Call For Liberation 2

"I know you're all well aware that Kruule has a hold of the heroes, and is hostile towards anyone who tries to enter their territory."

For some of the knights, this is the first time they saw Lyrica's face, but they already heard about her last night.

"She's the one who also came from another world."

"Lyrica, was it?"

She could hear the knights gossiping about her and even mentioning her name. She knew she doesn't have to introduce herself anymore. Instead, she continued her speech.

"Kruule may be hostile, but the people of Kruule never wanted to harm anyone, nor do they want to kill off their free will. They are merely being forced to do what they do."

Again, Lyrica heard another gossip.

"So what Kael said is true?"

"It seems so."

"You may have heard this from Kael already, but Uruk implanted a curse on his people. A curse that triggers and kills anyone who dares go against him." Lyrica added. "Through his sumpa, Uruk forces his people to do whatever he wants, make it killing the innocent and such."

The crowd has gone quiet, following what Lyrica just said. But at least she could see that they are listening.

"For whatever reason, his true motive with his curse is to make the people of Kruule hate him."

"Make his people hate him?"

"But why?"

"That's right, why?" Lyrica interjected. "I don't know the reason behind it, but the people of Kruule found a way to retaliate against his wish without killing themselves."

"They did?" The crowd asked in unison.

"By devoiding themselves of their thoughts and emotions, they can keep themselves from growing hatred towards their King."

Grasp

"Huh?"

At that moment, Bagel felt Lyrica's grasp slowly squeezing her tiny hand.

"I just learned yesterday that they've been doing the same thing for three years. Throwing away their genuine thoughts and emotion became a force of habit."

"Three years?!"

"They've been doing it for three years?!"

"That's rough..."

It's not that much surprising that they only realized it just now. Before the fateful day, Lyrica's arrival to Alteria, everything is going smoothly between the two kingdoms. Kruule only showed its fangs when they felt cornered because of the missing malayas who never returned after visiting them to ask about the heroes.

Meanwhile, seemingly in a daze, Kael is quietly observing Lyrica from behind.

'Impressive, this is the first time they met her and even hear her speak, but she completely got everyone's ears.'

"While I was in Kruule, I met two families..."

***

The first one, Riko's family. He had a sister called Nela who's the second oldest of the five of them siblings. For a kid who should still be enjoying her time playing around with friends outside, Nela appeared mature, responsible, and kind.

However, I recently learned that she's just trying to be strong for her younger siblings. Three years ago, along with putting a curse on everyone, Uruk took some civilians away from their families, more specifically women and children for obvious reasons. One of those that were taken was Riko and Nela's mother. Since then, they never see their mother ever again.

For a kid, it is sure as hell devastating. But for the sake of her younger siblings, Nela put up a strong front, she accepted the fact that her mother is gone, and took her Mother's responsibilities towards her and her younger siblings.

Though she kept this facade for who knows how long, in the end, she's still a young girl who also needed her Mother's care. And so, the burden that kept accumulating weight on her shoulder eventually pushed her to the limit. She fell ill. And worse, the girl who took the responsibility and became the new light of the house, realized she still hasn't forgotten about her Mother.

She accepted the reality that she'll never see her mother again. But somewhere in her heart, there's still lingering hope that tells her that one day, Mother will come back.

...

On my way to Kabba, I met a woman and his family whose freedom is being shackled by Uruk's sumpa with the woman as an exception. Apparently, she's been into hiding since way before everything started. Because of that, she was able to tell us all the things that she had learned in the past three years.

But that's not all. Because she's free, she could see how rough it is to live in a cage that forces you to follow the Hari's cruel wishes. She could feel how painful it is not to know whether her family's smiles are genuine or an awful force of habit.

***

Soon after telling the story of Nela and the woman to everyone, she asked them.

"Would you like to see your child taking the responsibility that you left until it eventually destroys them? Would you just watch your family wearing a fake smile, knowing what lies behind it is pain and suffering?"

A frozen silence permeate the outside of the barracks, and that's because the knights took Lyrica's words and thought about it themselves. The question shrouded everyone's mind.

Would you rather see your son or daughter destroy themselves? Or would you rather settle seeing your family make such a fake smile? The answer is obvious.

Among the knights that gathered around the barracks, one of them gathered the courage to step up and state her answer.

"No, I don't." Said the knights with her eyes flaring with determination.

The determination not to let such a cruel thing like Lyrica mentioned happen to her family. Not long after that, more and more people are coming over and voicing the same thing.

"That's right!"

Dragging along Bagel with her hand, Lyrica stood right on the edge of the platform.

"No parent wants to see their child suffer! Nor do they want to just watch their family while they are being deprived of their freedom!"

Much to Bagel and Kael's surprise, the girl magically managed to make everyone rally to her, you'd think it's easy to make everyone follow you.

'The decisiveness she exhibited yesterday,' Kael mumbled in his thought while reminiscing the fight she witnessed between Lyrica and the female assassin. 'The passion and dauntlessness emanating around her right now. And, the way she speaks and makes people listen and respond to her without hesitation... Just who is she?'

"Ate's... You're so cool!" Bagel remarked behind Lyrica, her emerald eyes trembling in amazement.

"Nela and the others in Kruule deserve to be free! They deserve freedom! Don't you think so, too, everyone?!"

The knights roared in agreement.

"If you think likewise, then join me!" Lyrica raised her left hand into the air as it turned into a fist. "Let us liberate the people of Kruule! Let's give them the freedom they deserve!!"

The knights' already loud cheering just got a whole lot louder. Meanwhile, Lyrica is sweating and is breathing sharply.

'That was hella exhausting, but...' Lyrica paused as her breathing slowly calmed down. '... I did it. I've united them with my cause. Now we just have to–"

"What's with all the ruckus?!"

A male voice sounded in the middle of the raging crowd. The knights that have been united by Lyrica turned mute in just a matter of a few words.

"Huh?"

Lyrica's attention was lured straight to the direction where the voice resonated. There, she saw a young man with short blue hair wearing a blue and white top, and black trousers.

"H-He's...!"

Without a word, the knights opened a path for the man towards the platform before.

"And who are you?" Asked the man in a cold voice as he stood below Lyrica. "I don't remember inviting an actress for a play today, woman."

"I could ask you the same thing," Lyrica reposted in the same manner. "And I don't remember inviting fancies here either, so you might want to step aside, boy."

Following that exchange, the two stared down at one another intensely.