all the knights to defeat Iziro at all costs. He waved his hand, and four knights began to attack Iziro, forcing him to evade as much as possible. However, Rain suddenly entered the fray.
“How’s the assistance?” Rain asked Iziro, blocking one of the sword strikes with his own.
“I thought I’d be alone against all of them,” Iziro replied.
Iziro continued to dodge the attacks of the knights as if nothing had happened, now facing only two of them. Meanwhile, Rein struggled with two knights simultaneously, which proved to be much more challenging for him due to their skills. Although the knights he faced were weaker than the one he had fought before, Rein found it more difficult than Iziro did. Rein defended himself with a shovel, attempting to dodge similar to Iziro, but with less grace, resulting in a few minor wounds from the sword blades.
Although the leader of the knights wore a mask, his displeasure was evident. The knight leader took a small knife from under the strap on his chest, pressed it against his mask, and threw it at Rein. The knife hit him in the shoulder, causing him to lose balance, almost costing him his life.
At this moment, one of the laborers with a spear decided to help Iziro and Rein, ultimately saving Rein. Other workers witnessed this and joined in, converging on the knights and trying to separate them. Iziro, on the other hand, pushed one of his opponents away again, and the group of spear-wielding workers immediately surrounded him. Iziro began assisting Rein without seriously harming the knights. It was amusing, considering these were trained assassins guarding the kingdoms, but Iziro played with them as if mocking.
He took a sword from one, sheathed it in its scabbard, removed the mask from another, created distance, and then threw the mask back at him, making him catch his own mask. However, Rein was not having an easy time. Accustomed to fighting with a Reinian sword and sturdy armor, he now had to battle with a dirty, semi-rusty shovel against an opponent who far surpassed him in speed. Moreover, the mounted knight aimed his lance at him.
Meanwhile, the chief knight finally drew his sword, seemingly prepared to charge on horseback and end this pathetic spectacle. However, unexpectedly, a boy with burning hands emerged from the crowd and unleashed flames upon the knight, causing him to fall off his horse and attempt to extinguish himself in vain. This distraction allowed Rein to take advantage, grabbing the knight by the neck and forcefully slamming his forehead into the knight’s face. Realizing he was finally gaining the upper hand, Rein began to smile.
The boy, like a meteor, flew towards Rein, extinguishing his flaming hands and freezing Rein’s opponent’s feet to the ground, causing the boy’s hands to turn blue. The knight was bewildered by what had happened. In the midst of it all, Rein, without losing his composure, gracefully beheaded the knight with the sharp edge of the shovel.
“Maybe the shovel isn’t so bad after all,” Rein remarked, looking at it after the victory.
Next, the boy looked at Iziro and began to breathe deeply and evenly, causing his hands to return to their normal appearance. After a couple of moments, winds started swirling around him and his hands. The boy directed his hands towards Iziro, and a hurricane-like wind swept towards his two opponents, Iziro himself, and the workers gathered behind them. The two knights closest to the boy were simply blown away – one fell near Iziro, and the other flew into the crowd. Many workers also struggled to stay on their feet. Iziro, however, managed to stand firm by anticipating what would happen and assuming a special stance, kneeling with his side facing the direction of the wind. Once the hurricane subsided, Iziro subdued the knight who fell next to him to prevent any retaliatory actions. The knight who was blown into the crowd surrendered. The other knight, who had been separated by the crowd of spear-wielding workers earlier, had already been killed, as he had killed more workers than anyone else. The girl who led all the local village workers and this mine personally subdued the surrendered knight.
Stepping out of the crowd, she said, “You did well… I didn’t expect… You took care of our guests in my absence.”
“Not bad yourself, but I almost handled it on my own,” Rein said to the boy. “Wait… you’re the kid from that carriage! For your age, you handle elemental magic pretty well. You used almost everything…”
The boy clenched his fists and aimed them as if targeting the ground beneath Rein. As a result, the ground disappeared from under Rein’s feet, and he sank waist-deep into the pit that formed beneath him. When the boy released his fists, the earth enveloped Rein up to his waist.
“Hey, I didn’t do anything to deserve this!” Rein exclaimed in protest.
Ignoring Rein’s complaints, the boy turned his attention to Iziro a few moments later.
“You seem kind, right?” the boy asked Iziro.
“I don’t know… I’d like to be,” Iziro replied.
In response, the boy lowered his hands.
“He can go,” the girl said to Iziro. “Well, if you trust him, I trust him too. Escort him to the evening bonfire,” she told the boy about Iziro.
The girl approached Rein and scrutinized him closely.
“What do you want? You want to have a laugh?” Rein said.
“No, I was just impressed by how you fought. Too good for an ordinary Raiderian warrior,” she replied.
Meanwhile, the boy named Wel waved at Iziro and said, “Let’s go, I’ll show you where we relax. They also serve delicious food there.”
Iziro somewhat discontentedly glanced at Rein and followed the boy.
“You may not be as good as that Raiderian monk, but you fought very skillfully,” Wel remarked.
“Thank you, glad you noticed,” Rein sarcastically replied. “But here I am, fighting for you, almost dying, not even sure if you deserved it, and now I’m plagued with vague doubts about the validity of my decision again.”
Distraught, Rein stared at the ground, unsure of what to do next.
“What do I need to do to earn the right to be unshackled by you, anyway?” he asked.
“And if I set you free, how do I know you won’t attack me or my people, just as retaliation for how we treated you? You’ve shown yourself to be quite a bloodthirsty warrior,” the girl said.
“You mean when I beheaded that knight? He was trying to kill me, by the way. Sorry, but I didn’t like that. Maybe he would have succeeded if it weren’t for your people,” Rein replied.
“And I’m talking about the same thing. You were wronged, so you killed,” she stated.
“Well, what should I do, apologize or something?” Rein asked.
“No, forget it. I understand perfectly. I would have done the same in your place, but I’m not sure I’m ready to let you go just yet.”
Rein shook his head as the girl walked away. This deeply saddened him, and when the girl left, his sorrow turned into temporary anger, which he vented by shouting something into the evening sky.
“Well, fine, I’ll get out on my own then.”
Rein tried with all his might to lift at least one leg,
