Dragon Gods Reign

[Bral kingdom]

Walking along the path leading to her former home, Melidra couldn't hide her nervousness. Having been gone for years, she had no idea how her village, and more importantly her family, changed. She didn't even know how they would react to her return after having left as suddenly as she did.

Thus her steps noticeably slowed the closer the group came to the village. This caused the adventurers to obscure her by the time they came close, keeping the gathered group from recognizing her.

“They've returned” “We're saved.” “Make room for them, they have wounded.”

With these shouts and more the villagers greeted their group, quickly drawing the others there and swelling the crowd from the handful that initially spotted their approach to hundreds.

The adventurers seemed to be accustomed to such scenes as they showed no signs of irritation at the crowd hailing them as saviors. Neither did they engage with them for long, instead only asking where they could best treat the wounded archer before following the man that offered to show them the way.

This left Melidra along with the crowd. Slowly a few people started recognizing her, the whispers quickly spreading as was at a loss and just kept smiling lightly. Soon two people started to push through to the front of the crowd after hearing the murmurs.

When they managed to do so they became stunned when they saw Melidra who took a few moments to find the right words.

“Hello Mom, hello Dad, I'm home.” She finally said.

As soon as she finished those words her parents could no longer hold back their emotions. Rushing towards her with tears of joy they pulled her into their embrace.

“My baby, you're back.”

Hearing her mother's voice broke the last barrier for Melidra as she felt safe for the first time in years. Instantly the mental exhaustion that had accumulated since she left kicked in and she felt her turbulent mind calming down.

“Yes, yes I'm back.” She said sluggishly.

The next few seconds they stayed like this, with Melidra feeling her parent's tears of happiness falling onto her shoulders. And into this happy silence, her father soon asked the question on both her parent's minds.

“Where have you been this long, we were worried.” He asked.

“Not now.” Melidra answered with a pained expression.

Seeing this her parents only became even more concerned but nonetheless let it rest.

“Then how about we go home, I'm sure you've missed it there.” Her mother said and Melidra nodded.

Trying to hide their worries as best as they could as they separated from her, her parents kept one arm each around her as they made their way through the crowd. The other villagers quickly started parting to make a way for them, allowing them to soon reach their home.

As they entered, Melidra became lost in her nostalgia. Looking around the house and finding much of it to be as she remembered it, she felt a huge weight falling off her shoulders. Sitting down together with her parents, she gathered her thoughts before recounting what had happened to her.

As this was happening, the adventurer group had gathered by Helen who was still unconscious. Standing next to the bed they had brought her to, they stayed silent as no one wanted to be the first to talk.

Thus this uncomfortable atmosphere remained, doubly so between Lara and Allan. But while her thoughts revolved mainly around the control that Melidra could exert on her, he was fully focusing on what had happened.

Looking at Lara accusingly, he didn't bother to hide his rage. She and the others noticed this though they weren't entirely sure whether it was directed at her or Melidra.

Minutes passed like this, with the fact that Helen was still unconscious being the only thing keeping them in the same room with each other.

Finally, this became unsustainable for the first person among them and Lara spoke up.

“Allan, I also don't know what happened so stop glaring at me like that.” She told him.

“You put a blade against my throat, that is what happened! The circumstances don't change that I am no longer sure if I can trust you.” Allan shouted at her without delay.

With his mana flaring up together with those words, the already difficult situation quickly turned hostile. With barely any delay three more mana signatures rose in reaction to his action.

Finding himself the center of their pressure, Allan instantly became stunned due to the difference in numbers.

“Allan, calm down!” Isaac shouted at him.

“Comes from the right person. You were willing to sacrifice us all if she had been an undead or necromancer but now I'm unreasonable. I was never as glad as now that you are this entrenched in your version of the gods.”

Hearing the mocking tone that Allan had when talking about his belief, Isaac's gaze hardened. Even among devout believers his interpretation of divinity was often mocked but hearing it from him still stung.

“Don't act like this, we both know that all these churches have a screw loose. The gods abandoned our world so why still worship them?” Allan said when he saw this reaction.

“Maybe people like you are exactly why they did it.” Isaac shot back.

“Even if, what do we lack without them? Besides, believing in divinity generally instead of a single god probably isn't seen much more favorably.”

Just as Isaac was about to react to this and escalate the conversation even further they felt a cold wind around them.

Freezing the two men to the ground by their feet, Lara separated them first before trying to de-escalating the situation.

“Will both of you calm down just a moment? Allan, I couldn't control my own actions so don't claim I betrayed you. And Isaac, we are all stressed, please don't take his words personally.”

Watching the two attentively as her words were followed by total silence, Lara only relaxed when both reigned their mana back in with a sigh.

“We have to stick together, now even more so, so thank you. First, we should find a way to help Helen, then we can plan further.” She said in relief.

“And we need to do so fast, staying out here any longer isn't a good idea.” Lester added.

Grumbling in acknowledgment, Allan and Isaac walked a bit further away from each other to help them calm down. This reassurance allowed Lara to again focus fully on Helen in an attempt to find the reason why she still wasn't waking up.

First inspecting her mana circuit, she found it not to be the problem and thus went on to her physical body. Gently injecting a bit of her mana into Helen, she carefully scanned her entire body.

Concentrating on the feedback she was receiving from her mana, her expression grew darker with every second despite not finding the reason for Helen's state. On the flip side, this meant that it was likely to be a problem with the soul, a taboo topic that was near impossible to treat.

Placing all her hopes on one last possibility, she focused on Helen's life force. When even this gave her no clues to her problem she couldn't help but gnash her teeth. Turning towards her teammates, she didn't have to speak for them to understand her.

“I'll call the guild.” Lester finally said after a few moments of silence that followed her diagnosis.

“It's our last option, we have to risk it.” Lara said in agreement.

And though it was reluctant, Allan and Isaac agreed with them a moment later. The reason for this reluctance were many, ranging from the penalty for getting rescued on a mission to fear of Melidra's reaction. But with their comrade's life on the line, they pushed their worries aside and took the risk.

Taking a few seconds to establish a connection with the adventurer guild via communication magic, Lester became shocked when he received the reply.

“Even more? Why can't I catch a break.” A tired but furious voice answered him, “So, what happened with your group?”

'We have an unconscious member with the source of the problem unknown.' Lester replied.

“Unconscious?! You've called for such an unimportant matter when the entire north is currently a war zone?”

Recoiling slightly from the angry shout that was directly transmitted to his mind, Lester became confused by the message's content.

'War zone, how come?'

“You don't know?” The man answered slightly puzzled, “Wait, are you north of the city?”

'No, we're in the south-west. But what does it matter?'

Hearing a sigh from the other side of the connection, Lester initially became even more confused but the man soon explained what had happened. With each further word, Lester's face fell, barely keeping himself from shaking by the explanation's end.

'Understood then, we'll try dealing with it on our own.' Lester finally said, ending the spell.

Turning to his teammates with a helpless look, he watched their moods fall quickly.

“No help is coming?” Lara asked dejected.

When Lester nodded in confirmation Isaac could no longer contain himself. Punching against the wall in anger, his fist smashed through the wooden house with ease.

“But why?” Allan asked in a desperate tone.

“Because the north is currently being swallowed by war. The city-states have marched out and no other duke wants to send help and there is no longer someone who can force them. The king is dead, the capital breached and there are about a dozen people now that are calling themselves king. In short, we're on our own.” Lester said.

At his words, the three all froze and stared at him in disbelief. But seeing no trace of him joking, this turned quickly into despair. Not just would they now not get help, but they would soon even find themselves in the middle of an enormous war.

It was a well-known fact that the city-states on the northern coast had more than enough population to match the kingdom. Instead, it was the number of high-ranking mana users that could turn the tide against them. This difference was due to their smaller territory meaning fewer resources and mana users hindering each other's growth.

On the other hand, they had the advantage of the ancient fortifications that made up large parts of their walls. This gave them not just a near unbreakable defense for all but mythical ranks, it was also the reason why such a large city could exist in this age. Each of the cities was essentially the territory of a marquise or, in the case of Andra even a small count, cramped behind one wall.

This proved to be a great equalizer in the population, with those that would live in unprotected villages like this one having a far better life than in the kingdom. Mana users wouldn't just pass through or stay for one mission and would instead offer direct benefits apart from slaying monsters and beasts.

All of this united these cities, making their armies a steadfast bulwark that rarely abandoned their post or fled. While the mana-less would not see such wars as fighting for some unknown mana users, the mana users wouldn't see them as beneath them and treat them with dignity.

“We have to move further south.” Lara finally said after weighing the options.

Receiving three puzzled looks in response whose doubts were written on their faces, she sighed before explaining.

“We are a small group, even when carrying Helen with us we can outrun an army. Yes, there is the danger of walking right into a civil war but a potential war is better than one that is currently happening. And once we reach the territory of the southern duke it should no longer be as dangerous.” She said.

“Or more so because the others will target him first. After all, he now has the strongest army on the peninsula.” Lester said.

“Do you have a better option?” Lara asked.

“Well, no. But shouldn't we wait first, we don't even know if they manage to breach the city. And even if they do, adventurers remain neutral in wars between nations, we could just return.” Lester said.

“We're a group of first ranks with a wounded party member, I don't want to stay anywhere remotely near a battlefield. And we don't know how long the city will be just that just like we don't know how soon Helen needs help.”

At her words, Allan and Isaac could only nod. As much as adventurers were neutral, armies would still attack them if they seem like a threat. And considering that being an adventurer doesn't forbid a person from joining any other organization, they would at least be driven away on sight in case they were enemy saboteurs.

“So we agree. Then the only question is, will Melidra allow us to go?” Lara said with a grimace.