The Royal Family had a search party to look for the prince, which they found sleeping in a cave with his Commoner companion.
They questioned the companion dubiously until the prince woke up and started crying out of joy.
“Where have you been!? What just happened!? I was so worried last night, Ronin!” He exclaimed.
“I’m fine.” Was what Ronin responded.
Cermin tried to hug him, but Ronin had enough of his touchy-feely nonsense so he pushed him back, and Cermin settled with having Ronin’s hands on his shoulders.
“I won’t be able to forgive myself if anything happens to you. I’m really sorry. I should have looked after you better next time.”
Ronin just gave a lazy nod, and soon they all went down the mountain to go back to the palace to take a long, long bath after such a tiring night of sleeping in a dirty cave floor.
The king and queen were so worried about their precious little heir and despite Cermin defending his friend, they still had a lesser impression on Ronin. And so returning to the mountain, was not possible.
But Ronin did not really care, he gained up to Level 44 in just one night and had over 1 million EXPs just from killing birds.
And at the same time…..
After learning about the truth, he doesn’t feel like killing phoenixes anymore. Despite their high Flame..
He doesn’t want to encounter that….. That unsettling appearance of Aurion again.
Getting mixed into his and Fausforus’ history just brings more chaos in Ronin’s mind that was supposed to be focused on one goal and yet being pulled into strings of the others.
His goal was to become his own villain, not become Fausforus 2.0.
And so, he spent the rest of the summer reading up on magical beasts and just planning to join the Ascenscion exams but as multiple people this time. His number of tries for the Fool’s Eye skill had increase anyway to 3 people now, and the time limit was much longer.
During his time spending the summer in Scirocco, Cermin had tried many times to hang out with. He relented to most of them, which was just travelling more scenic and crowded places in the Kingdom like small town festivals and theaters and such.
“Ronin….. About what happened at the mountain, by the way.” Cermin said while they were traveling on Ruby horses at a horse fair. “Did I do…. Did I do anything to upset you that I couldn’t remember?”
“What?” Ronin said, as he fed his horse an apple.
Apples….
Why always apples? What’s so special about this round fruit?
“I don’t know, you just seem to avoid looking directly at me nowadays and always step back when I get near.” Cermin frowned.
“Nothing’s wrong, Your Highness. You’re just imagining things.” Ronin said while looking directly at him.
Yet he was just secretly stopping himself from looking away, like how we avoid looking directly at the sun.
‘Sunshine…..’ He gritted his teeth.
When his 5th year at the Academy had finally arrived, at the first day of school…. He still could not let go of the image of Mr. Sunshine smiling at him with that unhinged, obssessed smile.
He distracted himself with making more plans to gain more levels. The EXP for every level increases almost double now, with the digits reaching to 1 million plus.
He wondered if Level 100 would require billions of EXP. If so, it would really be a tough grind.
Since Espinella had disappeared, the experiment had been ‘postponed’ and the Council sent him a notice that until the professor had arrived, they would not be expediating any resources nor support their endeavors on the research.
In short, he wasn’t allowed to get volunteers anymore, and would have to gain more people to kill in another way.
The urban legend about the haunted chair had long been forgotten, and all the students who remembered it were in their last years like Ronin or had already graduated.
Not to mention there were new students every year, naive fresh meats that were easy to prey on.
It will be like having bite-sized morsels because of how much he had to control taking their Mage Focuses though. But until the Ascension exams, he had no other way of grinding EXP.
The wagon was confiscated by the Council, but there was still one more resurrecting machine that he can use. He can set up his own room to be his new Flame-feeding area, and Don would not be a problem anymore…
Because his Father had basically ordered him to take a new room separate and far from Ronin.
“He had been telling me to cut ties with you too all summer.” Don frowned, as he packed his things for his new dorm room. “As if I would want to do that—“
“He does have a point, Don.” Ronin said, not looking up from his book.
“You are slowly growing now, and you need to mature on your own. With or without me.”
“You have formed new friends with those girls, slowly rising your rank as a Warrior… Soon, I will also forge my own path while you take your own as a Knight.”
Don gulped at this. “Brother, don’t say such things like that…. I will still visit you here in Week’s End—-“
“But it’s the truth you have to accept. You can’t rely on me always, you can’t really rely on anyone but yourself as everyone comes and goes.”
This wasn’t just emotional bullshit that he came up to convince Don to not go to his room anymore or bother him.
It was genuine advice that he felt this young child deserves if he wants to survive in this world.
“You follow along my every whim, letting me decide things for you. Perhaps not just me, but also your elders like your teachers or your friends. You try to seem rebellious, but deep down you are unsure, always finding a figure to rely on.”
“Because you never really had one. And so, you latch on to me. I did not mind that, Don, but now it’s time to grow and spread your roots elsewhere.”
Don bit his lower lip, then wipe his eyes. “I see….. Thank you for the advice, Brother.”
“My decision is still final, I will still keep ties with you no matter what anyone says. But….. I will try to grown on my own like you told me to. I will pursue my own path alone.”
He went over to give Ronin a hug, and Ronin did not really feel irritated this time just…. satisfied.
Whether he was satisfied because he finally got rid of a detriment to his objective, this flower that clings on his tree in a commensalism relationship….. Or because of how much this flower bloomed and grown on its own….
Even he couldn’t tell.
Don went out, and waiting by the door was Professor Jasny Krustal, who now taken over the position of Councillor on behalf of Espinella. He patted Don’s shoulder, and turned to Ronin.
“You are a good brother for saying all that.” He told him. “And Don was good for accepting your advice. I remember my own brother telling me the same thing,…..
“But I didn’t react so well and thought he was pushing me away. When perhaps, he wad just saying it for my own good. “
Ronin then heard a thought.
(And until now, I still feel that he pushes me away. Until now, I still feel that he doesn’t have any love for me, leaving me like that.)
An image of young Vyrill appeared in his memory, when he was still not burned and wrapped in bandages.
And they actually looked very alike, but it was evident that they were far too different souls. He had always been avoidant of Jasny in general…..
But that look Vyrill had towards his brother….. Ronin was familiar with that look.
It was the same look he has when he’s feeling something could not understand.
Fear. Fear of certain happy and jolly people that doesn’t treat you with hatred or contempt.
Fear of having someone smile at you with no hint of deceit or mockery.
It was the fear of being loved.
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