They sat in a quiet corner of the café, where the dim lights and the aroma of coffee filled the air, far from the noise of the city. Haruka took a deep breath, then began calmly telling what had happened.
The boy raised his eyebrows and said in a low voice:
"Ah… now I understand."
At that moment, Sol was still sitting beside them, tears filling his eyes as he repeated in a broken voice:
"Mom… Mom…"
The boy gently moved closer and patted his shoulder, saying:
"Don't worry. Your mother is alive. I helped her."
Haruka looked at him curiously.
"Who were those men? And why did they do this?"
The boy replied coldly:
"I'm not obligated to tell you."
Haruka became angry and said:
"Is that how you speak to someone who saved you?"
He replied calmly:
"If you were responsible, the child wouldn't have been in that situation in the first place. And I'm the one who helped him, not you."
Sol looked at both of them and said with a weak smile:
"Thank you… both of you… for everything."
Then he whispered while looking at Haruka:
"The reason they wanted to kill me and my mom is because we heard them talking about a plan to assassinate the king on the day of the Founding Festival. When we tried to run away, they captured us."
He added while looking sincerely at Haruka:
"My mom told me to go to the knights and tell them, because they're strong people and they would help us."
She whispered:
"That's why you were asking me if I was strong…"
Sol nodded lightly and said in a quiet voice:
"I was hoping you would help us…"
Before she could reply, the café door suddenly burst open, and a knight ran toward the boy sitting next to Haruka, shouting loudly:
"Daniel-sama! We've captured all the suspects!"
Haruka thought to herself:
"Sama?? He must be an important person. His clothes also look expensive… like someone from the noble class."
The boy suddenly stood up and looked at the knight with sharp eyes.
"Did you kill them all?"
The knight answered without hesitation:
"Yes… all of them. Even their leader."
Daniel turned toward Haruka, looked at her for a moment, then said calmly:
"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself… I'm Daniel de Athianol."
Haruka nodded and smiled, then extended her hand toward him.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Haruka."
Daniel shook her hand without hesitation, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
"Nice to meet you too, Haruka."
Suddenly, a female voice full of tears and longing was heard from outside the café:
"Sooool! My son!!"
Sol immediately ran outside the café and shouted loudly:
"Mom!!!"
He threw himself into her arms while she hugged him tightly, tears falling from her eyes.
"I was so worried about you… thank goodness you're safe…"
Sol said while clinging to her:
"I thought they… they killed you…"
Haruka stood watching the scene from afar in silence, then said to herself in a broken inner voice:
(He's so lucky… he has a mother who fights for him… I wish I had a mother too…)
Then Sol's mother looked at Haruka and Daniel and bowed her head in gratitude.
"Thank you both so much… you saved my son… thank you… from the bottom of my heart."
Then Sol looked at Haruka with shining eyes and said:
"Thank you, Haruka! One day I'll become stronger than you! I promise!"
Haruka laughed lightly and replied:
"I'll be waiting for that day. But you shouldn't cry every time you get into trouble… you need to be a man to protect your mother."
Then Sol turned toward Daniel.
"And you too! I'll become as good as you with a sword!"
Daniel smiled and patted his head.
"I'll be watching your progress, kid."
After a few moments, Daniel turned toward Haruka.
"Looks like my time is up… I have to go now."
Haruka nodded calmly.
"Alright… goodbye."
She turned to leave, but after taking her first step, she suddenly stopped and opened her eyes in shock.
"Wait… have I been here before?"
She quickly turned toward Daniel and ran after him.
"Wait! I… need a small favor."
Daniel stopped and slowly turned around.
"What is it now?"
She looked at him with a forced smile.
"I… am lost."
Daniel froze in place and stared at her in disbelief before saying slowly:
"I'm pretty sure… you said the child was the one who was lost, not you… right?"
Haruka looked away and said:
"I thought I knew the way, but… I'm new here. I don't mean that I don't know the roads… I memorized some of them…"
Daniel sighed and said while walking away:
"Tell me your address."
"Address??"
"Yes. Your address."
She looked away again and said:
"Who knows…"
He left saying:
"Goodbye."
She stopped him quickly.
"Wait! I… I don't have a house. I sleep in a magic guild…"
"Great. Then we can find it quickly. What's the name of the guild?"
Haruka hesitated for a moment, then said:
"Ummm… guild?"
Daniel stopped and looked at her in silence for a long moment before saying in a hopeless tone:
"Are you… stupid? There's no such thing as just 'a guild.' Every guild has a name!"
Haruka became embarrassed and said softly:
"I'm sorry… I don't know the name…"
He stayed silent for a few seconds before asking:
"Do you remember anything near it?"
She answered while looking at the ground:
"Ummm… a building…?"
Daniel immediately turned away, waving his hand.
"I can't hear another word… good luck finding your guild surrounded by… buildings."
Haruka quickly shouted behind him:
"Wait! Please! I don't know anyone here except you!"
He replied:
"How do you expect me to find a guild without any description or even a hint?"
She answered:
"I guess you're right, but I—"
But she didn't finish her sentence. Suddenly, a massive explosion was heard in the distance, followed by a shockwave that shook the place. Haruka looked toward the sky and saw rocks falling from above.
One of the guards shouted from afar:
"Rocks are falling from the mountain!"
Daniel moved with incredible speed. He jumped toward three massive rocks and struck them with his sword with great force, cutting them into six pieces within seconds.
Haruka stood there in shock, her eyes widening as she looked at him.
(Wooow… he's so fast…)
But before she could catch her breath, she saw one of the rock fragments Daniel had cut flying quickly toward a small girl standing frozen in the corner.
Haruka ran with all her strength, jumped in front of the girl, and punched the rock directly, shattering it in front of her.
Then she turned toward the girl and shouted:
"Run somewhere safe! Hurry!!"
Haruka thought quickly:
(Is this a collapse? Or what? And why did it happen? But more importantly… that idiot needs to stop swinging his sword around randomly. He's going to kill someone!)
She looked at Daniel and shouted angrily:
"Heeey! You're going to kill someone if you keep doing that!!"
Daniel suddenly appeared behind her and said coldly:
"I know that. That's why I left the evacuation and saving people to you."
He jumped back into the air again to strike more falling rocks.
Haruka shouted:
"Haaah?! When did you say that?! And why me?! Why don't we switch roles?!"
Suddenly another rock flew toward her at high speed. She barely dodged it with a jump, then fell to the ground panting.
She muttered to herself:
(Aaah… why am I even involved in this in the first place?!)
To be continued…