"You.. huh?"
Azreal almost let go of the Sabre he was holding
"… did you see how our Elijah had a bounty put on him at such a young age and decided you wanted to follow in his footsteps?"
"Who the hell would want to follow in that guy's footsteps?!"
Azreal kicked Kevin's knee lightly
"A bounty was placed on him?"
The blond boy asked, tilting his head
"You don't know..?"
Azreal asked as he got back into position, still holding his Sabre.
"Is having a bounty placed on him bad?"
The blond boy asked, slightly confused.
Bounties were quite common in his days.
There'd be a bounty for the Prince, a bounty on some random mecenary who just started working, there was basically a bounty on every single important person.
there has even been a bounty placed on him. (Though it wasn't just him who it was placed on)
When talking to his master, she simply said
"Currently, bounties are little more than a way to measure one's value. The higher the bounty, the higher the value. In that sense, we're technically worth more than a kingdom."
The smirk she had while keeping up day to day conversation was etched into his mind.
Sadly, there was one thing Zaire didn't consider.
Times change.
"Of course it's bad! Why would-"
"Hold on"
Azreal placed his hand on Kevin's shoulder
"Let's not get into that. First, what do you mean by pledging allegiance?"
Facing the blond boy still standing still, Azreal asked
After contacting the girls earlier, they should be trying to find them by now. And with how the message was worded, it's probable that they may attack on sight.
Depending on how the boy answered, they would either all get into combat or… well Azreal didn't think this far ahead.
"It means exactly what it means."
"…"
Noticing azreal's prolonged silence, the boy understood what the question meant
"It means.. I'll become his sword? Or his comrade. Anything he wants, as long as I can follow him."
"And how do we know we can trust you."
"Well…"
The blond boy turned his head, looking behind him before facing the 2 boys again
"Maybe proving my combat skills would help."
'He knows.'
Azreal furrowed his brows
Behind the blond boy, a woman jumped forward, her brown hair trailing her in the air.
The blond boy immediately turned around, catching the sword that had been ready to strike him with a single hand
"!"
Saoirse quickly jumped back, gripping her sword and standing next to Serena
The boy looked at his hand that had started bleeding
'It still cut my skin even though I reinforced it with mana'
"Stand still, we'll talk after you're subdued"
Azreal, this time using his hilt, jumped forward with Kevin trailing close behind
[CLANG!]
The hilt was met with a rapier that had come out of nowhere
'!'
Azreal twisted to the side, letting Kevin take the charge.
Kevin manages to scratch the blond boy's right hand with his dagger, to which the blond boy responded by blowing him back with a simple but powerful gust of wind slashed by his rapier
After blowing the blue haired boy away, the blond boy looked at his surroundings.
He was surrounded by both sides.
"… seems I'm not currently welecome. Don't worry, we'll meet again"
The blond boy had a slight smile on his expression, though it seemed to have a bit of annoyance mixed into it
"! Wait!"
Kevin launched forward but by the time he reached the blond boy, the blond boy was gone.
He had disappeared where he stood, only leaving a gust of wind
Kevin collapsed onto the floor , stabbing the dagger into the ground.
Hearing a sigh he turned his head.
"What did you two get yourselves into, it's only been like 40 minutes"
Serena asked, stepping forward.
She stepped near one of the blood puddles left by the blond boy
"Kevin, if I saw correctly.."
"He got blown away by a gust of wind."
Azreal asked, cutting off Serena
"A gust of wind.. could it be elemental energy?"
Saoirse asked, standing next to Serena
Elemental energy, essentially, it was the ability to wield the elements, fire,water,wind,lightning, you get it.
Typically, elemental energy is not possible for the average human to use.
"You don't think he could be…"
Serena cut Saoirse off
"He isn't an apostle or a demigod as far as I am aware, at least not a known one"
"Well, what alternatives do we have other than that guy being able to use elemental energy!"
Kevin wailed, laying his body down in the dirty floor.
Azreal looked at him with a displeased expression
"Well… he might've done it through sheer strength alone, Mr Farrell has done that before"
"You think that twig has the strength to blow wind strong enough to blow me back by sheer force?"
Met with kevin's exasperated face, Azreal shut his mouth.
"Well, he was after Elijah. We should get back to him quickly and inform him of this."
Getting back to topic, Kevin quickly brought up the information he had heard from the blond boy
"To… pledge allegiance? Is there any way to do that?"
Saoirse asked with a curious expression.
The four were walking back now. Though there were still stares focoused on them, they ignored it and kept their voice low
"Well, there is but it's been banned. The only way to officially pledge allegiance would be to get a "contract" from the association."
Serena, replying to saoirse's question, started braiding her own hair.
"Are you… braiding your hair right now?"
Kevin asked, staring at Serena
"What elae would I be doing?"
"…"
Sighing, Kevin leaned his body on Azreal, letting Azreal catch him
"Huuuu… we need to report this to Mr Farrell again don't we? Can't we just go find that blond boy and beat him down?"
"We should, it's concerning Elijah's safety. Besides, I doubt he'd be beaten that easily."
Azreal replied to Kevin's question, forcing him to stand up straight.
He turned his head slightly, looking behind.
There was a small drop of blood on the floor