Chapter 233: Show me

Ravian had barely stepped out of the building beside Karius when he saw the faces he had been thinking about since returning to the forest, gathered a short distance from the steps under Frank’s watchful eye. Frank himself looked as though he were trying to convince himself that the young man emerging from the doorway was the same person whose return he had come to announce.

Malrik stood at the front, with Darius and Elias beside him, while Claria stood near Evelyne and Kael remained slightly behind the others. Lysandra alone did not stare at Ravian’s face as though it had a problem written across it that needed solving.

Karius’s gaze settled on them, then shifted to Frank.

"What exactly is all this, Frank?"

"It’s only one squad, sir. His squad. They wanted to see him for themselves."

Darius did not wait for the conversation to end; he stepped forward, looking Ravian up and down, then frowned and reached toward his face before stopping, as though he had decided at the last moment that touching it to check whether it was a mask would do little to establish his identity and would merely look creepy as fuck.

"Damn it, this isn’t Ravian! Ravian wasn’t this handsome!" Darius exclaimed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, you damned bear?!" Ravian immediately lost his composure at the reminder of how ugly he used to be.

"Wait, that reaction..." Darius said, ignoring the insult.

"Shit, is that really you?"

"No, I’m someone else who came to enjoy the privileges of joining your squad."

Darius stared at him for a moment, then turned to Elias and the others, pointing at Ravian.

"Yeah, it’s him."

Even after that declaration, everyone continued looking at Ravian strangely. They had plenty of questions and certainly wanted an explanation for what had happened, but that was not a conversation they could have in front of Company Commander Karius.

Still, seeing Ravian beside him, with a smile on Karius’s face, assured them that this was the real Ravian rather than a Rassasian attempting to impersonate him. Otherwise, Karius would have easily seen through the deception.

And so...

A short laugh escaped Evelyne, and the tension eased from the faces around him. Ravian did not know what he had expected to see upon his return, but such obvious relief was not something he had prepared himself to face.

Claria approached and examined his hands, then the rest of his body, before looking up at his face.

"Are you injured?" she asked, already preparing a healing spell.

’Here she goes again, the most caring member of the squad,’ Ravian thought.

He did not understand where all this affection came from. He had done nothing to deserve it, nor had he spent enough time with them to warrant such concern and loyalty.

That thought brought an answer from someone he had not expected to speak just then.

[Possessing Sovereign Pride has numerous side effects, Host, one of which is encouraging a sense of belonging among those around you. It does not force this upon them; it merely nurtures a seed that is already there, nothing more, but that alone is enough to form bonds with people who have even the slightest interest in the Host. Please note that this does not compel emotions in any way. Belonging somewhere is one thing; love and hatred are entirely separate matters, and Sovereign Pride does not interfere with them.]

’...’

Ravian remained still for a moment as he absorbed the explanation, and at last, things began to make a little more sense.

It explained everything from his squad treating him as one of their own from the very first day to his reception at Earl Patrick’s household; the Earl had known him only briefly, yet trusted him enough to enter a partnership without even fully verifying his background.

As the silence stretched on, Ravian noticed the look Claria was giving him and remembered that he had yet to answer her question.

"Ahem, no, no. I’m fine, Claria."

"Are you hiding an injury?" Claria pressed.

Ravian looked at her, then held out his hands so she could check his pulse and see that he was hiding nothing, while Kael finally moved closer. His eyes remained on Ravian’s face for a second before he spoke.

"You look a hell of a lot different, man."

"You noticed?" Ravian replied irritably.

Kael said nothing more, but his hand rested briefly on Ravian’s shoulder before he withdrew it, and that simple gesture conveyed more than the questions coming from the others.

Ravian’s gaze shifted to Lysandra, who showed no real reaction even now that she had seen him. She merely stood there as though fulfilling an obligation to welcome back a fellow squad member.

Frank stopped looking at Ravian and turned toward his sister with noticeable slowness.

"What exactly is going on here?"

Lysandra glanced at him, then at Karius, whose quiet observation of the scene seemed to displease her, before turning back to her brother.

"Nothing."

"Somehow, that sounds even more suspicious, Lysandra," Frank said, shaking his head in disappointment.

Ravian felt a strong urge to smile, but suppressed it when he met Karius’s gaze; his master seemed to be urging him to finish this nonsense and follow him.

Malrik finally stepped forward, putting an end to the questions before they became a group interrogation.

"We’ll talk when you return to the squad’s quarters. We still have preparations to finish."

Ravian nodded, but Malrik did not immediately step away; he glanced at Karius, who nodded in return, reassuring him about some unspoken matter. Malrik then turned back to Ravian and studied him a moment longer.

"Welcome back," he added quietly.

There was nothing in those words that should have left Ravian speechless, yet he could find no suitable response. He merely nodded again and left it at that before following his master, leaving the squad to return to their work while an uncomfortable feeling lingered for several steps.

...

The training grounds Karius had chosen were empty when they arrived, so he closed the gate and gestured for Ravian to set aside anything that might hinder his movements. Ravian remained where he stood while his master took two wooden swords from a nearby rack and tossed one to him.

He caught it easily, then looked at the wood between his fingers before raising his eyes to the man.

"This might not hold up."

"Then try not to break it."

Karius said it simply, then stopped several steps away with his sword held at his side, making no attempt to adopt an obvious defensive stance. He raised his free hand toward Ravian and said:

"Show me what you’ve got."