Chains of Sorrow and Remorse

…

Somewhere on the open field north of Napre,

Two men wearing the insignia of Dragonia race walk unburdened on the seamless meadow. "Quite a chaos out there, won't you agree... Zeugen?" the black-haired man asked.

"Ja!" Zeugen agreed, "They wert able to dispatch the 'demon' bravely," said Zeugen. The black-haired man sighs disappointedly, "Hmph, our hunt was taken by them, which made our arrival here at Napre Region useless."

"Herr Eiskopf—

—Eiskoff?" Zeugen's colleague cut his words and stopped walking immediately. "Ayyup, it means 'Ice Head' if thy wondering..." Zeugen replied jokingly with a smile.

"Hmph. How foolish."

"Ayayayay! fein! fein! Ich shalt not repeat it again... for now. Gut? Herr Taizun?"

"For now? You'll repeat it again sometime later. Sigh… whatever,"

Both of them continued walking down the long path in the massive plains.

Taizun 'Zamoro' Xureito. Also known as Sir Taizun by the Imperial officials, he is a Dragonian with short and sharp hair who wears silver armor covered by his dark-blue cape.

Taizun swiped his hair upwards in resentment. He is cranky that his mission was finished before he and Zeugen ever reach the intended destination. "Still… we can only leave now…" he said in disappointment. "Mah… don't worry, Herr Taizun, I believeth zat our Prinz shalt relay orders soon."

Taizun suddenly received a contact spell. "Oh, hold on a sec, Zeugen."

"Ja, ja… take thy time,"

Just a few seconds into receiving the call, Taizun calls his colleague, "Oi, Zeugen. It's the emperor. Come near." "See, vat I told thee? Hee-hee, Herr Prinz shalt summon us soon—

"—Stop fooling around and come here, you weirdo,"

The two connected themselves to their superior and began their discussion.

…

A few minutes later, the emperor disconnected the call with the two Dragonians. Taizun and Zeugen have been given a new mission.

"…it seems our presence here wasn't really useless. Let's go, Zeugen!"

"Ja—oh, wait, where shalt we go?"

"To Spectral Forest we go."

The two then headed off directly to the large forest, their next intended mission location.

…

…

Napre Kingdom was on the verge of defeat, but with the brave knights from both regulars and vanguards, they managed to emerge victoriously in the end. Their kingdom's demise was averted. They weren't alone, though. With the help from Areda Island's visiting troops, their will to protect their hometown rose immensely.

…their victory, however, was also contributed by their oppressor, the Sacranopolis Empire. If the Imperial Army had not retreated via teleportation, the heroes of Napre won't be alive right now.

…

As soon as the field of down force wore off, everyone in the vicinity could hardly get back up due to the deadly gravity magic caused by Mastermind. All of them were badly injured. General Rhun forced himself to get back up even with the injuries he had and the weight of armor he had to lift on his shoulders. Most of his men were knocked out cold, some who still retained consciousness wanted to join their role-general.

Their intention… is to declare their victory. General Rhun grabbed a flare gun from his waist holster. The gun looked bent, but he believes it'll still work. He aimed it up high and fires it…

*BANG!

…the flare bullet successfully launched. "The battle… is over… for now," he said quietly. Moments later, he collapses on the ground and lost consciousness.

It doesn't take long for the medics and rescue forces to recover them. Hours later, many of killed soldiers were gathered and laid down on the streets. All injured people were saved and get treated.

Marco retained consciousness and is currently sitting on the health care sheet on the ground beside his buddy, Scias, who also remained conscious after the magic attack. Marco appeared silent, he overthought about Mastermind.

"…"

"Marco…" Scias called, "Forgive me. I was ill-tempered back then… I couldn't hold myself…"

Marco looked at his friend and slightly smiled, "It's okay, man. You're a former knight, after all."

Scias pauses for a moment and looked down to the soil, "…I see…" Even being forgiven, he still remembers the demon general's words:

"You… don't want to lose them… right?"

Once again it triggered his memories of his bleak past, one that he wanted to forget forever. Deep inside him, he knew that he couldn't forget it. The flow keeps on reminding him whenever he was faced with a deathly situations and he's in there with his comrades.

"Sara…" he quietly spoke to himself. He suddenly remembered someone, "Sara... Sara!" Scias realized he forgot about the innkeeper girl. He stands up and heads to go to castle fort, "Marco, if you'll excuse me, Imma go to—"

"Whoa-ho-hoho, hold it right there, big guy," Marco stopped him from going. Scias looked at him and asks, "What?"

"Here, catch!" Marco throws the card Ghosty gave to him previously. Scias catches it in quick reflex and realizes the card, "Marco…" He frowned, "What's the meaning of this… this is from that weird creature ain't it not?!" he yelled exaggeratingly.

"Aww, don't be panicking, now, man," said Marco with a smirk while waving his hand. "If what Ghosty said was true, that card will let you in the castle fort."

"Huh? That's too suspicious. H-How can a card made access p-possible?"

"Meheheh, I dunno. Ghosty gave this 'trust-me-dude' attitude, so I 'think' you can get in."

"I see…" Scias turns around and walks away. But he suddenly stops and turns at Marco again, "Oi, what if it doesn't work?"

"Who knows? Hehe. Worst thing might happen that you could get caught." Marco said jokingly. "You want me to get caught?!" Scias asked out loud, his lip twitches as he spoke. "Ahahahaha, of course not, silly ol' Scias, don't worry, I guarantee it'll work," said Marco convincingly.

Scias seems reassured, but when he walks away he says, "If I get caught, I'll rush here to pull you with me." Marco looked at him even after he's quite far. "Hmhmmm…" he felt shivering in his body. He then gets up to check on Nina and Aily.

"Oh, hi, Marco, how are you feeling?" Nina asked kindly. "Ah, quite good, I am!" said Marco flamboyantly. "What about you?" he turned asking. "I'm fine. With my healing magic, I can revert the damages given, you know?"

"…oh. Right. What about Aily?"

"She's still unconscious… sadly. I saw her landed her head first when we were forced to hug the earth."

"Can't you recover her?"

"I did heal her. But… healing magic doesn't have any spells that can recover unconscious people, unfortunately…"

"Oh… I'm so sorry, Nina."

Nina looked at Marco and showed a sincere smile, "It's okay. As long as she lives, I will make sure I treat her well. She is my sister, after all."

…

..

.

On the way while running, Scias felt curious. Why would a pass card is required to enter the castle fort, especially in this particular situation?

He finally reached the gate to the castle. However, two regulars blocked him from going through. "Oh-dudududup-" said one of the soldiers stopping Scias, "Who do you think you are to break in like that, ah?" one of them asked arrogantly. "You got a pass?" he then asked.

"Huh?" Scias got both confused and slightly angered. He can't believe in this situation they're still requiring card passages to enter. The regulars who guarded the gates acted so arrogantly to the point he wanted to smash their faces. But he held his ground. He doesn't want to start a conflict.

"You mean…" he picked the item that Marco gave him earlier. He took it out from his pocket and inspected it. It says 'Napre Kingdom - Castle Fort Pass'. "…This?" he showed to the annoying guardsmen.

The regulars inspected thoroughly. Suddenly, their attitude changed drastically. "Ah…ahahaha… thousands of pardons, milord, we d-d-didn't mean to act in such way…"

"Sigh… that's enough. Give me back the card."

"Y-Yes, milord,"

Scias got the card back and he put it back in his robe pocket and headed in. Scias might look assuming but he was actually really confused. "Why the hell those guards treated me differently before and after I gave this 'astral' card…?" Scias checks the card again. He then flips the card, "Huh? T-The heck's this..." he checked a line with an odd font on the card.

It says... "High Commander"

"Eh?" he got EVEN more confused. "High Commander…? Who could the High Commander be?"

"…no wonder those foolish guards changed attitude towards me. Hmph."

. . . . . .

It doesn't take a long time for Scias and Sara to meet again. Scias met Sara sitting beneath an oak tree. "Sara!" he called out.

"Sir Scias...?" she turned at him, "Sir Scias... it is you! *sob* Sir Scias...!" She stood up and hugged Scias tightly. "Thank god you're alive... *sob*..."

Sara showed affection and cared much towards Scias. He replies by giving a soothing welcome back, "Yeah… I'm happy that you're alive, too…"

…

Although only a few days they met, the two had gone into a kind relationship. Silently, quietly, no one can hear him cry. However, his eyes weren't made to hide his very true feelings. Slowly, his eyes shaken, he hugged her even tighter. "…thank goodness… you're alive…!"

Deep inside Scias' heart… he finally realized that he was trying to heal himself from the deep scar he had in the past. The girl in front of him looked very much like someone. Someone… who was the dearest person he had in the past. He wanted to believe that the girl in front of him right now is a reincarnation of that very person.

But in the end…

"Eh, S-Sir Scias…?" Sara was held back a little. "I'm so sorry," Scias said.

Hardly, heavily-hearted, and painfully… he must let go of his past. He must fully realize that. He was making the girl in front of him… as a loss reliever. Nothing more than that.

"I… couldn't stay within your side anymore longer…"

..

…he didn't come to journey along with Marco to stop here. He hated himself for being miserable. He hated Napre Kingdom for reminding him of his dark past. He wondered… when he will be released from the chains that wavers his resolve.

That's right… the chains of sorrow and remorse.