Chapter 30 - Evil

As the others were eating, Ela came up next to me, keeping her voice down.

"Should we bring them to the palace? Are you fine with that?"

My palm rubbed against my temple.

"How many people are there that don't have homes? We will be unable to bring some people in..."

A memory flashed in my mind, it was when Otis snickered at me after finding out I had no talent.

"The people who were unable to get in will be angry, and it may do more bad than good..."

Ela looked down at her feet.

"You appear to be right..."

Ela suddenly looked up at me.

"What shall we do with the girl I asked the others to take care of?"

The corner of my lips twitched.

"Be a little quieter... If it is only one and we keep it a secret it shouldn't be a big deal. If it is found out... there is not much we can do."

My eyes closed and my palm rubbed against my temple, trying to force some ideas into my head.

Soon the eating sounds started to cease. My eyes opened before taking a few steps towards the center of the room.

"Hello everyone, you used to be slaves that were imprisoned here, however, that is no longer the case. If you can, go to where your old house was. If that does not suffice or you are unable to, this place should work as a residence as well. All the people who used to be here are gone and it should be free for you to use. Take care of yourself, goodbye."

Ela's eyes twitched but she did not say anything. The people in the room looked at one another. One person started to nod, and the rest soon followed.

With that, I left, to be met with a blistering cold. Ela followed behind me and took a few hurried steps to get next to me.

"...the way houses are given to people is a little more complicated than just letting someone be in there."

My shoulders shrugged as a small fireball appeared above my hand.

"It was the best solution I could come up with in that scenario. Even if they somehow don't freeze to death outside, the snow would make them needlessly aggressive."

Ela sighed with her hand on her forehead.

"I suppose there is not much else we could do."

Looking around, my eyes scanned for any landmarks. There were only various lumps covered in snow. My face locked up soon after.

"...Which way is the palace?"

Ela chuckled and walked down a road.

"Follow me."

Ela walked down the street. My steps trailed behind her, with my hand holding the fireball closer to my body for a bit more heat. Breathing out made some white mist in the air.

The slave trader that was chasing the little girl suddenly came to mind.

'Wh-What? All the slave traders are doing that, not just us!'

My eyes were drawn to Ela's back.

"Hey, Ela."

Ela looked over her shoulder.

"Yes?"

My hand brought the fireball next to my face.

"If all of the slave traders really are blatantly taking people from their homes... what can we do?"

Ela faced forward again and sighed.

"We can only save as many as we can."

...It seemed I was too weak to change anything. What else could be done?

We walked back to the palace, while my hand was fervently rubbing against my temple the whole time. A memory suddenly resurfaced from the muddy waters.

'N-No! They were going to die anyway! There isn't enough food for them, if we can capture them and fill our own stomachs, we are only saving people.'

It seemed the sudden winter had really shaken people up. If the leading cause was the lack of food...

"Ela, I have an idea."

Ela turned to face me.

"Please, speak."

My hands were shaking.

"If... if we can offer food to everyone do you think it would lower the chaos? It seems the biggest reason why all of this is happening is the lack of food people are experiencing. If we can show them we can provide, it should work right?"

Ela furrowed her brows.

"...The gravity of the situation would surely lower, do you have an idea for a reliable food source?"

...Probably?

"The forest has many animals... Alyx should be able to cast the spell that makes the meat edible and Ned can cook with the fire spell, so that should be enough right?"

Ela frowned.

"There are too many villagers... it will be spread too thin if we try to make some for everyone."

My head gradually lowered and my fist was in front of my mouth.

"...But that little bit should make a difference right? If there truly isn't enough food for everyone, doing this can ease the villagers as well as slow down their food consumption, so that the food people have will last them longer."

Ela nodded.

"That sounds magnificent. The only problems would be to find some way to tell everyone and how to stop people from trying to take multiple."

Ela tapped her chin.

"I believe I can use ink in order to mark the hand of anyone who wishes to have some. This way, we can prevent people from trying to take more than they should."

Ah, that makes sense. My index finger and thumb rubbed against my chin.

"...Well, I imagine news of food being provided for free should spread fast right? There would be no reason to keep it secret since everyone can only get a certain amount. We can ask anybody that comes by to eat to spread the news."

Ela let out a small sigh.

"Perhaps this will work... I will recover the eagles I had put away. Could you call Alyx and Ned to help out?"

I nodded.

"Alright, see you soon."

"Farewell."

Ela gradually partially morphed into a dragon and flew out of the palace. My best bet was the dorms, where we slept. Logically, that would be the best place to look.

Upon making my way there, the edge of my knuckle lightly rapped on Ned's door. Shortly after, it opened, revealing Ned who was holding a small fireball in one of his hands.

"Hey Jay, what's going on?"

A smile naturally formed on my face.

"Hey Ned, me and Ela came up with a plan in order to get food to most of the people here. The idea is, if we use the spell in Alyx's book, we can turn the animals edible and cook them. I was thinking you and Alyx could work together to prepare the food while Ela and I could hunt animals for food."

Ned raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, that sounds like a good idea. Let's get Alyx then."

Ned came with me and he knocked on Alyx's door. There wasn't an answer for a while. Ned raised an eyebrow.

"Eh? I remember she went back to her room. Is she not here?"

Ned knocked on the door again.

This time there was a muffled sound of chair legs rubbing against the floor. Footfalls were frantically getting closer to the door.

The door opened, revealing Alyx. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was cracking her neck.

"Sorry, I was reading my spellbook."

Ned laughed it off while I started to explain the plan I just told Ned. Alyx thought about it for a while, then agreed. With that, we walked down the stairs and towards the palace entrance.

As we walked outside, there was a loud crash.

A massive chunk of ice filled with eagles was thrown onto the ground, it slid a few meters forward, pushing aside the snow.

Ela was in the air, heaving loudly.

"I have... recovered the... eagles."

Ned laughed then stepped out into the streets.

"Hey everyone! We are providing some food so we can make it through the winter together!"

Villagers started to peek out through a crack from their doors. After a bit of hesitation, people started to come out.

Ela had caught her breath, and transformed back into her human form.

"I will prepare the ink and plates."

Ela walked inside the palace. Ned came back and started to heat up the ice with a ball of fire, slowly making it melt. A fireball rested above my own hand, helping Ned melt the ice that was covering the eagles.

The palace was gradually getting crowded and chaotic as others started to try and get closer. Alyx waved her hands in the air.

"Line up! Line up properly without causing trouble and you will get your meal."

People started to calm down, some people started to grumble, but nobody made any trouble. A line was gradually being formed.

Pressing the fire directly against the ice caused it to turn to mist very quickly. My fire ran out quickly, making me have to cast it a couple of times. Ned was having less trouble but had to recast it every so often.

Once we had thawed out an eagle, Ela came outside holding a bottle of ink with a feather inside, and some plates. She cleared her throat quite loudly.

"If you wish to have a meal, please show us the top of your left hand, we will mark your left hand before you get your food so that there are no repeats. Make sure to return your plates as well."

The crowd looked at her curiously, some nodded, while others were looking around.

Alyx was able to cast her spell on the eagle, causing it to shrink. Together with Ned, my hands started to rip away feathers and then cook the meat.

The aroma of the meat was hard to smell, but the villagers still seemed excited. Ela took the meat from us and put it on a plate. She first told the person in front to stick out their hand, she dotted it with ink and gave the plate. She told them to notify others as well as bring the plate back.

After a momentous amount of work, the crowd started to die down.

All of us were quite tired, I wondered if they would like a rabbit to eat?

I turned to face the others with a big smile.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna go get something, I'll be right back."

Ned and Alyx nodded while stretching their muscles. Ela turned to me.

"Nightfall is soon, make sure to come back fast."

"Got it."

While jogging in the snow with a fireball in my hand, My eyes were drawn towards the sun that was starting to set.

"Stop! NO-"

My foot stopped midair. There was a scream from inside an alleyway, hurriedly changing directions, I ran towards the sound.

Getting closer I saw a bloody boy holding a dirk and a piece of meat. Below him was another kid that was dead.

It was the boy I saved earlier. The one who had been a hostage.

My eyes widened and my mouth was agape.

"You..."

The boy turned to me, he was heavily panting.

"I- I was just hungry, I wanted to eat ok?"

My face gradually lost any expression.

"I should have let you die."

Using my last prepared firebolt, the boy was blasted and joined the other corpse on the ground.

...There was no way I could have known he would be like this. There was no point in carrying this guilt. It was just like how it was with Ela, in the end, we make choices, and there are unforeseen consequences.

Ela's voice echoed in my head.

'Many kingdoms have reigned and many have foolishly thought that they could create paradise. Yet in the end, success in vanquishing evil comes at great costs. However, while some succeeded, they had fallen into despair as they saw the evil that once disappeared rise once again to plague the lands… and I am no exception'

...It seems this was what she meant.

Wait... the village from before, that I stumbled across while in the forest. It looked so peaceful, but how? How was that village so peaceful while this one was in shambles?

My eyes laid on the horizon, where the forest was.