Legion of Light (Part 2)

Dad was looking at me intently. "As the hero, I have many responsibilities. And not all of those are related to the Adventurer's Guild. Neither can all of those be fulfilled by me alone. So I have a military force of my own. An army. My personal army, you can say."

My father has a personal army?! How did I not know about this before? Wow.

"That's so cool. Your personal army!" I exclaimed, finally looking up to my father, impressed and awed.

He smiled. "Yes, I guess it is. The name of this personal army of mine is, The Legion of Light. The Legion of Light has served the Everhart family for many years. An army for the Descendants of Light."

I was finally starting to understand. "I am a Descendant of Light."

"Indeed. Which means, one day all of this will be yours. Including the Legion of Light."

Mine? This Legion of Light will be mine? But I am still scared. I don't know why. But I am. Also, armies are big right? Lots of people right?

"Is the Legion of Light big?"

"Yes, I guess it is larger than an average private military force."

"Are they strong?"

"Hmm, yes I guess they are."

"As strong as the Royal Guards?"

"Yes, some can definitely equal the Royal Guards in combat. Some are even stronger than them."

Even stronger than Royal Guards?! I have never been able to defeat even a single Royal Guard in all my duels alongside the princess. 1 vs 2 and we still couldn't win. Legion of Light is even stronger than them?!

"Isn't it scary? A big army of strong people? Isn't it scary to tell them what to do? What if they don't like what you say? What if they get angry and attack you at once?"

His forehead wrinkled, pondering. "That could happen, yes. But I don't think even the entire Legion of Light put together can defeat me. At least not so easily. But other than that, I doubt there is a high chance of rebellion. I am their commander, and they respect the chain of command a lot. Besides, I won't brag to be anything, but I do think I am a capable leader who takes good care of my people and treats them well. Good morale is very important for any army or nation, you see. Good morale can make miracles happen."

Good morale... its difficult to understand? Can I make miracles happen too?

Also this Legion of Light. It's so amazing that dad can command all these strong people by himself. I want to be like him. And for that, I have to take responsibility too. If this big, strong army is going to be mine, then I can't hide away anymore. I can't be afraid anymore. I must support my dad.

I kept down my fork and knife. My hands were trembling, my heart was beating fast. I don't know why I became so sad that day. But I am so afraid of that weird feeling. I am so scared, I don't know why. But I must. I must. I must take a stand against my fear. It's my responsibility after all.

"Father?"

"Yes, Liam?"

I looked at him straight with stern eyes, gritting my teeth and taking a deep breath. "I want to know more about this Legion of Light. I am scared, but I don't want to be. Please help me. Help me face them. It is our army, right? Then it's our responsibility. I want to be like you. I want to be an adventurer and a commander of our army too."

Father looked at me. His eyes were starting to get moist, as he looked at me with a smile and relief on his face. It was the brightest I had seen him smile in days. "Thank you." He said.

I was a tad bit surprised, what was this overwhelming emotion he was showing? "For what father?"

He wiped his eyes and smiled back at me. "Thank you for asking me these questions. Thank you for listening so bravely. Thank you for wanting to know more about the Legion."

"Father..."

"I wanted to talk to you about this for so long, since that evening. I just didn't know how. So thank you for it all. I know it must not have been easy for you. And yes, I will help you in every way I can. I promise. The Legion of Light will love to have you and welcome you."

Now I see. That evening's incident had been weighing down on my father for so long as well. And yes he was right. It wasn't easy at all. I was so scared. I still am. I don't want to feel like I did back then ever again. But even after all that, what I saw in front of my eyes. My dad is so happy and relieved, his smile... I wanted to protect his smile. That smile made it all worth it.

A smile as wide and happy as his spread across my face as well. "You are welcome, dad!"

Soon, a few days after that, my dad set up a Legion of Light training ground in the estate right beside the mansion. They were mostly new soldiers training to join the army, and a few knights acting as trainers and supervisors for them, though none of them wore the silver and golden cape like the man that day, except one who wore just a silver cape. They would often come to meet me but I was still scared of getting too close. I started by watching them at a distance from inside the mansion. But soon started going out to watch them closer to the training ground.

I was still hesitant about going to them personally, but that changed when one day the princess arrived to play with me. With one look at the silver caped knight, she decided to challenge and attack him all by herself before he could even answer. Well obviously I won't let her have the glory alone, so even I jumped in with my sword drawn. As usual, we lost instantly once again, but I found out the princess was well versed in the New Imperial sword style, while I only knew the Old Asellan Royal style. This was so unfair. So I asked and pleaded to the knight to teach me the New Imperial style as well.

And thus I finally started getting more comfortable with the Legion of Light. I finally accepted them.