Emperor's Reckoning

The horses contracted their muscles as their hooves made a little splash against the soft ground. The wooden wheels were ever turning as they left the third and last checkpoint. The carriage was being basked on the left side by the shimmer of twilight, signaling the sun's shift for the day.

Up ahead was yet another city wall, the biggest than the other two. This was the frontier of the Mortal World against its own secrets. The Myriad Devils.

Assid slightly bent his rein to control the horses. Once the horses gradually slowed down their speed to a canter, he loosened his pressure. He sharpened his eyes and saw adventurers with their smiles and a wooden cup filled with unholy beverages in their hands. They were laughing, they were chattering, and a few of their faces had turned red.

"Look's like the festive has begun without me," said Lyon whose head stuck out of the blinders between Graham and Assid.

"You said it yourself, master, never go early in a party," said Kesya before chuckling at the back of the seat.

Lyon smiled, "That still holds true to this day."

"I just hope they have sufficient cleaning afterward," said Assid. "And the food, they must have it up to your standard."

"Hahaha, you're still as uptight as ever," Lyon laughed before pulling his head inside the carriage. He crossed his arms as he faced his wife, Cecile. "It seems like Di stopped spouting words about me here."

"Can't have the whole town kneeling at your arrival now, after all, they don't know who you truly are," Cecile smiled.

"Heh," Lyon smirked.

"Just say the word, emperor," said Assid. "I will have them kneeling in no time."

Lyon sighed before he smiled, "Nah, no need for that, they can't kiss the streets with their foreheads anytime they wanted."

"Wow, you really sounded like a villain," said Lumina.

"Yeah, sometimes I feel that one too," Lyon laughed. "But after playing both roles, I realized that it doesn't matter."

"Lyon, you were a villain?" Luna raised her brows.

Lyon glanced over at Luna before he watched his warm right palm. "Every hero is a villain Luna, and every villain is a hero."

"W...What?" Luna blinked her eyes in blatant confusion.

"The concept of a hero and a villain is basically one spectrum of the same thing," said Lyon before he crossed his arms and sighed. "You're always a hero for some and a villain for some, whenever you kill someone, you're always a hero in someone's eyes or a villain, depending on the person."

"...I, I didn't know that," muttered Luna.

"Well, you're young, I too aspire to be a hero when I was young," Lyon laughed. "Errr, I mean my young past life, when I was young, but in my previous life, y-you get it."

"What makes you stop aspiring to be a hero?" asked Luna.

Lyon leaned back and put his arms behind his head, "Well, experience, I guess? You're a princess, so you probably know that whenever you do something good in the context of, let's say, you fight another kingdom and defeated them, well, you're a hero for your people, but are you a hero for the kingdom you just defeat?"

"I-I see, I didn't know that," Luna looked down.

"Heh, don't worry about it, this comes with experience, you will know that sometimes, people don't deserve to be saved from the peril they are facing," said Lyon.

"That's a little... overboard? You really sounded like a villain," said Lumina.

"It's not," said Lyon solemnly. "It's not overboard, not at all."

"This conversation turned heavy," said Cecile with a sigh. "Why not lightened up a bit and enjoy the festive, after all, you love banquets and galas."

Luna opened her eyes wide as she looked at Cecile without a blink, with her lips tightened. She had experienced how Lyon would behave in a banquet, but none of them ever ended well. He's not even the star, the host, or the guest of the banquet, but he still stole not only their time but also their experience as a whole.

"Only if you let me sip a drink," said Lyon with a grin.

"No deal," said Cecile before she placed her leg on top of the other. She smiled, "You know very well what would happen if you sip even the tiniest drop of wine."

"C'mon, that's overreacting," Lyon shrugged his shoulder. "I can handle my liquor well."

"I still wonder about that," said Lumina. "Is the Monkey King's Wine that strong?"

"Strong? It's the best!!" Sun revealed himself at the size of a palm and stood proudly on top of Lyon's thigh with his arms crossed.

"We are entering the city now," said Assid before Lyon glanced over to the side of his window and quickly saw the festive he had seen prior.

"Well, that brings me back," said Lyon with a smile, "You know what, Assid, why don't we get off here?"

"Very well, emperor," Assid gently put gradual pressure on his rein before the he relaxed it after the horses fully stopped cantering.

"Right in the middle of the road?" Luna asked.

Lyon opened the door and stepped outside while saying, "Right in the middle of the road."

He stretched his arms outward and caught a passing adventurer looking at him before continuing their walk.

"So glad nobody recognizes what we've done," said Lumina. "Otherwise this won't be as enjoyable."

"It won't stay that way though," said Lyon before hovering his glance over toward the building at the center of the city. The biggest building of them all, the Guild Link Hall.

He smirked before turning his head over at some local merchants selling their exotic items.

"Hey, have you heard, they displayed the head of the Bahamut that the Fang severed inside the hall!" said a passing adventurer before Lyon pivoted his attention to theirs.

"Hey you two, can you tell me more?" asked Lyon.

"Huh?" the two adventurers that had their cups in their hands turned around to his call.

"You haven't heard?" said one of the adventurers before he noticed the carriage by his side "Oh, you just arrived."

"Yeah, it's a long way, hahaha," Lyon laughed.

"They are displaying the head of a Bahamut! You know that ferocious beast with a really thick hide," said one adventurer.

"So I've heard," said Lyon. "Where are they displaying it?"

"Inside the Guild Link Hall of course, where else?" the adventurer made a sarcastic remark.

"Oh, is that right?" Lyon raised one of his brows before he smirked, "Alright, thank you for your information."

Lyon turned around but after two steps the adventurers called them out, "Oi, are you going to the Guild Link Hall?"

Lyon turned once more, "Well, of course, that's where the head is right?"

"Yes, but you better forget your intention though," said the adventurer.

"Yeah, it's better for you not to go there, else you want to embarrass yourself," said his friend.

"Embarrass myself?" Lyon raised one of his brows, but instead of feeling insulted, he was smirking with intrigue written all over his face. "Care to elaborate?"

"They would see you with disdain," said one adventurer, "their glance will taste like spit on your face."

"That's extreme," Lyon raised one of his brows.

"I see from your get-up that you are not affiliated to any guild, so I take it that you're a vagrant adventurer?" asked one of them.

"I am," Lyon nodded. "Would that be a problem?"

"Oof, I won't go there if I were you, you don't have a rank if you're a vagrant adventurer, and I don't think I recognize your face, so that means you're not famous either," said his friend.

"You're outta luck, there," said the adventurer.

"Or more like, out of recognition," said his friend with a shrug. "Better hang around on the streets brother, I mean, I don't want to brag, but I'm a Five-Star Rank Adventurer, but still they didn't bat an eye."

"You're quite humble for someone with such a high rank," Lyon smiled.

"Hahaha, you think so?" the adventurer looked at the reflection of the wine inside his cup. He shook it a little before muttering, "Well, when you meet the mountain, you just have to humble yourself and accept for what you are, I guess."

Lyon smiled, "That's right. Well, thanks for the advice but, I have to meet someone there."

"Oi, are you serious?" asked the adventurer before seeing Lyon waving his hand as he left with his own party.

"Does he have a screw loose in his head?" said the adventurer before he shook his head before his heart stopped for a second. His pupils shrunk to a trembling dot as he saw a glance against those eyes under the glasses of a man who walked the horses and the carriage.

"Hah... hah... hah..." he bend down with his wine spilled a little against the paved road.

"Oi, you alright? Hahaha, I think you should call it a night, it appears you don't have tha aptitude for wine element, haha."

"N-No, it's not that," he gulped before he drank the wine to loosen the cold frost in his spine that crept up to his shoulders. "They are not ordinary...!!"

"Huh?" his friend glanced over at the party that was heading for the Guild Link Hall.