Humanity's Hero Of Despair

Sunshine. Laughter. Chirping.

These are all things we experience as we enter the lovely town of Angelpost. The President Hector wasn't joking when he said the town has a relaxing atmosphere. I overhear some locals talk about hot springs. I lean in closer to hear them better.

"Hey man, those hot springs were great!"

"I know right! I wish we could come here more often, but they are pricy."

That convinces me for sure there are hot springs here.

The villagers don't question our travel party or even give us second glances. My guess is that Angelpost receives so much tourism that many nobles from all over the continent come visit here. So they must be used to it.

That is what I thought until they saw Matteo and Leena in the carriage at the center of our formation.

Kids and adults alike run up to them to get autographs.

It's rare the prince and princess of Tarondar to visit here. They are a league above nobles.

I turn around and shout to Matteo, "Have you been here before?"

"I haven't, but I am so excited to relax for a full day for once!"

I laugh back at his response and wave to him. He waves back and I turn back around to figure out where we are going. I ask the coachmen to stop the carriage for a moment to speak to a local.

"Excuse me, miss, where is the best place to stay that has many rooms and has the best quality of service? Bonus points if it's close to the hot springs haha."

"The best place that has a hot spring, and many rooms, is the famous The Whispering Lantern Inn. It should be down this road here a couple of blocks and it should be on your right.", the kind lady tells me as she points in the general location.

"Thank you so much!" I tell her as we head off toward the Inn.

The warm air immediately feels good as we enter The Whispering Lantern Inn. The Inn feels so cozy. It is a well-furnished establishment with warm fireplaces and the staff is very kind to us. We check in for the night and get to our rooms, which thankfully they had enough open for us.

On the same floor, which is very nice.

After ten minutes of checking out the bedroom and testing the bed, I heard a rapid knock.

Knock! Knock!

I open the door and come face to face with a cheerful elderly man.

"Hi there! My name is Barret and I'm the InnKeeper here at The Whispering Lantern Inn. Some of my staff told me there were some high-profile guests coming all the way out from Tarondar. Please join me for an early dinner at the restaurant down below. Dinner is on me!"

"Thank you so much Barret! We will be down soon."

Barret leaves and I go around the floor to each of my friend's dorm about dinner. I tell the magical knights as well since Barret said they still counted even if they weren't nobles or super high ranking.

All of us are hungry as heck, so we rush downstairs to the restaurant where Barret is waiting for us with the entire restaurant cleared just for us, which I thank him profusely for.

There are tables with platters upon platters of food. It reminded me of the breakfast in the Tarondar Palace. We all eat to our heart's content and talk about anything and everything. Zephyr and Matteo have a food eating contest which makes all of us laugh our butts off.

The day flies by fast, and it's already evening.

We finish up dinner and then we head off to the hot springs! My favorite part!

Zephyr, Matteo, and I debated having a magic duel in the hot spring while Estes and Quillen prevented us from doing so. Leena, Ivy, Neve all went to the other side of the hot spring. Who knows what they are discussing back there haha.

The night gets darker and we are all super hot at this point. We get out of the hot spring and everyone else besides Ivy and I head to bed. Both of us step out behind the Inn to look at the beautiful mountain views against the night sky.

"The moon is beautiful, isn't it?" I say to her with my arm wrapped around her.

"Very," she replies to me as she holds onto my waist and laughs.

It's moments like these which all of us are fighting for. So the people who rely on us to protect them can keep living happy, normal lives. So we can provide them with hope.

Ivy and I head back to our room after a few minutes and go to sleep.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!"

Ivy says to me as I awaken suddenly. I quickly throw on some clothes and pack my stuff. We then go around, making sure everybody is ready to go to continue our journey onward toward Tolpolis.

We checked out of the hotel and as we stepped outside the Inn, one of the magical knights who went out scouting around Angelpost in the early morning came back with a report.

"Your lordship! Follow me."

We all follow the knight around the perimeter of the Inn and found several sets of strange footprints. The tracks show they weren't just some random bandits.

We are for sure being followed.

"Everybody listen up! It is a possibility we are being followed by some strange people, so keep your eyes and ears open. We head immediately for Tolpolis, which should be well guarded enough not to be followed in. Just watch out for ambushes!"

I tell all of our party. They nod and carefully eye the surroundings. Many are prepared to take their wands and swords out right then and there.

"There!" Zephyr points.

I glance up and a figure on a roof far away disappears.

Zephyr turns toward me and says,

"looks like we got company. I don't think they are here to make friends."

You can say that again.