After that battle, the people were now confused and at a loss on what they should do. The once grand and thriving town of Alfonso was no more. Their homes and their businesses were all gone, even their families and friends died.
Nobody thought that a case of missing people would turn out like this. They lost much, much more and no one wanted to take responsibility for it.
After making sure that the civilians were settled for a while, Ginehart went to check on his men. He first saw Lieutenant Lisbon who was making rounds on their subordinates who were wounded. Many of them also died and there was nothing he could do about it.
He ordered those who managed to survive unscathed to go and help the people with whatever they needed. Some of them were even sent to one of their bases to get some rations for everyone. He then personally wrote a letter to the general, asking for aid and sent it through a messenger bird.
"Have you seen Captain Cazal?" He asked after he noticed that the woman was nowhere to be found.
Lisbon avoided the major's gaze then sighed. "I don't know major, maybe she already left with her men."
"What do you mean? I sent her to escort the civilians out of this place..." He wasn't able to continue what he was about to say because he suddenly realized something. He could only look at Lisbon.
No words could be said at that moment because both of them understood what the silence meant. They were abandoned by their own subordinates. They instead focused on keeping the victims warm through the night as they waited for help to come.
"Major." He then heard a familiar voice behind him. He turned around and saw Grand Mage Astrophos who looked exhausted with his eyes red.
"Grand Mage, I thought I wouldn't see you again," the major nodded. "The master, where is he?" He hesitated for a bit but still asked.
Throughout the ordeal, he never saw the group from beginning to end. Last time he saw them was at the banquet. He saw how the mage's face darken and the anger in his eyes couldn't be hidden.
"Don't ask about him! He is the reason for all of this! That man..." He tightly shut his eyes before he got the courage to speak again, "he watched all of this with a smile on his face."
Linius Ginehart could sympathize with how the mage felt but at the same time, he didn't know how he should react. He was angry when he saw the hero walking away and throwing away all responsibility and yet he couldn't do it to that person.
"I don't know what grudge he has against these people nor the reason why he did not stop that dragon and you know that I can't question that. But that man is someone I nor you can defy. What you must do right now is help those who are in need." Ginehart patted the mage's shoulder before he left to see the other soldiers who had been injured.
Astrophos watched the man's back then he lifted his head to the sky that had started to clear as the sun slowly rose from the horizon. After standin there for a full minute, he also left.
Arcaine who was still giddy and was still laughing while he prepared to leave. He won't stay in that place any longer but before that he needed someone who could become his witness. Once he finds one, those who were at the top won't be able to deny this achievement of his.
"You won't be able to do that though," a voice suddenly whispered near his ear, "because you left us to die."
His surroundings turned chilly for some reason and there were continuous whispers around him. "Who's there?" He looked around but there was no one and yet the laughter continued, as if mocking him.
"Your power is fake, only borrowed and without that power you would have died fighting that dragon," one of the voices sneered, followed by a series of crisp laughter from the other voices.
"No matter what you say, the fact that I defeated a dragon is still true." He calmed himself and did not let the taunts get to him.
There's no reason for him to be swayed any longer by those useless words. He would indulge himself once he returned to the capital and secured a firm position amongst the top heroes of the kingdom. All he needed to do was find a witness, but all the witnesses were in that ruined town.
He decided to walk around the town in hopes of finding someone who had left town during the attack. He didn't even need to walk that far when he heard a group of people talking. He peeked behind the trees where he was and saw a familiar face.
Arcaine couldn't help but smile to himself as he felt really lucky because he saw the mayor who was completely believing of him. He could use the man as a witness, with some sweet words, he believed that he could sway the man.
He walked out from where he was hiding and approached the group without hesitation. The mayor who was facing the direction where the hero came out was startled and happy when he saw the man.
'Good,' Arcaine thought after he saw the mayor's reaction. They did not know what happened so he can still use them. 'I'm really lucky.'
"Sir Arcaine!" He exclaimed and ran to meet the hero. He was excited to finally see that the hero was alive. This only meant one thing, he had successfully defeated the dragon.
"Mayor, I am glad to see that you are doing alright." He gave the man a smile and even the people with the mam felt relieved when they saw him.
"We are very glad to see you too but what are you doing here? Did you defeat the dragon?" The mayor wondered because he suddenly appeared there. He even looked around to see if the hero had some people with him who would help them.
"Yes, the dragon has been taken care of and I'm here because I was informed that there were still survivors outside of the town, so I volunteered to look for them." His answer was prepared beforehand while the mayor was still distracted.
Those words were delivered so smoothly that the people in the group did not suspect anything amiss. They believed everything he said without second thoughts.
"Thank you for defeating that dragon. If you did not defeat it then we would have been toasted by now." The mayor was so grateful that Arcaine could see sparkles in his eyes.
"No need to thank me, I am just doing my duty," Arcaine answered as humbly as he could just enough to fool these people. "For now, may I ask the mayor for assistance? We will call for the military to come and help you while we go around to see if there are more survivors."
The mayor agreed while the others decided to wait because they fully trusted the hero that he would uphold his words. They sent the two of them with smiles not knowing that the person whom they trusted was not really going to help them.
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