The Battle for Leyta

The return of the Founder (2)

The morning sun shone brightly.

While walking away from the gates of Ytrea, he saw a small person laying on the side of the road up ahead.

'Huh? Why is there a child sleeping outside of town?' He thought to himself as he approached them.

As Dromer got closer to the person, he saw that their clothes were tattered and that they had a collar around their neck. He hadn't seen anyone else wearing a collar, so it was a bit weird to him.

'A collar? Weird, but okay...? Still... Something doesn't feel right about them.'

Dromer went right next to the person, knelt down and tried to wake them up.

"Hey, wake up! This isn't a safe place to sle---" He suddenly stopped talking because the person was completely unconscious. There were obvious signs of severe malnutrition because their cheeks were sunken and their skin colour was really pale.

'Hmm... They're malnutritioned, have tattered clothes on and a collar around their neck... Don't tell me... There's no f*****g way that someone would be so sick in the head that they'd enslave a child!'

He was determined to help them and so, picked them up and carried them.

The sun was setting and the child was still unconscious.

Dromer found a mellow spot right next to a shrubbery for a campsite. Pitched a tent and put the child inside to hide it from monsters.

'Alright, this should be good enough for now. Gotta go gather some firewood.'

In about ten minutes, Dromer had gathered enough firewood and returned to the campsite. He then lit a campfire and checked up on the child. When he opened the tent, he didn't see the child sleeping, but they were huddled up in a corner, crying.

"Hey there, kid. I found you on the side of the road near Ytrea. If you want-" Dromer couldn't finish his sentence, because the child started screaming through tears.

"NO! STAY AWAY!!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

Dromer was shocked because he didn't expect those words to come out of a child's mouth.

"Listen, I'm not here to hurt you. As I said earlier, I saw you on the side of the road near Ytrea. Tell me. Who are you and where did you come from?" Dromer said in a mellow tone.

The child calmed down a bit and said:

"My name is Olpha. A-As you c-can see, I-I'm a slave. I ran away from the Duke Erith because I messed up and he ordered my execution..."

'What the... Some noble prick ordered the execution of a child just because they messed up?'

"A-Alright... How exactly did you mess up?" Dromer asked.

"Well, I slept in for too long..."

After hearing those words, Dromer's eyes showed nothing but rage.

"Alright, kid. You said your name was Olpha, right?" He asked as he pulled out a map from his rucksack, "Show me on the map the exact location of the Duke's manor."

Olpha after seeing his eyes showed Dromer the location and hurriedly backed up.

Dromer chuckled

"Don't worry, this rage isn't aimed at you. My name is Dorian. Stay here for a bit."

After that, Dromer closed the tent and went 50 meters away from the campsite to make sure that Olpha doesn't see what he's capable of.

Dromer focused his mana into a single outlet point and created a rock the size of a grain of sand and discharged it into the air. He guided it to the coordinates of the Duke's house which was sixty kilometres away. There was a flash of white light in the red evening sky. Then, Dromer went back to the campsite and set up a sound-proof and indestructible barrier to guard against the shockwave.

Ten minutes after the flash of light, the shockwave came. It shook the ground and threw debris everywhere. The city of Ytrea wasn't damaged. The sound of the explosion was a bit louder than Dromer expected, but he didn't care.

Olpha got frightened and ran outside the tent to see what was happening. As soon as she saw the mushroom cloud, she ran up to Dromer and asked:

"Is that the sign of the Demon King's attack?"

Dromer laughed and said: "No, I think it'd be quite a bit bigger if it were the Demon King attacking."

Olpha was a bit surprised at Dromer's response, but paid it no mind and sat next to him.

The rumbling of the ground stopped and after a minute of silence, a different kind of rumbling could be heard. It was Olpha's stomach.

"S-Sorry!" Olpha immediately apologized.

"Don't worry about it. I'm as hungry as you. Let's eat!"

He pulled out a large chunk of smoked meat from his travel bag and handed it to Olpha

"Eat up, kid. But eat it slowly. Otherwise, there will be trouble."

Olpha nodded and started eating.

Dromer pulled another chunk of smoked meat and started eating as well.

After dinner, Dromer spoke up:

"Listen, Olpha. If you were granted a second chance at life. Would you take it?"

Olpha looked at Dromer confused and asked:

"What do you mean by that?"

"Alright, let me re-phrase. If I offered you to free you of your slavery. Would you accept it?"

Olpha's eyes became watery and she replied:

"Yes! I'd gladly accept it!!!"

"Then free from slavery you shall become!" As soon as Dromer said those words, he took a closer look at the collar.

Olpha immediately said: "Wait, but it's impossible! The collar is bound to me by magic..."

Dromer chuckled and said: "Yeah, I know. It's nothing I can't dispel."

Dromer started a chant: "Tan me, oh Gudjag Sperit! Rolanua eths iggi kor thoir kletom ash grentos eris den freeth dok erryon!"

Suddenly, the collar got enveloped in a golden light. Then, it dematerialized.

Olpha was finally free. The years of torture and beatings had ended right then and there.

"Thank you, Lord Dorian!" Olpha exclaimed happily.

'Really? Lord Dorian? Jeez... Gonna have to shut it down immediately.'

"No need to use formalities with me. Just call me Dorian and that will be that."

Olpha nodded.

"Alright... It's time to sleep. I'm pretty tired after that."

Dromer laid down inside the tent and Olpha laid down next to him.

"Goodnight."