"Why did you save me, Priest?"
It was like a weight had been lifted from his chest as soon as Ethan asked that question. It had been weighing on his mind for a long while now.
He understood that the man before him was a priest; therefore, he knew it was normal to save a dying person. Up to that point, Ethan understood and was ready to pay him back no matter what.
That was what a Knight would do, but the constant oddities afterward?
The language barrier, idols he did not recognize of a god he could not fathom, and the constant help even after realizing where and what he was.
Ethan was a foreigner in a continent that was hell-bent on conquering its own. And he wasn't just a simple foreigner, but a major piece. The Rakaru household was legendary, the only Archduchy on the continent of Vakuma, the strongest of the five major houses in the Empire, and the only house to produce the finest knights.
He was the heir of such a house, although whether Igimo knew that or not was uncertain. The sword was a giveaway, however, only for those who were well-acquainted with the knights of the Rakaru Household.
His family hadn't been active in fending off the invasions for about eighteen years. His grandfather had had a change of heart when Ethan was born and abstained from war for a while. A decision that may have lowered the way others thought about them. But given Igimo's age and the way he carried himself, he could have been part of the invasions when he was young, in his prime, when his household was active.
All Rakaru Knights wielded a weapon of pure white steel and a shaft of abyssal black wood, tailored to them. The sword he had right now was the same.
Ethan wouldn't admit it, but he was afraid and paranoid. Every second of this uncertainty was eating him alive, and he needed answers.
"I'm a priest, do I need a reason to save someone?"
Ethan was taken aback, not by the answer but rather by how fluent Igimo had gotten. The broken language with the heavy accent was gone, and it was like he was a natural at it. Such a difference so soon was surprising.
"... You know that is not what I want to hear, priest. Please."
The response came back quickly.
"You're paranoid, boy. Though it's understandable."
Igimo walked over towards the fire and silently sat on the bed next to it. He picked up the poker and tended to the fire, moving the wood around. Ethan silently stared at him.
"I'm a priest, boy. I don't need a damn reason to save someone. Do you still want answers?"
Ethan hesitated for a moment and affirmed.
"Yes..."
The old man didn't respond for a while, silently tending to the fire, with every movement, the fire split to the sides of the fireplace. Igimo was revealing the idol behind the fire.
A wooden carving of what appeared to be a beast, a wolf with seven fangs protruding from its mouth and many, many eyes. It appeared to be made from oak, and Ethan was wondering why the wood hadn't been burnt till now.
"I've been to your continent twice. I was a young member of the Beastly Aris, Loyal Warriors of the Beast God. We were sent on another expedition towards Vakuma to finally conquer the damn continent of swords. It was the biggest one yet, thousands and thousands of ships, the third time the entire continent had been rallied to invade Vakuma, I believe your people called it the...'
"Sieva Vi Luika."
Ethan chimed in. He remembered it well; his history teacher and the Knights of the Rakaru Household had drilled it into his head. The literal translation was the Siege of the Liukan Lands, where half of the east had fallen to the invasion force of Alapur, and the major forces of Vakuma had to step in.
The invasion, like all the others before it, was a failure, but it was a heavy loss for both continents.
"Yes, that. We call it other grandiose names here, though all of them are lies. I nearly died in that expedition, my regiment met one of your family's knights... and we were no match. That man destroyed the entire regiment, an entire unit of the Beastly Aris, and even I, the captain, was no match for such a single man. I believe he was a Hyperion Knight, as you call it.
He wielded a spear, resembling a coiling black dragon, a pearly white spear blade, and killed all of my regiment, I didn't know how I survived, but I ran away from there, with deep wounds and a certainty of death.
I ran away from the main battle to the outskirts of your continent, with my life hanging on a bare thread. I found a village there... and you could assume I was in the same situation as you."
"Stranded on another continent, enemy territory, and with deep wounds. I was basically dead.
But someone saved me. And I'm doing the same. She treated and nursed me until I was well, and I managed to come back, just as we were retreating.
Your hair color reminds me of hers, and that's why I saved you. I guess. I'm not sure myself."
Igimo answered, and Ethan silently absorbed it all. For a moment, his paranoia disappeared, and he took a deep breath.
'... I'm lucky as hell...'
He thought.