Chronicle of the Returned King

Preparation

Even before the sun rose, Alex had been standing alone on the middle of the village. He looked around only to find nobody came yet.

“Damn, if they knew what I know, surely they wouldn’t be lenient like this,” Alex grumbled.

While waiting for the villagers, Alex looked around and saw the remnants of the fallen demons. On his first journey, he was too late in learning that he could use them to power up his equipment. That was one of various factors which made him struggling along the way and suffer significant casualties. But this time it would be different. Using that as a lesson, he was determined to give himself a head start.

The roosters started to crow as the villagers started to show up. They were still at a loss of what to do, judging from their empty expressions.

“Morning! Though you guys are a bit late, I will overlook that for now! First thing first, feed yourselves! Nothing can be done on empty stomach!” ordered Alex.

When the villagers finished cooking and started eating, Alex made another announcement in front of them.

“Alright, so here’s what I want you to do for today! You see the lying bodies of the demons around? Collect their body parts, such as wings, horns, tails, you name it! Beside their hearts, you can toss the other organs together with their flesh in containers. They will come in handy later!” explained Alex.

The villagers were confused to hear that but nobody dared to protest.

“Senor, I think you’re going too far,” argued Salieri. “The thing you asked them to do was unsightly, especially when there’s food in front of them.”

“Rasheed thinks that is disgusting,” said Rasheed too. “Now Rasheed lost appetite.”

Alex expected this kind of reaction. But he was in no mood for explaining.

“You will see what I mean later. For now, I need you guys to enter the woods and bring materials like wood, vines, anything we can use to make a training camp,” told Alex to his comrades.

The civilians looked at each other and worried that Alex’s plan would make them expelled from their land. After all, a training camp was supposed to be made for soldiers, they thought. If one was built here, it could only mean that they would be sent elsewhere to give space for the arriving soldiers.

“Everyone, I am pretty sure that our hero has something in mind. He is not the type of person who acts without any reasoning. For now, let’s just proceed with his plan,” mediated Pandora while flashing Alex a seductive wink.

“Thanks Pan, I owe you one,” whispered Alex when Pandora passed by him.

“No big deal, handsome. Though I must warn you that nothing from me comes as free,” replied Pandora enigmatically, leaving Alex with his wild imagination.

As the party members shepherded by Pandora to the forest, the villagers began to gather the body parts of the demons. Some folks with weak stomach threw up while trying to mutilate the bodies, but in the end, they successfully salvaged the remnants all the while cleaning up their villages.

The day was almost over when the makeshift training camp started to show forms. A little bit unfinished here and there, but by tomorrow it should be ready to use. As simple as it was, Alex appraised that would suffice for the time being.

“Good job today, guys!” applauded Alex. “Now prepare yourself a dinner and rest early. Tomorrow will mark the start of your special training!”

Like before, the villagers who heard that couldn’t even speak up. After a day full of hard labour, all they wanted to do was exactly like what Alex told them to.

The villagers returned to their huts and Alex was about to do the same as well when Helene stopped him.

“Sir Hero, do you have time for me?” requested Helene while pulling lightly Alex’s cape, leading the two of them away from the remaining crowd.

“Anytime for you, cutie pie,” said Alex excitedly. He felt lucky tonight, though he was still wondering whether it was too early to make a move on her.

“I appreciate all the things you did for us, but I’m concerned about your approach,” opened Helene. “You see, it would be easier for us to execute your command if we at least have a glimpse of objective behind it. The way you behave could be wrongly perceived as tyrannical.”

Alex was a little bit disappointed. He thought Helene wanted to discuss about something else, but it appeared he put his hope a little bit too high. Anyway, he also realized that he had been a little bit overprotective toward his land caused by his experience where his kingdom and his beloved were snatched away from him. Unconsciously, that resulted in his current behaviour which could be easily misunderstood.

“Hmm, I see some truth in your words. Thanks for heads up, Helene. I knew I could always count on you,” said Alex while he patted Helene’s head. “Maybe one day you can give me another kind of head, if you know what I mean.”

“What kind of head, Sir Hero? I don’t understand,” asked Helene curiously. Alex just laughed while dragging Helene to meet the rest of the party.

“Squad, sorry for not telling this earlier, but I want to tell you guys a little bit about myself,” started Alex. “Please make yourself comfortable, for this one will be a little bit long story.”

Then, Alex proceeded to reveal the reason behind his cold and firm stance. Why he knew a lot about this world, the abilities and skills of his comrades, and stuff like that. He couldn’t tell them the entire truth, though. At least, not for now. So, he covered that by using his dream as an excuse.

“So, in summary, thanks to my dreams, I somehow caught a glimpse of everything in general,” finished Alex at the end of his explanation. “I know it’s quite hard to believe, but I need all of you to put your faith in me.”

The party rosters were still digesting Alex’s story, but eventually they decided to accept the fact that up until now, each and every Alex’s action was decisive and well-executed.

“Everything about you is weird,” responded Stella. “But your exploits so far were not too shabby, so I will give you a chance in the meantime. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get my beauty sleep.”

“Yeah, you will need lots of that,” mumbled Alex who had always loved to tease Stella as a way of showing his affection toward her.

“What do you imply?” interrogated Stella furiously, followed by the laughter of the rest of the party. Amidst the barrage of Stella’s light punches, Alex smiled to see his party members’ morale boosted. They went to sleep after with such a cheerful vibe.