A Knight's Slave

Volume 1 Chapter 11

I looked at the clear and blue sky blankly as the events that occurred a while ago hasn't registered in my brain. After the shocking and sudden declaration of me, being appointed as the new commander, they immediately announced this publicly to all the citizens of Daphnir Kingdom causing me to be flabbergasted. 'But what about the tournament? Is it just gonna end like that?' I thought. 'Though I think that's impossible to continue as I have destroyed the whole arena.' I grimaced and looked down in embarrassment, but it soon turned into guilt and pity for those who participated didn't have the chance to become a commander.

Snapping out of it, three men and two women stood in front of me, clad in a uniform of black and dark blue. "Talia, these are the people we have assembled to aid you in your search for your father." The King gestured to them, baring his teeth as he smiled brightly. I nodded and thanked them gratefully as I departed with them with a smile and said my goodbyes. 

Here I am now in the capital in search of my father, searching in all nooks and cranny of the Kingdom. After for how many hours, it reached until dawn and I still haven't found him. 'Mou, where are you? Show yourself! This is not hide-and-seek!' I complained multiple times in my heart. Not realizing it, I came face to face with a dark and narrow alleyway, where I nor the search party that I requested haven't searched yet. Meanwhile, the people that were aiding me were looking for him in the outskirts of town as they suggested that he might be found there, so they went there in search of him. Now, I'm all alone, here, staring at the alleyway.

"Kamisama, please help me" I muttered and prayed to Exzandr as I braced myself and entered down the dark place. The alarms in my brain sounded immediately, telling me that it was dangerous. Hesitating a little bit, I shook my head. 'Don't be afraid, don't hesitate.' I thought, taking in deep breaths to calm my heart.

"Light" I chanted. A bright white circle appeared on the tip of my index finger and it illuminated brightly, lighting up the alleyway. Suddenly, a shadow crossed my vision in a flash. I jumped in surprise and clutched my chest to calm my erratically beating heart. 'Gosh, the suspense is making it hard to breathe.' I thought. 'Now that I think about it, I wasn't all that scared when I faced the demons and the demonic beast, maybe because of the sudden adrenaline.'

Steeling myself, I proceeded further into the alleyway. When I entered, things like dirty rats and stray cats and a couple of smocked tobacco leaves were all I encountered. 'Is this kind of like a hangout place for thugs?' I questioned myself. Then, at the corner of my eye, I saw a pool of red, leaking from behind the wall. 'Blood' It was the first thing that came into my mind as I stopped in my tracks. 

Taking out my katana from my item box, I gripped it tightly, my knuckles turning white as I wondered whose blood that came from. I shut my eyes quickly removing the possibility from my thoughts. 'There's no way my old man would lose to something such as a demi-demon'  Stepping forward, I proceeded cautiously, afraid that I would see my adoptive father covered in blood and see his guts spilling out.

Holding in my breath, I approached the pool of blood slowly. Readying my sword, I peeked at the corner and came face to face with the decapitated head of a demi-demon with its eyes gouged out. I jump back in horror and covered my mouth when I felt my lunch rising up my throat. While in my moment of horror, I heard a clanging of metal deeper in the alleyway. Immediately standing on alert, I went to the source of the sound, the light illuminating the way.

When I approached closer, the silhouette of a man that was drenched in blood entered my vision. The man squinted his eyes when the light pierced his eyes and coughed out blood. After a few seconds of wheezing, he said, "You're late, Talia"

¤~*~¤ 

My eyes widened in a panic and rushed towards him, dropping my weapon in the process. "Dad, oh my god. What happened to you!? Where have you been!?" I scolded him as I immediately tended to his wounds, using the holy attribute, a green circle appeared before my hand as I outstretched it. "Oh, just fighting here and there. That last bit did a lot of damage to me though." He said as he gestured to the demi-demon that was behind me. I didn't even bother to look back again as I might vomit out my lunch. 

"He was tough, didn't even yield when I cut of his manhood." He laughed and I cringed, feeling pity for the demi-demon. "Alright, it's almost done." I said as the last of the wounds closed up. Summoning my water attribute, I cleansed his body to rid of all the blood and sweat. "There, good as new" Standing up, he inspected his body and nodded in approval. "Nice work kiddo" He said as he ruffled my hair.

Going back to our house, I bit my lip in anxiousness on how to explain what happened just earlier. This is definitely going to be a shocker for him, they did this even without his consent, the former Commander. 'I blame the royals. It's not my fault' I thought. While thinking on how to break it to him, my father suddenly stopped in his tracks, making my head bump into his back. "Ow! What ar-"

"What happened when I was away?" He asked me. I looked at him confused, but then I saw what he was looking at, my face paled a little. 'Ah, I'm dead' I thought as the arena entered my vision, all crumbled and destroyed.

¤~*~¤ 

He stared at me as I explained all of the things that happened, including me chosen as the new commander. I didn't know if he was happy with the news or not as his face was void of any emotion, no hint of anything at all. Not even a squint of an eye nor knotted eyebrows. Meanwhile, my brother was screaming for joy and congratulated me. He told me that I was 'awesome' and 'You should be worshiped'. It's his words, not mine. Fidgeting under my dad's emotionless gaze, I spoke, "Are- Are you mad at me?" 'There, I said it. Can you stop scaring me now?'

A second passed. Then two seconds, which turned into three seconds. And the four- "No, I am not mad." A breathe of relief came out of me. "Whew, I thought you-" "I am furious with you"

...

"Eh?"