When dawn came, the guards unchained Kei from the tree and had him follow the carriage again. Alas, they had finally reached the border of the Kingdom of Babel. It is noticeable from the huge walls that surround the kingdom at its borders. Those huge walls were erected when the Great War had first broken out, and the leaders of the kingdom had decided on a stance of neutrality which led to the erection of the walls in case there were any other kingdoms looking to claim Babel. Looking at the kingdom's emblem at the large gate checkpoint, Kei couldn't help but smile wryly as he felt a sense of nostalgia running through him.
Babel was a kingdom that consisted of 2 large cities and 4 smaller ones within its walls. Just past the checkpoint, was the first large city, Rovinj, and also the old capital before the Great War began. However, most of the higher nobilities still preferred to live in Rovinj even though the capital had been relocated further into the kingdom.
"Oy! Don't stop moving!" One of the guards yelled as he kicked Kei's back to make him move faster.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm moving. Geez." Kei said in response whilst sighing.
"No talking back!" The same guard said as he kicked him again.
When they entered Rovinj, Kei had to walk for another 3 hours following the carriage being dragged across the town before finally reaching their intended destination. When they finally reached, Kei looked up to see a large mansion in front of him in the middle of a large patch of land surrounded by grass, flowers, and a walkway that led to the front door of the mansion. A line of servants stood in front of the front door ready to greet their master.
""Welcome home, Master."" The servants greeted Celena in unison as she stepped out of the carriage.
Celena did nothing but wave her hand to put them at ease. After a brief silence, she finally spoke up with a face filled with discontent and anger.
"Where is father?"
Just as she asked that question, a man walked out of the open mansion door in between the servants. One look at him and his attire, one could instantly tell that he was of nobility, with short blond hair, and leather vest, his gentle face had the slight resemblance of Celena's.
"Oh? Welcome back my dear Celena! I hope you had no trouble on your way home…?! Who is that man?! What has he done to you?! Is that why you look so angry?!" The man asked as he had noticed Kei shackled to the back of the carriage.
"No, father! He is innocent! More than that, he saved my life! And yet, without listening to reason, Gerrard and the others arrested him without even listening to me or his side of the story!"
"Hmm… Is this true?" The man questioned the head of the guard unit who arrested Kei.
"My Lord! He was dressed suspiciously, carrying a huge amount of weapons trying to walk away from our Lady! It was natural that we would consider him an enemy and arrest him!" The guard said whilst throwing the bag filled with Kei's weapons onto the ground.
"Haah… What is so wrong with carrying that many weapons? Did you forget what forest you were crossing through? People without the king of Babel's authority don't have as much freedom to roam that forest as those who do."
"But my Lord!, we mustn't overlook–"
"Silence! Have you forgotten about our law of justice? The one very law in which our royal family's blessing is built upon?"
With that, the entire guard unit was scolded into silence. In the kingdom of Babel, those of the royal family are blessed by only one god, Astraea, the goddess of Justice, Innocence, and Purity. When the first king of Babel received her blessing, he had built the Kingdom according to her will and values. This had also meant that the guard unit had arrested a man without proper investigation and cause since they didn't even bother listening to reason.
"Haah… This is going to be so troublesome if word got out about what you did."
"But my Lord, in any case, we still need to prove if he's innocent or guilty!"
"Seriously, do you all know how much trouble you are causing our family? Young boy, may I have your name?"
"... I am… Kei… Asagami… Kei…"
"I am Eric von Lestia, head of the House of Lestia duchy. On behalf of the House of Lestia, I sincerely apologise for the trouble my foolish knights have caused you…!"
The guards who captured Kei were shocked to see the leader of the Lestia duchy bow his head to a person they had captured. Nevertheless, they were in no position to object to his actions seeing as they had already caused a mountain of problems for their lord. When he responded to Lord Eric's question, he was already in a daze as he had not drank any water or eaten anything for three whole days. Having bowed his head, Eric was shocked to see the state of which Kei was in, his body was malnourished and signs of dehydration could be seen upon closer inspection. Shortly after apologising, Kei collapsed from fatigue and dehydration as he couldn't hold his consciousness any longer.
"Oy! Are you okay?! Hurry! Carry him inside! Fetch the doctor and someone get some water!"
"Y-yes sir!"
Amidst the commotion, the guards hurriedly carried Kei into the mansion and into a large room that looked like it had been prepared for guests to stay in. Due to the suffering he had to endure in the past three days, Kei was running a high fever and was constantly breathing heavily as if he was in constant pain.
After three hours, the family doctor seemed to have gotten Kei into a stable condition and his breathing seemed to have stabilised. It seemed that during the entire time between Kei collapsing and the doctor stabilising his condition, a huge thunderstorm had happened. After thanking the doctor for his hard work, Celena and her father Eric were now alone in the room with an unconscious Kei laying in the bed.
"Just what happened to this boy?"
"... It's my fault…"
"What do you mean?"
"If I didn't wander off from the carriage, I would never have been attacked by that wolf…" Celena said with tears streaming down her face.
"I see, then I suppose he saved you from it?"
"...Yes… He killed the wolf when I passed out… He even gave me his cloak and tarp to keep me warm when I was unconscious… When Keith and the other guards showed up, they didn't even hesitate to arrest him…"
"But that doesn't explain how he wound up in such a state."
"... The guards made him walk on foot shackled to the carriage for all three days to the city. They only gave him one bread a day, and refused to give him any water. He didn't even eat any of the bread they gave him. When I snuck out at night to give him some food and water, he refused it as well, saying that I might poison him…"
"I can't blame him, he saved someone in need of help only to be given such harsh treatment, it wouldn't be surprising if he thought that the guards made you poison him."
As Celena was wallowing in guilt and Eric was speechless at what his guards had done, the door to the room opened and a woman came rushing through the door along with two maids behind her with a greatly worried look on her face. The woman had long, silver hair, and also a face that slightly resembled Celena's.
"Eric! Celena! The maids told me what had happened! How is the boy?!"
"He's stable now, but the doctor said he was in a life-threatening state when he came."
"Oh my, how terrible!"
"He's been unconscious since then, but I think he will be fine for now."
"Mother, he had saved me only to be treated this way, I want to make it up to him… Could you use your blessing to prove once and for all that he is innocent?" Celena finally spoke up.
"Mmm.. Leave it to me. Miriam, please call Keith and the rest of the guards responsible for this crime into this room this instant!"
As the maid bowed to accept the order from the madam, they left quickly to fulfil the order. A few short moments later, the head guard Keith and the other guards who arrested Kei came into the room and lined up in an orderly fashion.
"I heard about what you boys had done. I hope you are ready for any punishment that may befall you for your conduct."
"Madam, what we did, we did for the safety of Lady Celena!"
"Silence! Either way, you have trampled on the law of this family as well as the law of this country whilst doing so. Such manner of conduct will not be excused. I will now be using my blessing to prove whether he is innocent or guilty. Please be prepared."
"...Yes, madam…"
When she finished her sentence, Celena's mother walked up to the bed that Kei laid in. She held her hand out as if reaching for something before starting a chant.
"O' goddess of truth and disclosure, please grant me your strength in determining the fate of an innocent soul, or a guilty sinner, for it is your strength that grants me wisdom, Lady Alatheia."
When she finished her chant, a small glow emitted from her hand that was reaching out. As the glow faded, a pair of scales appeared in the hand of Celena's mother with one side made of bronze, and the other made of gold. Shortly after, she held the scales over Kei's unconscious body and released it. When released, it was left floating on top of Kei's body before it started to spin slowly. When it came to a halt, the scales tilted to the side made of gold and Celena's face lit up in excitement over the result. Once it was done, Celena's mother turned around to look at the guards with a face filled with anger.
"Do you know what this means, Keith?"
"..." Keith could not say or do anything but look down.
"This means that you have arrested an innocent man. I hope you are ready to pay for the grave crime that you have committed. Your fate will be left to this young man. Whatever he decides, he will be completely entitled to his decision, as will the rest of you."
"Y-yes… madam…"
As Keith and the other guards started to regret their actions, Celena stood up with a bright smile on her face and turned to her mother.
"Mother, does this mean that he is free?"
"Yes, my dear. Speaking of which, when are you boys going to unshackle the innocent boy that you captured?"
"Y-yes madam!"
When Keith hurried to Kei's body to try and unlock the shackles on his hands and legs, Kei's body started to tremble and his calm expression turned into one of extreme pain and discomfort.
"W-what's happening to him?!" Eric said as he stood up from his seat.
"I don't know. My blessing shouldn't cause any harm to his body since it's not an offensive blessing!"
"Then what is–...?!"
"Ahh… Ahhhhhh… AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" As Kei's body trembled, he suddenly let out a huge scream before opening his eyes.
When Kei's eyes opened they were now filled with a bright red colour in his iris and he was now slowly sitting up. Sensing imminent danger, Eric immediately stood guard in front of his wife and daughter, as did the rest of the guards in the room. Their eyes widened in shock when they looked at Kei and noticed that he was not actually conscious even though his eyes were open. As he sat there without moving, his shadow started moving instead before a figure started to come out of it.
"Oh my, oh my. What have you done to my sweet child?"
A young, ladylike voice that originated from the figure coming out of Kei's shadow echoed through the room. When the humanlike figure completely came out of the shadow, it made up the figure of a young but mature beautiful looking woman with long, green hair and a flower crown on her head. She was wearing a thin, white dress with laces. Her eyes were an unusual green on one side, and purple on the other.
"Red eyes…?! Could it be?!" Eric seemed to have come to a realisation.
"Just what did you do to my child for him to have come to such a state?"
Sensing something dangerous was about to happen, Eric quickly called forth his blessing to defend his family.
"O' god of war and courage, grant me your strength to protect my people, son of Zeus, Lord Ares!"
When he finished his chant, a red sword appeared in Eric's hands. When he held it up in an offensive guard position against the woman, however…
"Oh my, not one, but two Olympian gods in one room? We can't have that now, can we?" The lady spoke.
When the green-haired lady lifted one finger up, the scales of Aletheia and the sword of Ares instantly broke apart, disappearing before the shocked eyes of the Lestia household. After doing so, the woman slowly sat down on the bed where Kei was laying, and stroked his face like a gentle mother before speaking in a low and calm voice.
"Do not raise your arms against me, children. I have appeared today not as a harbinger of death, but one of caution. This boy here has suffered enough, and yet still used whatever compassion he had left in his already weary body, and weary soul to help thou humans. In return, he was treated with such disrespect and cruelty. Even I, one who values life, was tempted to slaughter thy lot who harmed him. Be grateful that my child here is one of compassion and halted me from killing you all. Should you bring any more harm to him, I will make sure to eradicate thou lot where thy stand. That is all."
When she had finished her sentence, she did not even wait for any response as if she was not advising the people she was talking to, but rather she was ordering them, before fading back into Kei's body. When the lady completely vanished, Kei's body collapsed into the bed once again. Eric then ordered the guards and the maids to leave the room to await further instructions. The room was now silent, as only Eric, his wife and Celena were left. Before long, Eric's wife finally broke the silence.
"Dear, do you have any idea what had just happened?"
"I have a slight suspicion, but I don't have a clear picture."
As Eric looked at Kei's still unconscious body on the bed, he turned over to look at Celena once more.
"Celena, when he saved you from that wolf, did he happen to use his blessing?"
"I'm not sure, I was unconscious. But I'm sure he used one of the knives he had to kill it. Does it have anything to do with that lady who appeared?"
"That lady… may have been the goddess who blessed the young man."
When he said that, Eric's wife and daughter widened their eyes in shock. It has never been recorded in history that a god would appear in their physical form to defend their blessed children. The only record that existed was just a fairy tale of the first king of Babel meeting the God of Justice, Astraea, before she left the Earth.
"But that's impossible! No god has ever taken their physical form, let alone being able to eradicate not one but TWO Olympian gods' blessings."
"Be that as it may, only this boy has the right to tell us the truth. We owe a debt of apology to him, after all. Listen, relay this to everyone who was in this room as well, none of what we saw here today must ever be made known to anyone else. If word of what we saw here gets out, this boy's world would turn into a living hell. Understand?"
As the two ladies in the room nodded in agreement, the rest of the household was made known to keep what they saw a complete secret.
'My dear child, I am so sorry for what is about to happen to you.'
As Kei was unconscious, he was visited by the green-haired woman in his dreams.
'What do you mean?'
'It has been too long. I know that controlling my blessing is a tall task. Nevertheless, you are and will be the only living being on this earth that I will ever give my blessings to.'
'I am trying my best, Goddess…'
'You have been alone for too long. I told you when I gave you my blessing that you will not be able to master it without help.'
'But who can help me anymore? There's no one left… Not even…'
'That is why, you have to start trusting again. These people, I can see that they are good people. You don't have to fully give in to them. But at least try to give them a chance.'
'Who—…'
'Time is up, my dear. Remember, I am always looking out for you.'
Two days later, Kei had finally awoken from his sleep. He was still slightly confused as to what had happened to him as he slowly scanned his surroundings. When he looked to his left, he saw a young silver-haired girl lying her head down on the bed beside him, it was Celena completely asleep. When he slowly tried to sit up on the bed, Celena bounced awake as if she were a spring.
"Y-you're… awake…? You're awake!"
Celena was filled with joy as she jumped onto the bed and hugged Kei. Kei was too exhausted to do anything, more than that, he was stunned that Celena was hugging him for some reason.
"… What… are you doing…?"
"I— umm…"
Celena had finally realised what she was doing and bounced up from the bed, her face slightly red.
"U-umm… I will go get my father. Please wait here."
"…Okay…"
When Celena left the room, Kei inspected the room once more. He sat there in a slight daze as he tried to put his memory together. It seemed that he couldn't completely remember what had happened in the past few days that led up to him ending up in that room. He wondered what the meaning of that dream really was and what she meant when his Goddess asked him to start trusting again. Before long, Celena had returned with her parents in tow as the two of them rushed into the room. Hurriedly standing in front of the bed that Kei was sitting on.
"I am Eric Von Lestia, ruler of the Lestia duchy and the father of this reckless girl here. This is my wife…" Eric spoke up whilst bowing his head to Kei.
"Lucia Von Lestia, I want to say it is a pleasure to meet you but… I wish it was under better circumstances." Celena's mom said before bowing to Kei.
However, Kei couldn't help but let his suspicion show on his face. Although the Lestia couple looked disappointed at his doubt over them, it was justified. Their household had caused him so much harm and disrespect. Nevertheless, he still returned their greetings.
"Likewise… My name is Asagami Kei."
"Please do not be so wary of us. Once again, we apologise for the reckless actions of our daughter and our guards."
"If proper etiquette was to greet the people who made me go through all that with kindness and gratitude, then I am in the wrong era."
"Mmm…"
The room fell into an awkward silence as none of the three Lestia family members knew how to respond to that. In truth, Kei had all the right in the world to be thoroughly pissed with them. The fact that he was willing to even hold a simple conversation with them was him being more than generous.
"Haah… well, what's done is done. Can't change the past after all. Now if you would excuse me, I'd like to be on my way now."
Kei had begun indicating his wish to leave. He had no intention of staying there any second more than necessary. However, the Lestia family was unwilling to let him leave as it would do their house a great dishonor to not have made things right with someone they've wronged. Such is the honor of nobility. Not to mention the fact that they were hoping to find out what exactly, or who exactly the woman who appeared from Kei's shadow was.
"Please, at least let us make amends with you. To have you leave after such ill-treatment would bring great shame to our household." Eric was practically begging at this point.
"Please, Kei-san. At least let us treat you to a meal." Celena was also trying to have her saviour stay.
Watching the scene unfold before him, Kei couldn't help but wear an exasperated look on his face.
"Look, don't you get it? I don't trust you people one bit. Not a single one of you. Not the guards, not the maids, and certainly none of you."
When Kei said that, Celena couldn't help but look downcast. After all, she was the one person in the entire family who owed a huge debt of gratitude towards Kei for saving her life. Kei, noticing Celena's saddened expression, gave a weary sigh.
"Haah… Fine. Give me one good reason why I should stay. Not because you owe me a debt of gratitude or any of that nonsense. Why should I trust you enough to actually stay for even one second longer?"
Celena looked up as she felt like Kei was giving them one final chance at redemption. But it also felt like Kei was only giving the three of them one chance to answer, so they had to tread carefully. With that, Celena stepped forward.
"If… if we wanted to truly do you harm… We would have done so in the three days you were asleep!"
Kei scanned the room, trying to verify whether there was any truth to their words. However, he couldn't lie to himself. All he could see were kind and honest people. In fact, he knew that it was none of their fault for all the happenings of the past few days. In the end, he had finally relented, albeit with his guard still up.
"Fine, I guess I've not had any food for days anyway. I'll take you up on your offer."
Hearing those words, Celena's eyes lit up in joy and excitement as Kei had finally accepted their invitation.
"Well, once again, we are the Lestia household of the Lestia duchy. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Sir Kei."
"Mmm… Likewise, please just call me Kei. I am not a person with a title anyways."
"Our maid will be with you shortly."
Kei nodded before the Lestia couple turned around and left the room, leaving just Celena and Kei in what was now another awkward silence.
"Erm… thank you… Once again… for saving my life and also for your forgiveness."
"No need. Just glad to help." Kei said dismissively.
As Celena left the room at last, Kei was finally alone in the room. He let out a long sigh before looking out the window and talking to himself.
"Haah… nothing good's going to come out of this anyway… This feels like trouble…"
Kei couldn't help but think about how he had encountered Celena in the jungle. It was as if he was reliving his past where he had saved Mika. But he knew better than to let those thoughts come over him. Mika was gone, nothing he could do would ever do that. Nonetheless, all he could do was to press forward without looking back.