"Why did you let them capture you?" Dia said to Arthur as he gazed at her silently. He was in a 'cell,' but it looked no different than a fancy room with iron bars. He sat there under Solomon's arrest.
"What other outcomes would there be? I killed a noble," Arthur answered. "To fight off against the whole kingdom is unwise."
"Then why did you kill him, to begin with?" Dia asked with a frown. "I know you're not the type of person to harm yourself for the sake of others."
"It's repayment for being there for me. I'll be there for you when you need me to, that's all. Can I ask you something?" Arthur's eyelids dropped.
"Anything."
"Do you think I'm too arrogant and heartless?" He asked, trying to gain insight. The words that the Knight of Courage said left Arthur in a moral dilemma.
'You think you're a god capable of judging people's sins,' She walked over to him and glared at him in the eyes. 'But you're just another powerful human with delusions of grandeur. Someday, you'll be fall from grace, and no one will be there for you.'
"You're complex," Dia raised her hand, and Arthur looked up. She looked at her fingers rub against each other. "You are kind but sometimes heartless. It doesn't matter what I think, for there is no truth other than the one you believe in."
"I believe that some people deserve to die," Arthur said with a sigh. "But who am I to judge who does and who does not?"
"What other choice do you have but to judge?" Dia shrugged. "If you let everyone walk away, you'll be trapped in a web of enemies. If you kill everyone, you'll be no different than a monster."
"I'm feared by those I wish to protect," Arthur laughed as he remembered the City of Shades. "No matter what I do, people will find a way to shun me away. At first, I was a Verniz, then a Slave, then a Seika, then a Lorius, and then..." Arthur paused. "A delusional of grandeur."
"The path you'll walk will be a lonely one," Dia said as if trying to appease him in a twisted way. "But it's the right path."
Arthur wanted to say that no one knew if that was true, but he didn't want to throw his frustrations on her. His powers fluctuated as they entered her core and dissolved the Bestial Order.
"This is..." Dia looked at him with shock. "Did you remove the Order?"
"There's no need for it anymore." Arthur smiled. "I believe in you."
"An unwise decision."
"I know that better than anyone," Arthur said in self-ridicule. "To trust others gives them the ability to hurt you."
"Then, why?" Dia squinted her eyes at him, the memory of her mother with that man resurfacing in her mind.
"Even if I get hurt, I want to trust someone, anyone. I want to leave this prison that I've created."
***
"My Seika!" Gala wiped away her fake tears as she walked into the cell. "What have they done to you?"
"Bold of you to say that after leaving Dia and me alone," Arthur smirked. "What are your goals now?"
"Goals, me?" Gala looked offended. "Did I know that you'll something drastic based on your emotional state? Impossible!"
"You knew I was going to kill someone." Arthur sighed and looked defeated. "How?"
"The hatred, Seika. I lived long enough to know how to feel it. You didn't kill that nobleman to protect Dia or because you hated him, but there was something else." Gala grinned. "Something else controlling you."
Arthur frowned as he looked at the witch. The more he interacted with her, the more he realized she wanted nothing but chaos. Was this the boredom of a thousand years of waiting speaking?
"Don't look at me like that. Here, I brought what you asked for." Gala gestured, and Gruen walked into the cell. He looked frightened of meeting him after what Arthur did to the noble.
"Fear not," Arthur smiled. "I only kill those I don't like."
Despite saying this, the dwarf looked even more frightened. Arthur laughed and gestured in front of him. Several plates appeared in front of the two, and the aroma spread in the cell, making them drool.
"Sell these in the city and use the money to buy a smithy." Arthur smiled. "It's time to make you a tycoon."
"But Seika, he still can't forge weapons well." Gala shook her head. "Even he admits that he's incapable of making good weapons."
"Because this fool is in love." Arthur rolled his eyes. "Everything he thinks about involves the duke's daughter. He probably keeps imagining creating her jewelry as he forges. The metal will listen to his wishes, not his hammer."
Gala turned with shock to see if it was true. The young dwarf, despite his usual grim expression, coughed in embarrassment. To Arthur's annoyance, Gala gave him a thumbs up.
"To be so in love that you can't focus is the ideal dream!" She said with pride, and Arthur wanted to kick them both out.
"That's why," Arthur decided to change the topic. "We'll have to make him richer than these nobles in three days before we leave to the capital."
"That's impossible." Gruen shook his head. "The nobles in this city are richer than the dukes in other places."
"Let me ask you this, how many artificial artifacts are in this city? And how are they created?"
"There are hundreds... the runes masters create them under King Solomon for the ordinary people to use. They're for advertising for authentic artifacts." Gruen answered. "Even if we find a runes master, we won't be able to create more than a few artifacts in a few days."
"What if we created hundreds?" Arthur grinned. "Bring me every item you create and every weapon you can buy, non-inscribed ones."
"Seika, does that mean that you're a runes master?" Gala looked at him with shock. "Is there anything you're not? Are you truly a Verniz?"
"Uh," Arthur paused. "I know a runes master."
"You underestimate how troublesome it is to inscribe." Gruen shook his head. "To inscribe one artifact per day is already the level of geniuses."
'Surely, not?' Arthur frowned. Back on Earth, these artifacts could be created by runes master as long as they had the mastery and materials. 'Wait, can it be that the timelines are different?'
Arthur always assumed that he met Solomon in the trial because that place was separate from time and that Solomon already spent a hundred years in that space.
Does that mean that they were one hundred years into the past? Maybe even more because Solomon entering the trial of the holy crown can also be a leap in time.
"It does not matter," Arthur said. "Help him," He turned to Gala, and she nodded in understanding. Gala carried the plates and was about to leave when Arthur called from behind her. "Don't eat them!"
"Stingy." Gala pouted as she left.
Arthur was left alone in the room, and he closed his eyes. The words that Dia said were still fresh in his ears.
'This path will be a lonely one.'
Arthur missed Oren and his mom. They loved him no matter what he did. As for Kira, he was currently alone in that trial. The goblins were out there on the world too, were they safe? Their bond still exists, but he only knew that they were alive.
Were Jonah and Oliver alright? Was Rae still alive with that Devil Hunter? Did Miko stay in Jerano to prevent Tanera from succeeding?
Arthur failed to calm down, and he opened his eyes to find that several hours have passed. He found Gala and Dia standing in front of him.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Gala asked with concern, but Arthur simply shook his head.
"Did you get the items?"
"We sold the dishes to a popular restaurant at a high price," Gala reported. "Using the money, we rented a forge and bought rune-less items from everywhere. Gruen says he'll need a day to create items of his own."
"Take them out," Arthur said. "And leave."
"Are you sure that you're alright?" Gala said as she waved her hand. The weapons filled the cell's floor in front of him.
"I am. Leave." Arthur caressed the weapons in front of him. The cold metal made him relax. When Gala left, Arthur turned to look at Dia. "I thought you'd flee the moment I lift the Bestial Order."
"You know that I wasn't with you because of it, not anymore," Dia said as she looked from beyond the bars. "What are you going to do with these items?"
"A miracle."
***
The next day, word got out that a new shop opened. Without even a sign of its name, the forge sold countless offensive and defensive artifacts. The City of Contracts turned upside down by the emergence of these artifacts all of sudden.