Chapter 13: 13
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"Where am i..?"
I open my eyes, only to be greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling. It's not the same one as the inn, the bed feels comfortable..
"Where's ariel?"
I hastily looked around in search for her, but she wasn't here. I was the only one here.
I got up from the bed and made my way to the door but somebody else had already opened it before i got there.
The man walked inside the room and i felt a strong anger after seeing him. He was the one who cheated our fight.
"Where.. Is she..? I'll say this now... If you laid a finger on her..."
My surroundings began to freeze as I let out my blood lust.
"Whoa, calm down. I'll explain"
"Explain?! You went back on your word!" I shouted
Why am I so mad...
"The king requests to meet you."
"Oi... You still haven't learned a lesson? You really think I'm going to believe you after everything you just did?" I asked as I got up
With an emotionless expression, I slowly walked towards him, with each step, a trail of ice would be left. I was walking on the cold ground, barefoot, yet I couldn't even feel it.
"Even I'm mad at you, you little ****, but I can't oppose orders from above, even I'd like to know what they want with a kid like you."
Without listening to him, I continued to walk, why... Why was I so angry?
You're not really planning on fighting in the palace, are you? And you know what happened before."
He was starting to get nervous, you could tell just by looking at him
"Y-your friend is safe in one of the guest rooms!" He shouted
And in that moment I stopped.
"Explain yourself."
"F-First of all, Sorry for kidnapping you. I was told to test your skill but didn't expect you to be able to win or use chant-less magic. Please understand that i had to follow my orders and capture you alive"
After hearing that Ariel was safe, i had calmed down.
"Alright, Let's just get this over with."
"O-Okay..."
That explains his neat clothes, completely unlike before.
Without saying another word, the man took me to the kings chamber. As we passed through the corridors, there were many maids and neatly dressed people, Upon seeing that, I could tell that this wasn't a joke.
The only one Inside was a man. He looked like he was in his late 40s at most. He sat on his throne and looked at me.
I walked up to the throne and bowed my head with my kneels on the floor, something William advised me to do.
"Lift up your head young boy."
I lifted up my head and stared at him. Long Silver hair and White eyes. He gave off vibes of a competent man
"What is your name?" He asked
"John Fox" I replied
"How's our kingdom? Is it to your liking?"
"Surely an orphan like me wouldn't have many positive views on it."
He got people to spy on me?
"Who taught you how to use chant-less magic? It's a lost method, The ones who do know are few in this world."
"It's self taught." I replied
"So you're saying a kid who hasn't received any education is able to pull off Chant-less magic as if it were nothing? Haha, are you trying to lie to me boy?"
The look on his eyes, were as if they were looking at trash. If not for my knowledge, I'm sure he would have disposed of me on the second.
"Not at all, I simply understood the concept and became able to use it."
That's not accurate, I understood the concept of an element to be able to use it, but there's no point in telling him that. I don��t like the look on his eyes, nor this kingdom.
"Interesting.. So you're saying you understand the concept of magic..?"
"In a way."
"That itself is already perfect. Our court mages have been trying to figure out the concept since they were kids and have only gotten so far.."
Obviously, Magic is science, this worlds education is clearly behind. Therefore someone like me, who is from another world and has learnt about these things, has no difficulties using it.
"Say, would you be interested in working for the palace as a teacher? We can make your pay way higher than what you could make as an E-rank adventurer and you would have your own territory and house."
So he wants my knowledge, and after that he'll most likely dispose of me so that I don't teach it to others...
Why would I assume that? Because of how the way this kingdom treats the commoners. They separate the kingdom into 2 sections, the commoner sect and the noble sect. Commoners are not allowed to enter the noble sec and some are killed if they do.
If I wasn't invited by the king himself, I would have been killed by now. The palace is located in the noble sect after all. That just shows how little they regard the lives of commoners.
If a commoner like me were to possess valuable knowledge, they'd naturally want to get rid of it, to keep balance in the kingdom. And to increase it's overall strength. But don't worry I have no interest in staying in this kingdom or getting involved with your corrupt society.
"Could i have some time to think it through? I'd also like to consult it with my friend and there are a few things i left unfinished back in the inn"
"Very well, You have a week to think about it, during that time you and your friend can go finish what you had to do."
I left the Giant golden room and was greeted by william who took me to Ariels room.
"Ariel, how have you been?" I asked as i walked inside
Ariel who had been sat on her bed got up and ran towards me
"John!!" She said as she gave me a tight hug
"I'm back" I said
"There's a lot of things that i have to tell you!" She said as he continued to hug me
"I'm interested in hearing them, but let's leave it for later. We have something we need to do now." I whispered to her, while making it seem like a normal hug
"Ahem, while i'm glad you are happy to be reuniting, the king would like his answer as soon as possible, so please go finish what you have to at the inn." Said will
"Understood, what we have to do will take a few days, but i'm sure the answer will be before his deadline. But i would like to return as soon as possible." I replied as i stopped hugging Ariel
Will nodded before leading us to our inn
-------------------------------------------------------------
The palace was quite far from our inn, since it was in the commoner area. The castle was in the middle of the kingdom and Noble Area.
When i first came into this world, i didn't realise it was a noble area so i tried going inside, but got stopped by the guards. At least 80% of the kingdom is mainly for nobles, which is why i never really took the time to explore the rest of.
The discoveries, magic they were all exciting, but i haven't done anything that made me truly feel like an adventurer, all I've done is subjugate monsters. I want to explore this world, see new things. Fight a dragon, make a party.
The kings offer was boring. I'm not going to spend my days teaching people how to fight. But i couldn't exactly tell him that. The education i received holds a lot of power, which is why he wouldn't just let me go. So my only option is to grab Ariel and run.
I was honest to gain his trust but i'm sure he's still wary of me. That's fine, i already have a few countermeasures even if he sends people to watch me.
From what the innkeeper told me, This kingdom has a severe lack of adventurers. That's because of the inequality between the commoners and nobles and because it has no dungeons. It's also surrounded by other kingdoms making monsters difficult to find. The knights are all that's needed to take care of them
I'm sure that's not the only case, but either way, adventurers are people who travel around, i believe i've spent enough time in this kingdom, I have enough funds, so i think it's time me and Ariel go exploring.
"Get ready"
Will was no longer with us so i didn't have to worry about him overhearing it.
"what?" Ariel asked
"I'll explain it later. For now just follow my lead" I muttered as I gestured her to be quiet
She nodded without saying a word
We walked inside and i began to pack my things. That said, i barely had anything. Only a few sets of clothes which i had bought for myself and Clothes Ariel had gotten herself. We had a few bags we got from shopping so we put our clothes inside of them.
I made sure the necklace i was going to give to her was still in my pocket before heading outside of the inn. I made sure to thank the inn keeper for the information before heading towards the exit.
"John, wait a minute!" Ariel said
"What's wrong?" I asked
"Well, we've been packing up our things and you even told the gatekeeper that we were leaving. Where are we going?"
"There's no time to explain, but all i can say is that we're running away."
"But i heard from William.. The king offered you a place in the palace so why?" She asked
"I'll explain it on the way""
With a worried expression ariel didn't say anything. Seeing this, I thought she had the right to decide, and that I shouldn't force her.
"A-Ariel... If I told you we were running away for our own good, would you still want to come? You'd be leaving the kingdom you've lived in ever since you were a kid..." I asked
As if finally understanding, she nodded and with a smile she said "If john's going, then I'll go with you, we're partners after all, right?" She asked
"Right" I replied
I smiled back at her and grabbed on to her hand before muttering the words. "Furtim, Silentium"
Ariel gave me a confused look before trying to say something. However, to her surprise no sound came out
I motioned at her to wait and that i would explain it after we left.
Furtim is a camouflaging spell. I had started practising this spell when i got noticed by the scouts back in the goblin settlement.
For the first spell, furtim. I had to understand that In order for a person to see an object, light needs to reflect off of it and hit their eyes. So the only thing i need to do is use my mana as a cloak to intercept that light, preventing it from reflecting off of me and from escaping if it makes it inside.
That way, to others, we will appear invisible. But since we are inside the Anti-Light magic cloak, made by coating us in my magic, we don't have any problems seeing things. The cloak also prevents our magic from being detected. It's a great stealth spell.
As for the next spell Silentium. Sound waves exist as variations of pressure in a medium such as Air. They are created by the vibration of an object, which causes the surrounding air to vibrate.
With this mechanism in mind. Just like the Anti-Light magic cloak, i made an anti-sound magic field, By imagining a small magical sphere around us where sound waves can't go inside or come out of and imagining that any vibrations in the air around us cease to exist.
It's a simple method and a powerful combo. Which hardly wastes mana. Anyone who knows how to freely manipulate their magic can do it. The only reason why they probably can't is due to the difference in education between me and the people of this world.
I made the field big enough to fit the two of us but small enough so that other people don't realise. As we left the inn, I noticed that there were a few things off. There seemed to be a few people who were acting as if they were doing something but in reality were keeping watch over the inn
As I held on to ariel's hand, we headed towards the city gates.
After a carriage finally appeared in front of the gates and was about to leave the kingdom, we hopped on the back without anyone noticing and waited for the carriage owner to finish talking to the gatekeeper
After they were done, the gatekeeper opened the gate and the carriage went through.
Around half an hour after the carriage left the kingdom, i undid the spell and we could finally talk again.
The first thing i did, was look back at the kingdom with a relieved expression
"You can talk now, ariel" I said
"A-Ah, I can... So john, can you finally explain?" She asked
"Of course" I replied
***
"So we were going to be used, and you decided that leaving the kingdom would be the best option?" Ariel asked
"Yep" I replied
"Pffft"
We both started to laugh as we sat on the back of the carriage
"Imagine the look on the king's face when he finds out we left" I said
"He's probably be like, 'What?! Guards!" Said Ariel as she imittated him
"But you don't regret the choice, right?" I asked
"Of course not, I think that it was the best decision" Said Ariel
"But weren't you born there...?"
"I didn't really like it, and adventurer's travel, so It's fine, and that doesn't mean I won't ever be able to come back. When I'm older and stronger... I'll come visit" She said with a determined look in her face
Seeing this I felt like a burden had been lifted off my chest
"That's good" I replied
"Ah, by the way. Where are we going? I get that you used some sort of concealment on us so that we wouldn't be seen leaving the kingdom. I could also feel that there were some people watching our inn as we left, so i don't need you to explain why we rushed. But where are we going?"
After hearing her Ariels question, i began to nervously sweat.
"I-I don't know.. But Isn't that what makes it more exciting?"
"W-well, I guess..." She said as she looked away
"W-Why are you looking away?!"
We let out another laugh before as we stared at the sunset. Ariel who looked worried while we were sneaking out, now looked like the weight on her shoulder had been removed.
And i who was starting to feel disappointed at how boring the kingdom was, felt excited now that i could finally experience something new.
Some people may think i'm rushing, but from the very get go, my objective has always been to travel around the world. I was given 10 Gold coins by William as an apology for what he did and now i have 15 gold coins in total.
"Ah! That reminds me."
I pulled out the 2 connected necklaces out from my pocket
"Remember the thing i told you i had to do before sprinting off? I wanted to get this necklace. I was also going to give it to you, if we hadn't been interrupted."
I handed over the sun part of the necklace to Ariel before continuing
"They're 2 in 1, in other words, they're connectable. The one i gave you represents the sun, and mine represents the moon. When you connect them it represents a whole. What do you think? Perfect for partners like us right?" I asked with a smile on my face
Ariel who had been quietly listening, put on the necklace and showed me a bright smile as she said "Thank you.. I'll treasure it!"
Shortly after she lowered her head to cover her face.
"Um.. Ariel, if you don't like it, you don't have to force yourself to wear it.." I said
She lifted up her head in a rush and as tears flowed down her eyes said. "No! It's not that! It's just i was really happy and didn't know what to say.."
"O-Oh.. I see.."
Now this time, i was the one that lowered my head to cover my face.
"You don't have to be that happy.." I quietly whispered to myself
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
"Where am i..?"
I open my eyes, only to be greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling. It's not the same one as the inn, the bed feels comfortable..
"Where's ariel?"
I hastily looked around in search for her, but she wasn't here. I was the only one here.
I got up from the bed and made my way to the door but somebody else had already opened it before i got there.
The man walked inside the room and i felt a strong anger after seeing him. He was the one who cheated our fight.
"Where.. Is she..? I'll say this now... If you laid a finger on her..."
My surroundings began to freeze as I let out my blood lust.
"Whoa, calm down. I'll explain"
"Explain?! You went back on your word!" I shouted
Why am I so mad...
"The king requests to meet you."
"Oi... You still haven't learned a lesson? You really think I'm going to believe you after everything you just did?" I asked as I got up
With an emotionless expression, I slowly walked towards him, with each step, a trail of ice would be left. I was walking on the cold ground, barefoot, yet I couldn't even feel it.
"Even I'm mad at you, you little ****, but I can't oppose orders from above, even I'd like to know what they want with a kid like you."
Without listening to him, I continued to walk, why... Why was I so angry?
You're not really planning on fighting in the palace, are you? And you know what happened before."
He was starting to get nervous, you could tell just by looking at him
"Y-your friend is safe in one of the guest rooms!" He shouted
And in that moment I stopped.
"Explain yourself."
"F-First of all, Sorry for kidnapping you. I was told to test your skill but didn't expect you to be able to win or use chant-less magic. Please understand that i had to follow my orders and capture you alive"
After hearing that Ariel was safe, i had calmed down.
"Alright, Let's just get this over with."
"O-Okay..."
That explains his neat clothes, completely unlike before.
Without saying another word, the man took me to the kings chamber. As we passed through the corridors, there were many maids and neatly dressed people, Upon seeing that, I could tell that this wasn't a joke.
The only one Inside was a man. He looked like he was in his late 40s at most. He sat on his throne and looked at me.
I walked up to the throne and bowed my head with my kneels on the floor, something William advised me to do.
"Lift up your head young boy."
I lifted up my head and stared at him. Long Silver hair and White eyes. He gave off vibes of a competent man
"What is your name?" He asked
"John Fox" I replied
"How's our kingdom? Is it to your liking?"
"Surely an orphan like me wouldn't have many positive views on it."
He got people to spy on me?
"Who taught you how to use chant-less magic? It's a lost method, The ones who do know are few in this world."
"It's self taught." I replied
"So you're saying a kid who hasn't received any education is able to pull off Chant-less magic as if it were nothing? Haha, are you trying to lie to me boy?"
The look on his eyes, were as if they were looking at trash. If not for my knowledge, I'm sure he would have disposed of me on the second.
"Not at all, I simply understood the concept and became able to use it."
That's not accurate, I understood the concept of an element to be able to use it, but there's no point in telling him that. I don��t like the look on his eyes, nor this kingdom.
"Interesting.. So you're saying you understand the concept of magic..?"
"In a way."
"That itself is already perfect. Our court mages have been trying to figure out the concept since they were kids and have only gotten so far.."
Obviously, Magic is science, this worlds education is clearly behind. Therefore someone like me, who is from another world and has learnt about these things, has no difficulties using it.
"Say, would you be interested in working for the palace as a teacher? We can make your pay way higher than what you could make as an E-rank adventurer and you would have your own territory and house."
So he wants my knowledge, and after that he'll most likely dispose of me so that I don't teach it to others...
Why would I assume that? Because of how the way this kingdom treats the commoners. They separate the kingdom into 2 sections, the commoner sect and the noble sect. Commoners are not allowed to enter the noble sec and some are killed if they do.
If I wasn't invited by the king himself, I would have been killed by now. The palace is located in the noble sect after all. That just shows how little they regard the lives of commoners.
If a commoner like me were to possess valuable knowledge, they'd naturally want to get rid of it, to keep balance in the kingdom. And to increase it's overall strength. But don't worry I have no interest in staying in this kingdom or getting involved with your corrupt society.
"Could i have some time to think it through? I'd also like to consult it with my friend and there are a few things i left unfinished back in the inn"
"Very well, You have a week to think about it, during that time you and your friend can go finish what you had to do."
I left the Giant golden room and was greeted by william who took me to Ariels room.
"Ariel, how have you been?" I asked as i walked inside
Ariel who had been sat on her bed got up and ran towards me
"John!!" She said as she gave me a tight hug
"I'm back" I said
"There's a lot of things that i have to tell you!" She said as he continued to hug me
"I'm interested in hearing them, but let's leave it for later. We have something we need to do now." I whispered to her, while making it seem like a normal hug
"Ahem, while i'm glad you are happy to be reuniting, the king would like his answer as soon as possible, so please go finish what you have to at the inn." Said will
"Understood, what we have to do will take a few days, but i'm sure the answer will be before his deadline. But i would like to return as soon as possible." I replied as i stopped hugging Ariel
Will nodded before leading us to our inn
-------------------------------------------------------------
The palace was quite far from our inn, since it was in the commoner area. The castle was in the middle of the kingdom and Noble Area.
When i first came into this world, i didn't realise it was a noble area so i tried going inside, but got stopped by the guards. At least 80% of the kingdom is mainly for nobles, which is why i never really took the time to explore the rest of.
The discoveries, magic they were all exciting, but i haven't done anything that made me truly feel like an adventurer, all I've done is subjugate monsters. I want to explore this world, see new things. Fight a dragon, make a party.
The kings offer was boring. I'm not going to spend my days teaching people how to fight. But i couldn't exactly tell him that. The education i received holds a lot of power, which is why he wouldn't just let me go. So my only option is to grab Ariel and run.
I was honest to gain his trust but i'm sure he's still wary of me. That's fine, i already have a few countermeasures even if he sends people to watch me.
From what the innkeeper told me, This kingdom has a severe lack of adventurers. That's because of the inequality between the commoners and nobles and because it has no dungeons. It's also surrounded by other kingdoms making monsters difficult to find. The knights are all that's needed to take care of them
I'm sure that's not the only case, but either way, adventurers are people who travel around, i believe i've spent enough time in this kingdom, I have enough funds, so i think it's time me and Ariel go exploring.
"Get ready"
Will was no longer with us so i didn't have to worry about him overhearing it.
"what?" Ariel asked
"I'll explain it later. For now just follow my lead" I muttered as I gestured her to be quiet
She nodded without saying a word
We walked inside and i began to pack my things. That said, i barely had anything. Only a few sets of clothes which i had bought for myself and Clothes Ariel had gotten herself. We had a few bags we got from shopping so we put our clothes inside of them.
I made sure the necklace i was going to give to her was still in my pocket before heading outside of the inn. I made sure to thank the inn keeper for the information before heading towards the exit.
"John, wait a minute!" Ariel said
"What's wrong?" I asked
"Well, we've been packing up our things and you even told the gatekeeper that we were leaving. Where are we going?"
"There's no time to explain, but all i can say is that we're running away."
"But i heard from William.. The king offered you a place in the palace so why?" She asked
"I'll explain it on the way""
With a worried expression ariel didn't say anything. Seeing this, I thought she had the right to decide, and that I shouldn't force her.
"A-Ariel... If I told you we were running away for our own good, would you still want to come? You'd be leaving the kingdom you've lived in ever since you were a kid..." I asked
As if finally understanding, she nodded and with a smile she said "If john's going, then I'll go with you, we're partners after all, right?" She asked
"Right" I replied
I smiled back at her and grabbed on to her hand before muttering the words. "Furtim, Silentium"
Ariel gave me a confused look before trying to say something. However, to her surprise no sound came out
I motioned at her to wait and that i would explain it after we left.
Furtim is a camouflaging spell. I had started practising this spell when i got noticed by the scouts back in the goblin settlement.
For the first spell, furtim. I had to understand that In order for a person to see an object, light needs to reflect off of it and hit their eyes. So the only thing i need to do is use my mana as a cloak to intercept that light, preventing it from reflecting off of me and from escaping if it makes it inside.
That way, to others, we will appear invisible. But since we are inside the Anti-Light magic cloak, made by coating us in my magic, we don't have any problems seeing things. The cloak also prevents our magic from being detected. It's a great stealth spell.
As for the next spell Silentium. Sound waves exist as variations of pressure in a medium such as Air. They are created by the vibration of an object, which causes the surrounding air to vibrate.
With this mechanism in mind. Just like the Anti-Light magic cloak, i made an anti-sound magic field, By imagining a small magical sphere around us where sound waves can't go inside or come out of and imagining that any vibrations in the air around us cease to exist.
It's a simple method and a powerful combo. Which hardly wastes mana. Anyone who knows how to freely manipulate their magic can do it. The only reason why they probably can't is due to the difference in education between me and the people of this world.
I made the field big enough to fit the two of us but small enough so that other people don't realise. As we left the inn, I noticed that there were a few things off. There seemed to be a few people who were acting as if they were doing something but in reality were keeping watch over the inn
As I held on to ariel's hand, we headed towards the city gates.
After a carriage finally appeared in front of the gates and was about to leave the kingdom, we hopped on the back without anyone noticing and waited for the carriage owner to finish talking to the gatekeeper
After they were done, the gatekeeper opened the gate and the carriage went through.
Around half an hour after the carriage left the kingdom, i undid the spell and we could finally talk again.
The first thing i did, was look back at the kingdom with a relieved expression
"You can talk now, ariel" I said
"A-Ah, I can... So john, can you finally explain?" She asked
"Of course" I replied
***
"So we were going to be used, and you decided that leaving the kingdom would be the best option?" Ariel asked
"Yep" I replied
"Pffft"
We both started to laugh as we sat on the back of the carriage
"Imagine the look on the king's face when he finds out we left" I said
"He's probably be like, 'What?! Guards!" Said Ariel as she imittated him
"But you don't regret the choice, right?" I asked
"Of course not, I think that it was the best decision" Said Ariel
"But weren't you born there...?"
"I didn't really like it, and adventurer's travel, so It's fine, and that doesn't mean I won't ever be able to come back. When I'm older and stronger... I'll come visit" She said with a determined look in her face
Seeing this I felt like a burden had been lifted off my chest
"That's good" I replied
"Ah, by the way. Where are we going? I get that you used some sort of concealment on us so that we wouldn't be seen leaving the kingdom. I could also feel that there were some people watching our inn as we left, so i don't need you to explain why we rushed. But where are we going?"
After hearing her Ariels question, i began to nervously sweat.
"I-I don't know.. But Isn't that what makes it more exciting?"
"W-well, I guess..." She said as she looked away
"W-Why are you looking away?!"
We let out another laugh before as we stared at the sunset. Ariel who looked worried while we were sneaking out, now looked like the weight on her shoulder had been removed.
And i who was starting to feel disappointed at how boring the kingdom was, felt excited now that i could finally experience something new.
Some people may think i'm rushing, but from the very get go, my objective has always been to travel around the world. I was given 10 Gold coins by William as an apology for what he did and now i have 15 gold coins in total.
"Ah! That reminds me."
I pulled out the 2 connected necklaces out from my pocket
"Remember the thing i told you i had to do before sprinting off? I wanted to get this necklace. I was also going to give it to you, if we hadn't been interrupted."
I handed over the sun part of the necklace to Ariel before continuing
"They're 2 in 1, in other words, they're connectable. The one i gave you represents the sun, and mine represents the moon. When you connect them it represents a whole. What do you think? Perfect for partners like us right?" I asked with a smile on my face
Ariel who had been quietly listening, put on the necklace and showed me a bright smile as she said "Thank you.. I'll treasure it!"
Shortly after she lowered her head to cover her face.
"Um.. Ariel, if you don't like it, you don't have to force yourself to wear it.." I said
She lifted up her head in a rush and as tears flowed down her eyes said. "No! It's not that! It's just i was really happy and didn't know what to say.."
"O-Oh.. I see.."
Now this time, i was the one that lowered my head to cover my face.
"You don't have to be that happy.." I quietly whispered to myself
"Where am i..?"I open my eyes, only to be greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling. It's not the same one as the inn, the bed feels comfortable.."Where's ariel?"I hastily looked around in search for her, but she wasn't here. I was the only one here.I got up from the bed and made my way to the door but somebody else had already opened it before i got there.The man walked inside the room and i felt a strong anger after seeing him. He was the one who cheated our fight."Where.. Is she..? I'll say this now... If you laid a finger on her..."My surroundings began to freeze as I let out my blood lust."Whoa, calm down. I'll explain""Explain?! You went back on your word!" I shoutedWhy am I so mad..."The king requests to meet you.""Oi... You still haven't learned a lesson? You really think I'm going to believe you after everything you just did?" I asked as I got upWith an emotionless expression, I slowly walked towards him, with each step, a trail of ice would be left. I was walking on the cold ground, barefoot, yet I couldn't even feel it."Even I'm mad at you, you little ****, but I can't oppose orders from above, even I'd like to know what they want with a kid like you."Without listening to him, I continued to walk, why... Why was I so angry?You're not really planning on fighting in the palace, are you? And you know what happened before."He was starting to get nervous, you could tell just by looking at him"Y-your friend is safe in one of the guest rooms!" He shoutedAnd in that moment I stopped."Explain yourself.""F-First of all, Sorry for kidnapping you. I was told to test your skill but didn't expect you to be able to win or use chant-less magic. Please understand that i had to follow my orders and capture you alive"After hearing that Ariel was safe, i had calmed down."Alright, Let's just get this over with.""O-Okay..."That explains his neat clothes, completely unlike before.Without saying another word, the man took me to the kings chamber. As we passed through the corridors, there were many maids and neatly dressed people, Upon seeing that, I could tell that this wasn't a joke.The only one Inside was a man. He looked like he was in his late 40s at most. He sat on his throne and looked at me.I walked up to the throne and bowed my head with my kneels on the floor, something William advised me to do."Lift up your head young boy."I lifted up my head and stared at him. Long Silver hair and White eyes. He gave off vibes of a competent man"What is your name?" He asked"John Fox" I replied"How's our kingdom? Is it to your liking?""Surely an orphan like me wouldn't have many positive views on it."He got people to spy on me?"Who taught you how to use chant-less magic? It's a lost method, The ones who do know are few in this world.""It's self taught." I replied"So you're saying a kid who hasn't received any education is able to pull off Chant-less magic as if it were nothing? Haha, are you trying to lie to me boy?"The look on his eyes, were as if they were looking at trash. If not for my knowledge, I'm sure he would have disposed of me on the second."Not at all, I simply understood the concept and became able to use it."That's not accurate, I understood the concept of an element to be able to use it, but there's no point in telling him that. I dont like the look on his eyes, nor this kingdom."Interesting.. So you're saying you understand the concept of magic..?""In a way.""That itself is already perfect. Our court mages have been trying to figure out the concept since they were kids and have only gotten so far.."Obviously, Magic is science, this worlds education is clearly behind. Therefore someone like me, who is from another world and has learnt about these things, has no difficulties using it."Say, would you be interested in working for the palace as a teacher? We can make your pay way higher than what you could make as an E-rank adventurer and you would have your own territory and house."So he wants my knowledge, and after that he'll most likely dispose of me so that I don't teach it to others...Why would I assume that? Because of how the way this kingdom treats the commoners. They separate the kingdom into 2 sections, the commoner sect and the noble sect. Commoners are not allowed to enter the noble sec and some are killed if they do.If I wasn't invited by the king himself, I would have been killed by now. The palace is located in the noble sect after all. That just shows how little they regard the lives of commoners.If a commoner like me were to possess valuable knowledge, they'd naturally want to get rid of it, to keep balance in the kingdom. And to increase it's overall strength. But don't worry I have no interest in staying in this kingdom or getting involved with your corrupt society."Could i have some time to think it through? I'd also like to consult it with my friend and there are a few things i left unfinished back in the inn""Very well, You have a week to think about it, during that time you and your friend can go finish what you had to do."I left the Giant golden room and was greeted by william who took me to Ariels room."Ariel, how have you been?" I asked as i walked insideAriel who had been sat on her bed got up and ran towards me"John!!" She said as she gave me a tight hug"I'm back" I said"There's a lot of things that i have to tell you!" She said as he continued to hug me"I'm interested in hearing them, but let's leave it for later. We have something we need to do now." I whispered to her, while making it seem like a normal hug"Ahem, while i'm glad you are happy to be reuniting, the king would like his answer as soon as possible, so please go finish what you have to at the inn." Said will"Understood, what we have to do will take a few days, but i'm sure the answer will be before his deadline. But i would like to return as soon as possible." I replied as i stopped hugging ArielWill nodded before leading us to our inn-------------------------------------------------------------The palace was quite far from our inn, since it was in the commoner area. The castle was in the middle of the kingdom and Noble Area.When i first came into this world, i didn't realise it was a noble area so i tried going inside, but got stopped by the guards. At least 80% of the kingdom is mainly for nobles, which is why i never really took the time to explore the rest of.The discoveries, magic they were all exciting, but i haven't done anything that made me truly feel like an adventurer, all I've done is subjugate monsters. I want to explore this world, see new things. Fight a dragon, make a party.The kings offer was boring. I'm not going to spend my days teaching people how to fight. But i couldn't exactly tell him that. The education i received holds a lot of power, which is why he wouldn't just let me go. So my only option is to grab Ariel and run.I was honest to gain his trust but i'm sure he's still wary of me. That's fine, i already have a few countermeasures even if he sends people to watch me.From what the innkeeper told me, This kingdom has a severe lack of adventurers. That's because of the inequality between the commoners and nobles and because it has no dungeons. It's also surrounded by other kingdoms making monsters difficult to find. The knights are all that's needed to take care of themI'm sure that's not the only case, but either way, adventurers are people who travel around, i believe i've spent enough time in this kingdom, I have enough funds, so i think it's time me and Ariel go exploring."Get ready"Will was no longer with us so i didn't have to worry about him overhearing it."what?" Ariel asked"I'll explain it later. For now just follow my lead" I muttered as I gestured her to be quietShe nodded without saying a wordWe walked inside and i began to pack my things. That said, i barely had anything. Only a few sets of clothes which i had bought for myself and Clothes Ariel had gotten herself. We had a few bags we got from shopping so we put our clothes inside of them.I made sure the necklace i was going to give to her was still in my pocket before heading outside of the inn. I made sure to thank the inn keeper for the information before heading towards the exit."John, wait a minute!" Ariel said"What's wrong?" I asked"Well, we've been packing up our things and you even told the gatekeeper that we were leaving. Where are we going?""There's no time to explain, but all i can say is that we're running away.""But i heard from William.. The king offered you a place in the palace so why?" She asked"I'll explain it on the way""With a worried expression ariel didn't say anything. Seeing this, I thought she had the right to decide, and that I shouldn't force her."A-Ariel... If I told you we were running away for our own good, would you still want to come? You'd be leaving the kingdom you've lived in ever since you were a kid..." I askedAs if finally understanding, she nodded and with a smile she said "If john's going, then I'll go with you, we're partners after all, right?" She asked"Right" I repliedI smiled back at her and grabbed on to her hand before muttering the words. "Furtim, Silentium"Ariel gave me a confused look before trying to say something. However, to her surprise no sound came outI motioned at her to wait and that i would explain it after we left.Furtim is a camouflaging spell. I had started practising this spell when i got noticed by the scouts back in the goblin settlement.For the first spell, furtim. I had to understand that In order for a person to see an object, light needs to reflect off of it and hit their eyes. So the only thing i need to do is use my mana as a cloak to intercept that light, preventing it from reflecting off of me and from escaping if it makes it inside.That way, to others, we will appear invisible. But since we are inside the Anti-Light magic cloak, made by coating us in my magic, we don't have any problems seeing things. The cloak also prevents our magic from being detected. It's a great stealth spell.As for the next spell Silentium. Sound waves exist as variations of pressure in a medium such as Air. They are created by the vibration of an object, which causes the surrounding air to vibrate.With this mechanism in mind. Just like the Anti-Light magic cloak, i made an anti-sound magic field, By imagining a small magical sphere around us where sound waves can't go inside or come out of and imagining that any vibrations in the air around us cease to exist.It's a simple method and a powerful combo. Which hardly wastes mana. Anyone who knows how to freely manipulate their magic can do it. The only reason why they probably can't is due to the difference in education between me and the people of this world.I made the field big enough to fit the two of us but small enough so that other people don't realise. As we left the inn, I noticed that there were a few things off. There seemed to be a few people who were acting as if they were doing something but in reality were keeping watch over the innAs I held on to ariel's hand, we headed towards the city gates.After a carriage finally appeared in front of the gates and was about to leave the kingdom, we hopped on the back without anyone noticing and waited for the carriage owner to finish talking to the gatekeeperAfter they were done, the gatekeeper opened the gate and the carriage went through.Around half an hour after the carriage left the kingdom, i undid the spell and we could finally talk again.The first thing i did, was look back at the kingdom with a relieved expression"You can talk now, ariel" I said"A-Ah, I can... So john, can you finally explain?" She asked"Of course" I replied***"So we were going to be used, and you decided that leaving the kingdom would be the best option?" Ariel asked"Yep" I replied"Pffft"We both started to laugh as we sat on the back of the carriage"Imagine the look on the king's face when he finds out we left" I said"He's probably be like, 'What?! Guards!" Said Ariel as she imittated him"But you don't regret the choice, right?" I asked"Of course not, I think that it was the best decision" Said Ariel"But weren't you born there...?""I didn't really like it, and adventurer's travel, so It's fine, and that doesn't mean I won't ever be able to come back. When I'm older and stronger... I'll come visit" She said with a determined look in her faceSeeing this I felt like a burden had been lifted off my chest"That's good" I replied"Ah, by the way. Where are we going? I get that you used some sort of concealment on us so that we wouldn't be seen leaving the kingdom. I could also feel that there were some people watching our inn as we left, so i don't need you to explain why we rushed. But where are we going?"After hearing her Ariels question, i began to nervously sweat."I-I don't know.. But Isn't that what makes it more exciting?""W-well, I guess..." She said as she looked away"W-Why are you looking away?!"We let out another laugh before as we stared at the sunset. Ariel who looked worried while we were sneaking out, now looked like the weight on her shoulder had been removed.And i who was starting to feel disappointed at how boring the kingdom was, felt excited now that i could finally experience something new.Some people may think i'm rushing, but from the very get go, my objective has always been to travel around the world. I was given 10 Gold coins by William as an apology for what he did and now i have 15 gold coins in total."Ah! That reminds me."I pulled out the 2 connected necklaces out from my pocket"Remember the thing i told you i had to do before sprinting off? I wanted to get this necklace. I was also going to give it to you, if we hadn't been interrupted."I handed over the sun part of the necklace to Ariel before continuing"They're 2 in 1, in other words, they're connectable. The one i gave you represents the sun, and mine represents the moon. When you connect them it represents a whole. What do you think? Perfect for partners like us right?" I asked with a smile on my faceAriel who had been quietly listening, put on the necklace and showed me a bright smile as she said "Thank you.. I'll treasure it!"Shortly after she lowered her head to cover her face."Um.. Ariel, if you don't like it, you don't have to force yourself to wear it.." I saidShe lifted up her head in a rush and as tears flowed down her eyes said. "No! It's not that! It's just i was really happy and didn't know what to say..""O-Oh.. I see.."Now this time, i was the one that lowered my head to cover my face."You don't have to be that happy.." I quietly whispered to myself
