The Innocent Young Girl

“Wake up, you brat!” A man splashed water on a young girl’s face to wake her up.

Startled, the young girl opened her eyes feeling so cold with the water all over her clothes. She was confused.

“Go fetch water and put the luggage in the carriage! We are going to leave!” The fat man kicked her legs making her groan in pain.

She was about to speak for herself but ended up hearing a crack on her voice like something just pulled her tongue. She covered her mouth only to realize that she could not speak well. She immediately stood up to look for a mirror but she stopped upon seeing the place where she was sleeping a while ago.

It was in a stable where horses were taken care of. She was now sitting on dirty grass and her clothes were old and torn apart. Her body was so thin and light and she could feel hunger. She looked for somewhere she could look at herself and found a pail with water. There she saw the face of a young innocent girl, thin and malnourished. Her hair was messy and short like a man. She looks dirty and messed up.

“Hey! Can’t you hear me?!” The fat man suddenly raged. “You should go to work!”

Startled by how loud the man’s voice was, she found herself running outside the stable to work. Along the way, she saw some people carrying luggage to a carriage so she abruptly walked there thinking that it might be the work the man was talking about.

“Hey, kid! Come here!” Another man called her as she was given two pails. “Go fetch water there and feed it to the horses of each carriage.”

She could not say anything and just did as she was told. She even had a hard time looking where she would fetch water until she saw a clear lake meters away behind the stable.

While fetching water to the pail, she sensed some people coming towards her. Before they could come close, she stood up and turned to face them as she saw a group of Largoth knights in their uniforms standing behind her. 

“A young girl?” One of the Imperial knights scratched his head as he turned to look at his leader. “Are you sure to negotiate with this young girl?” He asked their leader.

A tall mature man started walking towards her. She was so short that she was just up to his waist. He has silver hair as it covers his eyes. Although she could not see his eyes, she can feel that this man is strong and powerful just by standing in front of her. Judging by his uniform that is different from the others, he must be the captain.

“You,” the deep voice of the man echoed in her ears as her eyes went wide after recognizing it.

This was the voice of the man in the banquet hall before!

“Do you know that the mercenary you were in was planning on involving themselves in a war?”

Her eyes expanded. War? Is the Empire having a war? Who is the Emperor and how many years has passed after she woke up in a different body?!

“You seemed to have knowledge about it so I am going to tell you-

“Captain, you could not just trust a young girl!”

“Stop, Leon.” He commanded his subordinate before looking at the eyes of the young girl.

He bent down his knees to reach her short height. “Listen, young girl,” he clasped his hand, looking serious to explain.

“The mercenary you were in was paid by the neighbouring kingdom to fool us by driving us to go to the Hapra Forest.”

Hapra forest, she knew very well that it was the forest where wild boars live. It was the borderline between the Largoth Empire and Corstan Kingdom. It was a deadly forest where no one would leave alive after coming there.

“Here,” the man handed her a small white ball. “This is a small firework that will explode once it is thrown to the ground. If your carriage gets to the middle of the forest and when you see a big animal, make this explode so we will know your location.”

She found herself nodding as she looked at the small white ball on her hand. She never knew this kind of invention. It must be new. She looked at the man’s face and observed his appearance. And judging by his slightly wrinkled skin, it must have passed many years after she died as Lady Amara.

The man stood up and tapped her head. He then gave her a golden coin that is worth a month of living for a commoner like the young girl she was in.

“I will give you more if we see each other again, alright?”

She could only look at his gentle smile as if the intimidation she felt a while ago just faded in a second. Somehow, he looked like a proud father who was cheering up his child. It makes her happy to see that kind of expression.

She nodded and smiled back, genuinely. She then took the pail with water and walked away to go back to work.

“This feels illegal, Captain.” A knight groaned as he walked back and forth. “You just used an innocent child and she is even a mute!”

“Leon,” the Captain stood up and turned his head to his subordinate, Leon.

“That innocent girl just sensed us, Imperial knights.” He stated, looking serious. “We had years of training to not be caught and be sensed by the enemy but a young girl just sensed us when we were five meters away from her.”

Leon flinched, “T-That does not make sense to a young girl.”

“That girl is either a genius or a human being who had the power of the gods, Leon.” He sighed and crossed his arms. “Moreover, as we observed her during this week, she seemed to have no intention of leaving the mercenary even if we give her a lot of money. However, if we make use of her and set her free from them, she might consider her choice.”

“Then? Do you want to take her?”

“I will adopt her as my daughter.” He immediately dictated.

“Are you crazy? You don’t even have a wife and you’re adopting a daughter?”

After hearing that, he got annoyed by the fact that he had failed to stop loving the person he had always admired. He glared at Leon, “How about you? You got a wife but you have failed to have a child because you have failed to be a man.”

Leon was struck straight to the heart. “Jeez, no need to personalize everything, Captain. I was just pulling your leg.” He shrugged off that painful truth.

The Captain clicked his tongue before he commanded them to leave the place to go to their meeting place. They went deep inside the forest behind the stable. There were just ten of them.

“Captain!” The other knights came to him. “We got a command from his majesty!”

Upon hearing the news, his brows furrowed as he received the rolling paper from the Emperor. As he opened and read it, the space between his brows got even narrower.

Dissatisfied, he did not even finish reading and threw it away. “What an unwise strategy,” he commented.

“What did his majesty say?” Leon asked while looking at the rolling paper he threw on the ground.

“He was telling us to withdraw and have a full attack with the others.”

Upon hearing what their captain said, everyone sighed in frustration.

“Just why did Emperor Esteban pass the throne to Crown Prince-

“Watch your mouth, Leon.” A knight cut Leon’s bold comment, telling him that he could be punished for blasphemy.

However, Leon just could not bear it anymore. “Am I not right? Since the Crown Prince became the Emperor, the Empire became just like him, miserable and disorganized.” He thundered. “We fight for our lives on the line and he is just tossing it like we are toys or something? It would have been alright if we would die for our Empire but we will die for the Emperor!  How I wish Emperor Darya would come back to life.”

Upon mentioning Emperor Darya’s name, they were all silenced. They still could remember that day when Emperor Darya bravely joined a war and defeated enemies more than the Captains of Imperial Knights. Emperor Darya was just nineteen years old at that time and they were just ordinary low-ranking knights. When she was the Emperor, the Largoth Empire was the best Empire of all the time.

“All of you, do you believe that Emperor Darya really died due to sleep paralysis?” Leon talked even more.

“I’ve had sleep paralysis many times but I never died, you know. I believe that she was killed by someone really close to her—”

“Leon.” The Captain glared at him and he shrugged in response.

The Captain turned his back and started walking away. “Do not ever state her name again, Leon. Address her with majesty as she deserves to be called with highness forever.”

When the Captain left, all of them looked at each other in silence. The Captain really respects and values the late Emperor Darya until now. 

A knight then spoke. “You should stop reminding the Captain about her majesty, Emperor Darya, Leon.”

“It’s alright.” Leon beamed, “I said that out of waking him up.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Captain tends to become really sharp when he is triggered. And he becomes stronger in a battle so prepare yourselves to a life and death war, men.”

The night has then come when the mercenary will leave the Largoth Empire.