CHAPTER 24 NOT WHAT SHE WAS EXPECTING

-- Ragna's POV --

She was looking at me intently as if she couldn't believe what she just heard.

Is there something wrong with what I said or did my introduction was off the charts?

I was frozen solid as her green eyes looked at me from head to toe as if she was evaluating me and my looks. She then resigned as she put her hand on her forehead and mumbled something--

"To think that he's just a kid..."

"E-excuse me?"

"Please don't talk to me!"

She turned around her back towards me after she blurted out those words. Huh? What with this sudden mood change on her? Did she just expect something more from me?

"Did I do something wrong?"

I asked her yet she only covered her ears with her hands as a reply. Really, is this how you show gratitude to someone who save your life? Her parents maybe didn't teach her some manners.

Well whatever, I need to cook some food for myself. I'm really famished.

After done cooking, I eat alone by myself as I stared at the hollowed pillar. Now how should I get out from here?

I never had the chance to explore the entire cave and searched for an entrance. I don't want to end up being a caveman alongside with her.

I took a glanced at the elf girl who just throw a tantrum at me and what do you know, she was looking at me with her eyes squinting.

Really what's with her?

"Leena..."

"What?"

"I said my name is Leena!"

She then turned away her face after shouting her name at me. I tried to talk back at her but I restrained myself. The way she was acting reminded me of a kid who is throwing her tantrums at everyone.

I won't allow myself to engage in to that kind of thing. I looked at my watch, it's almost 9 p.m. After done eating I went to sleep. Since Leena, the elf girl, hugged all the fur cloak for herself, I cast [Ice Aura] on myself so that I couldn't feel any cold even the slightest.

Tomorrow I will gain some answers from her.

------

-- Leena's POV --

I was the child of the village chief of Cailana, a small community settled by elves and fairies.

The village was filled with happiness and joy. Though there were some disputes, all in all the place was peaceful.

Flowers of different colors bloomed endlessly. The breeze that made the tall trees sway was refreshing and the sky was very forgiving.

But one day, all of it change.

The undead army invaded our lands, ravished our homes and converted the people that they had captured into one of them.

The leaders of both human, elves and fairies made an agreement. And there an alliance was created, huge army was formed and a force was awakened. A feat that no one ever dream of seeing or witnessing during their lifetime.

"Brother, I want to go with you!"

"You can't Leena. You're still young. I promise you though, I'll come back alive."

That was the last conversation I had with my elder brother after he joined the coalition army. After that I never saw him again. The only word I got was that the division he was in was completely wiped out.

Mercilessly.

But it didn't end with him. Many members of my family entered the coalition hoping that they could stop the invaders but all of them were unable to stop the enemy until one day I was the only one left behind.

"Father, mother. Brother, sister. I will avenge your death. I will avenge our clans death!"

After I made that promise, I trained in becoming a ranger under the Acher Guild. At first they were very hesitant on accepting me since I was only ten years old back then but,

"Little girl. I like the look in your eyes."

"Umm, Guild Master are you sure about this?"

"You rascal, we're at war here. If there's any young blood that is willing to die for her land, we should accept them with open arms without any hesitation."

"But..."

"If you want to keep this girl alive, we should train her hard and eagerly."

Soon after that, I trained with determination for two years. When it was time for me to enter the battlefield, I was full of confidence. In my mind I could defeat any enemies blocking my path but that illusion of mine was shattered.

"M-monsters... Why?"

My anger and hatred for the enemy quickly turned into an overwhelming fear as they turned my comrades into their underlings and have us fought with each other. Others were frozen to ice statues. I fled the battlefield, crying, shaking, shouting in desperation and agony.

After three months, a third of the continent had fallen to the enemy's hands. Together with the rest of the coalition forces, we took shelter inside the cave and made it our hideout.

In that moment, an Oracle revealed a prophecy--

"A brave and gallant knight from an unknown land will come and help us vanquished this evil plague!"

"Do you know his name?"

"He's name is Ragna."

I memorized that name from that moment. As the days passed by, the people began talking about this brave and gallant knight making good impressions of him. The kings of various countries swore an oath that they would only bow down to this individual.

"Leena, what do you think about the knight from the prophecy?"

"I don't know... I never met the guy before so I couldn't say anything about him."

"If I met him, I would marry him!"

"M-marry!?"

"Of course! They were many females who were vocal about this. Old and young, all of them wanted the same thing as I do."

"T-then, that makes you my rival Myrrh."

"Oi! Leena!"

"I will be the one to marry him, so stay put will you?"

"Like I would! He will be my husband!"

"Nope. I will be his wife. Period."

The female populace began to wonder if the knight in the prophecy was handsome. Most of them began to fell in love with him even though they didn't ever met him. I too, felt the same way as them.

Overall, we placed all our hopes in him.

Then when I was busy daydreaming how him and I made a family, the enemy discovered our lair. The soldiers although injured and some of them lost a limb or two, fought bravely.

Seeing them, I cast out the fear inside my heart. I retaliated with arrows raining all over the enemies as I joined them.

"Leena!"

"Myrrh, you need to escape now when we fend them off!"

My bestfriend heed my call with reluctance. I'm now not afraid. There is not even a single trace of fear in my heart and mind. What I had was only... hope.

As we desperately fought with our might, an unknown being clad in black armor wiped out the men in front me with a single wave of his hand. I was blown away by the surge of energy that black armored had released.

Coughing with blood, I tried to stood up but my entire body was swarmed with an endless chill. In front me I saw the face of the enemy.

He had no face.

As the the overwhelming ice began to seethe beneath my skin and bones, with my final breathe I cried out,

"R-Ragna, save me..."

------

After that I woke up as if I was awakened from a deep sleep for a long time.

In front of me was a boy with unruly brown hair. It seems that he saved me from that faceless enemy.

The boy helped me eat. He even used his body to support my weak frame. I was never been so close to an opposite gender before that it made my whole body stiff.

He fed me with a soup with a sour and savory taste. This is the first time I have tasted something like this. When I looked at him, he was smiling. There was no ill intent reflected on his face.

"Umm, may I know your name?"

"My name is Ragna."

When I asked for his name, he replied with a beam. But the name he uttered made me dumbstruck. I stared at him from head to toe.

No way...

To think that he's just a kid...

My hopes were crushed. My dream becoming his wife diminished as if it was washed away by a flowing river. No this can't be true.

The portrait of a brave and gallant knight in my mind faded as my heart began to waver.

That oracle lied!

I was angry at myself for believing such prophecy. I even let myself drowned into my delusion but,

"He's weird..."

I looked at him as he was sleeping. I couldn't feel any mana in him and yet he was able to use some skills... How did he do it?

This guy is full of mysteries. What I did to him was wrong. I knew in my heart that she saved me but the other part of me was still in denial, unable to accept the reality in front me.

"I wasn't expecting this."