Chapter 153: Epilogue 2

POV Javier

A glance out the window revealed the trees in full bloom. In the background was a cloudless sky that drew my gaze into the distance. A lot had happened in recent years. Today was graduation day at the Imperial Academy in Lightburgh. We had finally finished school. In our last life, we hadn't been able to finish school because we had died before. Only three months to go and we would all be 19. Back then, we were just 16. Although, if I remember correctly, my sister Eli had been still 15. I had long since forgotten the reason why we had died. If I had ever known it at all.

But what I haven't forgotten is the reason why we were reincarnated in this world. We were supposed to conquer all the dungeons in this world for the god Lumos. By now, I had little desire to pursue this task. We received a lot of support from the empire, but it became increasingly clear that they also and above all saw us as militarily pawns. The advantages we gained from Lumos during reincarnation made us stronger than most people in the empire. It couldn't be long before we had to take part in an expedition to fight the enemies of the empire.

The empire had many enemies. The longer we lived here, the more we heard from rumors and conversations. For a long time, it was all about the fight against the demons. Demons were a people who lived on the other side of the continent and were protected by the great mountain range in the middle. Supposedly, there were also settlements in the south near the pirates. But I didn't know anything specific about that. They were some kind of historical enemy the humans had fought since ages.

The pirates were another enemy that I didn't fully understand. The pirates were hardly a problem for the inhabitants of the empire, as the two empires were far apart. But that did not protect the demons from the hatred of the people here either. My guess was that the reasons for the hatred of the pirates were just a pretext. The only problem I had heard of here in Lightburgh was that the empire's merchants were not safe from raids in the south. Nevertheless, there seemed to be enough merchants who also traded with the pirates. High risk, high reward.

The main reason why the two empires did not share a border was the allied Free City-States. These were an alliance of cities, mainly located in the south of the empire, each ruled by its own power group. They held regular meetings to discuss issues that concerned them all. The individual cities were large and well fortified. Therefore, the Empire had so far refrained from starting a war. In addition, they were the main trading partners, especially the northern city-states, which were located near the border.

Elves, dwarves, and beastfolk lived in the east. No one knew exactly where, but if you traveled northeast, east, or southeast from the Empire, after a few weeks you would leave human territory and almost certainly encounter one or more of these peoples. As far as I could ascertain, there was no reliable information about settlements, let alone cities, belonging to these peoples. According to accounts from past expeditions, every settlement that was found was raided and the inhabitants were enslaved. At least, those who could be captured. However, there never seemed to be very many of them, which is why humans believed that these peoples did not have large populations.

I, on the other hand, did not believe these accounts. The main reason for the hatred of these peoples was the Church of Lumos. Church and religion had already been the cause of numerous violent conflicts on Earth. It was no different on Narran. Therefore, it was important for us to stay out of these conflicts as much as possible.

Unfortunately, that was not so easy. Eli was not a problem. First, she did everything to please Cornelius, and second, she did not want to fight. I didn't understand why my pacifist sister was being drawn into this violent conflict anyway. But I didn't complain, because it meant she was alive again.

The problems were the other two. Ansgar was a musclebrain who was only interested in fighting. If you gave him a reason to fight, he would fight enthusiastically. On the other hand, he had no ambition to take on a leadership role. He did everything his best friend Cornelius said. He listened to me much less, because I was only Eli's big brother. Besides, I was a magician and therefore not very competent in his eyes when it came to tactical decisions. The fact that his head was only there to keep the rain out of his throat didn't help either.

That left only Cornelius. Fortunately, he was open to logical arguments and listened to reasonable suggestions. So I needed a plan quickly to convince him that we had to leave the empire. I was to go to the library and look for interesting places. Places that were not in the empire, but which would still advance our development. Surely I could find something suitable. Then I tried to develop a strategy to convince Cornelius to leave the empire.

Somewhere in the free city-states

“The last fight was really bad. We didn't stand a chance, and on top of that, we lost Zenn. Damn it!” <Man 1>

“The loss was unfortunate. He took a hit to the neck and bled out faster than help could arrive.” <Man 2>

“It was intentional. They wanted to see us suffer. If I ever see the person responsible for Zenn's death again, I'll finish them off.” <Woman>

“---” ??

“I agree. But first we have to get stronger.” <Man 1>

“You've been saying that for over a year. But hardly anything has happened.” <Man 2>

“You think I don't know that? Unfortunately, those bastards from the guild have restricted our access to the labyrinth, so we can't train as often as I want to.” <Man 1>

“Stay calm. The more you get upset, the worse you'll feel afterwards. Besides, it won't change anything.” <Woman>

“You think I ... oh, forget it. I don't feel like repeating myself. But I really feel like letting off some steam. Can't a single monster come along in this damn plain so I can beat it up?” <Man 1>

“We're too close to the city. They very rarely come by here.” <Man 2>

“---” ??

“What do you mean? Did you see something back there? Where?” <Woman>

“---” ??

“Hey, leader, there's a person lying over there next to the three cypress trees. Looks like they've been nibbled on by a big cat.” <Woman>

“What? Where? Over there, you say? Let's go.” <Man 1>

“He wants to play the hero again. Well, he's earned it. He's got a lot of anger pent up inside him. And if we can save someone, so much the better.” <Man 2>

“That's the priest in you talking.” <Woman>

"Don't start that again. You know very well that I'm no longer a priest since I'm no longer active in the church." <Man 2>

“A nice way of saying you were kicked out.” <Woman>

“---” ??

“All right, all right. I'll stop teasing him. Let's follow our leader and look for the person.” <Woman>

A short time later.

“How are you doing?” <Man 2>

“I managed to scare the big cat away. It ran off as soon as it noticed me.” <Man 1>

“How is the person?” <Man 2>

“See for yourself. They don't look good, if you ask me. Their clothes are in tatters.” <Man 1>

“Hmm, let me see. Hmm, hmm, oho.” <Man 2>

“What's going on? Can't you save her?” <Woman>

“Quite the contrary. First of all, she's a woman, and judging by her ears, she's an elf. I've never seen dark skin like that before, though.” <Man 2>

“Could she be a dark elf? I heard about them in the brothel before, that elves with dark skin are called that. However, you rarely see them and most people never see one in their entire lives.” <Woman>

“I'm not surprised. In the Empire, you're lucky if you ever see an elf at all. We only have humans. And slaves.” <Man 1>

“I can confirm that. I've never seen one before either. This one seems to have been lucky. She's unharmed, as far as I can see, even though she's unconscious. However, she's quite neglected and malnourished. She also has dark circles under her eyes and matted hair. The last few weeks, if not months, haven't been very good to her.” <Man 2>

“Where could she have come from? Probably not an escaped slave. After all, slavery is prohibited here.” <Woman>

“I don't know. In any case, she can't stay here. Otherwise, she'll fall prey to a predator.” <Man 1>

“---” ??

“What do you mean? She's strong and can help us? Are you sure? What do you think?” <Woman>

“I think it can't hurt to try. We'll take her with us and nurse her back to health. Then we'll find out who she is and if she's willing to join us. She'll be grateful and will surely help us.” <Man 1>

“As always, you're very optimistic and trusting, despite everything that's happened to you. But that's what I love about you.” <Man 2>

“Be quiet and help me carry her. She's quite tall for a woman, but very slim. She won't be that heavy.” <Man 1>

“Then I'll protect you until we're back in the city. I'm curious to see what we've found here.” <Woman>

“Me too.” <Man 2>

“---” ??