Humanity's Hero Of Despair

"Incoming! Hurry up and open the gates!"

The Vexa gate guard captain shouts to his men as he notices us approaching the gates with our tired horses. Just by looking at the faces at all of our party, I could tell it was a good time to be back. Many of our weapons and shields are dented and bruised.

The people of Vexa stop briefly to look at our arrival through the entrance gates. They notice our weary expressions and beaten armour. Many hold their hands up to their heart and nod to us to thank us for fighting the goblins.

They too must know there is much danger outside of these protective walls.

We first head to the Vexa stables to return our cavalry trained horses. I gently get off of my horse and feed it some apples before giving it a pat and saying goodbye. Our journey together may have been brief, but it was fun while it lasted.

The rest of my crew returns their horses.

Thankfully, we are given back our carriages, so we do not have to walk all the way back to the estate. The familiar bumps of the carriage in some way feels nice from the change of riding on horseback.

Kids wave at us and smile as we ride past them. Some adults smile and acknowledge us as we make our way to the estate. These are the people the President is protecting. These are the people we help protect by taking out the goblins.

Thinking it about that way, maybe it isn't so bad afterall.

No longer being just a mage student but a Viscount leading a huge diplomatic party has its perks despite all the intense pressure that comes with it. We soon arrive at the President's Estate and leave our carriages. The President's butlers and maids give us snacks and drinks to celebrate our completed mission.

The President greets us and leads us back to the meeting room. Quillen hands over the envelope the Mayor of Rustbreach handed to us.

Once we are all settled in. He speaks in a sincere, upbeat tone after reading the envelope.

"Thank you all for helping rebuild Rustbreach and getting rid of goblin camp that was scaring the villagers. Hopefully, no more will show up."

We all nod and Quillen hands over a stack of paper to the assistant sitting next to the President. He then speaks in a formal, firm tone.

"It is our pleasure, President Hector. Here is my report on the strange findings regarding the goblins. To conclude, we found out that these small goblins had enhanced magical weapons and gear. We do not know how they came to possess these though or how they learned to use them."

I take out the mysterious dagger from my hands and hand it to the President. His eyes open at the weight of the dagger and the appearance of it. He glances at me for an explanation as he notices the insignia.

"We think the engravings of the dagger and the fire magic it can use originates from dragons. We do not know why the goblins possess such powerful weapons or why the dragons would help them."

As the words leave my lips, the President turns to his chief of staff and the staff members run outside of the room. He then turns back toward me.

"Viscount Lotus, thank you for telling me. I invited my close friend, Professor Calder, to join us, who is an expert on dragon research and artifacts. I hope he can help explain this situation more clearly to us."

We all nod and wait. The tension in the room growing by the minute. After a few more minutes, the door bursts open with Professor Calder running over to the President with a few researchers behind him.

"I came as quickly as I could, President. I'm sorry I could not be here sooner. My team and I will inspect it right away."

The Professor takes out his wand and carries the dagger over to an inspection table. He performs some intricate movements with his wand as the other researchers take notes on the effects of them. The Professor performs some basic enchaments and then compares them to several ancient books the researchers brought with them.

This process takes roughly ten minutes, and we are all dozing off until we heard a loud thud as the Professor closes the ancient book in his hand. The researchers gathered around him as the Professor approaches the President.

Professor Calder speaks in a grave tone.

"The results are not pretty. We wanted to be wrong, but after testing it repeatedly, it came out with the same result. This dagger-"

He picks it up from the observation table and lays it out in the center of the meeting table.

"Is indeed connected to the dragons. That insignia is the mark of the Dragon Emperor Darkhar Infernos on the continent of Thyndara, where we last know of the dragon's location. This dagger also has traces of light magic, which shouldn't be a thing if all the Eradicators are gone."

Many members of my party whisper to each other about the implications of this information. The Presidents asks everyone to be silent for a moment. He speaks in a brave voice even though I heard his wavering tone.

"We have nothing to fear yet. The other two Emperors of Light are alive, which could be an enormous problem, especially if they are working with or controlling the dragons and goblins. I will write to King Grey immediately about these recent developments. Our alliance is now official as well. We need to stick together as a continent if we want to survive as a human race."

President Hector shifts the treaty documents he had next to him over to Quillen, who looks over them, nods, and signs them as well. They shake hands and the alliance is now official.

Our Kingdom now has an ally in case the goblins and dragons attack us.

President Hector jots a brief letter and hands an envelope over to me this time.

"Please take your travel party to the border city of Tolpolis near the Oriventh Empire. You will meet Governor Griffith there. Tolpolis is one of our biggest cities for military production. Once he reads this letter with the official seal, he will help supply your party with much party weapons, gear, etc."

"He will also provide you with more troops to make your party more powerful."

I am surprised.

"Thank you so much, President, but that is unnecessary."

"Please Viscount Lotus. You will need more power when approaching the Oriventh Empire about a treaty to convince them. Also, Tolpolis is fairly far away, so please stop in the town of Angelpost on your way there to take a breather. It's a great place to relax and visit."

I process the information and nod. He is right. We need to grow in power and take a breather from all the traveling and fighting. I thank him and we say our goodbyes. We are back on another long traveling journey.

I hope there are hot springs in Angelpost.