The Magician & I

Chapter 2: The Visitors

That morning, the rural community received a special visitors that came from the capital. With shoulder length red hair tied loosely with a silver branch ornament, dressed in an all deep maroon coordinated battle uniform that made the man look more physically imposing to others, a slim saber hung by his hips as if ready to discharge and lop of heads at any moment if needed, and a discernible palm sized gold regalia with an intricate flowing pattern and a dragon hooked onto the left side of his chest, he sat high on his horse as he looked condescendingly down upon everyone else there.

There were a couple of other people along with the red haired man but they wore a different raiment from the red haired man. Donned with striking silver armor from head to toe that glistened underneath the beckoning sun, their expressionless faces was concealed behind the silver helmets. On their chest was the insignia of the royal family, automatically informing whoever saw it that they were from the royal family's brigade.

The villagers could recognize the fine materials on the person's body and the insignia on the other soldiers' bodies. They immediately knew that the person here was someone of high status and held important business here as they were escorted here by the royal family's militants. They dare not dally in front of them, and the head villager invited them to their humble abode amiably but was coldly dismissed by the red haired man.

Taking out an edict from their coat, they tossed it to one of the soldiers by them with no care. The soldier caught the scroll with great care and opened the scroll. They read the words inscribed in a sonorous voice:

「In two days, all of the children who are between the ages of 5 and 14 must be gathered at the entrance of Lin Village by sunrise. They are to serve the great magi and will depart immediately to the capital.」

———

By the end of the two days, all of the villagers were listless and devoid of life. Their children were going to be sent away and there was nothing they could do. The strong would have control over the weak and to live, the weak must be subservient at all times, that was the cruel truth of this world.

The weaker willed females held their children and cried as they stood by the entrance of the village. Never did they have the notion that something catastrophic of this level would befall onto them. The surrounding cities and towns became victims but they had a much larger population, and only a portion of the children was required.

This made them think that they were safe, only to be harshly slapped in the face and proved wrong. Never had a small village been targeted before, muchless forced to give up all of the children.

They awaited at the entrance to the village with great dejection, for the noblemen who would be coming to claim their children was like a demon in their eyes. They sighed with deep despair and despondency, their fists clenched tight. 48 children were standing by their parents side, the older ones had tears and snot on their face as they understood the situation, while the younger ones were oblivious to the reason for their gathering and were smiling with bright faces.

The sounds of hooves galloping in the distance and the slight tremors on the ground brought fear and uneasiness in the hearts of the villagers. They stood straight with their backs ramrod, not a slight bent or slouch could be found on their form.

A storm of dust approached the area and encased the area. Only small glimpses of the red haired horses could be discerned from behind the sheer clouds. They trampled the poor grass beneath their powerful hooves ferociously as if they were going out to war, leaving a salient razed plane behind them.

The villagers felt their knees weaken at the oppressive air that filtered in from the large mass of troops. Cold sweat covered their backs and forehead as the valorous troops make their way to the entrance. In front was the red haired young man, his maroon uniform stood out amongst the grey armored men like a fiery red sun.

They stopped just a meter away from the villagers. This time, they also brought large carriages with them. The red haired man scanned over the villagers with scrutinizing eyes, "Is this all of the children?"

The head villager bobbed his head quickly, "Ah. Yes, Lord Yan¹."

Lord Yan sneered, "Ha. Are you not taking this envoy seriously? We brought the decree from the Emperor, but it seems like you do not take the Emperor's words to heart."

The head villager blanked out, truly at a loss on what Lord Yan was referring to. His face ashened as he stared at their hawk like eyes, it was like he was being skinned alive! He shivered with fear as he panicked. What did he mean that they weren't taking him seriously? This was all of the children! How could he be so courageous to deceive the Emperor?! His mind almost fried trying to think of why they were acting so as he apologized.

"No, we don't dare at all, Lord Yan!"

Could it be that they were deliberately making things hard for them? Could someone inside the village had incite anger from the capital? Then it suddenly struck the head villager on who Lord Yan was referring to.

A startled look flitted in the head villager's eyes. How did they know about 'him'? Hadn't the villagers kept a tight lip on the subject? How could the envoy know about 'him'? But he quickly calmed down, now that the other was aware of his existence, he could only obey and send lest they want to incur their wrath.

He signalled with his eyes to two of the men standing by him to go get the bastard in the shed. Understanding, they left swiftly as the head villager did his best to placate the irritated Lord Yan.

...

'His' head feeling heavy, 'he' opened his eyes to see a familiar ceiling. After confirming that 'he' did not die, 'he' closed his eyes. 'He' was really exhausted today and wanted to get some more rest, not mentioning that his head felt as if it weighed a ton, his body ached like 'he' had just been run over by ten thousand horses, and it felt chilly in the shed although it is the middle of summer.

Through his blurriness, 'he' could hear the loud clamor of two voices. A loud bang rang in his ears and caused his headache to worsen. It brought a frown on his face and he tried to focus his sight to see but it was useless.

Four rough hands rudely grabbed 'him' and yanked 'him' up. They shouted at 'him', "Hurry and stand up, you abomination! Quickly follow us out, you better not falter behind or else we'll bury you."

Their voice was seething with aversion as their grip tightened painfully. Even if they wanted 'him' to follow their orders, there was one thing that they had forgotten, they didn't teach 'him' the language. 'He' could not comprehend their words and furrowed his brows.

Releasing their hands, his body lost its support and 'he' fell onto the floor. One of the man kicked his side with exasperation, "Get up, you bastard!"

His tiny body flew a few feets away and curled up as 'he' clutched his stomach. 'He' let out a small moan in response. His body broke out in sweat and his mind slightly cleared due to the excruciating pain 'he' was experiencing.

The two of them became afraid seeing that the other wasn't moving. Had they accidentally killed the boy? What were they going to tell the head villager and that nobleman? The man who had kicked 'him' went over and kicked 'him' once more, but with less power, "Oi! Don't f*ck around. Get your ass up, you ingrate!"

'He' blinked his large eyes as 'he' looked up at the villager. Gritting his teeth and gathering what little energy 'he' had left, 'he' forced himself to get up. It was an endeavor for 'him' to get his body to sit and then stand. His clothes were soaking wet by the time 'he' stood on his feet.

The two of them sighed inwardly seeing the white demon stand, they had escaped punishment. Looking at each other, they nodded in agreement not to do anything rash to the white demon as they needed to deliver it to the nobleman.

They spat out, "Let's go! You've wasted enough time."

The one them led the way as 'he' hobbled after them, and the other villager was at the back. Every so often when his speed wasn't fast enough, the villager behind 'him' would kick 'him' to urge 'him' to hurry up. Within fifteen minutes of their former departure time, the two of them had finally been able to 'escort' the last child to the entrance to Lin Village.

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¹Yan: '殷', 'yān'. Meaning dark red or blackish.