BXBX NOVEL Chapter 52: Strax Vorah has returned.
Despite harboring only resentment, he knew he couldn't just kill everyone; he didn't have the strength, and that led to his next concern.
The Assassin Queen, a woman whose name he didn't even know, whose appearance he didn't even know, if she was really a woman at all. Was he lucky to find Carlos? That's relative; in fact, he was impulsive and used his sister as a threat even though he wasn't sure what she could really do if he revealed the attacks... In fact...
"She must already know that this group came after me," he thought. If he knew his sister as he remembered, she was a perfectionist, and if something went against what she did, she would cut it off immediately. And that could apply even to her siblings; if she knew that something had happened within her order, she would go against whoever made the attack, and that was the reality.
Xenovia was a cold, calm, and patient woman, but... when something involved her own interests, she was irrational, to the point of killing armies if necessary. That was the difference between her and Strax's other sisters and brothers. Xenovia was the driving force that worked only for herself; no one, not even the patriarch, had the right to order her, and that was something beyond normal.
Although his father was much stronger than Xenovia, he never interfered.
"A man who barely cared about his youngest son... Did he really allow my return, or was it just my sister's pure insistence?" Strax couldn't help but question, especially because everything was so cloudy now. He hardly knew anything about his mother, his father, and his siblings; to him, they were just names and empty relationships. "My only family is Beatrice and Samira, the rest...
is the Rest," he said as he stroked the woman's head.
"The problem will be the Assassin Queen. Carlos may have pretended to be afraid to lure me to that assassin, but I find it difficult, especially because of the exaggerated reaction; it seemed like real fear."
"For some reason, I have a strange feeling about this person..." Strax commented to himself; sometimes talking to himself made him feel more relaxed.
"Mm..." Strax heard a grunt from the woman in his arms, who lightly sat up, rubbing her eye. "Wh-what are you talking about?" She questioned sleepily as she yawned. "Nothing, just thinking out loud," Strax said as she lay back down. "You're very worried, aren't you?" She asked, feeling the caresses on her long orange hair.
"Do you want to tell me about your concerns?" She asked; she now really seemed to have taken on the role of a wife.
"The problems that are coming..." He commented as he continued to stroke her. With a heavy sigh, he said, "I thought I would go through all this smoothly, but the closer each moment gets, the more worried I become."
"I am much older compared to you; I have seen many things and can say that problems always exist," she said, looking at him. "Do you have a goal?" She asked, looking into his eyes, both of their eyes meeting seriously, and he answered. "Yes." She stopped looking at him and closed her eyes, snuggling into his embrace.
"I didn't have a goal; I lived for years just surviving like a lifeless corpse, drowning in drink and fun. If an Adventurer was just an escape from my reality, as Malik said, I ran away, I am a coward who left his problems behind instead of facing them," Samira spoke, and Strax's eyebrows arched; he didn't like that.
"Don't talk about yourself like that," he commented; the moment was calm, but he wouldn't allow her to degrade herself so much in front of him. "It's the truth; I didn't have a purpose until a few days ago," she said. Strax remained silent, waiting for her to say what the reason was, but she never did; she just stayed silent with her eyes closed and fell asleep... At least he thought so.
"What an irrational woman... She could have at least said that her reason for living was me; it would have been more comforting," he said, unaware that Samira was listening to everything. However, she just smiled as if accepting him.
Unfortunately, Strax could hardly sleep during that night; however, he devised several plans to move forward and complete his goal. Samira's brief conversation gave him motivation. Although Samira didn't speak directly, he thought her reason for living was him, so he assumed he should try even harder.
[Approaching the End of the Interlude - The Journey] Strax read. It was the first message he read when the day dawned.
He got up, leaving Samira lying in bed, and took his morning shower. Again... he ended up spending more than necessary to have comfort with his beautiful wife; after all, he deserved the best room with the best woman.
His bath wasn't long; his short hair was washed quickly, and his body was dried at the same speed. Everything was in order, and he just needed to continue his journey. Seeing Samira asleep, he decided to let her extend her rest. She had used a lot of mana to destroy and erase the assassins with her flames, so she deserved a rest.
Strax left the room and calmly descended the stairs, entering the ground floor of the small hotel where they were staying. They were in a small town whose name he didn't even know, just two hours from the Ducato. It was known as a good stop for rest before reaching D'Vorah.
When he entered the place, the first thing he saw was a kind of dining room with a bar, and women dressed as maids walking back and forth to attend to their clients. Strax simply ignored it and left the place, heading to the back to the stable.
"Are you okay?" He asked, seeing the black mare, eating hay in an isolated corner. Strax had to rent a whole stable for three horses to put Apocalypse, who made all the horses around him startle.
She neighed lightly at him and approached, asking for affection on her head. He complied and petted her.
"You seem tired," Strax heard the voice approaching, Jason already seemed ready to leave at any moment. "I didn't sleep last night; I'm trying to focus on something," he said. Jason nodded, commenting, "Are you sure it's okay to take Samira with you? I mean, as Malik said, that could cause a war." He commented.
"Tell me, why didn't you inform me about Samira and her family, Jason? I'm sure you knew about her," Strax said seriously. If Jason hadn't told him, why should he still trust what he said? He felt betrayed, but he had avoided talking about it because he was constantly with Samira, and it could provoke a misunderstanding.
"I'm sorry, Young Master, I avoided saying to not worry you; I already knew the rumors about Samira and judged her as someone who wouldn't threaten you for not following the Blaze Dogmas." Jason admitted and bowed. "I'm sorry. But when you...
decided to stay together, it was too late to talk about it, and I'm sure that wouldn't matter to you, so I just stayed quiet not to stress you out." He apologized bowed, Strax looked at the scene and couldn't help but sigh. "Next time, don't withhold the facts; I would like to have more confidence in you," Strax commented. "You can stand up," he ordered.
"I'm sorry, young master, but this is probably the last time I will serve you." Jason revealed, and Strax raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean by that, Jason?" Strax asked.
"I need to go back to training, and I will ask to be removed from my position. I have observed that I will not be able to accompany you on your journey, so I want to get stronger." He admitted. It had been a while since he had been thinking about it; he was basically useless the whole time he was with Strax; he just watched while his Young Master solved the problems himself.
Strax looked into his eyes and saw determination; he didn't understand what lit that flame, but he just smiled. "So it'll just be me," he smiled faintly. "I hope you come back well," Strax commented, and Jason bowed, "Yes, my Lord."
After that scene, little happened. Returning to Carlos's side, a member of the group of assassins, they rode for two hours. Samira accompanied him, and finally, they had a view of the Gates of Justice, a wide gate marking the entrance to the Ducato.
"It seems the journey is over," Strax said, Jason and Samira at his side and Carlos following in front. As agreed, he would contact him later to discuss the meeting with the Assassin Queen.
"I'll stay at a hotel until Beatrice buys a house for us; go to your family," Samira commented still on the road before approaching the Gate... "I'll meet you at night."
"I'll be waiting," she smiled...
Finally, Strax was returning to the world he once belonged to.