Sinful Pride - Volume 1 Chapter 13 Are You Human?

“I’m done. Your bones are healed and your wounds closed. I also healed your burns. Just to make things clear, you are not out of the woods yet. Move too much and your bones will break again. If that happens don’t come running to me.” the Priest told Keita.

‘Is that how healing magic works?’ Keita questioned. He was still in pain but it wasn’t comparable to before. ‘This is the first time I have ever been healed with magic. I thought it would be… well stronger than this. If I want to to fully recover, I have no choice but to stay still and rest.’ Then he came to a realization. ‘Can it be that Skill. Is that how it’s supposed to be used?’ his thought process was interrupted by the Priest.

“Can you hear me? I am not going to keep repeating myself.” he said.

‘He really is bossy.’

“Yeah, I heard you. Thanks, I will keep that in mind.” Keita tried to get up. His body was heavy and he felt dizzy. “So, how many are left?” he asked the militia soldiers around him while using the wall to stand.

“How many…?” the Defender repeated. “Well, we didn’t really count. We took many loses, that much we know. From our group, we are all that’s left plus one heavily injured. I don’t know how many civilians are left though…” he said dejectedly.

“I mean Orcs. How many Orcs are left.” Keita was a bit confused. Why was this man talking about their loses in the middle of the battle? They were all too relaxed. Could it be…

“What are you talking about? All the Orcs are gone. Some of them retreated but we got most of them. The battle is over.” the Defender answered.

“Ah… so it’s over.” Keita felt all his strength leave his body. He was exhausted. The moment he heard the fight was over, all the tension that was keeping him on edge disappeared. He tried his best to keep standing but it was difficult.

“How much do you hate Orcs…?” the red headed sword woman said in a low voice.

“I don’t particulate hate them.” Keita answered what seemed a rhetorical question. “In most wars, the ones fighting usually don’t hate each other. They invaded so I fought. That’s all there is to it. Before the one named God-King united the two human kingdoms, thirty years ago we were the one’s doing the invading.” he continued. “Humans don’t have to hate an enemy in order to fight.”

“…”

‘These faces again. It’s like the last time at the bridge. Did I say something wrong again.’ the soldiers around him were having difficult expressions. As if Keita said something that made them uncomfortable. All but one. The blonde girl with the bow was smiling.

“Anyway, captain Meliacs made a small base by the bridge. We should head there. There are beds, food and water.” the Defender said, to break this uncomfortable atmosphere. “Can you walk? Or do you want us to carry you on the shield?”

Keita looked the tower shield with disdain. It was really big enough for him to lay on it, as long as he folded his legs. But he hated the idea.

“I’m fine. I can walk…” he tried to let go of the wall that was helping him stand straight but almost fell. He looked at the others embarrassed.

“Don’t push yourself. I told you didn’t I? You need to rest.” the Priest shouted at him while pushing his glasses with his index finger.

“Now, now. It’s fine if we do this right. Just lean on my shoulder. You won’t have any complains if a beauty lend you her shoulder right?” the blonde girl asked him and put Keita’s arm above her head. “Nao, you take the axe. It seems heavy.” she said to the Defender.

“…” Keita was a bit restless with the girl’s kindness. He had a bad feeling about her.

“Sorry… and thanks.” he tried to push negative thoughts about the girl out of his head but couldn’t.

‘Her smile… it gives me a bad feeling.” he thought.

They all started slowly walking towards the North bridge.

“By the way, we haven’t introduced our selves yet have we?” the girl continued with her cheerful voice. A tone not suited for the aftermath of a long battle. “I am Reika. I’m a ranger. You probably noticed but I am a half-elf.” she said.

“I am Natsogo. Defender. You can call me Nao.”

“Anne. My class is swordsman.” the red headed girl said in an unfriendly tone. As if introducing herself was a drag.

‘Now that my vision cleared up, the girls are pretty cute. That Anne girl’s armor seems pretty expensive too. Are they some nobles or something?’ Keita thought. The two girls had fair skin and clean hair. Commoner women, didn’t look like that usually. Helene for instance who was a tending the fields everyday had dirty hair pretty much always. ‘But Helene is still cuter.’ Keita thought proudly.

“I am Koba. Priest.”

‘So he was a Priest after all.’ Keita thought as he turned his head to look at Koba who was walking in front of him.

“Priest?” he asked without realizing.

Priest were classes that didn’t use weapons and only supported their teammates with the help of Spells. Or miracles as they liked to call them. They were different from a Mage though. Their Spells were used with the help of their deity. Arcione in Koba’s and most human’s cases. But this man carried a weapon. It was a big two-handed hammer, with a yellowish glint to it, as if made out of bronze.

“Yeah, this guy used to be Berserker and he still carries around his previous weapon. He changed to a Priest just a few weeks ago. Don’t let that fool you though, he is a competent healer.” Nao told Keita with a pride in his voice, as if bragging about himself.

“Skilled Priests can get pretty rich you know.” Koba said with a smile, rubbing his two fingers together.

‘This guy, actually became Priest for money…’ in order to become a Priest and make a connection with a deity, you had to go through a rigorous training that made many people give up mid way. Priest was the hardest class to master, no questions asked.

“I’m Keita. I haven’t gone to any guild but you can think of me as a Swordsman. Although I am pretty similar to a Sword-mage, I can’t teleport my sword or make it fly around.”

“Swordsman?” Anne asked. “You aren’t wearing any armor. How can you fight on the front lines like that?” she added.

“Well…” Keita scratched the back of his head. It was difficult to talk about his class because he didn’t have one. His Skills were fundamentally different than most class Skills. “I don’t usually trade blows with my opponents. Instead I use a Skill that boosts my speed to dodge and dance around them.” That was the best description of his class he could make.

“Hmmm.” Nao, made a thinking sound. “That’s nice. I wish I was able to dodge without taking any hits. Even with a shield and plate armor, fighting against an Orc is still scary.” he said half jokingly.

With a closer look, Keita realized that Nao’s plate had dents all over. He could also see dry blood, coming from his mouth and nose, as well as many scratches on his face. They all had taken a beating.

“Well, against Orcs and other slow enemies I certainly have the edge. But with my style, if I ever meet someone who is faster than me, or a skilled Mage with homing Spells or one’s that cover a lot of ground, I’m probably done for. I would prefer to have a big body and stand my ground to be honest.” Keita responded.

“Is that how it works?” the Defender asked.

“It is.”

“So Koba.” Nao abruptly changed the conversation. “This guy really human? He isn’t some kind of monster?” he asked the Priest next to him.

‘This bastard again…’ a vein popped in Keita’s forehead. ‘He’s still talking as if I’m not hear. Is he some sort of idiot?’ he could hear Reika, the blonde ranger trying to cover her laughing with her hand which didn’t help.

“You saw it didn’t you? If he wasn’t human, Arcione wouldn’t have helped me heal him. I can’t heal even Reika who is a half-elf so a monster would be a no go.” Koba responded.

“Hmmm.” Nao seemed deep in thought. Meanwhile Reika was tearing up, trying not to laugh. “Aren’t you glad?” he asked looking at Keita.

‘For what?’ Keita wanted to scream at him. ‘What’s his deal? I can’t figure him out. Is he just an honest guy that doesn’t like talking behind people’s backs? No, that isn’t it. This guy, not doubt about it, is a complete idiot.’ Keita thought. Nao was smiling at him and giving him a thumbs up, as if to say congratulations.

“I guess I am…?” Keita’s smile started twitching.

They finally made it to the base. There were a lot of people. More than Keita thought would survive the battle. He could see the old veteran, giving orders. He was probably captain Meliacs. He could also see the elder from the bridge, as well as the mother and child he saved, crying over a dead man. The blacksmith that gave him the sword was also there. He was injured and laying down. Everyone was busy, either helping, mourning or carrying water from the river to put out the fire.

Reika helped him to an empty bed – it was nothing more than a sheet actually – and Nao put the axe down next to him.

“We are going to check on our teammate. You should rest for now and leave things to us. After people start coming back to the city and we put out the fire they will move you to an inn.” Nao said.

“As I said your wounds aren’t completely closed. Move too much…” Koba started to say but was dragged by Nao.

“Heh” Keita let out a smile.

Anne waved her hand and followed the two. Now it was only him and Reika. She brought him a flask of water and some food. Keita was reluctant to accept it. Something didn’t add up about this girl.

“What do you want?” he asked her. He knew that Reika had some ulterior motive for doing all this.

“That’s a bit rude. I just wanted to thank you for all you did.” the girl answered in a mocking tone. Keita felt a chill run down his spine. Her smile… It was not human.

“A Demon?” Keita couldn’t help but ask. He had his hand on his sword.

“Not a Demon.” The girl answered. “See? My magic power is green.” she let a small amount of magic power out of her hand.

The color of magic power was a sure way to know if someone was a Demon or not. Other than that, the color didn’t have any other importance.

“Now it’s my turn to ask.” the girl said. Her speech has changed. It was broken. As if she kept changing voices.

“You aren’t a human are you?”