The Last Legendary System

Benign looked at the man.

"Take him inside. He needs care."

As they dragged the man away, his smile faded. "You bear the mark! You truly bear the mark of the Prince!"

Benign shook his head. Psychiatry had never been his expertise.

Even if one received the short end of the stick, they should fight for the struggle. Long sticks are more susceptible to breaking than short ones, after all.

The old Protector finally walked over while Benign cleaned blood from his hands. "Thank you."

"Please don’t." Benign continued working. "I believe I participated in my mission. Not just helping here."

"Well, your mission as a Protector is to help." The old man paused. "This outpost shouldn’t have fallen. If I had returned earlier, those sixty lifeless bodies outside would’ve been saved."

Benign glanced toward the entrance. Sixty dead. He lowered his gaze. "Where did you go off to?"

"I left to find you. Then I took checked routes for escape." The old man sighed. "I was gone for only a few hours. When I returned... this."

Silence settled between them.

Only the first sentence echoed in the soldier’s head, filling him with guilt. His fingers tightened around the cloth. Yet again, his existence had caused others pain.

By sunset, most of the wounded had been stabilized. The bodies of the dead had been cleared out for burial by their friends.

Volunteers leaned against the walls from exhaustion. The elf girls quietly organized the remaining medicine while wolves wandered between beds, checking every patient they had rescued.

Benign finally sat. His back rested against the cold stone wall and every muscle complained.

His fingers were stained red despite washing them several times. His throat burned when he swallowed.

A shadow stopped before him. He didn’t bother to look up, as his survival instincts were on break. A fair hand held out a wooden cup to him.

"Water." It rang out like a command.

Benign accepted it with a smile. Cold water slid down his throat. "More...." He reached for the one in her other hand and gulped it down. He returned the cups to her hands.

"Thank you, Zina."

The girl stared at the cups, then at Benign. Her eyes twitched. One should’ve been for her. She sighed and sat beside him.

"You aren’t from here, are you? What town did you come from?"

"Town?" Benign wiped his lips. "Um... the farthest possible. You don’t know it."

She looked toward the wounded soldiers. "Well, thank you for helping us."

Benign rested his head against the wall. "No need. This is my first mission as protector."

"First mission? I don’t think so."

Veins popped on Benign’s forehead. Lady Alana didn’t drop him in a high-tension battlefield for the fun of it. He faced the girl. "Can you tell me who attacked this place? And why? No one here seems like a threat."

A small frown flashed on her face before it faded to resignation. "You are right. This is a training outpost for Karnak refugees. Our leader wasn’t here when they attacked, and they planted mines at night after he left. Many died during the morning stroll."

From her explanation, the hostility between Karnak and Olien was the root reason, yet it raised no value. The Karnaks here couldn’t change the tide of a battle.

Except that the attack was planned as a ’better safe than sorry’ on a large scale, there was no use of the attack.

"From our studies, however," she continued. "The Warlord’s armies attack places like this first. They hold faith that anyone can change the tide in battle."

"Even those who can’t read a minefield?"

She shook her head. "That makes all of us. Mines aren’t a familiar means of attack. It is only used by Oliens and these people."

Every discovery of the Oliens made them sound like they were descendants of humans. That made the recent accusation worry Benign even more.

Benign nodded. "About this Warlord, does he fight in these battles himself?"

"No." She shook her head. "He has three Generals who command their own campaigns. They don’t wait for orders, but everything they do is for his sake."

"So killing one changes nothing. The others continue."

"Exactly. You kill all three if you want a dent in their grand plan. But we don’t know who the generals are. They hide amongst their foot soldiers."

Benign’s mind shifted elsewhere. Espionage. Learning their supply lines and command structure would easily reveal who the general was.

The elf watched him thinking. "Who assigned you here though?"

"Lady Alana."

Her eyes widened. "My Lady Alana?"

Benign shrugged. "I came for my badge, but now..." He stretched his sore shoulders. "I’ll probably scout the general’s camp."

The cups nearly slipped from the elf’s hand. "Alone?"

"I’ve done worse."

She stared as though he had announced he intended to invade the sun. Before she could answer, a bell rang continuously through the shelter.

The room froze. One scout burst through the portal, gasping for breath. "Five hundred metres away! They have been spotted on horses! They will set camp soon!"

Benign slowly stood. He rolled his aching shoulders before picking up the Blade of Ages from beside the wall. "What realms these guys are from again? Karnak? Olien?"

The girl stayed behind him. She dropped the cups on the ground and held her trembling hands close to her chest. "No one knows. The lost realms perhaps."

Lost realms. Benign frowned. ’How can they be from the lost realms if we lost the realms?’’

There was no time for another explanation. The girl looked shaken and said whatever.

The Firewing guarded the entrance. It announced Benign’s arrival with an eager screech.

"Yeah, guess our break is over."

"I’ll come too."

Benign paused, staring back at the door. "Uh... to do what exactly, Zina?"

Her cheeks reddened. "To help you, of course. I am also a Protector. I just remembered..." she said the last part to herself.

"Well, thank you. Appreciate it. But I am trying to go stealthy and sneak in."

"If that means I can’t come, then I’ll leave on my own."

Before Benign could think of a compromise, the girl stomped out of the shelter.