《Lustful Obidience》 THE FOUR HEROES I opened the door to the pharmaceuticals there were a lot of people inside. I suppose it is spring a lot of people tend to get sick during this time. I went towards the shelf of herbs and looked at it very carefully. ¡°What are you doing here? Lovre?¡± One of the employees grab my wrist and pulling it away from the shelf. ¡°What? Can¡¯t a guy just buy himself some medicine?¡± ¡°I know who you are Lovre Don Faust! You are nothing but a thief¡± ¡°Using my full name huh? Indeed very scary. I promise I¡¯m not here to steal anything. In fact I¡¯m giving you a deal.¡± I then pull out perfectly fine herbs out of my jacket. ¡°These are herbs that I found while I was out exploring. They are said to be a form of base for futuristic medicine compounds. They¡¯re yours for only 2 pieces of silver¡± ¡°Why would I trust some thief? For all I know you stole that from a noble from another city¡± ¡°Au contraire my fellow man. This was acquired legally and tested. I wasn¡¯t supposed to say this but¡­ this was a reward from a quest that came from Dr. Redorance. The genius doctor that was able to conjure healing magic. In fact I even got his autograph¡± I showed him a picture of the doctor signed and his eyes widened at the proof. He told me to wait as he goes to talk to the owner. After waiting a few minutes the owner comes out and bought the herbs I was selling. ¡°Truly an excellent purchase. Anyway I must be going I have other businesses to attend to.¡± I then leave the store with a smile on my face. What an idiot to think that a person would fall for such a stupid con. I tossed the two silver coins in the air and catch them. As I was walking away triumphantly I bumped into someone. ¡°My bad¡­ I wasn¡¯t looking where I was going.¡± Of course as I bumped into him I reached for the pocket. My deed was caught however as he held my wrist. I look up to see it was a group of knights. I smiled. ¡°What were you doing hand? You know better than to steal someone¡¯s coins.¡± I then slapped my hand that he held. He just stared at me for an uncomfortable amount of time. ¡°Um¡­ Can I¡ª¡° ¡°Attention! You are given the opportunity to see our great and humble leader bow your head and greet him properly!¡± I was rudely interrupted as he yells at my face. The soldiers step back and made a walkway. The one who walked on it was a man elegantly armoured with white that makes his red hair pop out more than it should, the current captain of the chevalier and most importantly the crowned prince of Alvarez. The knight let¡¯s go of my hand and the prince looks at me. I instinctively stiffened up and bowed down. ¡°Lovre Don Faust¡± I raise my head. ¡°Look if it¡¯s about the herbs earlier no problem¡­ I can return the money and take back the weed I plucked outside the city.¡± I said with a nervous laugh. Why is the captain here?! And why did he bring a company?! I didn¡¯t do anything wrong¡­. per se. Oh crap people started gathering, there goes my peaceful life¡­. ¡°By the decree of the king you are invited to the castle, we have procured you a form of transportation.¡± A white carriage then comes by to a halt and the knights open the door. ¡°Not to question you but¡­ What is going on here?¡± I asked. ¡°You, Sir Lovre have been blessed to become one of the heroes of Remeditian.¡± ¡°Sorry¡­ let me ask that again. What¡¯s going on here?¡± ¡°All will be explained momentarily. I Leopold Von Astrea shall accompany you to the castle.¡± I look around and I was surrounded by knights and other people as well. This isn¡¯t a request this was a demand! Seeing as there is no other choice I went inside the carriage along with Leopold. The carriage was filled with silence as it goes down the road towards the castle. ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯m not going to be put to dungeon right?¡± I asked worriedly ¡°No. We would never put someone in the dungeon for such petty thieving.¡± Did he just say petty thieving?! ¡°For your information, I¡¯m probably one of the best thieves you¡¯ll find! I¡¯ve handled many valuable items and sold them for great prices!¡± I held my chest high and felt proud. Until I remembered I was talking to the head of all knights. ¡°Forget that I said that¡± What a blunder! To think I would admit to my own crimes in front of the head! More importantly the prince! I was yelling at myself in frustration until Leopold told me that we have arrived. We both got off the carriage and an entourage of knights awaited our arrival. The castle was huge, bigger than any building you¡¯ll see here in the Alvarez kingdom. The knights followed us as we enter the castle. The inside was majestic, lined with decoration truly worthy of royalty. I by myself would never be able to get in here, there were guards posted everywhere I looked. If the guards weren¡¯t following me I would be procuring many valuables here. We then reached the door to the throne room.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°The king is waiting inside. Do not worry I will be with you¡± ¡°That¡¯s absolutely reassuring your highness¡± ¡°Please just call me Leopold¡± Great! Now I don¡¯t have to decide every time I try to address him. We enter the throne room and there were 6 people standing in front of the king and they all looked at me as we enter. ¡°Ah¡­ The fourth hero has finally arrived¡± Hero? Is that what the king said? ¡°Him? He¡¯s the fourth hero? He¡¯s nothing but a thief! I¡¯ve seen him stealing and cheating people for coins!¡± That lady I recognize with her white hair and almost pale skin. There¡¯s not much elven presence here in Alvarez especially a snow elf but her family runs the whole business district here. Safe to say she has it out for me. I did steal from the businesses they own. She was accompanied by a female knight which I feel like I¡¯ve seen before but can¡¯t put my finger on it. She was wearing the regular silver armour and her blonde hair was straight down, the blue eyes is something peculiar. Usually only those of royal descent can acquire blue eyes. The other four were people I¡¯m sure I haven¡¯t seen before. There was another woman wearing an attire that looks similar to a witch. Along with her is another knight a male one this time. He was huge probably someone of mixed blood with giants, he was wearing a black armour that I have never seen before. It covered all of his body and face. Lastly there was a boy not much older than ten, he was wearing rags for clothes and dirty all over the place he might be from the slums, it reminds me of my olden days before I got invited to become a thief. Along with him is a knight with white armour just like Leopold the knight had a helmet on so I couldn¡¯t really identify anything. As I step up along the other people gathered here the king begins to speak. ¡°I know this may have been a surprise to all of you. All of you must know the waging war between us, the people of the races against the demonic beings.¡± Almost everyone does. It¡¯s been going on for years now. I myself don¡¯t know much about the reason why, but many innocent lives were lost along the front lines all adventurers dream of going there to make a name for themselves. The king himself has been up there protecting his people. For someone who was at the frontlines he looked well maintained he didn¡¯t look old at all he looked about the same as Leopold over here. ¡°Each one of you have been given a skill which surpasses those of normal races. They are called the sin series skills.¡± What? Sin series skill? All living beings are born with a skill that can never be changed. What you are born with is what you get. You cannot get anymore skill than what you currently have. No one other than adventurers care enough to look at their skills. You can only see your skill through an appraiser, they themselves cost at least a gold coin. That¡¯s basically buying yourself a small house! ¡°All of you will be strengthening yourselves so you may put an end to this war that has been going on for too long.¡± ¡°You¡¯re highness not to bite my thumb at you but we¡¯re simply citizens of Alvarez regardless of our stature¡± When she said stature she sent me a cold glare. This snow elf¡­ ¡°That may be true however I will show you proof that you carry a skill unparalleled to those of others.¡± The king gestured for someone to come in. The door opened behind us and came an old man with a crystal ball. ¡°I personally hired an appraiser to show you your current skills¡± The old man makes his way to the snow elf and made her place her hands on the crystal. She then made a surprised face. Pfft¡­ like it¡¯s anything spectacular! Heroes?! That¡¯s nothing but fairy tale the only way to win the war is to show who is more powerful. The old man made his way towards me and told me to place my hand on the crystal. I scoffed at it while doing so. Wait¡­ What¡­? A screen pops up in front of me showing my skills. In there it says: Skills: Thievery Cunning Bartering Sneak ¡Þ Lust I now understand why I work so well being a thief I have all the assets I needed. Though I knew I had lust as a skill I didn¡¯t know it was one of the sin skills, more importantly what does the symbol mean in front of it? The old man then continued his way down to the other two they both showed the same face as I and that elven woman. ¡°As you can see each of you carry a skill with a symbol in front. That is the sin skill. It is said to hold power unimaginable. That is our key to winning this war.¡± The woman with the witch attire raises her hand. ¡°We may have the skills but we don¡¯t even know what it does.¡± I agree with her, true it is an unordinary skill but we don¡¯t know what it does, I mean I do but no one else does¡­ I think. The blonde knight speaks up. ¡°Which is why we are here. You will all embark on a journey guided by us the appointed knights to improve the skill creating the heroes you will become before you all head off to the frontlines.¡± I then cleared my throat. ¡°I literally have so many questions¡­ You are all willing to send us? We are all nothing but civilians. A spoiled princess, some sort of witch, and a child. Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?¡± The blonde knight looks at me with a cold glare. Seriously who is this woman? ¡°Hold your tongue you thief. You would question the judgement our king when he has shown clear evidence of your skills!¡± ¡°Look lady¡­ I don¡¯t even know who you are, but even if we saw the skill that we have. It clears nothing, for all we know it¡¯s a useless skill. It would be better to hire more adventurers and help end the war.¡± The king raises his hand signalling us to be silent. ¡°I understand your doubts¡­ Therefore we shall clear it right now. You are to use the sin skills on the knights beside you. We shall start with the heiress of the Claude family. Felicity if you would please.¡± The snow elf apparently named Felicity looks at the blonde knight and puts her hand in front. ¡°How do I use greed? I know how to use spells however skills are different.¡± ¡°Milady it¡¯s simple just think up of the skill and it should activate. With your aptitude of conjuring it should be easy.¡± Then as if she was holding light itself Felicity''s palm started to grow bright. We were all forced to close our eyes and when we opened them, the blonde knight was kneeling on the ground panting. Felicity starts to smile. ¡°I¡­ I did it¡­ I took one of her skills! Not only that I managed to gain appraisal from it too!¡± I look over to the old man and he also fell to the floor. Leopold quickly helps him up. The old man starts to shake and stutter. ¡°I¡­ I lost¡­ My¡­ Skill!¡± The old man was in complete disarray. I looked back at Felicity currently laughing at the scenario. ¡°This is an amazing skill! I gained appraisal and sword mastery without a cinch this is wonderful! I think I can return the skills here Alice, your skill¡± Felicity raises her hand and returned the skill back ¡°What about me madame?¡± The old man said meekly. Felicity releases a dark grin. ¡°Who cares about your skill? That¡¯s all you have you¡¯re nothing but trash¡± What? It was because of him we got to see we have the skill and now you are just planning to discard him? I look at the king and he didn''t say anything. This corrupt world is and its nobles are nothing but trash¡­ The old man was dragged off by the knights that were on guard ¡°Please give it back! That was the only way I can support my family!¡± The door closed behind us. Leopold walks beside me and pats my shoulder. What? What do you want? You¡¯re probably the same as them. The king then stands up and raises his hands. ¡°Now you all see what power these sin skills possess. These are skills unmatched by anyone. Please make your way towards the front lines and help stop this war.¡± The king then issued us to leave. The knights all knelt down and escorted all of us out of the castle. THE FUTURE KING What should we do?¡± The young boy asks us. ¡°It¡¯s intolerable that I have to answer a slum rat¡¯s question. I will be heading to the frontlines and see how powerful I can become! I care not for what you all do.¡± Felicity then starts to walk away. ¡°Wait.. You, knight with the blonde hair. Who are you and why did you keep shooting me with glares earlier?¡± ¡°You really don¡¯t remember?¡± I wouldn¡¯t be asking if I did ¡°You stole from me when I first arrived here in Alvarez. I needed a ride to the barracks you offered me one then told me to put my stuff in the carriage and I ride beside you I complied and placed my stuff in the carriage, then you just dashed off with the carriage along with my luggage and money!¡± I have no idea of that. I have done that same scheme to dumb newcomers in the city multiple times, I can¡¯t remember all the fools I tricked. ¡°Look¡­ If it¡¯s any consolation your things probably didn¡¯t sell for much.¡± I then was hit with a smack to the face with an open palm. I landed on the ground with my cheek stinging. Both Alice and Felicity then left. ¡°You deserved that.¡± Leopold told me as he reaches out his hand towards me. I smacked it away and stood up by myself. Everyone seemed to have left while me and Alice were having that argument. Only me and Leopold were left alone in front of the castle. ¡°Shall we make our way to the front lines?¡± ¡°With all due respect your majesty. I¡¯m no knight or adventurer I¡¯m just a commoner not even a noble. There is no way I am going to the front lines.¡± ¡°Very well. However as the appointed knight I will be with you at all times.¡± Really? All the time? Talk about pressure. ¡°Your highness you don¡¯t need to be here. I¡¯m going home and that¡¯s it.¡± ¡°I will be coming along as well. Also no need to be so formal, we¡¯re partners now so please just call me Leopold as I said before.¡± How persistent. Fine I¡¯ll bring him to my house outside the city and then he won''t want to be with me anymore. The reason being because he is used to the fancy lifestyle he won''t stand being with a comonner such as myself. I make my way out the city and Leopold followed me without question. As I was about to pass through the gate to go outside the city I was stopped by a knight in guard duty. He smelled like alcohol. ¡°Why hello there Lovre! If you want to go outside that¡¯s 5 pieces of silver Hehehe¡± I sighed and reached for my pouch but Leopold stops me. The knight saw Leopold and started sweating bullets as he straighten his stance and let us through. ¡°Using your position as an advantage huh? Not very knight like.¡± I said striking up a conversation. ¡°That knight was clearly extorting money out of you as the knight captain I can¡¯t stand by and do nothing.¡± ¡°He does that all the time and not just him many others do. Look, on the surface the city may look great and perfect, but in reality the people in here are as bad as the demonic beings that gather.¡± Leopold looks down as I said the truth. The night was drawing near so we hurried over to where I lived. We arrived at a small village just a few distance away from the city. A small little girl runs up to me and gives me a hug on my leg. ¡°Lovre! You finally came back! Did you bring me anything?¡± She asked as I lift her up and carry her. ¡°Of course I did Laura.¡± I then pulled out a small flower in the color of purple and placed it on her ear. ¡°Who are you?!¡± Two more children ran up and with their branches that they picked up they point it towards Leopold who was behind me. He smiles and raised up his arms. When he did I noticed his sword with the handle encrusted with a bit of gold. If I were to take that and sell it I would probably never be able to live to tell the tale. ¡°Uncle Lovre! We caught ourselves a knight! Let¡¯s take his stuff and sell it. Then we can get enough money to help everyone!¡± I sighed and placed my hand on one of the kids head. ¡°He¡¯s fine. I brought him over as a guest. So be good kids and don¡¯t bother him too much.¡± The kids made a clicking sound with their tongue and left. I put down Laura and she smiled and waved at me before heading off to play with the other kids. ¡°I didn¡¯t know there was such a community this close to the city.¡± ¡°Well we tend to keep to ourselves so that the knights won¡¯t take what we don¡¯t have.¡± I then made my way over to my house. As we go around everyone we passed gave me a wave. Compared to the city the houses here looked more like a hut than anything. It was completely made with straws and wood. ¡°How many people live here in this community?¡± Leopold asks as he looks around in astonishment. ¡°I don¡¯t know 8 children, 13 adult, and 4 elders? It¡¯s been a while since I kept count.¡± ¡°Any of the children have any parents?¡± ¡°Huh? Yeah just Laura, the rest no. They were tossed out of the slums in the city due to being a burden. This is a place for those with nowhere to go.¡± As we enter my house auntie Hannah was sitting on her rocking chair. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and said my greeting. She¡¯s an old woman that¡¯s been living here for a long time. ¡°Hello there. Excuse my intrusion, my name is Leopold Von Astrea.¡± There was no response from auntie ¡°Don¡¯t bother¡­ she lost her sight and hearing a long time ago.¡± ¡°Is she your grandmother Lovre?¡± ¡°What? No, she¡¯s the eldest here and she was the one that started this whole place when I was young. So I feel that I have to take care of her. I¡¯m not complaining of course.¡± I go over to the kitchen to make some tea to offer and give some for auntie. I sat down with the tea and offered it LeopoldRoyal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Sorry for being nosy. But what happened to her if she lost both her hearing and eyesight?¡± I sighed ¡°Really¡­ You are nosy. I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll mind so what the hell. In the past when I was young I found this place and started living here as a resident. The ruler at those times was auntie. Knights back then were the same as the present they come in the community demanding a tax, higher than the usual pay. If we don¡¯t obey they ransack a house of their choosing. Auntie got tired of living under the fear of the knights so she took it upon herself to fight against the knights. She wielded a spear and tried to chase away the knights. Obviously she was overpowered, however she never gave up. The knights come weekly and auntie was always there prepared to take the punishment to chase them away. Then a day came when they decided to toy with her and brought along a mage to completely impair her hearing and eyesight with magic. She wasn¡¯t scared and still tried to fight back but since she lost two of her senses she was just flailing around. The knights laughed and just decided to beat her until they got bored. She never once screamed in pain while they kicked and beat her. After they left she stood up and turned to the people behind her and smiled saying she¡¯ll always be the one to stop them. She¡¯s special to everyone who lives here not just me.¡± ¡°Who were those knights?!¡± Leopold was holding his cup in anger ¡°I don¡¯t know it¡¯s a long time ago. I was still a kid back then you know?¡± Leopold holds in his anger ¡°Why are you acting like you¡¯re better than them? Aren¡¯t you just the same as them?¡± Leopold took clear offence at my words. He stood up and grabbed me by the collar of my clothing. ¡°I¡¯m not the same as them!¡± I was calm but also irritated ¡°Are you for certain? If you weren¡¯t then how come you didn¡¯t help out that old man back in the castle? You just let him get taken away didn¡¯t you? You didn¡¯t even argue on what Felicity did was wrong. Instead you were a bystander, not like I¡¯m any better. At least I don¡¯t deny what I am¡± ¡°I¡¯m a knight before a prince. If the king does not issue an order then I can¡¯t do anything¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. Look feel free to stay here but be sure to help everyone here if you¡¯re going to. We help everyone in this community. Now let go¡± Leopold let¡¯s go of me and sits back down. Night time has arrived and I got tired. I showed Leopold to a small room and I headed off to bed. I placed my coat down on the chair before laying in bed and falling asleep. Smoke¡­ I smell smoke! I woke up in a hurry and looked outside. The sky was filled with red as the fire burned down the community. Leopold runs in the room in a great hurry. ¡°Gargoyles! They¡¯re attacking from the sky!¡± I looked over my coat which I placed on the chair and put it on. Both of us hurry outside to see a pack of gargoyles shooting fire and swooping down and eating humans. Wait¡­ Auntie! ¡°If you¡¯re looking for auntie I got her outside the house under some trees. I told everyone to do the same.¡± I breathed a sigh of relief and focused on the gargoyles. I reach in my coat and brought out a bunch of throwing knives. I look over to my right and I see Leopold drawing his sword. The sword looked like a rapier completely brandished in white. The gargoyles took notice of us and fired a bombardment of fireballs. I have nothing for cover. ¡°Get behind me Lovre!¡± He took a stand in front of me and he started running his finger down the blade. ¡°Holy creator bless this child with the power to cut through everything¡­ Holy blade¡¯s judgement!¡± Leopold swings the glowing sword horizontally. It released a wave and completely obliterated the fireballs that were heading towards us. On it¡¯s way it cut up a few of the gargoyles that were in its path. What ¡°Not bad your highness¡± I suppose it¡¯s my turn. Activate lust! My black hair stands up and turns pink the same color change that happened with my irises. The knives I were holding were coated with a pink aura. I took aim and threw all of them with precise accuracy hitting the gargoyles either at the head or at the heart. ¡°Now¡­ Kill each other.¡± As if they were puppets with no will other than mine they followed my order. They attacked their comrades with vigor. ¡°So you were bluffing when you said you didn¡¯t know what your skill does?¡± Leopold asks as he killed one of the gargoyles. Then came the leader of the pack a named monster¡­ No¡­ A demonic being. It was a gargoyle but more close to that of a human appearance. He raises his arm in the air and fired some sort of fire magic. It flew high in the sky before exploding releasing a magic that looked like a meteor shower. ¡°Papa!¡± I look over to the scream on my left and it was Laura holding her dead father''s hand. Leopold won¡¯t make it if I told him to go protect her, neither would I! Leopold tries to run and protect her but it was too late the fireball is way too close to her. The explosion left a cloud of dust obstructing our view. Leopold was furious. ¡°You will pay! Demonic being, be ready to face my blade!¡± I place my hand on Leopold¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Laura¡¯s fine I used lust to make her activate a barrier. Look¡± We both look over at Laura standing inside a green barrier with her irises colored in pink. Leopold then looks at me. ¡°I didn''t know she can put up barriers.¡± ¡°She can¡¯t. I ordered her to do that. Anyone I see or hit with an enchanted weapon with lust activated loses all free will and answers to all my demands, no matter how impossible it is.¡± Laura then starts running away from the battlefield. The demonic being then starts to clap slowly. ¡°Truly magnificent oh hero. The power of lust be it weak surely has its advantages color me surprised kukuku¡­¡± ¡°Why did you come here?!¡± ¡°To eliminate you, hero of lust or should I say Lovre Don Faust.¡± Leopold raises his sword in the air ¡°Great creator I shall use a spell with your presence may the lightning speak thy name¡­ Lightning wings of retribution!¡± A lightning that came out of nowhere struck Leopold seemingly giving him wings made out of electricity. He jumps up and soars. ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯re the only one who can fly!¡± Leopold swung his sword towards the demonic being. The demon conjured up a sword as well, made of red crystals and blocked the attack. ¡°Prince Leopold Von Astrea, you are also on the hit list. Truly magnificent two birds with one stone as you would say kukuku¡­¡± While he was speaking Leopold was swinging his sword but he just kept intercepting it. I can''t just let Leopold do all the fighting. I call over one of the gargoyles I controlled, it should be fine the gargoyles numbers are dwindling. ¡°Become my wings¡± The gargoyle then grabs me as it flies and follows the direction i think of, it truly feels like I¡¯m flying with my own power. I take out more knives enchanted them with lust and threw them at the demonic being. Without even looking at my direction he created another sword and blocked it all. ¡°Smart of you to not look at me when I threw those¡± If he did I would¡¯ve taken away his free will as I look at him. ¡°Stop complimenting him. Holy blades judgement!¡± ¡°Kukuku¡­. Anti-matter avid slash!¡± The two waves emitted by their blades hit each other and cancelling both in the process. I took control of more gargoyles and sent them to attack the demonic being. ¡°Kill the demonic being!¡± They gargoyles start to swarm the demonic being. He activated magic to ward them off but Leopold was seizing the opportunities given to him to launch attacks. It was working for a few but then he got used to it and created a floating orb shooting down the gargoyles and some of the shots were aimed at me. ¡°Learn magic reflection¡± The gargoyles then started to contort as I said my order. I didn¡¯t think I would have to use the learn command it shortens my command time of an hour to half. I used it earlier on Laura to make her learn barrier magic. My eye starts to throb. ¡°Leopold! Finish this already!¡± The gargoyles reflected all the magic bullet towards the demonic being. ¡°May the holy judgement fall upon my enemy with it comes judgement¡­ Holy light recreation!¡± Leopold¡¯s sword starts to glow even brighter than it was earlier. He flew in close as the demonic being Was fighting of the gargoyles with magic reflection. He stabbed the demonic being at the stomach. ¡°To think I¡¯d be pushed this far! Volcanic pillar!!¡± The ground below them starts to open a crack. ¡°Leopold!¡± The demonic being holds Leopold¡¯s hand without letting go. Leopold tried to make him let go and he looks at me. ¡°Don¡¯t die¡± The crack opens completely and a plume of flame erupts from it hitting all the gargoyles that was clinging on the demonic being and Leopold. My eyes starts to get dark and I start losing my consciousness I fall to the ground. I¡¯m barely holding it together and I saw both Leopold and the demonic being up in the sky both badly burnt. ¡°You sure are tough¡­¡± Leopold was up in the air panting ¡°To think you would survive that¡­ truly magnificent prince and Lovre. If it weren¡¯t for the order you would have died¡± ¡°True¡­ But it seems our battle isn¡¯t over yet¡± ¡°Actually I¡¯m done for tonight¡­ I will leave you my name and hopefully we meet again before you die. My name is Leviathan do keep it well in your mind.¡± He then flies away ¡°Haha¡­¡± Leopold then crashes to the ground as I closed my eyes. DECLARATION My head feels like it will explode, using lust on such an extent gives me severe headaches. I open my eyes and I see that I¡¯m in a tent. There was a healing mage tending me and as I look around there were others being tended to as well. ¡°You¡¯re awake. Just give me a few seconds and I¡¯ll be done¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine¡± I try to stand up but the mage pushed me back down to the bed. ¡°If you¡¯re looking for the prince. He¡¯s already up and about.¡± The mage finishes up and leaves me. I stood up and felt a sharp pain that coursed to my head. I stumble a little bit before regaining my composure. There were people that were from the community being tended to, I¡¯m glad. I walk outside the tent and see that the whole community was burned down. As I walked around to see what could possibly be left I heard my name. ¡°Lovre! You¡¯re awake!¡± I turn around to see Leopold with his left arm in a cast. ¡°What happened to your hand?¡± ¡°When I was being held by the demonic being my hand got slightly crushed so they mended it. Anyway if it wasn¡¯t for you I would be dead, you have my gratitude.¡± That¡¯s right¡­ I forgot but I did order him to not die. Using an order of that degree almost completely drains my stamina rendering me useless, I only use it during emergencies. ¡°I saw people tended in there. But that¡¯s not everyone¡­ where¡¯s Laura and auntie?¡± Leopold looks down and takes a deep breath ¡°Follow me¡± I grab him before he walked away. ¡°Where are they?!¡± I got frustrated. I don¡¯t like not knowing what happened to them. Leopold leads me to a separate tent we both go inside and I see two beds being occupied. ¡°They¡¯ll live but¡­ there was another demonic being in the area. It injected rogue particles in them. They inject humans with it to turn them into demonic beings.¡± Leopold explains the situation as I got closer. Both of them showed markings on their neck like a black slime crawling on their skin. I activate lust. ¡°Heal yourselves¡± After I said my order my head felt like it would explode then came a prompt that appeared in front of me. ¡°Another ones sin curse can¡¯t be overwritten by another sin curse¡± What? Does that mean this curse is from someone¡¯s skill? More importantly a sin skill? It can¡¯t be Felicity her ability is to steal abilities it rules her out. That leaves the witch and the kid. I turn to Leopold. ¡°What do you know about the other heroes?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know much about them¡­ I do know is that they¡¯re heading to the front lines at the moment¡± ¡°Well do you know anything about their sin skills?¡± Leopold shakes his head. If he doesn¡¯t know then no one else but the other heroes do. Looks like I have no choice. ¡°How long do they have before the sludge takes over?¡± ¡°About three months. That¡¯s even pushing it¡± I take a deep sigh and look over auntie and Laura ¡°I made up my mind¡­ We¡¯re going to the front lines¡± Leopold made a shocked face ¡°This Mark is someone with a sin skill and the only ones I know are the other heroes. They¡¯re heading to the front lines so we¡¯ll have to get one of them to undo this¡± ¡°Getting to the front lines is going to be a long journey. What¡¯s more they had a head start against you.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll make it¡­ More like we have to make it. I can¡¯t just sit back and not do anything as the people I know are in trouble.¡± Leopold nods his head ¡°Very well. I shall check in with the others and see where they¡¯re at.¡± Leopold then walks outside. I walk towards the two who are in bed. I promise I will help both of you. I then walk out of the tent and right outside a dejected woman stands in front of me. ¡°I couldn¡¯t stop that thing¡­ I tried my best¡­ I was of no match¡­¡± It was Laura¡¯s mother she was standing there with hopeless eyes. ¡°I know¡­¡± ¡°It should¡¯ve been me¡­ why her?!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll find a way to fix her¡­ both of them. Right now Laura needs you the most don¡¯t lose hope.¡± Laura¡¯s mother wipes away her tears. ¡°You¡¯re right¡­ please Lovre¡­ help them¡± ¡°I will¡± I gave her a pat on the shoulder and I went towards a tent with knights in front. I was stopped before I got the chance to enter. ¡°Only the prince is allowed inside¡± Leopold then comes out ¡°It¡¯s fine Lovre I¡¯ll come out to you.¡± ¡°Well¡­ any information on where they are at the moment?¡± ¡°It¡¯s what I said before they¡¯re on the way to the front lines except for one. They¡¯re at the forest of truancy.¡± ¡°You mean that so called cursed forest of the other kingdom?¡± ¡°Yes that one¡± ¡°What would they be doing there? Anyway that hero seems to be the closest from here so we should pay them a visit¡± ¡°Of course, however we should wait till our injuries are all healed up¡± I activate lust for a second ¡°Heal yourself¡± Leopold then starts to glow green when I ordered him. ¡°Did I just use healing magic?!¡± Leopold starts moving his hands like it was never broken to begin with. ¡°If you have that ability why not use it on all the people that were injured?¡± ¡°If I did I would end up passing out again. Using lust consumes a lot of stamina depending on the order. If it was a simple order such as to grab something or do something basic it¡¯s not a big deal. Using lust to order someone to use a skill they don¡¯t have or boost a person''s skill takes more stamina than usual. Then finally an impossible order completely drains my stamina completely rendering myself immobile from exhaustion. Those orders include not to die, or resurrection from being dead or to awaken from death. Impossible order¡¯s effect only lasts a few minutes so it¡¯s not a permanent fix on death¡± Leopold just nods and takes it into consideration. ¡°The fastest route towards the truancy forest is going through the neighboring kingdom.¡± ¡°Well then shall we depart? As you said they don¡¯t have much time left it¡¯s best new hurry.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Leopold and I walk over to the horses that were on standby in a temporary stable. He grabs one of the horses reins. ¡°Um... are we allowed to just take a horse out of the stable? I mean don¡¯t those knights need them?¡± ¡°It will be fine I already asked the commanding chief if we can commandeer two of their horses. He agreed and said to take whichever one we feel will be of most use.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a bit negligent but alright¡­ Who¡¯s a thief to argue?¡± Leopold grabs a majestic white horse with it¡¯s mane braided into two. He then just casually mounts it like he has done it for years. I on the other hand approached a brown horse a generic looking one. It was calm and didn¡¯t resist when I grabbed the reins. I stood there holding the reins. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Leopold asks me as he waits. ¡°I¡¯m observing the horse¡­¡± ¡°Okay¡­ Well you should get on so we can get going.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ get on¡­ wouldn¡¯t sit be called mount the horse instead?¡± ¡°Do you know how to get on a horse?¡± He hit the nail on the head. ¡°Pfft¡­ yeah. Who doesn¡¯t?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t you know? Not many commoners do. To nobles it¡¯s mandatory to learn. I can teach you if you wish.¡± ¡°I got this. Don¡¯t worry¡± I don¡¯t got this¡­ I take a deep breath and placed my foot on the stirrup and hoisted myself up onto the horse. ¡°See I told you I know how to do it¡­¡± I said triumphantly ¡°Well.. let¡¯s get on the road then¡­ it may take us a day or more to reach the other kingdom so we must make haste.¡± Leopold taps the horse with his feet and he starts to move forward. Not knowing what to do I followed his example and the horse follows. We¡¯ve been on the road for the second day I¡¯ve been thinking on ways to prevent the curse that¡¯s growing on auntie and Laura. It gave me a prompt that a curse cannot be overwritten. Meaning if I put a curse or use lust to be precise on Leopold he won¡¯t suffer the same fate. ¡°Lovre no offence but why are you going so far for them?¡± Leopold asks as I trotted along behind him. What kind of stupid question is that? ¡°Because they¡¯re my family. They¡¯re the only one who ever took me in especially auntie. To me they¡¯re irreplaceable.¡± ¡°I see¡­ you said that you were originally not from that community where were you from then?¡± ¡°What is this an interrogation?¡± ¡°I¡¯m simply curious. You don¡¯t need to answer.¡± ¡°The prince asked so I kind of have to answer¡­ I¡¯m a bastard child of a noble and a peasant. You see¡­ my mother was the noble and in fact in an arranged marriage with a viscount. My father on the other hand is a peasant that my mother¡¯s husband owns. Of course they weren¡¯t into each other the first time but as time went on they started to get to know each other. They ended up having me behind the viscounts¡¯ back. He soon found out when I became four and then he tossed my father into a slave trade. As for my mother she was stripped of all nobility and completely discarded. She ran away with me and sold me saying that it was all my fault the most I can do is give her some money. I for one stand by the actions of the viscount I knew the whole time that he truly loved my mother but he got backstabbed. Anyway¡­ a few years living in the slum I found that community and auntie started taking care of me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry for making you talk about your past. I didn¡¯t know what happened¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine I don¡¯t really care about it¡± ¡°What ended up happening to your noble family?¡± ¡°Ever since the scandal the family lost all of its positions leading it into ruin. That¡¯s why you¡¯ll never see where I¡¯m from.¡± We talked more as we travelled it was close to the afternoon when we arrived and the neighboring kingdom of Kincardine. We entered through the gate after the guards asked us about the purpose of visit. Being with the prince truly helped the entry. He said he had urgent diplomacy business to attend to and without question we were allowed in. The kingdom of Kincardine is vastly different from the kingdom of Alvarez. They had temples, shrines, trees that blooms pink leaves, and it¡¯s close to the ocean so seafood here is absolutely delicious. ¡°We must inquire to the emperor before we head to the forest.¡± ¡°Emperor? Does that mean he ranks higher than your father?¡± ¡°In a manner of speaking¡± What does he mean by that? We headed off to the castles. There were people dressed in clothing I¡¯ve never seen before they looked a little baggy with a sash around the waist. The city looked clean but I know that there are still people probably in the outskirts being mistreated. We soon arrived at the castle which looked like the temples I saw but incredibly larger. As we went inside the huge pair of doors there were knights wearing armour that are foreign to me. Their face is covered with a mask and a helmet. The materials used seems like leather or iron scales. They wielded swords that are curved not like the sword that Leopold carries on his waist. On of the guards put us onto a halt. ¡°State your business¡± The guard said with a deep voice. ¡°I am Leopold Von Astrea, captain of knights and crowned prince of the Alvarez kingdom.¡± The guard takes a second to look at him then looks at me. ¡°What about him?¡± ¡°He is one of the heroes that was granted an incredible skill¡± He looks at me suspiciously. Not that I can tell¡­ he¡¯s wearing a mask. ¡°Very well¡­ follow me.¡± As we walk along behind the guard I looked around. The castle inside seems to be made of wood and the flooring is made from bamboo an expensive material. If I can sell one of those I would be instantly rich. We arrived at what I think is the throne room. The was no throne just an elevated floor higher than what we¡¯re currently standing on anyway. There was also from what it looks like a pillow on the elevated floor. ¡°Please kneel for our leader comes before you¡± As the guard said that the leader appeared from behind the thin walls on the elevated floor. Emperor? More like empress. She knelt down onto the pillow and spoke. ¡°Why did you come here prince of Alvarez?¡± She was stunning. She was wearing the same clothing as the people I saw outside but hers is more extravagant and more lavish. Her hair was held up weirdly but it doesn¡¯t take away her beauty. ¡°We would like to have your permission to enter the truancy forest.¡± ¡°What business do have in the forest?¡± ¡°It appears one of the heroes is holed up in there¡± ¡°I see¡­ very well I shall grant you that offer¡± Leopold thanks her and stands up. ¡°Is that all for your visit today?¡± I also stood up and just followed Leopold¡¯s lead. He know more about the political problems than I do. ¡°Yes¡± ¡°I have but one condition¡± Leopold looks confused. ¡°Very well what is it?¡± ¡°You must have a drink with me!¡± What?! A drink with such a stunning beauty?! Who in their right mind would say no? ¡°Pardon my rudeness but I refuse¡± What the hell?! This is the part where you¡¯re supposed to say yes! ¡°Then I recline my permission¡± I whispered to Leopold¡¯s ear ¡°Just accept it! We need to see the other hero and we get to have a drink with such a beauty. No matter what it¡¯s a win win situation.¡± Leopold whispered back at me ¡°You don¡¯t understand Lovre. I¡¯ve seen her drink before¡± Who cares? I gave him a literal push forward. ¡°Are you willing to change your answer?¡± The empress asked. With a sigh Leopold gives his response. ¡°Very well¡­ I shall meet your conditions.¡± ¡°Wonderful! Let us head to the drinking hall!¡± She then stands up and walked towards us with a smile. ¡°Follow me. Oh and you can come as well I suppose.¡± The two of us follow her and walked towards the drinking hall. Who the hell has a drinking hall? Is it just a place to get drunk like a tavern but for one person? It has been an hour since we started drinking. It truly is a bliss to able to drink such fine drinks I usually won¡¯t get the chance to drink. However I¡¯m more disturbed about the empress. She is incredibly drunk her dress is starting to fall off and she keeps on clinging onto Leopold. ¡°Hey¡­ Why won¡¯t you just marry me? I¡¯m only 27 you know? Just five years older come on¡­¡± She said as she holds a bottle and stuck to Leopold¡¯s arm. ¡°I have a duty to uphold first¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± Leopold said awkwardly averting his gaze as he fixes her clothing to cover her up more. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect her to be a lightweight. I assumed since she has a drinking hall she would be accustomed to it.¡± ¡°No¡­ She uses this to relieve stress¡± ¡°Why are you talking about me like I don¡¯t have a name?! My name is Graham Hitomi!¡± ¡°Hitomi? That¡¯s an unusual name¡± Hitomi glares at me. ¡°My father is the one who gave me that name. He was once a hero like you but different. He was summoned from a place called Japan.¡± ¡°How¡¯d you know I¡¯m a hero?¡± She lets go of Leopold and looks at me seriously ¡°You have the same power that my late father had. You have the sin of lust. The weakest of all the seven sins.¡± ¡°Seven?¡± Leopold asks ¡°Weakest?!¡± ¡°Indeed there is a total of seven sin skills. However right now me and your father only knows the five. Lust, Envy, Greed, and Pride. Envy came from our kingdom so I know her personally the others not so much.¡± ¡°Then do you know their abilities?¡± I asked her ¡°Perhaps¡± She responds as she drinks from the bottle she¡¯s holding. ¡°Perhaps?! Tell me!¡± I grab her arm to stop her from drinking. She looks at me in a shuddering glare. ¡°I may be drunk but I¡¯m still the empress. You try anything and I will have you executed, hero or not.¡± I let go of her arm with a click of my tongue. ¡°Ah¡­ I lost the will to drink. Whatever you guys can go now. Just tell the samurais at the forest to let you in by the order of me.¡± She stands up all tipsy and headed out the door with bottle still in hand. ¡°You can stay here for tonight if you¡¯d like. Alternatively there¡¯s an inn close by, do whatever. *burp* Oh man¡­ where¡¯s the bathroom?¡± She leaves the two of us in the room. ¡°To think that there are 3 more sin skills out there.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s more of a problem than a solution. What if the four people we know don¡¯t carry the sin skill we¡¯re looking for? We¡¯ll need to find the other three.¡± Leopold stands up and dusts himself off. ¡°We won¡¯t get anywhere sitting around. It¡¯s late we should just stay here for the night.¡± He walks outside the room looking for an attendant. I have to find the skill user within a span of three months. It¡¯s not going to be easy. Felicity is out of the picture, I¡¯ve seen her skill first hand. That leaves me with five and if we¡¯re lucky it might the person we¡¯ll meet tomorrow. WITCH OF THE WILDS We woke up early morning to head over to the forest of truancy. The room we slept in was a guest room and the bed there was infinitely better than the one I had at my home. When we arrived at the entrance of the forest there were two guards at post or I guess they call them here as samurais. ¡°We have been allowed to enter the forest by the empress Hitomi.¡± Leopold tells the two samurais. They looked at each other and blocked the entrance. ¡°You will need to provide proof of acceptance. Otherwise turn back this forest is filled with uncontrolled mana it¡¯s dangerous.¡± ¡°Leopold¡­ did the empress give you anything?¡± ¡°Nothing as I recall¡± ¡°Damn¡­ all right I¡¯ll just use lust then.¡± I started to activate lust my eyes became pink and same with my hair. ¡°I would prefer if you didn¡¯t do that¡± There was a voice coming from behind me. I turn around and to my surprise it was a beautiful woman. ¡°Empress Hitomi. Why are you here?¡± Leopold asks as he knelt down. He pulled me down as well to kneel. ¡°It seems due to reasons yesterday I have forgotten to give you a proof of entry. So I will accompany you today.¡± Leopold looks at me. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea¡­¡± She just ignores Leopold and walks towards the two samurais. ¡°I will be accompanying the two of them please let us through.¡± ¡°But your liege it¡¯s far too dangerous for you to head in yourself¡± ¡°Let us through. That¡¯s an order.¡± The two looked nervous from their body language. Both Leopold and me stood up and walked behind the empress. The two guards moved aside and we entered the forest. As soon as we stepped in I felt a rush of magical energy sweeping through. I instinctively held my breath being overwhelmed by such force. What the hell am I doing?! I¡¯m sweating profusely my eyes are blurry. I¡­ I have to get out! Ha¡­ ha¡­ ¡°Hold your ground!¡± I was instinctively looking down as I raise my head to see who said the words. I saw the empress with her hand reaching out to me. I look over to my right and it seems like the same thing is happening to Leopold. I mustered all of my strength just to grab hold of the empress¡¯ hand. She pulls me to stand up properly. As I stood the malevolent feeling I had starts to disappear. The darkness that I thought I saw started to disappear and I was able to see the forest for what it is. The empress helped out Leopold as well. ¡°The forest is overflowing with mana. Every living thing in this forest is imbued with magicules. That means the magicules we¡¯re trying to infuse with you two as soon as you entered.¡± It takes me a second to catch my breath. ¡°How come¡­ ha¡­ you weren¡¯t¡­ affected?¡± I¡¯ve truly never been scared my entire life. Today however was absolutely horrifying to me. ¡°It didn¡¯t affect me because I can control my mana with extreme precision. The mana only tries to integrate into those who do not have or small amount of magic within them. To think the both of you are unable to harness magic is truly unexpected.¡± Leopold stands up straight but his arms were still shaking he put up a farce. ¡°What did you do to neutralize its effects on us?¡± ¡°I casted a coat of mana around the two of you. It acts like magnets. For simple explanation I imbued you with positive mana deflecting all the overflowing positive mana away from you. The negative mana gets absorbed but it is minute so it poses no threat. I was originally gonna give you the passes to enter since it does the same thing but I forgot.¡± How could she forget?! It was such an integral part of exploring the forest and she just forgets?! ¡°Anyway we should get a move on. Just follow me along I know where you need to go.¡± We follow the empress for quite awhile. The forest was filled with huge trees I would believe if someone told me that this is a jungle because of the size. The rabbits that we saw pass by had horns and was able to use magic to accelerate. ¡°There are some animals i have never seen before I can¡¯t believe no one is hunting them down.¡± ¡°I agree. If the magicule is abundant here it could also mean that rare animals will appear here.¡± I stated as I adjusted my jacket and look if I have any throwing knives on me. ¡°There are indeed rare animals that lives in this forest. I have seen unicorns, griffins and even a nue. As for the hunting possibility they would have to get past the guards that are posted outside and the sudden surge of magicules as soon as they enter the forest.¡± Unicorns and griffins?! Those are thought to be a myth. Did she just say those things exist here? If I were to sell a talon or horn from one of them how much coins could I net?! I¡¯m salivating at the thought. ¡°Lovre¡­ you¡¯re kind of drooling over there.¡± I was awakened from my thoughts by Leopold. I slurp up my saliva and cleared my throat. ¡°Ahem¡­ how do you possibly know where we need to go empress?¡± She holds her head with a groan. ¡°Ugh¡­ my head hurts so much, I had way too much to drink. I know because I¡¯ve been to where she lives.¡± She said with a groan. It seems like she has a hangover. I don¡¯t understand why she would want to come with us. ¡°Your liege continuing our talk last night I have a few questions.¡± Leopold says as he walks closer to the empress. ¡°Huh? Yeah sure¡­ just keep it down. The alcohol from yesterday is causing me some headaches¡± She then pops a pill into her mouth. ¡°Very well. You said that there were people before that possessed the sin skills that the current heroes have. How come just now are we learning about them?¡± ¡°Sheesh Leopold I should¡¯ve said make the questions easier. I don¡¯t know why your father decided to take action now regarding of the sin skills. I do have a speculation though. That would be that your father already knew about it and never bothered to confront them about it. Now though the war becomes desperate, so he finds the heroes and assign them to the frontlines. From my point of view you guys are nothing but expendable people not heroes.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°My father wouldn¡¯t do such a thing!¡± ¡°Why not? He¡¯s the same person that pulled out of the front lines.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because he has a duty to uphold back at our kingdom¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re holding your father on a really high pedestal. I assume you understand why the war is happening?¡± ¡°Yes of course, it¡¯s to stop the demonic beings from attacking us.¡± ¡°Is it?¡± The empress stopped walking and looked at Leopold very seriously. ¡°Yes! I have seen their attack first hand along here with Lovre!¡± ¡°If you say so. Seriously this dress is not made for hiking! You two turn around and don¡¯t look! I¡¯m changing my clothes to something more bearable.¡± That was a quick change of topic. Both of us turned around. I looked at Leopold his face was filled with puzzlement. I¡¯m not the type of person to follow someone blindly I do my own research before seeming if an action is necessary. I have no intention of fighting this war my only goal is to save auntie and Laura. Leopold is different, he¡¯s a crowned prince and the captain of the chevalier. Then again I don¡¯t particularly care what he does. ¡°Hey you Lust! Here¡± I turned around and I was hit in the face with some clothing. It was a black jacket, red polo, and a white tie. Is she offering this to me so I can sell them? ¡°Wear it. You look like you came from the outskirts with that clothing you have on right now.¡± I am from the outskirts! Whatever it¡¯s a once in a lifetime opportunity to wear clothes like this. I donned the clothing and it looks like I fit in with Leopold and the empress. The clothes she changed into is pretty drab and plain it¡¯s not clothes someone important would wear. Then she called me out for my clothes? Hypocrite. We then decided to continue walking. Leopold stayed quiet along the way. It seems he¡¯s starting to question his orders. For a knight that is something unacceptable a knight must follow orders. ¡°How much longer do we have to walk empress?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be long now Lust¡± ¡°Lust? You keep calling me that why exactly?¡± ¡°Because that is your sin. It¡¯s a lot easier to remember¡± Is my skill really better than just calling me by name? ¡°I remember you saying Lust is the weakest of all the sin skills. I think I heard the same from the demonic being Leopold fought in my village.¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct. My father had the same skill as you and I remember him saying it was a terrible skill to have. Sin skills are indeed strong in combat all except Lust. As you may already know Lust is able to take away their choice. Your demands becomes their actions. It¡¯s weak because it can¡¯t do anything else, if you were to be left alone you would have no one to control. You said earlier that Leopold was the one to fight the demonic being. Why couldn¡¯t you fight instead?¡± All the things she said so far has been spot on. Indeed if I was left alone and fighting someone who knows how the skill works it would be my demise. ¡°I didn¡¯t fight him because he was superior when it came to strength. If I did I would¡¯ve lost.¡± ¡°Exactly. However the sin skills are different than normal skills. The skill evolves. My father¡¯s Lust skill is different from what you currently have. He wasn¡¯t able to imbue his weapons with Lust.¡± I see¡­ so I must make the skill itself stronger not just me. The empress gives us a signal to stop. I looked around her and saw a small cabin house in front of a clear lake. ¡°Is that where the hero is?¡± Leopold asked as he comes closer. ¡°Yes. Now stay back it could be dangerous.¡± What does she mean? I saw someone moving inside through the window. I wanted to see it more clearly so I decided to step a little bit to the right. As soon as I took a step. A magic circle appeared under my foot. I activate Lust as quickly as possible. ¡°Lovre!¡± The magic circle explodes into electricity. *cough *cough I emerge out of the smoke coughing. I looked ahead and the two released a sigh of relief. ¡°How¡¯d you manage to avoid that?¡± ¡°With Lust. I said before I can control any living things that includes plants. You said before that the plants carry mana with them. I ordered one of the trees to give me a barrier. Luckily it worked. It drained quite a bit of stamina though.¡± I stagger slightly as I approached the two. Leopold offers me a hand. I reluctantly accepted and he helped me up. ¡°You managed to surprise yet again Lust. To think you can order plants as well. My father was never able to do that.¡± The empress said impressed. ¡°What did your father manage to do with it then?¡± ¡°He was the one that evolved it so that if someone were to make direct eye contact lust would activate.¡± So Hitomi¡¯s father was the one that evolved Lust to be that way. It is indeed useful the way it is. ¡°Why did you three come here?¡± It was a females¡¯ voice. We turned around with weapons in hand all except Hitomi. She¡¯s a mage so she herself is a weapon. The woman was standing on a flying broom and a wand pointed at us. She was the same woman I saw back at the castle. Same clothing she wore back then, black and dark purple witch clothing. I thought it was some costume thing but it seems she¡¯s the real deal. Witches are outlawed in almost every kingdom. In the past we even had witch hunts to take down witches that troubled the kingdoms. ¡°They¡¯re with me Envy it¡¯s fine.¡± Hitomi calmly addresses the witch. Wait her sin then would be Envy right? If Hitomi addresses me as Lust as in my sin skill it would make sense. ¡°Anego why did you decide to come with the other hero?¡± The witch said as magicules started to gather at the tip of the wand. I activate lust just in case of emergency. ¡°Can everyone just calm down. We can all settle this amicably. Envy why do you call me anego? It makes me sound like I¡¯m a leader of ronins, you can just call me by my name.¡± The witch sighs and lowers the wand and slowly descends. ¡°The same reason you call me Envy, just because I want to.¡± I deactivated lust and placed away my weapon. Leopold seemed to think it was a good idea so he put his sword back in its scabbard. ¡°What is your sin skill?¡± I get straight to the point. There¡¯s no need for formalities I am on a time limit after all. ¡°What?¡± She asked all confused. ¡°I need to know it¡¯s important.¡± Just before she answers we heard a giggle then rustling around the bushes. ¡°What was that Envy?¡± Hitomi asked slightly on guard. ¡°That laughter sounded like goblins. Normally goblins automatically just attack adventurers and not hide.¡± Leopold hold his hands ready. ¡°We can talk about my skill later if you help me with this. They are in fact goblins but they¡¯ve been enhanced. The trap you activated was supposed to be for them you kind of owe me.¡± What is she saying? I was the one who almost died. Fine I¡¯ll help her for now as long as I get to see what her skill is. The goblins jumped out of the bush. It was a lot of goblins ranging somewhere around fifty. ¡°What the hell?!¡± They had parts mixed into them. Parts from other monsters like orcs, snake, and spiders. They¡¯re like a chimera but goblins. One of them looked straight onto me. Luckily I activated¡­ I¡¯m feeling dread. What the hell am I doing here? Why am I risking my life for someone else¡¯s? I look over to my right and Leopold was shaking. I mean who wouldn¡¯t be? We¡¯re going to die. The goblin chimera runs towards me with it¡¯s axe giggling. I¡¯m scared I wanna run! I was saved by Hitomi she fired off some sort of wind magic and blew away the goblin. ¡°What are you doing Lust and Leopold?! Get up and defend yourselves!¡± ¡°No I can¡¯t¡­ they¡¯re too strong¡­¡± Leopold said as he backs away slowly from one of the goblins. ¡°Lightning magic: Lightning cleanse!¡± Then came down a bolt of lightning that struck down the goblin trying to harm Leopold. ¡°Anego! You didn¡¯t tell me they didn¡¯t have magic!¡± I slowly looked up to see the witch up in the air. ¡°Is that what caused them to act like this?¡± ¡°Yes. These goblins have the intimidation skill. Anyone that have below average magic energy is easily afflicted. Anego you protect them I suppose I¡¯ll finish this myself.¡± Hitomi pulls up a magic barrier that encased the three of us. No matter how strong this barrier is we¡¯ll die oh god¡­ please help us. The witch has flown even higher than before and pulls out a staff from the air. ¡°I ask for help and I¡¯m the one who ends up helping them? This is truly a pain. Activate Envy.¡± Her eyes turns purple and her hair became even longer than before even passing her feet. ¡°Hey! You dumb goblins! Prepare as I annihilate every single one of you!¡± She yells from the top of her lungs. The goblins heard her and all looked up and growled at her. Some were even shooting arrows. Then out of nowhere some of the goblins collapsed. They weren¡¯t hit by anything not even magic they just collapsed. I looked closer and they¡¯re still alive barely. Their breathing was ragged and they can¡¯t even move. ¡°Let the flames of hell swallow my target whole. This world shall be purged and brought upon from it a new form. Hellfire magic: purgatory flame wave!¡± From the staff she pointed at the goblins appeared a red and blue magic circle. In a split second a huge flame erupted from the circles. The colour of the flames was blue and the heat was intense. Even inside the barrier you can feel the flames. All the goblins tried to run away but the flames propagated faster then they can run. The flames engulfed them burning away every single cell of the goblins. As they burn away my mind returned to normal. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that¡­¡± ¡°My apologies as well¡± Both me and Leopold apologized to Hitomi for showing our cowardice. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I wouldn¡¯t have known those goblins have that skill. Usually they don¡¯t but seeing as they were chimera goblins it could be possible.¡± The flames dissipates and Hitomi lowers the barrier. The whole area was burnt not even a single tree survived. It¡¯s a good thing the flames didn¡¯t propagate any further or we would''ve had a forest fire. ¡°Kuku¡­ Hahaha¡­¡± I look up and see the witch laughing with an evil grin on her face. ¡°My magic truly is the strongest¡­¡± She then starts to fall from the sky. Leopold quickly activates his flight skill and catches her before she hit the ground. It seemed like she passed out. No surprise that was a huge spell. I guess I¡¯ll have to wait before I can ask her about her sin. ENVY FILLED FOREST It¡¯s been two hours since the defeat of the goblins. We went inside the cabin by the lake to recuperate. Leopold placed down the hero onto her bed. Now all we¡¯re doing is waiting for her to wake up. The damage from the huge spell she cast started to disappear. From what Hitomi said the magicule count here in this forest is enormous that any damage to it will be automatically fixed by the forest itself. It really does seem like this forest has a will of its own. I was observing its development through the window. The three of us were sitting by the table. ¡°Empress it seemed like you and the hero knew each other before.¡± Leopold speaks up. ¡°Yes we know each other. I planned to tell you after we arrived here.¡± Hitomi says as she takes a sip of water in her cup. ¡°Then you must know her skill right? You even call her by the skill much like me.¡± I said quite aggressively. ¡°Perhaps. Though it would be better explained by the person in question no?¡± Why does she keep it hidden? Why won¡¯t she just tell me? I can¡¯t even lay a finger on her or I will have a whole kingdom after me. It¡¯s been two hours already and she is still asleep. ¡°We have no time to wait for her to wake up. I remember Lovre experiencing the same thing before. What if she never wakes for days?¡± Leopold gets slightly closer to Hitomi to put on pressure. ¡°You make it sound like I¡¯m dead¡­¡± We look over and see that the hero has awoken. Her hand is holding her head. ¡°Using my skill like that truly puts a toll on my mind.¡± Great, now that she¡¯s awake I can ask her what her skill is. ¡°Anego won¡¯t tell you what my skill is because she isn¡¯t allowed to. I asked her to keep it a secret after I found out about it at Alvarez.¡± ¡°Look, that¡¯s great and all but I really don¡¯t care. Just tell me what your sin skill does.¡± I¡¯m growing impatient. The more time I waste here the closer my family is in danger. ¡°My skill is Envy. It¡¯s a skill that lets me take away a living beings strength not just physically but mentally and their mana. That means I can take away a giants ability to lift heavy objects for myself or even take away a grand mages ability to cast spells.¡± That¡¯s a broken ability¡­ so she¡¯s able to just take away anything that makes a person strong. It¡¯s somewhat similar to Greed. This skill however takes away stats. I¡¯m starting to see why Lust is the weakest. Only being able to take away a living beings choice compared to the other two it¡¯s pale in comparison. It seems like she¡¯s not the one I¡¯m looking for, dammit now I have to find the kid. What if it¡¯s not him? Does that mean I¡¯ll have to find the hidden three remaining? I really can¡¯t waste time. ¡°You¡¯re not the one I¡¯m looking for. One more question do you know where the kid is? The other hero that was summoned in Alvarez?¡± I asked as I stand up. She then answers with a nod. ¡°Where is he?¡± ¡°I will tell you after one condition¡± Another favour?! I don¡¯t have time for this! ¡°No I need you to tell me where he is!¡± Leopold stops me before I got too hot headed. He steps in front of me and gave a stern look at the hero. ¡°What happened to your escort? The one who was supposed to stick with you at any cost?¡± What the hell is he asking?! How does this correlate at all to my predicament?! ¡°Everyone calm down. Let¡¯s all take a seat and we¡¯ll handle this amicably.¡± Hitomi said with a cold glare then sent a chill on my back. The three of us sat down and tried to calm ourselves. ¡°You were asking about my escort? He was taken away. That is why I need both of your help and you too anego¡± She explains ¡°I don¡¯t live here alone, I have a mother. She suddenly collapsed one day. Then before I can tend to her I was summoned to Alvarez to attend the hero anointing. After that I hurried over with the escort back here to tend to my mother. I came inside the house and she was standing beside a man I haven¡¯t seen before. My mother did not look like herself and she felt like a different person. She suddenly started attacking me and my escort defended me. Then the man that was with my mother beat him and used teleportation to get away along with my mother and escort. Now there is an abandoned castle where they are holed up. I need your help to rescue my mother. Only then will I tell you the location of the other hero.¡± ¡°Very well I agree. Your escort is a renowned knight and it would be a tragedy to have him disappear so I will help you.¡± Leopold agreed with a smile. ¡°I won¡¯t help¡± Both Leopold and the hero were surprised by what I said. Hitomi seems like she saw it coming by simply sitting quietly. ¡°I don¡¯t gain much for all the trouble you are getting me into. All I get is the location of the other hero. It could be the farthest kingdom from here and that would take days of travel. I don¡¯t have the luxury of spending anymore time here.¡± The hero started to look irritated. Does she even have the right to be irritated?! She¡¯s the one withholding information that I need. ¡°Alright calm down¡± Hitomi signals both of us to calm down. ¡°Lust I know you are in a hurry but would you really be willing to just wander around the whole continent blindly?¡± She¡¯s right I can¡¯t afford to just wander aimlessly. ¡°Envy possesses spacial magic. It¡¯s magic that is able to open portals that lead to a place where the caster has already been in. Meaning in the end of it all you can get an instant travel to said location.¡± ¡°How would I know she¡¯s already been where the kid is?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that I was the one that sent him over to that place in the beginning.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see anymore problems Lovre. It could save us travel time.¡±Stolen novel; please report. Leopold said. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll help you with your parental problem. I don¡¯t even see why you even need me. You can just use the spell earlier to wipe out the castle in one fell swoop.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already tried that. My mother is a very strong witch. She was able to negate the whole spell. Normally she isn¡¯t able to do a defensive spell in such a scale. But ever since I returned she had a huge boost in power.¡± ¡°Why not use your Envy skill? That way you can take away her magical energy for the time being.¡± Leopold brings out a very good point. If she doesn¡¯t have the mana to cast anything this will be easy. In fact if I can make eye contact I can order her to return to normal and that should end this debacle early. ¡°That¡¯s the problem. I tried to use it before as well. Before you guys arrived here with anego i''ve stormed the castle already. The problem was that when I went over, there were two people guarding the old throne room. One of them was my escort and another a person wielding a katana. Neither of them submitted to Envy.¡± Wait¡­ so does that mean they¡¯re under the influence of another sin skill? ¡°Envy, we may be facing someone with a sin skill much like yours. People cursed with the sin skills cannot be overwritten by another. If what you say is true then it may be a possibility.¡± Is Hitomi actually reading my mind? Hitomi looks at me like she confirms what I just thought. ¡°If we¡¯re going to work together for the time being it would be best to give each other our names. I can¡¯t keep calling you hero when there¡¯s two more out there. My name is Lovre Don Faust I have the sin of Lust skill.¡± I then proceeded to shake her hand for this arrangement. ¡°My name is Kuroe Graham. Me and my mother are the last witches that exists. I hold the sin of Envy skill, anyone who responds to me can be put under the influence of the skill.¡± She shakes my hand. So different sin skills require different forms of activation. My skill requires my target to look me in the eye, Kuroe needs a response to her voice, then that snow elf needs to just raise her hand? ¡°Wait¡­ did you say Graham?¡± Leopold said with a shocked face. ¡°Envy I told you to keep quiet about such things¡± ¡°But anego If we¡¯re going to work with them wouldn¡¯t it be better if they knew who they¡¯re working with?¡± ¡°I suppose it is inevitable. Yes me and Envy are sisters.¡± Wait what just happened? I wasn¡¯t paying attention. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us empress?¡± ¡°Because there was no point in telling you¡± ¡°Did you bring us here to help resolve this problem to begin with?¡± I asked. It wouldn¡¯t be impossible after all they are siblings and seeing as how she¡¯s so secretive it wouldn¡¯t surprise me. ¡°In a way yes. However in all honesty I never expected you to agree to help us with our problems. After all seeing in your past records you tend to work for the sole purpose of providing for yourself.¡± She said as she takes a sip of her drink. It¡¯s true I don¡¯t care about others except for me and the ones I care about. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a bad thing I¡¯m sure most people think the same thing. If things don¡¯t affect them at all then they wouldn¡¯t care less about it. In this circumstance I benefit from this agreement so it doesn¡¯t matter. ¡°Kuroe you said you know where the hideout is right? Why don¡¯t we just head on over and storm the castle then?¡± ¡°I think that would be too risky Lovre. If we were to storm the castle now they would be on high alert. After all they would be facing two holders of the sin skill.¡± ¡°That wouldn¡¯t matter if what Kuroe said was true then there should only be four people there. We have two holders of the sin skills it shouldn¡¯t pose that big of a threat¡± I don¡¯t get the idea of waiting around. We have to do this as fast as possible. ¡°No, I think the prince is right. It¡¯s true that there should only be four people there including my mother. However they could have more of the goblins that we fought earlier lurking in the castle. Seeing as the two of you were a big help. It would be best to come up with a counter plan to negate the effects of intimidate.¡± As much as I would like to disagree with her she¡¯s correct. Both me and Leopold were useless in the battle earlier having to be protected by the empress like children. ¡°Fine let¡¯s say we do exactly that. How do you plan on negating its effect on us?¡± Hitomi stands up and explains. ¡°I have an ability to enchant jewelry. Doing so can take time. It¡¯s going to be in the same principle with the amulets I forgot to give you but in a bigger scale. The intimidation skill needs to analyzed first so it will take a few days.¡± Days? I don¡¯t have time for that. I expected it to be a one off kind of deal not this. ¡°Look this is our best shot Lust. Envy said that she wasn¡¯t able to afflict the people in the castle with her skill. It could possibly be another sin skill user. That would shorten your search time.¡± I scratch my head and let out a heavy sigh ¡°Fine, Alright we¡¯ll wait a few days for you to enchant some jewelry and then we storm the castle.¡± Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Well we should back into the kingdom you come too Envy. It¡¯s dangerous for you to be alone in the forest.¡± Hitomi said. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine anego. I¡¯ve been here this whole time plus I got some traps around the house. They won¡¯t even come close. The only reason we got ambushed is because the two of them triggered the trap.¡± Kuroe said pointing at me and Leopold. How do we know that there are enemies around? ¡°This isn¡¯t up to debate Envy. I would rather not have you be attacked without my knowing. Plus it¡¯s been a while since you¡¯ve been in the kingdom.¡± I don¡¯t understand Hitomi. She has the aura of a royal but yet at some points she acts very casual and slightly carefree. ¡°If you say so¡± Kuroe agreed to the proposal and Hitomi looked at Leopold. ¡°Both you and Lust will be accompanied by Envy all three of you can stay over at the castle for the time being.¡± Does that mean I can sleep on that comfortable bed once again? That would be great. Hitomi once again looked at Kuroe and started speaking a different language other than English. ¡°Do you understand what they¡¯re saying prince?¡± I ask Leopold. He looks like the kind of guy who would go to summits and know other languages. ¡°Sadly no. I never learned Japanese.¡± So their language is Japanese. Their English is fluent that you wouldn¡¯t suspect they were from another kingdom that speaks differently. ¡°Sorry about that. We should head back to the kingdom. Also to prove to you that Envy has spatial magic we¡¯ll use her magic to get to the castle directly.¡± Hitomi then proceeds to nod to Kuroe. Kuroe casted a spell that made wear the witch clothing before. A magic wand appears out of nowhere and she started moving it in a circle until a portal appeared. I peek through and from it you can see the inside of the castle. ¡°What are you waiting for? Let¡¯s go!¡± Hitomi said as she jumps through the portal and landing on her feet. Kuroe followed and also Leopold. I followed and the presence of the forest also disappeared as I step through. ¡°Now I gotta hurry and work on the accessories so we can finish this as fast as we can. Hitomi turns around and starts to walk away. ¡°Hitomi!¡± It was a female with short black hair with glasses and suit that called out to Hitomi. She looked shocked that the woman found her. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you would leave in such an important meeting! And what are you wearing?!¡± ¡°I have a good explanation Makoto. You see these people needed to go to the forest of truancy but I forgot to give them the medallion so I went and gave it to them.¡± ¡°You were out for almost 3 hours giving the medallion?¡± ¡°...Yes¡­¡± What¡¯s happening here? The Empress is getting chewed out by a woman I don¡¯t even know. I¡¯ve never seen Hitomi this timid in the short time we met. She always had this aura of someone not to mess with and sometimes playful. ¡°Leopold do you know what¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°I assume so. I think that lady has always been with the empress every summit. I think she handles all of the business ventures and trades that come in and out of this kingdom.¡± Kuroe also starts to hide behind the two of us. ¡°What¡¯s so important about these two that you had to leave in the middle of the meeting with business heads?¡± The lady who is apparently named Makoto points at the two of us. I get that I''m nobody but Leopold is a prince you¡¯d think he¡¯s well known. ¡°Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t see you Kuroe. After all these years you decide to show up now?¡± Kuroe shrinks even more behind us. ¡°Empress can you please explain what¡¯s happening here?¡± Leopold asks. Finally something we can agree on, I¡¯m so confused on what¡¯s happening. ¡°Well Makoto is my advisor when it comes to political decisions. I get the final say but she tells me all the possibilities for my choices. She is also my mother.¡± Hitomi gave Makoto an introduction. ¡°That¡¯s right. Now you two¡­ explain to me why you guys are so important that my daughter had to leave in such urgency.¡± If Hitomi has a royal aura but an approachable person. Makoto is like looking inside a tiger¡¯s mouth when it comes to her presence, it¡¯s chilling.