Chap 8

"Adad!"

A sweet, soft voice called out to me, making me turn.

"Tasha."

In front of me stood Tasha Hall, a person important to the future of history.

Her navy blue hair and eyes looked the color of the deep sea.

Though her beauty was diminished thanks to her face that had a large frown on it.

"Why didn't you say anything to Mom?"

Then he came to talk about it, though it wasn't strange.

Elena broke down when she found out what the future held for me and the risks of staying close to them.

At that moment even I didn't understand what I should do.

When I saw her cry I felt nothing to prompt me to comfort her, although for some strange reason I got a lump in my throat that only lasted for a while.

"What did you want me to tell her. I have to go if I don't want to die."

My response made Tasha frown and swallow her words. She knew it was true.

I waited for a response, but there was nothing so I continued on my way to my room, thinking about the great sword schools there were in the world when I felt something tug at my shirt.

"What's wrong with you Adad."

Tasha said as she met her eyes with mine.

"You're not like that, you're someone happy, always looking out for the best for others even if you have to leave, you should have at least hugged mom."

I stared into Tasha's eyes.

What should I say, the reason I didn't do anything she said is that I'm not Adad at least not the one they know.

"The Adad you know doesn't exist anymore, Tasha," I said.

"Because of Emilia? I don't understand the reason she treats you that way either, but it's not enough to justify your behavior."

Tasha went on and on about a myriad of things I didn't listen to, I wanted to go to my room.

"It has nothing to do with Emilia... I just don't want to be weak anymore."

After blurting out the typical sentence of a protagonist when he breaks away from everything to go train for a few years, I headed to the room, I was very sleepy today.

***

[Tasha POV]

The rattling echoed inside the wagon. Where a pair of siblings were sitting across from each other.

The girl seemed to want to break the silence, but seeing the disinterested face of the boy in front of her, she closed her mouth.

A little more time passed before the dark blue-haired girl finally spoke.

"This is your second semester, isn't it Adad?"

I said while keeping a smile on my face. We've been on our way to the capital academy for five hours now and neither of us has said anything.

Last time Adad kept smiling and showing how excited he was to enter the academy, but now?

"I'm a year younger than you and you're about to enter the fourth, so I guess so."

"O, Ohh that's right. Haha."

Ha~ how silly, I couldn't have asked a better question. Instead of lightening the mood, I made it even worse.

It's been a week since we've had any minimally long conversations.

Or rather, with no one, except for father who I guess I talk to just to see his options for studying the sword.

I still regret trying to scold him. I thought it would make him see that he should have said something to mother.

But I didn't realize that he was worried too.

How could he not be when he has to drop everything to go train for who knows how many years in a sword art, somewhere far away from all civilization.

Uhmm

I must apologize. If this keeps up it's only going to get more uncomfortable.

"We have arrived at the camp."

Said the head of the knights escorting us through the window.

"Just as I was about to speak." I thought

We stopped our journey at a small village on the side of the road to the capital. If we followed the road we would reach the capital in five more hours, I think.

The sun was already starting to set, making the shadows of the trees spread out giving the forest more fear than it has.

Traveling at dusk is quite dangerous not only because of the large number of bandits. Although these usually stop at the sight of a carriage with a noble shield.

There are also monsters. That despite not being many due to the size of the forest are enough to make us lose time and we can even get to see some of rank C or B.

After a good dinner, I decided to walk around the village. The houses were made of mud and brick covered with mana, although with a rustic siding procedure.

There was not much to see, apart from breeding animals and the occasional domesticated mana beast. At the bottom of a small hill was a house a little larger than the others, that of the village chief, I assumed.

-AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

A piercing scream echoed making me turn around.

It didn't take me long to identify where it came from.

From the camp.

When I arrived I couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

The knights were fighting a large number of bandits numbering over 40, twice as many as our soldiers.

I grabbed the small staff at my waist and conjured a mass of water that hit a bandit, making an opening in his defense that was taken advantage of by one of our knights.

Bodies slowly piled up on the road as I searched for Adad.

In the distance, I could see the lord chief of the knights who had accompanied us shoveling with a huge dark-skinned man.

Rumble

A silver lightning bolt rumbled in the distance and I quickly ran towards him.

When I arrived, what caught my attention was not how icy the surroundings were along with the ice visible on the ground.

It was a platinum blue-haired young man holding a sword in his right hand.

And at his feet lay a man from whom a large amount of blood was gushing out, forming a large puddle.

Adad brandished his sword, taking it in both hands, and brought it down sharply and without pause.

The sword plunged straight into the man's skull, stopping his spasms.

My eyes full of astonishment met his and a shiver ran through my whole body.

His expression was indifferent as if he had not just murdered, but stepped on a weed in the road.