"Aren't you excited to see your cousin?"
"Let her go."
"I don't think she wants that..."
"Brother! Look, it's Williams! Everything seems fine, let's go back to the Castle and meet Mother."
"Williams! Stop messing around and let her go!"
Williams released Nadya's hand and instructed her to go to Rem.
"Are you satisfied now?"
"What do you want?"
"I want you to come back to the Castle with me."
"How did you find us?"
"The Phoenix Trail Echo helped me find you."
"Are soldiers coming?"
"No, I came alone and didn't tell anyone where you were."
The air between the two was suffocating. Rem never loosened his grip on his sword's sheath, knowing that Williams could cut him in half in an instant.
"Come back to the Castle with me, Rem."
"And why would I do that?"
"If you beg my father for forgiveness and declare your submission, he might allow you and your sister to live..."
Williams's words caused Rem's brow to furrow, and rage began to seep through his pores.
"Why did your father do this?! Why did my uncle do this?!"
"Your father was a traitor to the throne... he was a spy for the neighboring nations and was sentenced to execution."
"My father? A spy?! A traitor to the throne?! You must be joking!"
Rem's voice rose and cracked, and the hatred in his eyes toward Williams flared, making Williams instinctively retreat a few steps backward.
"My father lived and dedicated his life to that throne! My father killed families and men for that throne! Under your damned father's command! And you tell me he is the good person and my father is the bad one?"
The aura of the Judgment Blade raged and exploded all around. Rem drew his sword, and the corruption covered his hands and rose halfway up his face. His eyes were blinded by dark blackness, his voice sounded like the screams of the aura, and his hair stood up in the air due to the surrounding pressure.
In that moment, Rem was a monster.
His rush toward Williams left a trail of destruction and burning behind him, and with a single swing, the fire of the curse scorched Williams and the shack behind him.
But Williams had moved, and Rem closed the distance between them in an instant, and the two swords clashed.
Williams did not unsheathe his sword, but the weight of his scabbard was enough to withstand the power of the Judgment Blade.
Rem continued to scream, the curse covering and clouding his thoughts. The rage that consumed him fed the latent hatred in the sword, and Rem was merely the embodiment of that hatred.
Williams was shocked by Rem's form, while Asari's gaze held some annoyance, but he did not move.
"Calm down, Rem!"
"Aaaahh!!"
Williams's words did not reach Rem's ears, and the scorching flames ignited half of the surrounding trees.
The fire began to intensify, and the scene became a miniature hell, and in the middle of that hell stood Rem and the Judgment Blade.
With one step, Asari appeared near Williams and whispered in his ear:
"You take the sword, and I will stop his frenzy."
"Understood!"
Williams and Asari moved side-by-side in spiraling motions. Rem could not track both of them, and in a flash, they both disappeared from his sight.
Williams drew his crimson sword from its sheath, and a heavy, gravity-like aura spread everywhere, causing even Asari to stumble slightly during his movement.
"Be heavier..." a heavy voice commanded Rem. The sound slipped into his ear as if it were an order from the world's constraints governing him—an order that could not be refused.
With a strike from the back of Williams's sword to Rem's chest, Rem collapsed to the ground. Williams grasped the Judgment Blade and plunged it into the earth.
"Wind Path..." A soft sound was carried by the passing breeze near Rem, and from behind this wind, Asari emerged and delivered a light strike with the tip of his sword, causing the traces of corruption to vanish with the passing breeze.
Silence enveloped the moment. Asari and Williams exchanged glances, and Rem was unconscious.
Asari carried Rem, and Williams carried little Nadya, and they headed into the forest. The four sat under a gigantic tree.
It took half a day for Rem to wake up. The corruption had left scars on his hands and body.
"Looks like that sword left annoying marks on you..."
"...."
"Looks like he won't talk to you, Williams. So, talk to me."
"Teacher..."
"You let the sword possess you... your anger blinded you, you destroyed my house, scared your sister, and burned half the forest."
"Yes..."
A powerful slap from Asari on Rem's cheek echoed through the forest, leaving Williams and Nadya in shock.
"These are not the actions of a warrior; this is not what I taught you."
"Right... I apologize."
"Talk to Williams! You are a man, and he is a man. You are eleven, and he is fifteen, so don't act like a child in front of him."
Asari stepped away, taking Nadya with him, leaving Williams and Rem alone under the gigantic tree.
"Are you coming back to the Castle with me?"
"No... and I want to reclaim my mother."
"My aunt is also considered a traitor, and I cannot allow that."
"Then I will come and take her from you myself."
"Who told you I would allow you to leave this place?"
"No one... but I want you to try to stop me."
"You are truly stubborn, aren't you..."
"Yes, I am. I've been this way since we were infants, and you know that."
"...I went to Arashia and found some peasants, but I found no trace of the traitor and his little sister. So, I picked myself up and returned to the Castle. A good report, right?"
"Seems suitable."
Williams lived by his principles. He believed his father was the absolute law and absolute justice, but he was not despicable.
In his steps away from Rem, Williams carried in his heart a great deal of sorrow for his Aunt Rose and his cousin Rem and what they had lost due to his father's decision, but Williams did not doubt his decision.
One can confidently serve even while doubting the decisions of his king; that is what it means to be a knight.
"Williams..."
"Yes!"
"Tell your father... that I am coming to burn them all."
"Then the Hallowed Guardian Blade will be deep in your chest..."
"Perhaps it will be the Judgment Blade..."
"We'll wait and see..."
With light chuckles, Williams disappeared behind the trees. A small smile of relief appeared on Rem's face after this encounter.
Rem was not wise and could not control his emotions correctly, nor his new powers, but he knew how to distinguish right from wrong.
Rem's conversation with Williams was the right action, and even though Rem knew it was impossible for Williams to ever become his ally, he liked having him as his rival.
Before he drifted off to sleep from exhaustion again, a silver object Williams left near Rem reflected the light in his eyes. Rem turned to see what Williams had left behind: it was a slender sword with a pure, beautiful blade.
"Point Zero..."
...
Using the Phoenix Trail, Williams returned to the Castle on the same day. He entered his room and took off the Warrior's Trail armor he was wearing.
He left his room and went to his father the King's chambers and knocked, but no one answered, so Williams entered.
The room was in a state of chaos, and the bed was too. On it were tattered, old manuscripts in a language Williams could not read.
Before Williams could examine them closely, the door was flung open, and Rodan yelled:
"Williams! What are you doing!"
"My King! I apologize, I came in to talk to you but couldn't find you, and the room was a mess."
Rodan sighed. "Don't speak formally to me... we are not in the throne room." Rodan threw himself onto the bed, exhaustion evident in his eyes.
"Father..."
"Yes."
"Why don't we free my Aunt Rose and pardon her?"
"We cannot do that. You know she and her family are all traitors to the kingdom."
"If Rodan was the only traitor, why do we condemn his family too!"
"You may not understand! But I don't want you to interfere in royal matters!"
"I am the heir to the throne! And the one in prison is your sister! My aunt! So don't talk to me as if I were just one of your knights! I am your son!"
"That's why I told you not to interfere! Because you are my son! And these matters hurt! I know they hurt you more than you show, so I want you to stay away as much as possible, and forgive me as much as possible."
Williams could not utter another word, feeling as if a fishbone were caught in his throat. He fought his tears as he had never fought in a battle before, but he wept...
"I know you met Regham's children... and Point Zero is missing. If you repeat this again, next time you will be the traitor..."
Williams turned without saying a word, and before he left, he held the edge of the door and whispered:
"Perhaps it truly will be the Judgment Blade," and closed the door in silence.
...
"You bastard! You destroyed my house with your ridiculous recklessness..."
"Sorry."
"Don't apologize! I want a house."
"Please stop elbowing my head."
"After you build me a house!"
"But I don't know how to build a house."
"Buy one then! Sell your body and buy me a new house."
On their way toward the city of Arashia, Asari continued to bother Rem all the way. The three stayed in a hotel on the edge of the city, at Asari's expense, of course.
"So... what are we going to do now?"
"I don't have a house... and I'm tired of being a peasant anyway. I have a friend on the borders of Araniga who might show us how to infiltrate Dingo territories without dying."
"I'm sorry for dragging you into all this trouble..."
"Don't apologize. You added an excitement to my life that I haven't experienced in years, and for that, I am grateful to you... You made me learn things I didn't know, and I will live a story I haven't lived before. I am ready to die for that."
"Master... I never asked you the name of your sword before..."
"My sword?... It is Wind Path."