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Chapter 7: Dark Clouds Over The Future

"Help! Someone is threatening my purity!

"I told you it was useless. No one can hear you here."

"As if I was going to listen to a criminal..."

"Maybe, but what can you do about it? You\'re not going anywhere unless I want you to, you\'re completely at my mercy and even if you talk no one will believe you."

I was completely stunned by this person in front of me, she who was literally the face of the kingdom was there, pinning a little boy to the ground with god only knowing what was on her mind.

But even though I hated it, I had to admit that she was right, I could be a strong E-rank, but I was still an E-rank. The person in front of me was an S-rank, an emissary of that class was considered a national treasure all over the world. I began to understand his point of view.

" Are you serious? Are you threatening me to recruit me? Is that really how you get what you want?

She released her pressure and stood up, I stood up intrigued and massaged my wrists, although I was sure she had taken it as gently as possible, the strength of her hands was terrifying.

"No, this is only what I must show you to convince you. Tell me, if I really tried to do something, what do you think will gonna happen."

"... I don\'t know, what\'s about I tell everything to Hope?"

"Go ahead, one word from me, and no one will believe you."

"You\'re really getting on my nerves... I know that already so I\'ll just save myself, by staying very far from..."

"The privilege of the powerful."

She turned, looking up at the sky, I wanted to take this opportunity to hide in my dimensional room, but knowing my opponent, I was afraid to see her finding a counter and find a way inside, so for my own psychological balance, it was better to submit for the moment.

"Tell me, have you ever wondered if this world was perfect?"

"... Since you\'re supposed to be a National hero, no."

"Yup, me neither, and I don\'t mind your little joke. I don\'t understand neither why people see me as the heroine of this kingdom. I\'m not trying to say that I don\'t enjoy it, being the strongest comes with its share of benefits, as I showed you, I can do what I want, I am entitled to several privileges, I even have my say in political discussions, You know why a post was opened near this village?"

"The center with a lot of soldiers? Was that you?"

She smiled, looking melancholy.

"And yup there\'s a lot going on behind the scenes in politics, I wouldn\'t advise anyone to go in there haha... But thanks to that I got to touch some words and they couldn\'t refuse the savior\'s request, some of them even blamed me for using my status to protect my folks, isn\'t that funny?"

I couldn\'t quite go on with all the information I was getting, Elizabeth was from that village. With an E-rank Avatar status at her debut, she had quickly risen through the ranks to the point of being recruited into the royal academy, a first for a simple peasant, and through her exploits and her fights, she rose above the rest and reached S-rank.

In the village, her exploits had the connotation of myth, I was surprised to hear that people were so openly opposed to her decisions, the strongest had spoken, who would have the audacity to give his opinion?

"I can\'t say everything I know about this side of the Kingdom, I\'m supposed to be their face among the citizens now, but I\'m still amazed at how problematic it is to do a small thing just to help people. Just a small gesture can make a huge difference in someone\'s life, but... *sigh*"

"Well, I guess there are too few talented emissaries to protect everyone? That\'s why I\'m surprised you want me out of here."

"How would you protect the village in the event of a higher-rank disaster?"

I was silent for a moment, considering what she had just said before understanding her insinuation.

"... A higher level? What do you mean?

It was common knowledge that in this kingdom rifts appeared according to a certain pattern, some regions saw the appearance of rifts exclusively of low rank, ranking from a simple crack to a maximum rift of D-rank, others, regions with high risk, can go beyond that. Our village had only E-rank rifts for years, so the statement from one who seemed to hold some of the world\'s secrets was alarming.

"Elizabeth, what do you mean? There has never been a higher rift here, why do you say that?"

"... Dora, as I told you, there are things going on in the background and for reasons that even I don\'t understand, I can\'t say anything. But I heard what you said earlier about your family, you really want them to be safe, don\'t you? So you\'ll have to think of something better than your E-rank powers to protect them."

"Could you at least tell me what\'s going on with the rift? How can I really prepare when I know nothing?! Think about my situation."

She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, then smiled at my expression.

"We can no longer predict what type of rift will appear in a region, last month\'s report revealed a worrying increase in energy in the atmosphere, the greater the energy, the more dangerous the rift will be, but with the level raised, it would be hard to imagine that E-rank rifts will continue to exist in the future."

A cold sweat ran down my forehead, would the rifts get out of hand? How? Why now? I couldn\'t understand but my biggest concern was that this was merely the part that she deemed acceptable to reveal, what was going on in the kingdom to push the best fighter to enlist a simple E rank?

"I... I see... This is worse than I\'d imagined... You should have started by this instead of your ridiculous game earlier."

"Haha, sorry, really thought that showing you how untouchable you\'d be as an S-rank could convince you. So? Do you agree to come too?"

"... *sigh* Look, I really hate to be this guy, especially since you trust me, I think, but now that I know that how could I leave and let my sister and my mother alone?! My mom wants to stay here because this is where all her family has been buried, my dad died in the forest nearby but his body has never been found, she will never leave, I know, I asked her before so I know she won\'t."

"Hm... But you still want to improve right? To protect them, so what\'s about this instead: as the person with the biggest authority in the kingdom, after the crown, I will personally assure their safety, and nothing will happen to them, in this case, would you consider joining me?"

I faced a dilemma. On one hand, I had a deep need to make sure my family was safe, I knew that I had to progress, considering the future threat that the rifts would represent, moreover, the influence that I would have by being a royal knight would allow me to protect my family from many situations, my sister could have a good childhood and go to school, my mother would not have to work anymore, it seemed like a golden opportunity.

But on the other side, there was now a possibility that a very high-rank rift would appear near the village. The biggest problem with the rifts wasn\'t just the level of the monsters inside, but the energy they let out affected the environment and created monsters of the same level as the rift in the surrounding. If A rift took 5 days to open, a monster resulting from the energy emanations only took a few minutes.

"Are you still hesitant?"

"... Sorry."

"It\'s alright... What a good son."

She laughed lightly, I felt very bad for her, I felt like rejecting someone who was defying her lord for my own good. She rearranged her hair and fell silent for a moment, scratching her chin.

"Tell me, does your mom know that you were in an attack force?"

"Huh? Yes? We are the only team in the village, she knows."

"And... Is she fine with that? Even after your father died?"

"I see where you\'re coming from but, she\'s ok with that, it seemed to bother her at first but... What do you have in mind?"

I was slightly intrigued but I had gotten to know this strange woman in minutes and I knew these questions weren\'t random.

"Nothing, it\'s getting late, could you lead the way?"

"Lead?... You mean..."

"Eyupp, I want to meet your family."