Moment Of Grief

"Yes, we found you at the riverbank in the Velves forest a month back," Laura confirmed.

Landria suddenly lost his appetite and put the bowl down.

He was almost done with the food but right now he couldn't even take one more spoon.

'My family has been dead for over a month... and I've been asleep,' Landria's facial expression turned dark as he thought.

Laura could feel the change of mood as she stared at Landria who was silently sitting on the other side after her confirmation.

Just as she wanted to speak she spotted a tear rolling down his left eye.

Landria quickly raised his hand covered his left eye which was already brimming with tears.

"What's wrong?" Laura asked with a concerned expression.

Landria cleaned his face quickly and acted completely normal before answering, "Nothing," The crack in the tone of his voice as he spoke caught Laura's attention.

She walked towards him and knelt in front of him with a caring look on her face.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to but there is no reason to hide your pain here," She said while reaching out to pull Landria into her embrace.

"You can let it all out, it's just me here,"

Her voice sounded so comforting to Landria that he let his guard down and tears began to flow out of his eyes like a dam.

'Father, Mother, Sara...They're gone... It's just me left in this world now...' Landria pictured what used to be his happy family before the tragedy and wept uncontrollably.

He had never felt so much grief. At the time of their death, it didn't come to him since he knew he would be joining them in the afterlife as well but surprisingly fate had a different plan in store for him.

Now that he was able to calm down and piece everything together, all the emotions of pain, despair, and grief came crawling back.

Laura could feel the tears soaking her shoulder area but she didn't pull away in the slightest, instead, she kept stroking Landria's hair in a comforting manner.

-

"Where did you come from?"

Sometime afterward when Landria had calmed down, Laura began questioning him.

"Razledania," Landria answered.

"Razledania? As in the Great Kingdom of Razledania?" One of the four kids in the house voiced out with a tone of disbelief.

Laura later allowed the kids were back in the house so they were all listening to Landria's questioning.

"Yes," Landria answered.

"Wow!"

"Unbelievable!"

"He has gotta be from a wealthy family,"

The others kids voiced out in astonishment after Landria's confirmation.

"Are you truly from Razledania?" Laura had to ask again since she was also finding it difficult to believe.

Landria nodded in response.

"That's very far from here... This town is close to the southern kingdoms even though it's still considered to be part of the west so we all know the great kingdom of Razledania," She voiced out with a surprised tone.

"The river brought a long way from home which means you must have been floating for more than a month before I found you and you still slept for another month..." Laura's facial expression kept getting more astonished as she voiced out.

"How is he still alive?" One of the kids voiced out in surprise.

"I don't know... I guess that's why all my mana reserves are gone," Landria raised his hand as he voiced out.

"Are you a mage?" Laura asked.

"Was... don't know if I still am. I can't cast a single spell right now and my body is still void of mana yet it's not regenerating. I shouldn't even be alive right now," Landria stated.

'I've never felt so powerless,' He sighed internally.

"Wow, a real-life mage in our town,"

"Unbelievable, no wonder he survived,"

While the kids were staring at Landria and voicing out their admiration, Laura had different thoughts running through her head right now.

She stared at his face and then his hair, 'Snow-white hair... It's not possible, there is no way he's one of them,' She discarded the thoughts.

"What is with everyone's reaction, isn't being a mage common around here?" Landria proceeded to ask.

"No, it's not common at all. Only a few here are born with the ability to harness mana but even with that, the lack of mana in this part of town makes it impossible to learn magic. There's barely any mana in the atmosphere all across town," She explained.

Landria had a look of realization as he heard this, 'That explains why my mana isn't regenerating,'

"I see... Where exactly is this place?" He proceeded to ask.

"This is Riverbeak town on the border of Asaruis Kingdom," Laura answered.

"Asaruis Kingdom..." Landria's face had a look of contemplation as he voiced out.

Landria recalled that his father had taught him all about the geography of the surrounding kingdoms and Asaruis was mentioned as well

'That's close to the south... It's one of the small kingdoms that stand alone since it's very far from Razledania. If I want to travel back it would take months unless I had a mystical creature as transport,' Landria remembered.

Laura proceeded to ask about what happened to Landria again which he waved off as an accident that caused him to fall off a cliff.

Of course, she knew that wasn't the full story but no one was going to force Landria to speak if he didn't want to.

Landria asked more about the town so he could think of his next course of action.

After talking with them for nearly two hours, Landria remembered something and touched the sack clothes on his body.

"Where are my clothes?" He inquired.

Laura stood from her sitting position and moved towards one of the rooms. she came out later with a folded piece of clothing in her possession.

"I cleaned them for you," She said while passing it to him.

Landria quickly unfolded them and checked through the pockets and sides with an anxious look.

"Where is it!?" He shouted out with an anxious look.

"Is this what you're looking for?" Laura voiced out while holding onto an eight inches long purplish sheathed dagger.

She proceeded to hand it over to him, "I found this strapped to your clothes," She voiced out.

Landria stared at the dagger with a face full of emotions.

"You should be respectful, Laura also cleaned you up day and night and also made sure to inspect your health since she knew you weren't dead," One of the male kids voiced out.

"Thank you... this was a gift from my father," He said while unsheathing the dagger.

Zzhhrrroooiinn~

Magical energy instantly filled the room as red-colored glowing runes appeared on the blade.

'This is all I have left of father,' Landria thought.

"Ooouuu, just how much would that sell for?" The youngest male kid in the midst voiced out causing Landria to give him a death glare.

"Just kidding," He voiced out with a fearful shriek and shrank back.

Landria proceeded to sheath the dagger back, "I can't even wield it right now, my life energy would be sapped since I have no mana," He said before keeping it with his clothes.

"What will you do now?" One of the kids asked.

"Will you go back to Razledania?" Another one voiced out as well.

'Razledania... I have to find the people responsible for the King's death and make them pay... I will make them suffer a fate worse than death, I will clear my father's name...' While these thoughts were appearing in Landria's mind a strong voice suddenly reverberated in his mind.

'Kill them all!'

'Kill them all?'

'Raze the kingdom to the grounds!'

'Raze..?'

'Make them pay! Their spouses, their children everything they love, take it away from them as they took yours!'