As every morning, I wake up again while the sunlight shines into my face. I get up and go through the door of my room and down the stairs, where Suri is still sleeping. I quickly go into the kitchen and take an apple from the fruit basket. After that, I go to the armchair, take my dagger and cloak, and then go outside, where many people are already walking around again. Mia is already standing in front of the door with a smile on her face. I walk up to her and wave at her.
"Hey, you were waiting?" I ask her.
Mia only nods and then walks next to me, parallel and perfectly in the same rhythm. We simply walk through the crowded streets without saying anything. Suddenly, Mia bumps into a man as we take a shortcut through a secluded street. Suddenly, a group of ten men appears in front of us with a cat girl.
"Oh, there are people here. We just wanted to have a little fun," says one of the men in the group.
The man who spoke grabs the cat girl with lustful looks. I clench my fist and my mana leaks out of me. Mia looks at me in surprise and places her hand on my shoulder. I look at her and only see her nod before she removes her hand from my shoulder.
"Min, if you hurt or kill them, I'll stay on your side," Mia says in a tense voice.
I only nod and then disappear in motion and appear in front of them, the movement too fast for the human eye. I draw my dagger and slit the throats of two people. With a flowing movement, I evade the attacks of the other eight men, and with every strike, one of the eight dies. Only one remains, now sitting on the ground and staring into my hate-filled eyes. Mia watches the spectacle, and the cat girl runs to Mia. I crush the head of the last man and then go to Mia and the cat girl.
"Hey, are you okay?" I ask with a gentle smile and soft eyes.
The girl looks at me with fearful eyes and hides behind Mia, who quietly giggles and then strokes the girl's head. I look behind me because I sensed a presence, but there is no one there. Mia looks at me in confusion.
"What's wrong, Mi…," she says and stops in the middle of pronouncing my name.
I look at her and see that an arrow is stuck in her stomach, just barely missing vital organs. I quickly pull out the arrow and heal Mia. A green light appears and her wound closes. I create a barrier around her. I jump onto a roof and see fifty men with elemental bows and one hundred with swords.
"That's the army of the kingdom, but how do they know something happened here?" I think and quickly jump down.
"Go, run away, the army is coming!" I say hastily.
The two of them run away, while Mia hesitantly nods and looks back at me with concern. I take a combat stance and pull out my dagger. The soldiers approach, and the archers fire arrow after arrow at me, which I dodge. I even catch one arrow and throw it back, hitting ten of the swordsmen and one archer, knocking them unconscious. But no matter how hard I resist, I am surrounded and captured. I am bound with anti-magic restraints and pulled up.
"For murder, you are sentenced to death," says the army commander with a serious expression.
I accept this decision, since I cannot free myself anyway. The soldiers escort me through the streets while all the residents of the capital watch. Two soldiers raise a sign that reads: "An execution will take place on the grand square in 3 hours." We head toward the royal palace.
"Eventually, it had to come to this," I think and briefly look up at the sky with my eyes closed.
Meanwhile, Mia sees the army raising the sign. She clenches her fists as she reads it.
"Min, I will—" she says, but does not finish the sentence.
Mia looks the soldiers in the eyes, and her eyes show the will to save me. I arrive at the palace with the soldiers, who immediately lock me in the dungeon in the basement. I sit down on the floor and punch it, but it only leaves a small dent.
"Lisa, it has happened now," I say quietly to myself.
And so I sit in this dungeon for three hours. After three hours, I hear the soldiers laughing as they open the cell, grab me, and drag me out. It is the same men who bring me to the grand square directly in front of the palace. A guillotine is already prepared. I am fastened into the guillotine, and the king slowly approaches me.
But while I was in the cell for three hours, something happened.
Mia and the cat girl went to the school, where Luna is standing in front of the entrance. Mia runs toward Luna.
"Luna, help, Min, he—"
Mia cannot continue speaking because of her worry for me. Luna's eyes widen at her words, as she can guess what happened because of the commotion. She does not go into the school but stands next to Mia and looks determinedly toward the palace.
"Min, I will help you," Luna says with a determined and serious voice.
Luna and Mia both look seriously and resolutely in the direction of the palace. The cat girl sits down on the steps of the school while Mia and Luna look at each other.
"Min, why are you risking your life?" Luna thinks worriedly and walks down the crowded and excited street. Mia follows her at the same pace.
"He will probably be executed with a guillotine," Luna says seriously.
Mia only nods and looks into a side alley where a ladder leads to the roof of a house. Mia points to it and quickly pulls Luna into the alley and climbs the ladder. Luna follows her. When the two reach the top, only thirty minutes of my cell time have passed, and Mia sees the guillotine being set up. With gravitational magic around it, there are over two hundred soldiers, fifty high mages, and even one archmage.
"Even Min wouldn't be able to handle that alone," Mia says worriedly."Yes, he might be able to deal with the archmage, but all of them…" Luna agrees.
The two cast an enhancement spell on their legs, but they barely make it to the next roof.
"How can Min do this so easily without enhancement?" Mia thinks as she almost slips off the roof. Luna barely manages to grab her hand and smiles encouragingly.
"I have an idea. We have to create a combined attack," Mia says with a slightly uncertain voice.
Luna nods and sits down on the roof directly next to the square, and they wait out the remaining two hours. From time to time, more and more residents of the city join the crowd.
At my home, Suri looks out a window and sees the commotion. When she opens the door, she sees the guillotine, since my house is relatively close to the palace and the square in general. She runs out and jumps onto the roof opposite Luna and Mia. They do not notice her, and as Suri is about to leave again, I am brought out. Suri is startled and looks at me with concern. Mia and Luna nod to each other at the same time.
As I am secured, my hands are bound with anti-magic chains so that I cannot use magic.
"By my authority as king of this land, permission is hereby granted to execute Min, the murderer. Any last words?" the king says confidently.
I look up at a roof and see the two girls, immediately understand their plan, and begin to grin.
"My last words are…" I say, pausing briefly."Say your words already!" the king says impatiently."NOW, YOU TWO, GO!" I suddenly shout.
I look at the king with dangerous, murderous eyes as the two girls jump down and chant a spell in parallel. The soldiers and the king notice them, and the king sees his daughter casting the spell together with Mia. A water-lightning sphere forms, roughly the size of an entire house, slowly descending. The sphere crashes into the ground, and everyone except the mages, the archmage, and of course the king remains unharmed.
"Luna, why are you doing this?" the king asks."Because I still love Min," Luna says with red cheeks.
I smile slightly, not because of Luna's confession, but because I don't have to die after all. I do not free myself yet, as that would be foolish.
"You fifty mages, go, capture the two of them!" the king orders hastily and stressed.
Mia and Luna quickly run away, leaving me alone with the archmage and the king. The high mages disappear and follow Mia and Luna.
"Alone, I would have died. Only thanks to them am I allowed to live," I think and effortlessly destroy the already damaged guillotine. The king recoils in shock, and the archmage steps beside him.
"Then I suppose I have to fight," I say in a threatening voice.
I take a combat stance and pick up a dagger that a soldier dropped. I create a copy of the dagger and now wield two daggers instead of one. The archmage also assumes a combat stance, just like the king.