Sinful Pride - Volume 1 Chapter 18 An Understanding

It was a cold morning. The sun hasn’t set yet and a thick mist surrounded Atestari. Keita was waiting at the Western entrance of the city.

‘Maybe they are not coming after all…’ he thought while sitting next to a tree.

Keita regretted the words and his attitude the day before. He didn’t believe any of the things he said were wrong but he could have handled the matter with Reika and Natsogo with a bit more delicacy.

Keita could not ask any other Aerch soldiers for help in this matter. Not only he had no other connections, he was just a bronze ranked rookie. He didn’t even have his insignia yet.

As he was deep in thought, he felt five magic power sources coming his way.

“Morning.” Lia greeted him. Her skin color has improved but she still had bandages around her neck and her voice was still quite. She hasn’t fully recovered from her wounds yet. The others followed behind her.

“I didn’t think you would come.” Keita said without getting up. He needed to make sure of a few things before he could agree to team up with them.

“I voted against coming.” Reika said.

“So did I.” said Nao without making eye contact.

“Then why are you here?” Keita told them. His feelings for those two haven’t changed. Just a few moments ago he regretted showing his hostility so openly but he couldn’t restrain himself.

The soldiers looked at each other. There was an awkward silence until Anne spoke.

“We took a vote. We haven’t decided on a leader yet since we are a new party so for now we decide what to do with voting. It was three against two so here we are.” her tone was flat and stale but behind her eyes there was a fire burning.

“So, are you all clear on the plan? If you show any signs of hostility or try to help me the Orcs will not hesitate to kill all of you. That means no heals, spells or buffs while I am fighting. Even if you have Skills that can be used stealthily you must not use them.” Keita told everyone with a stern voice. He avoided eye contact with Nao and Reika while talking.

“We know.” Lia was the first to answer.

“So where is the Demon?” Anne asked.

Keita pulled up the map he borrowed from Meliacs. The others came closer to take a look.

“There is an abandoned fort West of here called Bloodguard. It was an important fort in the past and got it’s name from the many sacrifices that protected the borders from the Demons. Since the Demons didn’t attack for more than 200 years the stronghold has been deserted to make it easier to defend the South borders from Orcs.” Keita explained.

‘But to take the Bloodguard by just walking inside… It was supposed to be a foothold to the rest of the human territories. A foothold that I have failed to take before because of Wrath. And now she conquered the fort by just walking in.” Keita thought. He was a bit jealous and disappointed at the same time. Bloodguard was supposed to be his to conquer once but he stopped when he was a step away, to reinforce Wrath, Greed and Envy that have been losing against the Dragonborn all the way to the North.

“Anyway, I talked it over with Meliacs and we are sure that’s where the Orcs are setting up base.” he added.

“How did you figure it out?” asked Reika in her useful cheerful and playful tone.

Keita felt uncomfortable speaking to her. His grudge for telling Nao about him has not been suppressed.

“The Orcs that attacked Atestari were small in numbers and they had no supplies. They stole some carts to steal ours. This told us they were just a raiding party send to plunder and their position isn’t too far from here. It also means that they are boosting their supplies so they want to stay for a long time, so an abandoned fort is the ideal place. If we are lucky, it also means that they don’t expect any help from the Demons. Since they came from the West, Bloodguard is the most likely place.” he told everyone.

“…”

Everyone staid silent and took a moment to think. They looked at the map that was on the ground deep in thought.

“So that’s were we are going. What are we waiting for?” Koba was the first to speak. His impatence showed his greed.

This was a great opportunity for the others. They could take credit for taking care of an entire invasion with minimal risks to them. The gold was one thing but if they succeed a promotion was pretty much guaranteed. The only one that would take the risk was Keita while the others had the only job of supporting him after the battle.

“Then let’s go. It’s just a few hours from here.” Keita said. He folded the map and put it inside his clothes, got up and started walking before the others.

Everyone followed but no one talked to him. There was a strange silence between them. Reika walked a bit faster than the others to catch up to Keita.

“What do you want?” Keita asked her with a dry tone. He was angry with her. He felt betrayed. He knew that they never said anything about their conversation being confidential but it was implied. He did not want to talk to her.

“You should make up with Nao.” she said in her ever changing tone.

“You are still acting like this has nothing to do with you.” Keita responded with anger. It was the first time since his rebirth that he felt such hatred for someone.

“I think you are mistaken about something.” Reika responded with a bit more serious tone. “I never said anything about you. All I said to Nao was that you knew I was a Shapesifter.” she whispered.

“…” Keita looked at her with wide eyes.

‘Is that all?’ he thought. He looked back at Nao who was walking alone at the back. He was looking down, as if someone scolded him.

“Nao wants to apologize so how about it? He only got mad because you glared at me. It’s true that he was vigilant, but it was only because he was afraid of you saying something about me. He can be overprotective sometimes but he is not a bad guy. Even if I told him about you it’s not like it will change anything. I told you right? He was raised in a Demi-human village.” she said.

Keita scratched his chin and looked at the sky, thinking.

‘If that’s all there was to it, I guess it’s fine. Actually, I am the one who misunderstood and was ready for a fight. I guess I am in the wrong…’ he thought. He hasn’t felt like this since he left his village. Questioning whether he was right or wrong in an argument was something he always thought when he got in a fight with Helene.

“Yeah okay, I will talk with him.” he told Reika.

She looked at him dissatisfied.

“What?” Keita asked.

“Now!” she yelled.

“Now?”

Reika just stared at him. She puffed her cheeks and was frowning.

“I got it…” Keita resigned. He felt embarrassed. He never got close to any male human before. He didn’t really know how to approach.

He slowed down a bit and Reika kept walking forwards.

“Pff! You got yelled at by Reika!” Koba told him as he passed. He was hiding his smile with his hand trying to contain his laughter.

Anne just walked past him. She was cold towards to others it seemed, not only Keita. She really had the arrogance and prestigious aura of a noble.

Lia whispered good luck and continued forwards. She was very sharp. Or maybe they all talked and made plans before hand.

“Hey…” Keita greeted Nao.

“Hey…” he responded.

‘As I thought this is too awkward.’ Keita thought. He slowed down a bit and Nao did the same. Neither started talking until they were sure that the others couldn’t hear them.

“I misunderstood back at the inn. I am sorry for being hostile…” Keita said. He was still feeling awkward.

“What did you misunderstand?” asked Nao. The question took Keita by surprise. He didn’t show any hostility but that was certainly not an apology.

“When we talked, Reika figured something about me, just as I figured that she was a Shapesifter. I thought she told you.” Keita responded.

“That still doesn’t give you the right to…” Nao started to say but Keita interrupted him.

“It gives me every right. Just how you were afraid that I was going to say something about Reika not being human, I was afraid she revealed my secret. It’s true that my secret isn’t as dangerous as hers but that is because there is no way to prove that’s it’s true. But I thought she told you who would believe her without a second thought.” Keita said. He thought they were going to exchange apologies and that will be the end of it. If Nao wasn’t going to let the matter go, neither would he.

“And you should know.” Keita added. “If Reika reveals my secret, even to you, I will unmask her for what she is. There are ways to reveal a Shapesifter for everyone to see. Half-elves are already a stretch. Humans will attack a Shapesifter in human territories on sight.”

Nao looked at Keita with contempt. He felt helpless. Keita was clearly threatening Reika in front of him and he could do nothing.

“As long as she keeps my secret I will keep hers. And if I don’t keep it, she certainly will reveal mine. That’s the kind of relationship we have. I trusted her and believed she betrayed me but we cleared things up. I still trust her. Not because I know she is a trustworthy person, but because she has the most to lose. I am sure she was prepared for that when we talked.”

Nao seemed to understand everything Keita told him and nodded his head. Keita could be trusted as long as Reika kept his secret. It wasn’t relationship build on trust but mutual benefit.

“I got it.” said Nao. “Since you are so honest I should do the same. If there is something wrong with your plan, we are all running away. That’s what we decided after voting. We won’t put ourselves in danger so you can satisfy your thirst in battle. As long as your plan works, we will do our part.”

“I see. Well, running away is the right choice. I was going to tell you the same thing but since you already talked about it that is fine. Depending on the situation I will flee with you or stay and fight. I won’t be asking for you to wait for me so do as you guys wish.” Keita responded.

Nao smiled for the first time since they had the falling out at the inn. He thought that they finally came to an understanding.

“So anyway, do you really think you can win?” he abruptly changed the subject and asked what was in his head.

Keita smiled.

“Yeah, I have a plan. I can win.” he responded. Their relationship wasn’t clear yet but it seemed that Keita and Nao could talk like before. At least for now.