Buried Past I

The skies darkened and rain began to fall on Kies. He pulled his hood over his head and walked the streets. It started off light and very quickly turned into a downpour. Kies hurried to the place that the thief mentioned. With every hasty step he took, water splashed his shoes and before long, they were soaked. The cloak seemed like it was waterproof but since there were so many holes in it, it wasn't able to block out all the rain.

On the bright side, because of the rain, there was barely anyone outside on the streets anymore. The only ones left were the soldiers and guards who didn't bat an eye when they saw him walk past them. In normal weather, he would've been stopped and questioned about his cloak and face covering, but since it was raining, it wasn't as suspicious to wear something like that.

It took a bit of time for Kies to reach the center kingdom. He found that there were a lot more soldiers and guards patrolling around here than there were in the city. There was at least one soldier every few meters and they circled around the entire moat. Kies didn't know which direction was East and so he walked clockwise until he found a place that resembled what he was looking for.

Rows and rows of gravestones lined across an empty field. Although it was raining terribly hard, there were a few people inside mourning. Attached to each of the gravestones was a picture of the deceased person that the grave belonged to. It was alarming how many of them there were. He still vaguely remembered the battle and recalled seeing soldiers getting killed left and right, but he never thought that it would amount to this many.

"Scary, isn't it?" a soldier appeared at Kies's side and said in a sorrowful voice. "So many people died in this war that could've been avoided. Most of these don't even have a body. The majority of the soldiers whose graves these belong to died on a battlefield nowhere near home. Their bodies were left behind for the crows."

"That's... very unfortunate." To fight and die for your own kingdom and not even being buried back home. It was a terrible thing. But at least gravestones were made for them. Their names and faces will be remembered.

"Well, it could've been worse," the soldier suddenly said. "The king decided to build this place so that no one would be forgotten. If the previous king was still in charge, this wouldn't be here." The soldier sighed after finishing his sentence. "If only he claimed the throne earlier. Then there wouldn't be a need for this place in the first place."

Kies' eyes suddenly lit up as he realized where he could get information about the current king. There were soldiers and knights everywhere. All he needed to do was ask one of them. With this realization, Kies asked the soldier, "What kind of person is the new king?" He asked in a monotone voice so that it didn't sound strange or suspicious.

"You haven't heard about him yet?" the soldier asked him, a little confused as to how Kies didn't know about him.

"I only know that his name is Lentis and that he is fair unlike the last king," Kies explained to the soldier. The second part was just a guess and he didn't know if Lentis was actually like that, but seeing how he changed a bunch of laws, chased out the nobles, and even built this graveyard for the soldiers who perished, he was certain that Lentis was at least somewhat like that.

"Hmm... Well, now that I think about it, I don't really know that much about him either. He is really only well known among the knights. Outside of that, the only other group that knows him would be the normal soldiers. But even we barely know anything about him," the soldier said. He saw that Kies wasn't satisfied with that answer and told him, "All I know is that he is quite young and that he is a natural-born leader. That's it."

"Oh, I see." The soldier said that Lentis was only well known inside the knights' group which meant that he was probably one. If Kies wants to get more information about him, he'll have to find a knight and ask them about him.

Kies thanked the soldier and was about to head off in search of his own gravestone but stopped and asked the soldier, "Sorry, but can I ask one last thing?"

"Of course."

"Have you seen a gravestone with a picture of someone who has the same color eyes as me?"

"Gray?" The soldier looked at his eyes, only noticing what an unusual color it was just now. "Gray... Isn't that the color of wind mages?"

"Yes."

"Oh, you're a mage!?" the soldier exclaimed. He had no idea that he had been talking to a mage the entire time and quickly bowed.

"Um... I'm not actually a mage. A lot of people confuse me for one because of my eye color. I'm just a normal person," Kies quickly lied to the soldier. His voice had attracted the attention of some of the people visiting and he didn't want that. Also, it was better if he didn't know that Kies could use magic since it would make things difficult for him. Most magic-users were also nobles and after what just happened, that was the last thing he wanted to be thought of as.

The soldier raised his head and looked at Kies with a face that asked, "Are you serious?" Being born with eyes associated with magic and not being able to use magic was rarer than being able to use magic alone. In comparison, being born with the ability to use magic and the eye color that didn't correspond with the type of magic that one used was more common. "Really?" he asked Kies, still unsure about what he told him.

"Yes."

"Ah. Yeah, that makes more sense actually. If you could use magic then you're probably a noble and the king got rid of almost all of them. All the ones that are still alive are known by the public. If you are one, then I would have recognized you from your eye color immediately." The soldier laughed by himself for a short while before he awkwardly stopped.

"Anyway, back to your question." The soldier scratched his head. His hair was wet from the rain and his armor was soaked. It looked very uncomfortable and Kies guessed that it really sucked for the soldiers who were out here doing their job even when the weather was like this. "I haven't seen anyone like that. I mean, I may have, but I might've forgotten if I did."

"Oh. That's a pity. I'll have to look through all of these then."

"Are you sure? Why not come back tomorrow, or maybe later when the weather clears up?" the soldier suggested. It was better to wait for the storm to end before searching.

"I'm short on time," Kies told the soldier. "I have to find it today." He needed to report back to Ammine and Falte no later than tonight. He couldn't tell what time it was because the clouds were blotting the sun, but it was probably almost night now considering how low the sun was when he exited the sewers.

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