Chapter 188: Uncertain fate

"You really did us good, sir."

Walking through the deserted half of the city, Fen could only shake his head in awe at the scale of devastation that remained after the invasion of the monsters. It seemed as if every other person laid their lives out of the city population, turning the once prosperous western half of Akhaz into a barrier of burned-down ruins.

"Once again, let's drop the topic. Everyone's alive, so what's the point of keeping a grudge over a few bruises? Are we men or some children, crying in the sandbox?"

Instead of allowing the irritated remarks of the guard to get to his head, Fen looked at the whining man with both pity and surprise. Given how both Fen and the locals went through hell in recent months, the young mercenary didn't expect those people to be so immature.

In the end, after beating up three out of five men of the patrol to a pulp, Fen still managed to get away with it completely scoot free. Just his status of the summoned envoy guaranteed that even in times of peace, so in the middle of a civil war, the guards would have to be really stupid to dare to cross him.

"Okay, I understand. This way, please."

Reaching the central point of Akhaz, Fen finally could see the part of the town that remained in its proper state. Looking how the split between prosperity and destruction ran perfectly along with one of the main streets that cut off the shore-side of the city from the inland areas, it was easy to guess how did the defence of the city go.

After the initial shock of the attack, most of the survivors had to retreat to the opposite part of the city than from where the monsters attacked. Using the time bought by the sacrifice of all those who remained in the western districts, they reinforced the street and gave up on the other side completely. 

Looking around, Fen could still see the remnants of the makeshift fortifications that were now used as the foundation for a new, city wall, that would enclose those who survived. With the prospect of the invasion from the Royals next summer, the choice to recreate a new line of defence was obvious. 

Following after the guards, Fen could feel the memories of what seemed like his previous life to return. Not all at once, gradually, bit by bit. As the small group neared the more prestigious-looking part of the city, Fen could finally orient his position on the map of the entire city.

Sharply turning his head to the side, the young mercenary looked past the wall construction side towards an area with slightly less rumble than everywhere else. If his guess was right, then it was beside that former plaza, where Fen's Archarity stood. 

But now, even if the young man could somehow say for sure he was looking in the right place, there was no way for him to discern a single detail that would confirm his guess otherwise. 

And once the though of Archarity appeared in his head, strange enlightenment followed suit.

"How long before I will meet with Hekarion? I still have some questions of my own for him."

Throwing the question out in the air, Fen's mind continued to fry in the sizzling oil of guilt. 

'How could I forget.'

All at once, the young man faced an insanely tough moral question. But for now, he still had to learn about one thing. Even though just thinking like that already felt like a moral betrayal of his own rules, Fen realised that he wasn't ready to face all of the suddenly appearing knots all at once.

"We are almost right there."

It was clear to see how undisciplined the local forces were from the attitude of the guards. Just the sheer fact that they allowed to let their emotions influence how they behaved was a huge warning sight. The way in which they escorted the young mercenary to one of the simplest buildings in the area also spoke lots of their qualifications for the job.

Reaching forth with his hand, the captain of the guards knocked against the door. In just a few moments, the sound of someone walking could be heard before the doors pried open.

"Sir, a man calling himself Fen came to visit you. He claims that he was summoned by your majesty."

Hearing those words, Fen had to fight with himself not to burst out laughing. Confused whether he should laugh with joy or through tears, he looked at the devastated face of his mentor from the past.

"So you are going to bring whoever claims to be invited right to my doorstep? What if he was a damned assassin?!"

Losing it even quicker than Fen did, Hekarion exploded with rage. His face burning spark red, his hair seemed to be ready to catch on fire at any given moment. But as quick as was the appearance of his fury, the old man quickly managed to calm himself down and look towards the young mercenary.

"Fen, boy… You grew so much."

Fen was here with a mission. He was perfectly aware of this fact and of how Hekarion had to know this just as well. But in this one, single moment, it wasn't a meeting of two diplomats representing different forces. For this one moment, it turned into a proper reunion of a genius student with a man who did his best to groom and protect him.

"Mentor, before we start, I need to ask one question."

Raising his eyes at the wrinkles on Hekarion's face, Fen gulped his saliva down before making up his mind. As painful as the truth could possibly be, he had to know.

"Mentor, what happened to Firo? Is she all right?"

It took no time for the young man to receive his answer. Not even in form of words. Just the sour expression that dimmed the sparks of joy in Hekarion's eyes was more than the young man required.

In a single moment, a wave of insane guilt struck Fen's mind. Even after everything that this girl did for him, he dared to just forget her like that, not even knowing about her untimely demise. 

Thrown into the exciting life in Gauna, Fen distanced himself from all the memories of his past, trying to cut that part of his history away. But with what was happening right now, Fen realised that it was something there was no escaping from, no matter how much he would ever try.

"No, it's not like that. Well, partially."

Noticing the changes on Fen's face, Hekarion quickly shook his head to indicate the young man was wrong with his wild guesses. But instead of just explaining everything right away, the old man looked around before turning back towards his house.

"Come on in, we have a lot to talk about."

His voice sounded heavy, indicating that the old man was burdened with quite a heavy responsibility. Just the fact that the guards reported to him right away was enough to shed some light as to what his position could be in the ongoing civil war in the empire. 

"You see… the matter of Firo… is not as simple as you might expect. Did you know that she belonged to the Phoenixian resistance?"

Suddenly dropping a huge bomb like that, Hekarion observed the changes of Fen's face with curiosity.

"To a point… I knew. After all, she was the one who helped me escape from Akhaz after I stupidly revealed myself."

Looking back to that time, Fen could clearly see many other ways to go about that situation. From ridiculing that traitorous bastard testimony, through completely ignoring him all the way to just silently escaping before the heat of the situation grew and escalated it beyond any control…

There were many other ways to go about it in the past, ways that Fen had to grow up to start noticing. And now, he was about to learn who would pay the price of his poor choices from back then.

"After your escape, the invasion followed right away. I don't think its hard to imagine who was then blamed for it, right?"

Smiling with a sadness filling his face, Hekarion looked at Fen before picking up after noticing the silent confirmation in his eyes.

At the same time, Fen couldn't help but gnash his teeth. It seems that he didn't act fully professional with the guards either. Even if the lies and propaganda of the empire were now belittled and laughed at, there had to be some strands of resentment in the population against him. And as long as those guards were to start some untimely rumours, then Fen situation in the city could deteriorate at a breakneck pace.

"Ever since you left, the inquisition conducted a wide array of searches and arrests… But they failed to catch her. While I can't say for sure that she's still alive, I secretly hope that she at least managed to leave with the last batch that we helped escape, right before the inquisition managed to get their dirty hands on them. And as little as I contributed to the events back then, it was directly this situation that pushed Mark to activate his friends and long-prepared schemes and launch an uprising that led us to our current state. As for the rest of the story, I think you can imagine what happened."