Chapter 512 - Abe
As two knights were patrolling the area, the capital shook. A mana wave exploded from the ground to cover the residential houses, but there was no destruction. Instead, lights came from the windows, shining as bright as the sun.
A hand grabbed his shoulder, prompting Abe to look behind him. It was none other than his fellow knight, looking as if he had seen a ghost. The knight looked around the empty street with confusion.
"No one is coming out, even after that mana wave," muttered his friend, and Abe realized he was right. "I know that our shift is over, but we need to investigate the matter."
Abe didn't want to waste his precious time, but he knew the capital was weird lately. There were rumors among the knights about a possible civil war, so any slacking was punished severely, which might draw suspicion to his identity.
His friend was the kind to go over the top, thinking he was the hero who would save the world, so Abe had no choice but to act the same and knock on the nearest house. There was no response.
"It must be the workshops trying a new weapon. After all, we are in a state of war. So, there must be nothing, right?" asked Abe, but his friend had an 'I want to save the world' look on his face.
"I will go in," said his friend before slashing with his sword, cutting the lock away from the wooden door. Then, he pushed the door open, leaving the lock hanging to the frame. Abe sighed.
The inside was normal, looking the same as a family would leave it. This family must be working in the farmlands, thought Abe. However, his friend wanted this to be an incident so badly that he did not rest easy and search the house beside it.
It was empty as well.
The one beside it was empty, and there was even food on the table. Abe realized that the earlier wave of mana was not a harmless one, as all citizens disappeared. His friend gave up on finding anyone and instead rushed back toward the headquarters.
"The citizens...!" he shouted as soon as he walked into the Knights Headquarters, but there were countless knights inside, and the captain was also there.
"...has disappeared. We know," said the captain with a frown. "How about the two of you stand in line first?" he asked with displeasure. Abe sighed and pulled his friend away, standing at the end. "Resume the reports."
"An earlier mana wave shook the capital. A royal decree stated that we should never leave our positions, even with the citizens disappearing. This is said to be the act of the new rebels, Runera."
"It seems they have kidnapped our people," spat the captain with displeasure. "However, such an act is futile. The king will never stand idle as his people are taken away, nor would he give in to their demands."
"There are no demands that we know of, captain," reported the vice-captain. "Runera has declared war against the kingdom, and they are marching to our city at this moment."
"Overconfident idiots," the captain shook his head. "All of us need to prepare for war. Go to the nearest Magic Vault branch and receive the artifacts you need. Then, report back to your officer, and follow them to the walls. The enemy is coming."
After that, Abe saw the knights scatter, each hurrying to receive the artifacts. Every knight looked more excited than afraid, making Abe question their sanity.
"I cannot blame them," muttered his friend. "These kids have never witnessed the horrors of war. I fear our capital is not ready."
"The Magic Vault is both a curse and a blessing. Even with the war against Alva, the people are confident that the artifacts will save them. I fear that our soldiers do not take this as seriously as our enemies," sighed Abe.
"The enemy, huh?" frowned his friend, and Abe could feel an impending headache. "I wonder why they took away all the citizens. That mana wave must have been a runic circle. This would require countless days of preparations."
"I guess they wanted customers for their city. After all, they said that Runera would open a week later. This was just a way to distract us from their plans to overthrow the king."
Abe knew that his words did not make a lot of sense, but he did not care about that. His friend had a troublesome sense of righteousness that would definitely make him jump into trouble.
The two of them walked to the nearest Magic Vault to receive their weapons. Abe chose two True-Tier artifacts, and his friend picked only an epic-tier weapon. Abe stared at his friend, knowing full well that this idiot would get himself in trouble.
As they were leaving, something flew across the sky. Abe raised his head to see a demihuman disappear behind one of the buildings. As he remembered it, this one was a chosen one of the Seika before he defected.
A knight who leaves their lord is no different from a pig. Most knights thought this way. This demihuman was bullied in the academy that he enrolled in a month ago.
"The scent of blood," muttered his friend as he stared at the direction the demihuman took. "I will follow him!"
Abe stared at his partner sprinting through the empty street. This city was getting weirder by the second. First, the citizens disappeared. Then, a bleeding demihuman flew across the sky. The last one was how a naive person managed to become a knight.
Abe had no choice but to follow them. However, he was not in a hurry. After strolling for a few minutes, Abe did not find any of them.
"I am sure that they went into this alley," muttered Abe as he looked around. "Let me see if there is something at the end."
As he walked deeper into the ally, Abe's steps slowed down. There was something wrong. The scent of blood that he was following disappeared, and a slurping sound came from the end of the alley.
Abe saw a twitching foot on the ground behind a crate of items. As he walked closer, he found the shriveled corpse of his friend, looking like dried fruit. There was a creature crouching beside it, biting on his neck.
"Are you done eating?" sighed Abe as he lightly kicked the creature. The monster flinched before he turned toward Abe, with no face or hair other than a giant jaw that he used to drink blood.
"Kuh," coughed the bloodsucker. "I am not done yet. Furthermore, who are you? You don't seem surprised for seeing me."
"I see that there is still a bit of blood in him," sighed Abe as he turned to look at his friend. For someone who was talking about others being ignorant, this man was a true naive person. "I will have to ask you to leave him alive. I don't want to be paired with someone else."
"You seem to be an ally, so leave before I devour you too," the bloodsucker licked his lips. Abe sighed again, as this was proving difficult. However, a sudden idea appeared in his mind.
Abe touched the bloodsucker, and the monster did not move anymore. The monster started twitching before it went limp. Abe then touched his friend, and the shriveled skin regained its natural color.
"Hah," breathed in the young knight. Abe stared at him with a blank expression as the knight looked around. "I was attacked by... a monster..."
His eyes fell on the bloodsucker, which looked anything but human. It was a light-blue humanoid monster that had no face except for a giant jaw. The young knight blinked before he turned toward Abe.
"You saved me," muttered the knight. "However, I know for a fact that I was about to die. Who are you, Abe?"
Abe stared at the knight, wishing that his powers could change memories. However, this knight has seen him now. It did not take a smart person to realize this his powers were abnormal.
"I will tell you the truth in return for a promise: do not try to be the hero anymore. How about it?" Abe asked, but the young knight stared at him silently before standing.
"I refuse, Abe. This monster proves that this city has fallen into the darkness. I want to know who you are, but I will resume my investigation."
Abe watched the young knight stagger toward the walls. This was becoming more troublesome since he was here to fulfill a promise to this guy's older brother.
"How did I get into such a situation?" sighed Abe. "I wanted to live peacefully after that war. I did not want to see any more deaths. Yet, here I am, and here is war."
Abe realized that as long as he was somewhere, death would be nearby. After all, his powers were the sole proof that people would get hurt, and he would be there to heal them.
This was his cursed fate as the God of Life, the Healer Guardian.