Chương 7: Warmth

After the lion man had calmed down enough for speech, his jovial deep voice filled the throne room as he began to talk to me." Thank you Human! Not many Demons would stick their necks out for a Demon who attacked them without thinking, let alone other Humans! My name is Crest Brightmane I'm the General of The Royal Army of Diablos!" His deep voice ricocheted off of the walls of the throne room, drowning out the chattering of the crowd.

Crest then raised his hand to the purple haired woman next to him and introduced her.

"This is Sandra Darkclaw, the General of the Covert Operations Unit. She's also my Cousin!" Sandra proceeded to bearhug me while whaling like she found a long lost relative." Thank you so much Human! To show such Bravery in the face of our King, is an act of Courage not many can live to tell the tale of!" She seemed like a nice person... Perhaps a bit emotional like her cousin Crest though? I did have to wonder how such a boisterous woman led a Covert Unit though.

The tall tan woman had made her way over as well and helped to calm Sandra down, which I'm quite thankful for seeing as how I think I heard my spine cracking for a moment." Now, now, Sandra, don't go hurting our little savior before we've the chance to thank him." She spoke as if she's an experienced pacifier of Sandra. And seeing as how Sandra did indeed calm down, I think I'm starting to see the dynamics of this group.

After Sandra calmed down, the tall woman turned to me and bent downward to speak to me face to face, she easily dwarfed Warrick who towered over me when we were next to each other earlier... I wondered what the average height of Diablos was as her pink irises met my eyes. She began to speak to me in a gentle voice. Almost like a teacher trying to coax a kid into telling them their name." I am Dorothy Woodsworth, I'm the Agricultural Advisor to our King, thank you for saving me young man."

Her sincerity and friendly demeanor remind me of a neighborhood grandmother. I feel it's better not to let her hear my impressions of her though. The next one was the sheepman, he bowed like a suave gentleman before introducing himself in a gentle tone as if he were a neighborhood grandpa." My name is Ronald Greenstone! I am the Economics Advisor to our King. Sir, thank you for saving my life. It took great Bravery to speak back to our King! Especially after he had made his decree!

These old bones owe you a great debt, as do the rest of us." After introducing himself, Ronald backed away to the other 3 and finally the child arrived in front of me. Seemingly, in a well-behaved manner, the child introduced himself properly. But his movements... They felt unnatural for what looked like a 6 or 7 year old kid. After his bow, he began to speak and he spoke with the gravelly voice of a 30-year-old coming out of his mouth. I was stunned by it." Hello I am Peter Whitetonuge.

I am the General of the Logistics Department of the Royal Army of Diablos. Thank you for saving my life, Sir." After the initial surprise of the voice had subsided, I looked at the 5 of them and introduced myself with a friendly demeanor." Hello, I am John Ericsson. I am the Paladin that was summoned by your Demon King." Looking shocked the 5 of them shuttered and looked for words, before Dorothy finally spoke in a stern tone like a mother scolding a child for a faux pas." Sir John!

While I am very grateful for what you have done for us, please heed these words! It is a very bad habit to say to others what your Job is. That is something only to be shared with close friends and family." Her cheeks were puffed up like a child who was caught with her hand in the cookie jar... Maybe she was feeling awkward? She more or less had to reprimand her savior right after thanking him. I felt a touch bad for making her do that, so I simply smiled and spoke to her."

My apologies, I've only been in this world for a few hours and had just discovered my Job in even less time. I'll keep your lesson close to heart. However, I feel like it's not a bad thing to let you guys know my Job, but that's just my gut feeling." The 5 of them smiled at my words and I could see a soft atmosphere forming around them from their Mana. I suppose this is a good way to read a room in the future. After that brief interaction, I was summoned by Warrick.

I approached the front of the Throne and there Warrick and Aqua sat, side by side Warrick in the Throne to the left of me and Aqua to the right. Speaking of, Aqua, who seemed to be in a good mood, was grinning at her husband, perhaps coming to the same conclusions I made over the dungeon order. In any case, Warrick seemed to ignore the grin of his wife and spoke to me. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere." Sir John, it is time.

You've tested your healing, and it worked perfectly. The pillar of light that shot out must be from poor mana control, but I'm feeling better than I have for months! Now, let us head to My Daughter, Sarah. She's been sleeping in her room, we'll guide you to her." I nodded in agreement and then Aqua spoke to the 5 victims of a certain King's scheme." Crest, Sandra, Dorothy, Ronald and Peter, follow us to My Daughter's room, would you? You can bear witness to this 6-month farce finally coming to an end."

All 5 simply bowed their heads and said 4 words in unison." as our Queen Wishes." So, we began to walk out of the room. What started as hostile stares have become mostly warm and at worst simply indifferent. I can't deny Warrick's plan worked to perfection. Walking to Sarah's bedroom was a group consisting of 4 maids, 7 guards, 3 Army Generals, 2 Advisors, a King, a Queen and me. To be honest, I felt a little out of sorts.

Perhaps sensing this, Sandra and Crest began to speak to me about the feeling of dread my mana produced. Apparently unchecked Holy Mana distills a sense of panic in Demons. Understandably so, I apologized for my amateur control over my mana. But they simply waved it off and like that, we were in front of a huge door. I'm starting to wonder if they weren't victims of a King's scheme, but willing participants? But that doesn't make much sense... I mean...

They're Demons who have a history with Humans like Warrick said... Right? / Creak! / Two guards were standing at attention as Warrick came before them, they bowed their heads and opened the door for the group. There was a loud creak from the door and then we all walked into the room. Looking around, its rather modest for a Royal Princess. White walls with light purple accents, wooden furnishings, a canopy bed that housed a slim woman with a light pink stuffed teddy bear right next to her head as if to stand guard.

After entering the room Warrick and Aqua looked as if they had been stabbed in the heart and no one else was looking much better. I move to the bed that housed the cause of the heartbreak. I removed the curtain that most likely was there to deter bugs from disturbing the occupant. And there she slept. A fair skinned young woman with hair that was white as silk and looked as soft to touch. While a sense of exhaustion troubled her sleeping face, it couldn't do much to hinder her delicate facial features.

She looked like the painting of a Master Artist trying to capture True Beauty... Or at least, that's what I thought when I first saw her. I was enraptured for a minute, obviously, but that was only for a moment before remembering why I was here in the first place." Err..." A weak sigh came out of the girl's mouth, it sounded like it was struggle to even vocalize it... My anger was growing at the person who would do such a thing to this person. She's so young looking...

I think Warrick said that she had just turned 21 and now she's like this... And if that wasn't bad enough... To put Warrick and Aqua through such heartache, to the point where they gambled huge on bringing a Paladin or Saint Lord here and if they failed... No... I shouldn't think like that... But the rage was there... I felt it gnawing at me. I hope I can find the guy or girl who did this... I'm starting to understand what Warrick and Aqua meant by " Justice" now...

Perhaps noticing my bubbling emotions on my face, Aqua spoke to me to try to draw my attention away." John, are you prepared to use your Magic?" After collecting myself for a moment, I answered with as best a smile I could give to this grieving mother. Once I did, I responded to her words." Yes, Aqua I'm ready to bring you all peace of mind and to let Sarah live again." After that, Aqua and everyone else took a few steps back to give me room to concentrate. I started to channel my mana.

Since last time the mana went out of control without me even realizing it, I'll try to channel deeper in my body and move it through my arms, to my hands and out from there. I started to channel it in my chest, close to... No, it was in my heart, it felt right, strangely. Like it was always meant to come from there... I started to meld it, feeling the sensation in my chest turn from the usual feeling of mana into the warmth that was familiar to me.

I began to envision the soup My Mother would make for me when I was sick as a child and then I thought of the soup Victoria would make me when I couldn't eat well for months after the accident. That warmth, that caring, that wanting to heal a sick person... I felt it slowly envelop the mana. It felt different then with Warrick, perhaps because I spent more time on this Spell? The sensation felt more "alive" or something similar than with Warrick.

My instinct was telling me it was time to cast the Spell, so I muttered the words." Holy Heal." And then it happened. I finally saw the light pillar that Crest had mentioned. It was like being covered in a cocoon, but it felt fine to me. I felt reassurance and warmth in the center of it. My gut told me everything will be fine, so I let the Spell go and then I felt a strong shock to my mind. I blinked and I was no longer in the room with everyone. Sarah also wasn't in front of me... I...

I was in a dark place with water under my feet? Ripples were coming from my position on the water's surface. It was like being in the sea under a moonless sky, only a little light to see in front of me. From where, I don't know? Then I began to sink into the water powerless to stop it, I simply took a deep breath. And I fell... But unlike that darkness, I fell into a well-lit purple hallway. Doors were on both sides, continuing on in what seemed like an endless hallway.

I entered the first door on my left to get out of the hallway since I was starting to panic...