Joan wanted to scream. It had been days since she found the weapon, and Hadwin still hadn't returned.
The Demon Lord is likely preparing to awaken the God of Hell. Time should be taken to find each chosen person before it is too late. Their world is time-limited, and every day wasted is another day lost forever.
On her desk lay stacks of old books and scrolls, gifts from the Queen. Legends about noble families and heroes of the past.
Unfortunately, they didn't distract her for long.
The hero comes, defeats some huge monsters, and then there is peace. Often, heroes die in the final battle, and even if they don't die, they usually go on to change the world. Most even founded their own kingdoms or took control of human empires. Unfortunately, there's not much information available on the smaller details, and too much has been lost to time.
There is information that seven of the Chosen rose up against the Death Cloud and its summoner, but there is no information on whether there is an eighth among them. With so many vague details, it's impossible to tell whether there is anyone like her, a failed hero.
She was mentally exhausted. Every step forward seemed like ten more questions popping up. She really wished she could go back to her original appearance.
June threw the book on the table and sighed. She could no longer read. She needed to do something to get her blood flowing. Her eyes were attracted to the window of the room, and she slowly slid out of the bed, walked to the bedside, and looked through the glass. She stared at the ground and sighed softly. Where is he?
"Hadwin, you keep me waiting every time," she whispered, and then her eyes were drawn to a small fenced-in area. Several figures stood inside, samurai training?
"This looks like a good way to clear my head." She reached out and tried to keep the sword in her hand.
Nothing happened. "Seriously? Am I too weak to even be able to use those...oh," June said after a moment, then shook her head.
Joan almost ran to the closet and pulled it open. There were a few items of clothing in there, though they weren't what she was looking for, so she quickly pushed them aside and started looking through the drawers. She had almost given up hope when she pulled open the bottom drawer, which contained her own clothes. Cloak, tunic, breeches. She threw her clothes on the bed and quickly changed into them. She folded the clothes and put them on the bed, then walked to the door and opened it.
Seeing a woman standing outside the door, she quickly closed the door. "Ms. Joan?"
Quickly stabilize your emotions. A guard was waiting outside the room. She wondered if she was trapped here. Maybe a prisoner?
She slowly opened the door again and stuck her head out. "Uh, hello. Who are you?"
"Queen Emmeline asked me to be here to protect you, you will not be alone. My name - "
"Are you my guard?" "What's wrong?" Joan asked, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Sure, do you want to go out? I can-"
"No," Joan said quickly, interrupting the woman again. "I just... uh..." She looked around the room for a moment before her eyes landed on the empty tray with a dirty cup and bowl on it.
"I've finished my meal and wish I could have a servant take it to the kitchen."
"Oh, of course. If you need to call a servant, all you have to do is ring the doorbell," the woman asked.
"Ah yes. Yes. Bells. I totally forgot about it, I'm sorry," Joan said. "I think I'm going to take a nap, okay? Can you make sure I'm not disturbed?"
"If you wish. Although I-"
He closed the door, leaned against it, and sighed softly. She felt trapped. Her heart was pounding and panic soon began to set in, despite her desperate attempts to suppress it.
The queen had protected her. She had fought for days at a time without taking a break, and the last thing she needed was a few days of rest for some minor injury. She feels fine and no bones are broken now.
Joan glanced out the window again. Time passed minute by minute. Hadwin should be back by now, but he's not. She couldn't wait any longer, there was no such thing in this world.
"But what if I go find him?" she whispered, her eyes widening slightly. She could only think of a few places he might be, either his home or, more likely, the front lines. If he had come back soon, they would have met on the road. That way she doesn't have to wait and can go directly to the other chosen person.
Joan sighed and lay back on the bed, giving up on the idea. "This is a stupid plan," she said to herself. "You don't know where he is, and even if you do know what kind of threat he's dealing with right now, it's a bit confusing. You're probably going to make everything worse, stop being stupid," she told herself, trying to get through saying the words Come force yourself to listen. But she couldn't just sit here and wait. She felt like she was slowly going crazy.
"That's enough," she finally said, then stood up and took a few steps toward the door. She paused, then quickly changed her mind and walked to the servant's door against the wall.
It blended almost seamlessly into the wall, with a small latch attached to it. She had kept the door locked, mostly not liking people sneaking up on her, so the door opened softly and she poked her head into the hallway inside. "Hello?" she shouted.
No response. She walked in and closed the door behind her, the lock making a slight click as it locked into place. Unfortunately, she soon realized she had made a small mistake. Only a few tiny rays of light enter the passage from tiny cracks in the stone.
She groped against the wall, trying to find a candle, but there was nothing.
"We always rush in, don't we, heroes?" she asked herself, then walked slowly down the passage.
After walking a few steps, I started to relax. Even though it can't be seen, the walls are smooth and clearly well cleaned.
She walked only a short distance and came to an empty room with an unlocked passage. She is not a prisoner here. If she had been, they wouldn't have opened such an obvious escape route.
Feeling nervous and excited, she started walking faster.
Joan screamed and tried to reach for the wall, but it was smooth and there was nothing to grab onto. She fell into the darkness, pushing herself up and covering her face, ready for wherever she landed.
With a snap, she fell face down to the ground. The drop was only a few inches, which was awkward. At least no one saw it, which made her relieved.
A clicking sound made her look up, and she was blocked by a door that opened into the passage. She quickly covered her face again, trying to clear her vision, and looked up at the blurry scene.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" an angry voice asked. She felt something hard poking her arm, but she could only make out a blurry figure in the harsh light.
"Joan," she whispered, then tried to push the thing away from her arm. It cut into her cloak, the cold metal of the blade.
"Joan? I don't know her, and you are not one of the servants." The voice said firmly. The sword pushed forward a little more, causing her to take a step back. "You're a bit young for an assassin, aren't you?"
However, the word "assassin" made her feel a little panicked. "Wait, no! I am a guest of the Queen under Lord Hadwin Duskram."
Her eyes finally adjusted and she could see the figure. He wore fine clothes dyed dark green, an aristocrat? Judging from the wrinkles on his face and thick beard, he was even older than Hadwin. However, what she was most worried about at the moment was the sword. She felt a rush of adrenaline as she saw his arms tense.
Instinct works like it has a thousand times before. The sword stabbed her, but she was already moving. Magic surged through her body, increasing her strength and speed, and she was able to pull back far enough to avoid the blade hitting her. Then she kicked hard, trying to hit his hand.
He stepped back and turned the blade toward her feet. She pulled it back, the edge of her boot barely touching the blade.
He made another push. Luckily, with the light in the room, she could now see down the hallway. She pulled her knees up, rolled, and stood up. The blade was inches away from her, but she couldn't help but smile.
He was just another person like her. If she hadn't used magic to enhance her body, he would probably be faster than her, but as long as she could maintain the spell, his only advantage was his sword.
However, when he pushed it towards her again, she stepped back, dodging the blow. This gave him enough space to swing his fist again.
Such a small passage, when he stepped forward to slash someone with the knife, the blade got stuck in the wall, making him vulnerable for a moment.
Her left hand flashed upward, striking him just below the wrist, and her right hand shot upward, stabbing into his solar plexus. The blow sent him stumbling back down the passage. Unfortunately, he neither dropped the sword nor fell. He raised his sword again and she burst through the door and into his chamber.
She braced herself and he caught up, but he didn't attack again. He had put on a defensive posture before, but to her surprise, he relaxed his guard a little. "You're just a kid," he said.
"That's what I said," she said quickly, quickly scanning the room for anything that could be used as a weapon. A blanket on the bed, maybe. The chairs next to the table look very light. She also saw some bags, though she doubted she could find them fast enough and rummage through them to find the weapon before he stabbed her.
"No, you didn't," he said coldly. "Why did you...wait. You're that kid, aren't you?" he asked. "This is the person your Majesty has been fawning over!"
"I did say that!" she said quickly. "Do you still want to continue killing me?"
"What? No! Of course not," he said, slowly lowering the blade. "And I wasn't trying to kill you. If I were, kid, you wouldn't be alive. I thought you were an assassin, stalking the walls like this."
Joan felt a pang of irritation in her heart. Don't you want to kill her? She knew someone was trying, and there was nothing but murderous intent in his movements. "Of course it feels like you."
"If I wanted you dead, I would never have allowed you to get so close. I must admit, your speed did surprise me. You almost got hurt with that one blow. Maybe in a few years you can be in the boxing ring Try your luck again.”
Now she could also see the bruises on his wrists and the fact that he was breathing heavily. "You're only saying that because you're in pain from being hit by a child."
This made him pause, and he puffed out his chest slightly before coughing slightly. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a little complacent. "Being beaten by a child? Absolutely. Maybe you don't know me. I am Count Ivan's first sword."
"The first knife?" Joan asked. There it is again, that familiar feeling. She swore they had met before. Maybe in her past life?
The old man's eyes narrowed. "The Protector of Doom. He—wait. I know you now. You're that kid. That prodigy. What are you doing sneaking through the wall here?"
"I was brought here as a guest by my constituents." She wondered if hitting him again would be considered rude. She was pretty sure she could get close and stop him from drawing his sword if she wanted to.
She quickly pushed those thoughts aside, mentally kicking herself as she was in enough trouble without getting into a fight for being treated like a child.
"I see," Ivan said, crossing his arms. "I didn't expect His Highness to be so obsessed with you as a kid. However, that doesn't explain why you were sneaking through the wall."
"I feel trapped and want to go out for a walk, but I don't want to be watched. Your Highness is incredibly protective of me, so I think sneaking out is necessary."
"Yeah. Of course," he said, his tone softer now. "Your Highness always wants to do whatever you want, doesn't he? I can't say I particularly blame you for wanting to be free."
Qiao An felt a glimmer of hope and nodded quickly. "So I don't think you can pretend this never happened?"
He sighed softly and shook his head. "I cannot. I fear that letting this go would bring disgrace not only to me, but to my master as well."
"but - "
"However, I am not without good intentions," he said firmly
"Thank you. I swear I won't try again," she said softly.
"Good," he said, and headed for the door. "I hope you understand that I have to escort you back to your room."
She nodded slightly again and sighed softly. "certainly."
Walking back through the halls of the castle, she felt nothing but shame. She got some confused looks, which only made things worse. After a while, he glanced down. "Can I make one more suggestion?"
"Yes?"
"Next time you decide to walk through a dark passage like this, you should bring a weapon to protect yourself. It wouldn't do if someone thought they were being attacked and accidentally hurt one of the Queen's guests, would it?"
This made her cheeks flush and she quickly looked away from him. "My sword was recently shattered in a terrible battle. I have yet to replace it."
"Really? What a shame. I remember a few of your matches in the academy, it must have been difficult not having a knife of your own."
Joan nodded slightly. "you do not know."
Of course, when she got back to her room, the guard stationed outside was frantic, practically pushing her onto the bed and making her swear to call her if she heard anything else.
Although the battle was short, it was exciting. More importantly, she won. Even if he denies it, she knows she can take him.
She glanced out the window and sighed. Although the guards insisted that she rest after the "ordeal," she doubted how long she could last. It was not yet dusk. Although she felt a little tired, she would take a break and then continue reading those books.
