After finishing my lecture, I left Sebastion locked tight in his cell. I had no idea whether or not he would take my lesson to heart. He had fallen silent in the beginning and not said another word the entire time I talked. I could not force him to listen nor did I expect him to abandon his hatred of me. I just wanted to help his hurting soul in what little way I knew how.
For now, I did not tell him of the fall of Novus and I did not ask him any of the questions I wanted to know the answers to. In his current state, he would probably think I was trying to trick him rather than believe the truth. I would visit him tomorrow and every day after that until I felt the timing was right.
I had no intention of letting him out of that cell, though. While Mare was right, the best way to fool someone that could see the future was to do something I would never normally consider, that did not mean it was a good idea. I would not leave my fate in Sebastion’s hands and until I was sure I could withstand his onslaught, Sebastion was staying locked up.
After leaving the prison, I did not return to Svend’s manor or Dragon’s but instead walked towards the military encampment. Once just a small camp on the outskirts of town, the army that had been gathering now dwarfed the entirety of the city. I had not asked Svend for the exact numbers but based on my rough estimate, at least fifty thousand troops had responded to Svend’s call to arms. Most of them were civilian volunteers that streamed in by the thousands after news of my revival became public with more still arriving every hour. The fervor the people of this land had for me was something I had not seen in a long time. It was said that entire villages had become completely empty because all the people had marched to the capital to join the army.
The sudden influx of recruits put excessive strain on the army’s logistics. Just feeding so many people every day was a massive undertaking but it was one that Svend was a veteran in handling. What Svend was not prepared for, however, was just how inexperienced these new recruits were. In the Seventh Division, soldiers were trained from birth with the sole purpose of serving in the army. Meanwhile, most of these volunteers had been farmers or fishermen. Very few had ever held a spear before, even fewer had an innate talent capable of combat.
That is where Ragnar the Conqueror stepped up. During his first life, he had led an army much like this one. It had been an army full of naïve youths that wanted to make an impact on the world. Despite their inexperience, Ragnar led them to victory after victory.
Now, Ragnar was putting that knowledge to use. In just a single day, he had completely reconstructed the recruits into something that resembled an army. He did not bother with any complicated formation. The new recruits would never be able to execute anything complicated with what little time he had. Instead, Ragnar simply split all the soldiers into small groups of five, each with a veteran leading the group. These small groups would then act as if they were a single soldier, greatly diminishing the difficulty of leading the recruits.
As I strolled through the military encampment, I could not help but wonder how many of these soldiers would actually be able to return home. An army like this would be of little use against the Demons. Their main purpose was only to hold back the Demonkin horde. I knew from experience, that when this army fought, it would be shredded like meat in a grinder. It was a necessary sacrifice, even if it was hard to stomach. If our domain experts attempted to help fight the countless thousands of Demonkin that we would face, they would quickly run out of energy. They would face the same problem as Sebastion when he tried to capture me and be too weak to fight back when the true threats arrived. Whether or not these brave men and women survived would depend entirely on their determination and luck. Until I regained my full strength there was not much I could do to change that.
The soldiers around me moved like ants. Only a few passed curious glances in my direction. They all worked without rest. Some were being taught how to wield a spear without dropping it. Others cooked or cleaned equipment. It was a chaotic mess to look at from the outside but it was clear that every single soldier moved with purpose.
I had almost made it to the commander’s tent when I was stopped by a soldier, one of the few with their own armor and weapon. He was not someone I recognized and it was clear he did not recognize me. He blocked my way to the tent as he spoke. “This is no place for a child. You can join the army when you are old enough. For now, hurry back home.”
I rolled my eyes in annoyance and sent a mental message towards the commander’s tent. The unknown soldier put a hand on my shoulder and was prepared to lead me out of the military encampment when Ragnar stepped out of the tent.
“Let her pass, lieutenant. That child is the personal messenger of Aurielle herself.” Ragnar said with a grin.
The soldier froze as he looked down at me. “Sorry General, I did not know. The messenger of Aurielle is of course welcome here any time.”
“It’s fine,” I said with a sigh as I slipped past the soldier.
“Do you want him punished?” Ragnar asked with a raised eyebrow. The soldier’s face drained of color as he looked at me expectantly.
“Punished for what?” I replied with a dismissive wave of my hand, “I would be more disappointed if I had actually been able to walk up to the general’s tent without being stopped.”
Ragnar nodded and dismissed the soldier as the two of us entered the tent. Despite the large size of the general’s tent, there was nothing in it except a bedroll and a small table with a map. I was pleasantly surprised. I expected Ragnar to be the type that enjoyed a more lavish lifestyle. Instead, he had only asked for the barest of necessities.
“I have been familiarizing myself with the terrain of the Novus Kingdom,” Ragnar said as he rolled up the map on the table, “We will begin marching south in three days time and I want to be prepared if we get ambushed along the way.”
“I am not here to critique your performance. I have no interest in micromanaging your actions. Your mission is to kill Demonkin and prevent the spread of the blood mist as much as possible. How you decide to go about it is entirely up to your own discretion.”
Ragnar’s face lit up with a big grin that probably drove girls wild in his past life. “That is good to hear. If more rulers were like you, the military would be far more entertaining. I cannot even begin to count the number of blunders I was able to exploit in my enemies because some pompous royal decided they knew how to fight better than the soldiers that actually dirtied their hands.”
“Oh, I probably do know better, I’m just lazy,” I replied flippantly.
“That works too,” Ragnar said with a shrug, “So, if you are not here to tell me how to run my army, why have you come to my little abode, my lady?”
I dropped my carefree façade as I looked Ragnar directly in the eye. “You and Sigmund are the first humans I have ever brought back with the golden flame. I want to hear your thoughts and what you experienced without leaving out a single detail.”
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Ragnar grimaced and his face darkened slightly. “For a start, the metal bones those idiots implanted in me itch constantly,” Ragnar said with a growl, “I would tear them out myself if I thought I could. Do you have any way to fix that?”
“I don’t think so but I can look into it,” I mumbled thoughtfully, “For now, tell me what you remember about your former life.”
“I remember everything perfectly fine. My memory might even be better than before but everything of my past life feels… distant. It feels like a dream. I know it is all real but it does not feel like it. If you told me those memories belonged to someone else, I would probably believe you.”
“Do you find yourself acting differently because of that?” I asked curiously.
Ragnar shook his head. “If I do, I haven’t noticed it. I am still me. I am still Ragnar the Conqueror. I am sure of that. I know what I like, I know what I hate, and if anyone tries to tell me otherwise, I will beat them to a bloody pulp.”
“And what do you think of me and the connection we share now that you have been reborn?”
Ragnar looked away as he scratched his head, almost as if he did not want to look me in the eye. “Why don’t you go ask Sigmund these questions instead?”
I leaned forward curiously. “I will but he is not the talkative type. I thought you would be more open to these kinds of questions. I know it might be uncomfortable but I need to know, please.”
I swore I saw Ragnar blush slightly as his next words came out as more of a mumble. “When you reach out with your mind or when I reach out to you, it is a deeply intimate feeling. It is as if you are my sister, or maybe even my lover. From the moment I awoke, I knew you were my family and that I had to protect you. I know I can still disobey you if I wanted but I cannot possibly think of any reason I would want to.”
“I did not know it was like that,” I whispered in embarrassment, “Would you rather I not reach out with my mind anymore?”
“No!” Ragnar shouted quickly before clearing his throat and lowering his voice, “Please do not stop. Despite my many accomplishments, I did not have anyone I truly cared about in my former life. This connection you have to us is unfamiliar to me but I know it is good. I never had a little sister when I was alive but if you would allow it, I would happily treat you as such in this life.”
“If that is what you want,” I said with a smile, “but I am the big sister. Just because I am short does not mean I am not older than you!”
Ragnar was grinning as he nodded. “Alright, alright, you are the big sister.”
“Good,” I said with a satisfied nod, “Now, probably the most important question, what did it feel like when you were reborn?”
Ragnar’s smile faded as he thought quietly for a moment. “It burned… Fire was everywhere. It seemed to last an eternity. The pain was more than I thought I could bear but even when I thought I had given up, the fire still burned. Before I even had the memories of Ragnar, I instinctively knew it was a fire that could never be extinguished. Eventually, the pain faded into a soothing warmth and I remembered who I was, I knew who you were, and I knew how to control the fire now coursing through my veins.”
“You know how to control the golden flames? Can you show me how?” I asked excitedly.
Ragnar frowned as he scratched his head. “It is not something that can be explained in words. It all just happened naturally, like breathing. I do not really understand it myself. As much as I would like to, I do not know how to help you.”
“That is ok. I will figure it out myself eventually,” I replied with a disappointed sigh.
Ragnar reached out to place a hand on my shoulder but hesitated and let it fall back to his side. “I do not know what this power is but it is terrifying. If you do not know how to control it, you should not use it. Fire may provide warmth and life but it also destroys and consumes. Be careful that you are not the one it burns.”