A Bored Lich

"Is there anything left for us to do here?" Doevm asked.

"Not really," Elero said after a pause. "Alexander's too busy managing three extremely confused armies to focus on our training, so I assume he just forgot about us."

"He kind of destroyed the entire knights' academy as well," Frey said. "I mean, I don't blame him but now how are we supposed to get stronger?"

"Wait, it sounds like we're leaving," Thomas voiced his concern. "Why aren't we staying in the capital?"

"It's the opposite," Doevm stated. "Can you give us a reason to stay? Elero got her legs fixed, the Resistance was destroyed, we aren't going to get trained, and I don't want to be in the magic academy. There isn't a reason for us to be here anymore."

"Then why are we here in the castle?" Thomas asked. "Why did we try to change the kingdom if we don't care about it? In fact, Doevm, you never go out of your way to help others. You hate revealing anything about yourself. What happened to you in the academy?" Elero and Frey nodded in agreement.

Doevm froze. 'Why did I do this?' he wondered. 'I slaughtered an entire band of bandits because I found out a single one of my books was stolen but I just gave away thirty without feeling a thing. Is it because I gave them away? Is that why I accepted this? No, I could have rejected Lance's offer, and left them floundering in the dark. That's what I would have done a month ago. It's not logical to repay their abuse with a gift. It doesn't matter to me if the students know more magic or not.'

"I think I know," Elero said with a mischievous glint in her eye. She leaned on the table, closer Doevm. "It's because of that girl, isn't it?"

Frey chuckled. "A girl? You must not know Doevm at all-"

"Olpi?" Doevm asked.

Frey's jaw dropped, then he turned to Elero. "You were serious?"

Elero nodded. "I think I know what's going on here, mister emotionless Lich."

Doevm folded his hands and closed his eyes. "That might be a part of it. She definitely showed passion, along with another girl." Frey and Thomas exchanged looks filled with awe but Elero seemed to know better. She sat back and listened.

"The students did as they were told, to do magic. The Demis, on the other hand, worked hard and tried different things. It wasn't just to satisfy a quota; it was as if they needed to prove something. I don't know if I necessarily experienced something life changing in the academy, but I definitely saw something; something I lost a long, long time ago. I thought that maybe, if the academy were to be given proper guidance, I could remember exactly what it was that I lost. That's the closest thing to an answer I have."

He let out a heavy sigh. He could feel a strangely familiar sensation tugging at the back of his mind. He knew that something at some unknown point in time had affected him in a way which couldn't be described with words. It was an infuriatingly vague concept that blurred the more he sought it out and became clearer as he let it go adrift.

Charitable? No.

Sociable? No.

Empathetic? No.

Human? No. No. No. That's the wrong direction.

Change. Yes, but how?

"Doevm?" Frey asked as he waved hand in front of Doevm's face. "You with us?"

"Yeah, I just got distracted for a second," Doevm said.

"So, what now?" Elero asked. "We all just go home and live out our lives? The Demon King and the Resistance have both been defeated, my legs were fixed, neither academy can offer us anything, and we aren't in the middle of a war."

All heads turned to Doevm.

"Vilbar," Doevm said.

"What's for us over there?" Thomas asked. "That's where the War Monks are, and they want you dead."

"Nothing in that country gives any of you a proper reason to go over there," Doevm explained. "I said Vilbar because that's where I want to go. That's where I must fulfill a promise I made long ago. The rest of you are free to do as you like. You all have your own goals, right?"

The painful silence that befell the table was agonizing to hear.

"Can't we just go along with you?" Frey asked.

"For what purpose?" Doevm asked. "I'll just be dragging you all into my mess, again. When all of this is done and over, I'll either come back or I won't. Chances are it'll be the latter."

Elero got up and walked to the other side of the table. Herself, Thomas, and Frey faced the lone Doevm. "Why not let us help you like in the magic academy?" she asked. "That betters your chances of survival. You don't have a reason to object to free help, do you?"

Doevm chuckled. "Elero, that appeal to another's way of thinking is a skill you built up from your merchant family, is it not? The problem here is not logic or benefits, it's your futures. While you guys do increase my chances, it's only a small increase. I'm going to fight the War Monks, who's upper echelons have golden life essence. We could die and not even see them coming. That's the threat I will face. I will most likely die. Do you understand? If I die, what will you do with yourselves, you people who have made following me your goals? You are not dogs, nor will I let you be."

"And if you don't die?" Thomas asked. "You know, since we're talking about possibilities and all that?"

Doevm suppressed a smirk. "Then my fight will be over, and I'll no longer require assistance. You'll all realize that your hard work was spent conforming to my will, and have no idea what to do outside of it." He pressed both his hands on the table. "Do you understand what you're all offering? You'll be no better than my Undead, albeit much stronger."

"Doevm, what the fuck?" Thomas blurted out. "We're trying here. What do you want from us?" He turned to a pair of approaching guards. "What do you want, we're in the middle of something?"

"Please keep it down," the guards warned. "You're disturbing the other guests."

"There is no problem here, nor will there be," Doevm said with a bit of soul mana, and the guards returned to their position without a word.

"Doevm," Elero said. "How about if I say that merchants need to experience the world and make connections with people? What better way to experience the world than...Nah, I don't care. I'm joining out of spite. Doth that please your highness?" She flipped him off and started a lap around the seats, cursing under her breath.

"Frey, how about you?" Doevm asked.

"What about me?" Frey asked.

"What do you want in Vilbar?"

"Nothing, why do you ask?"

"I know you were listening. What are you going to do in Vilbar?"

"Find something," Frey said. "Maybe a home or a family. I don't know. When are we leaving?"

Doevm's mouth opened and closed but nothing came out. 'Did he just beat me in an argument, me?' He slowly turned to Thomas, who slowly raised his middle finger, pale as a corpse. 'That's it. I'm never asking for opinions again. I'm just going to tell them what to do without explaining, just like usual.' He chuckled to himself. 'Stubborn bastards.'