Returning to the Academy

It was dark inside the tent, with only a faint light faintly illuminating everything around when Liam opened his eyes. Feeling his whole body ache, he pulled himself up and immediately collapsed back down.

His head vibrated and everything around him began to spin a little. Grabbing the bed with his hands, Liam tried to focus his eyes and stop "flying away," but the condition lasted for some time. He began to vomit, but he didn't throw up.

Instead, he felt a metallic smell in his nose and something crawled over his upper lip, causing a tickle. Swiping away what he thought was a bug, Liam saw blood and realized he was the one who had completely cracked up. Suddenly someone's hand carefully touched his face and wiped away the blood.

"Cal?" Liam's mind raced, "but how could he be here?" Liam turned his head uneasily, and a worried Zhu-Er appeared before his blurry gaze. The man thought he was dreaming and smiled.

"Master..."

Liam opened his eyes wide and listened.

"Zhu-Er is glad the master has come..."

Liam turned his head at the sound and only then realized that next to him sat in the guise of a human his Zhu-Er. Apparently Ronu personally decided to give his Zhu-Er the power to speak, and Liam was overjoyed.

"Forgive me," Liam pleaded, "I am so sorry that you were alone and suffering. All these years you thought I had abandoned you…"

"I don't remember anything, I was sleeping," the young man replied, and the astonished host realized that Ronu had interfered.

Just at that moment the man entered the tent. He approached and sat down next to Liam. Not wanting to interfere in the conversation, he just sat in silence. Liam looked intently at the man and, despite his weakness, a single thought flashed through his mind from west to east. He suppressed his excitement and said:

"And why didn't I guess at once that it was the... Light-bearing Overlord before me...?"

As he spoke these words, Liam watched Ronu's face intently. He didn't twitch or even blink. Nor did he deny it. There was a solemn silence in the tent. Zhu-Er was quietly rinsing a towel in the basin to wipe the blood on his master's face again if necessary, and Liam was under the impression of the truth he had discovered.

He understood everything now. Ronu was primarily interested in Cal and his dragon.

"It's clear, he arrived because Cal ignored his dispatches," thought Liam. "He wanted to help Cal, to favor him. He brought a locket for his Dai-Kun."

"You've been a great help to us," Liam spoke up, seeing Ronu shrug his shoulders.

"Never mind, we still haven't solved the main problem," the Overlord said in a completely different voice, "now that the portal has been destroyed, we can go down to the bottom of the lake once more to find that plant.

Liam stared at Zhu-Er and shook his head.

"Does it have to be a dragon? "he asked.

"Yes," Ronu bowed his head.

"Well, we could ask Nod or Rashid to send someone," Liam grasped at the idea, not wanting to risk Zhu-Er.

All the while, Tishow was standing behind the tent. As it happened, the general had come to check on Liam and his ward, but had unwittingly witnessed another man's conversation. Still shaken by the truth about Ronu, he made an effort to control his feelings.

It was not in his nature to eavesdrop, but as it was, he resolutely lifted the curtain and entered the tent, unaware that his sworn enemy, also out of shock, had been standing nearby all along, eavesdropping.

"I'll send Azinoth," the General stated blithely, "I'm a person of interest," he said in response to Ronu's surprise. The man turned to Liam and realized that they were bound by mystery.

"How could it be that he suddenly remembered his grandson?" The general was blasted to pieces by Pittsu, who came in after him.

"You promised me you wouldn't interfere," snapped Tishow.

"Who is the grandson of whom?" Ronu asked quietly.

"Cal is Tishow's grandson," said the marshal, his arms crossed over his chest. "But his grandfather wasn't too fond of the boy, and he nearly killed him..."

"That's enough! I didn't know then," Tishow grimaced.

"Well," Liam stopped their discussion, "let Azinoth go, I really don't want to risk Zhu-Er a second time."

Ronu still couldn't figure out how Tishow was related to Cal, but left that story for later. For now, he concentrated on Liam. He asked the marshal and the general to leave the tent so he could get some oxygen, and he felt the man's pulse.

"I don't like what's happening to you," he said bluntly to Ronu, "your energy is behaving strangely, I'd say it tends toward chaos. I'll think about it some more, but I'm afraid you're prone to self-destruction."

"The Light-bearing Overlord," Liam gratefully intercepted the man's wrist, "thank you, I am honored to have you here."

"Come on, stop calling me that. Ever since I retired, what did people think of me? Turned me into a deity? Like they did with Zhu-Er in that world? You saw what it did, didn't you? I'm just like you. I've just lived longer, seen more. But so what," Ronu sighed sorrowfully, "I lost my dear Dai-Kun. And how I lost... It was a terrible death and a huge, unhealed wound in my heart."

Liam understood Ronu better than anyone, because he'd almost lost Zhu-Er. He suddenly felt very sorry for this sincere man. He didn't look like a deity, even when Liam revealed his identity.

He seemed like a simple guy from down the street who, out of the goodness of his heart, came to chop wood for a lonely old lady or go get bread for her. A stranger to arrogance and stinginess, capable of lasting friendship and self-sacrifice. Liam moved closer and patted Ronu on the knee.

"I've decided I'm going to refer to you as 'you' and that's not going to change, so get over it," Liam smiled, thereby accepting Ronu as his friend with the intention of helping him in his mission. Ronu understood that, too, and nodded appreciatively.

The next two days passed relatively quietly. Liam strolled to the lake with Zhu-Er and talked about many things. Occasionally they were joined by a bored marshal or a stern general.

The men agreed that as soon as the platform was restored, they would go to the Academy and attend to Cal's rescue. Liam contacted the healer regularly.

Only in the morning did Seven regain consciousness, but unfortunately, the woman could not remember what had happened on her grass farm.

"It's all like a fog," she told the Head, "I was working in the beds, and then I already opened my eyes at the Academy, sorry I can't help it."

Liam was angry because the mysterious criminal was too good, carefully covering his tracks.

He learned from his assistant that the refugees were living safely in the valley and did not want to move into the living quarters. Especially when it became known that their world had not died. They all look forward to returning and are not afraid of working hard to rebuild their home. Liam truly admired their idealism.

After two days, as promised, the platform was operational and the refugees were the first to take advantage of it, returning home in droves. The army helped them with their accommodation. The resurrected lake made it easier for them to find a place to settle temporarily. Liam didn't get to see the scorched land come back to life because he, too, was "rushing home."

He dreamt of Cal every night and wanted to hug him and make sure he didn't get worse. The general followed him and the marshal; Ronu, of course, was also with Liam, as was Zhu-Er. Liam glanced out of habit at the unfriendly world and touched the crystal. One by one the men disappeared and immediately reappeared at the Academy. The unfamiliarly noisy surroundings immediately acted as an invigorating drink.

Liam went down and helped Zhu-Er, the young man was still weak, but his state of mind was calm thanks to Ronu's care. The Head went to check on Cal first, and on the way he used a body cleansing technique.

Even if Cal didn't come to his senses, Liam wanted to touch him with clean hands. Ronu removed the medallion and Zhu-Er was able to assume his original form, delighted by this, he happily galloped off to his space to lick his wounds.

It turned out that there were far more people willing to visit the Head's apprentice than he could have imagined. The men struggled to squeeze through the door, all because of the mountain of stuffed toys and gifts that the apprentices were leaving for Cal as a sign of care and attention.

Liam found it very touching, but when he saw Cal's sunken cheeks and the bruises under his eyes, he forgot all about it. He threw himself at him, lifted his now very light body and pressed him to his chest like a mother, not caring what impression he was making now. Marshall frowned and crouched on Cal's bed.

"You'll strangle him," Pittsu said with mild jealousy, but Liam didn't answer him. He felt like he was hugging a leather-clad skeleton and dreamed of one thing, to hear his name from Cal's lips again.

The healer briefly reported that he had tried many remedies, but nothing had helped.

"None of the traditional cures will help, either," Liam answered him mentally, and pressed Cal to him and furtively kissed his cold forehead. "How nice it would be if all these people would get out of here," the Head sighed.

The General stood almost in the doorway, staring at the emotionless body with an expressionless gaze. Then he grabbed Ronu by the scruff of the neck and dragged him toward the lake.

"Take it easy!" The man was indignant when he was finally released.

«Azinoth" The general exclaimed, summoning his dragon.

"You are in a hurry," Ronu stopped him, "we must wait until midnight."

"I understand," Tishow muttered and turned his dragon back around.

He hung around the Academy idly, rolling his eyes. The General was annoyed by the noisy, loitering children. He had always had a very mediocre opinion of the place. And about the quality of the graduates he was ready to argue to the pulse, firmly convinced that the big losers were worth looking for.

As he always said, in his opinion, the Academy teaches nothing, but only entertains the offspring of noble families, and even if talent wanders in, it comes to an end.

It was late July, and the gardens behind the Academy were lush with ripe cherries and berries. The general turned off the central avenue and went to pick the trees. Ronu caught him in the act and told him that Liam was calling everyone in for dinner. They joined Marshall and Liam for a meal at a separate table in the great dining hall.

The students gazed at the prominent figures of the day. Word spread through the Academy at lightning speed that two pillars of the Union Army had been spotted on the grounds: General Tishow and Marshal Pittsu. Nothing was known of the third man, so everyone simply ignored him.

For the Head's return, the Academy's cook outdid himself, and the table was full of treats. But it had no effect on Liam's appetite.