am sorry… for not telling you earlier…” I added.

“…are they the ones… who left the scar…” she asked, taking me aback, “…the one on the stomach…”

“…yes…”

“…”

“…can you teach me magic?” she asked randomly.

After everything I have done, this was the least I could do.

“Okay.”

…

“Aim at that rock in the distance and… uhm… imagine summoning something,” I explained, “…like this” I pointed my finger at it, releasing a bit of compressed air and precisely chipping its top off.

She nodded and outstretched her arm. Closing her eyes, she focused hard, pointing in the rock’s direction.

Within seconds, the rock wasn’t the same as it used to be.

On top of it, a flower emerged out of nowhere.

She looked at me, confusedly.

That made two of us.

We approached the stone to investigate what happened.

It was a beautiful, small, blooming flower, now growing on top of the rock’s surface.

If this is her magic, then it was perfect…

It was better this way…

I should be the one to keep my hands dirty, while she remained pure, and innocent.

“Good job,” I praised the girl.

“But what… element is it?” she asked.

“I don’t know, you might be the only one who wields this kind of magic. I’ve never seen or heard of this type before,” I answered truthfully.

“…can I wield normal elements too? …how do you do it?”

Reluctantly, I went deep in thought.

Did I ever think about the elements when using them?

Not to my knowledge.

They all feel like an extension of my limbs.

I can easily use all of them, at least in small capacity, even if my attachment to that element is weak.

“I think you should be able to feel the elements if you can… but practicing is key,” I added.

…

We walked for miles, and suddenly the girl stopped.

“What’s wrong?” I asked worriedly.

“I feel the water element,” she said abruptly.

“What?” I asked.

Is she imagining it?

“Try concentrating it on your finger.”

She closed her eyes and focused. A blob of water appeared on her fingertip.

“I am doing it!” she said happily, “what now?”

“Try controlling the shape. Make it perfectly round,” I said.

Her happiness put me at ease.

I was worried that she might have been very disappointed but turns out there was nothing to worry about.

“Doing it as you walk is better practice, so if you want—”

“Show me what you can do!” she asked excitedly.

I looked at her unenthusiastically.

I owed her this much at least…

I held out my hand, summoning a large, smooth sphere of water.

“Why is it spinning?” she asked.

I looked at the ball of water I summoned, which was rotating in my palm.

I must have been doing it subconsciously.

“I spin it to maintain its roundness and density. You can do that in multiple ways though, this is just easiest.”

…

From that point onwards, I also taught her some general knowledge, passing down what I learned from grandpa.

“To see if its poisonous, you put the fruit next to a fire,” I showed her, “if the skin shrinks, it’s poisonous. This one is no good.”

“For all of them?” she asked curiously.

“Grandpa said there are edible fruit whose skin shrinks too, but there are no poisonous fruit whose doesn’t.”

I showed her some orientation techniques, basic survival tips, and other things grandpa insisted on me learning when he was alive...

Weeks passed, and we were almost at our destination.

In the meantime, Ayu has gotten much better in everything…

I don’t know how she did it, but she awoke her water element by choice and could now wield it at an intermediate level. If I was to make a guess as to how, I think it could be because of the relationship between her ‘unknown nature-type magic’ and water – which was the basis of all life.

Sadly, I couldn’t practice alongside her because my hands were full compensating for my useless leg. Therefore, I was occasionally practicing rex instead.

I have been debating whether or not I should teach it to Ayu too, but decided to postpone that for now.

She’s been patiently learning all of my teachings on travelling, and we had decided that once we enter Mirion, we will try to enter an Adventurer’s guild.

I remember that grandpa said it should be my last resort, but at this point even adventuring could be potentially problematic with my bounty all over the continent.

Regardless, we were making good pace.

I was enjoying my journey with her.

“Zenzo… do you miss… your friends?” she asked out of nowhere, “the ones from Aireven.”

“Not anymore. But I do wonder how they are doing from time to time,” I answered. “When I was travelling by myself, I used to get lonely. I walked hundreds of miles and the closest people were…”

“Were what?” asked the girl.

“Were… assassins.”

“…sorry…”

“Sometimes I felt like I was even forgetting the language because I wouldn’t speak to anyone for months,” I recalled. “How do you understand me? Which country is your village technically part of?”

“Neither Zetre, nor Ors Juna,” she answered. “Elders always said that our region was sovereign, but I don’t know what that means...”

Sovereign?

In that kind of area?

How?

…whatever…

“It means it’s independent from both,” I answered, “maybe there are some old ties to Acolatum, then.”

Though that possibility didn’t particularly make me happy about that.

We didn’t have any customs like that village back in Acolatum...

While we were strolling through the forest, we smelt smoke from afar.

“Do you smell that?” I asked Ayu.

“Awful smell…” she answered.

A chill went down my spine.

It was coming from the direction of Mirion.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” I said to the girl.

“Why, what happened? Because of the smell?”

I used my rex, spreading my consciousness far and wide.

Suddenly, I was sensing a lot of disappearing life forces around a mile or so away.

“…not good…” I muttered urgently.

“What? …why? …what’s happening?” the girl asked anxiously.

“There’s something wrong with the capital…” I said, concerned from what I saw earlier. “Stay close to me...”

We kept on walking for another hour, eventually reaching the exit.

As we walked out into the clearing, my eyes widened.

…what… the fuck…

Black smoke and ashes were rising high into the sky.

Burning alive, screams echoed throughout the entire city.

Turning around to the dazed girl, my yell faded in the background.

“AYU DON’T LOOK! CLOSE YOUR EYES…”

Out of nowhere, someone appeared behind the girl.

“SUARGHT—”

I swung my arm wildly.

The cloaked assailant was quick enough to avoid a lethal blow, disappearing into the woods without his arm.

My heart racing, I staggered over to Ayu who was immobile from fear.

A child cried from the direction of the ruined city. It was another girl approaching us, running and stumbling to get away to safety.

“…HELP… PLEASE… SOMEONE…” the girl screamed.

At that moment, another person dressed in black found the fleeing child.

Right in front of our eyes, the mage set the innocent girl on fire.

Burning her alive…

“…NO!” Ayu yelled, crying loudly. Eyes quivering, she stumbled to her knees.

Livid with rage and hands shaking, I lifted my injured hand and pointed it at the man. Blowing half of his body to shreds, other mages appeared out of nowhere.

Looking at their partner and confused at who could have possibly killed him – in a civilian area – they arrived at the answer.

Meeting gazes, within seconds, the mages surrounded Ayu and me.

Using rex, I confirmed that it was 12 of them that turned this city into what it is now.

Encircling us, they were out in the open now.

At least I didn’t have to look for every single rat now.

…

That day, the holy capital, Mirion burned to the ground…

Along with it, so did every single inhabitant…