After an hour Arthur returned to Gideon at town's square. He wore a white tunic vest with long tight sleeves strapped to his hand and long black robe over it. Hanging down to his feet.
These clothes didn't have any special features and were just normal robes and tunics bought from a street vendor.
"Hmm, that will do it" Gideon spoke as he saw Arthur's new clothes.
Both left the town square and made their way back towards the jungle. Gideon took out another sigil and teleported both himself and Arthur back to the base.
"Phew… for a second I thought he was going to make me climb back up" Arthur thought as he sighed deeply and entered the house first.
Arthur didn't know the reason that Gideon teleported them was because he would need a lot more energy tomorrow in training with Matilda.
Gideon too entered the base closely behind Arthur and saw a tense atmosphere inside. "What happened?"
Emeliya stepped forward as she spoke in a a low voice "Captain we found him. We found Charles."
Gideon's expression stiffened as he walked up to Emeliya as he confirmed.
"Are you sure?"
There are a lot of rumors that mix up with actual news which can make it hard to take concrete actions.
"Yes" Emeliya replied as she had complete trust in her falcon.
"Charles? Who is that?" Arthur asked curiously.
This was his first time hearing his name as this name wasn't mentioned since the time Arthur joined the team.
"He is a rank 4 lieutenant in charge of commanding 'square' of 100 men" Emeliya explained as she slightly turned towards Arthur.
In central continent their is only one human empire called Ivaria empire with an enormous army of 80 thousand soldiers which are all mages.
These soldiers are distributed and grouped starting from— 'square'. A square comprises 100 soldiers who are led by a rank 4 or rank 5 mage called lieutenant.
Then there is a platoon that comprises 10 squares which result in 1000 men. It is led by a rank 5 or a rank 6 mage called general.
Then comes a battalion that comprises 10 platoons which result in 10000 men. Led by a rank 6 or rank 7 mage called a knight.
Knight is the highest position in the Ivaria empire just below the emperor. They are only mobilised on the decree of the emperor and spend most of their time practicing their magic and fighting techniques.
"Lieutenant? So what about him?" Arthur asked further. Arthur didn't know how to react since he still didn't know whether he was an ally or an enemy.
"He is someone we suspect of having crucial information on the empire. Tomorrow is his execution. We believe if we save him then he can provide us with some vital information since he is now forsaken by the empire" Matilda spoke in between the talk. Explaining the importance of this man.
A person usually is ready to betray those who betrayed them. A very few people are so loyal that they would refuse to forsake the person who has forsaken them. Since he was a lieutenant, he could provide some vital military information.
"Tomorrow huh." Gideon murmured to himself.
"Which city"
Execution involving any military personnel is specifically done in one of the 8 Great cities around the royal capital which is in exact centre of central continent.
Lord of each city is a knight who have absolute authority in their domain. But the city is rarely directly managed by knight. For management a deputy is appointed because most of the time knights are not even in their own city and are constantly on delegation with other cities or continents or are summoned by the emperor.
Matilda walked up to a table in the living room and spoke as she pointed at a location marked with red on the map.
"Valoria. City of knight Icarus."
"Icarus?" Gideon repeated after the name as he frowned and eyebrows tied in a knot.
Icarus was a rank 6 grandmage who is specialised in array magic. Though he was not the strongest among the knights but being a knight means he is one of the strongest in the entire Ivaria empire.
"Fighting him is like fighting a python. He will slowly strangle you and you won't even be able to resist because he anticipates every move of his opponent." Quint spoke from the corner of the room, arms crossed and voice firm.
"But he is not in the city." Gideon spoke with a complex expression on his face.
"He has gone for foreign delegation to another continent for 1 month now and won't return for another month."
"Seriously!?" Arthur exclaimed.
"That would make it much easier wouldn't it."
"Not necessarily. That sly fox is very cunning. He would surely have counter measures. You all need to be careful" Gideon spoke as he walked up to the table.
A clever opponent is almost always more terrifying than an opponent with just raw strength.
"What do you mean? Are you not coming?" Ben finally asked who was silent this whole time.
"No, I am going to Grayland tomorrow to get some information on the empire" Gideon answered crossing his arms "only you 5 will be going and in charge of the mission will be Matilda"
Gideon couldn't cancel his meeting with the informant which he had waited for so long, further He had complete trust in his team that they could do it.
"Sigh… alright. Everybody sleep well today. We have a busy day tomorrow." Matilda said as she lightly massaged her head.
Even though she have great battle strength and good leadership skills, leading a team is still a hassle to her. Matilda is happier if Gideon is the one doing it, saving her the hassle.
"Wait" Gideon spoke just when everyone relaxed and were ready to head back to their room.
He turned towards Arthur as he spoke gently looking directly in the eye.
"Arthur, We are not just rebels or freedom fighters. We are not people anymore." Gideon paused and with a deep breath continued
"We are a symbol. A symbol that there is still someone out there fighting everday and not giving up. We are no longer human ,Arthur. You are from now on Hope. Hope of every human in this kingdom. Hope of all people who seek help" he took out a mask from his ring.
It was a plain white mask with just space for two eyes in it. The mask was completely plain and there was nothing peculiar about it. It in fact gave a kind of eerie feeling.
"Here, put it on" Gideon spoke as he tossed the mask to Arthur.
Arthur caught the mask half heartedly as he still had many questions but decided to keep them to himself. "Time shall reveal soon enough" he thought as he weighed the mask.
The mask was as light as a feather. "How am I supposed to put it on"
There was nothing to support the mask against the face. Nonetheless Arthur slowly brought it towards his face. He has seen so much these past few days that it won't surprise him if it somehow attached itself to him.
But as soon as Arthur placed the mask against his face it changed from solid to liquid and entered Arthur's skin. There was no pain. In fact Arthur didn't even realise when the mask was completely absorbed by him.
"Huh? Where did it go" Arthur questioned as he closely examined his face by pulling and pushing his soft skin at times.
"Now call it out in your mind." Gideon said with a slight smile on his face.
"Mind huh." Arthur thought as he gave a clear command "Come out" Almost instantly the mask emerged from all directions and closed towards the centre but it was little different this time.
The complete empty white mask was now ink black in colour. A white designed strip ran straight down from top to bottom on it's left with space of eye in between. The slits for eyes were even narrower and gave off a chilling cold energy.
"I myself created these masks. They change themselves according to their wearer and are bonded to them for life. They have many usable functions. You can check them later."
Gideon spoke "and this is why we could walk around openly without being recognised".
"Bonded for life?" Arthur was surprised on the claim. "So now it cannot be separated from me?"
"No, since you chose this life. Now this life has chosen you." Quint spoke. Finally breaking his silence from the corner.
"This life has chosen me…" the sentence resounded in Arthur multiple times as he thought about it deeply.
"Alright everyone. Now go to sleep. We leave early the next morning." The meeting was dismissed by Matilda as all the points of discussion in the meeting were now over.
After a while
"Charles.. I wonder what type of person he is" Arthur thought as he turned in his bed calling out the mask and just laid on the bed in his mask.
Even though there were only narrow slits for eyes to see, Arthur could somehow see like normal. Like the mask isn't even there. But there was a strange comfort in the mask "mother" Arthur called out as he held his curled smaller in bed and subconsciously hugged himself.
But not everyone was sleeping in their room at the same time.
"Captain. Why did you use thought transmission spell to stop me from telling Arthur that this was the same lieutenant who was involved in the case of his mother and brother" Matilda spoke who stood by the door. Leaning on the wall.
Gideon sighed deeply as he looked over the pond outside the window.
"If you tell him that, isn't there bound to be a problem tomorrow? Arthur is angry but he does not have hatred. But if he confronts the man who turned his life upside down then their is only two outcomes"
"But he deserves…." Matilda was speaking and was cut in between as Gideon continued to speak.
"First outcome is - that he will kill Charles and regret it for life. Taking away life no matter for what reason is always regrettable."
Or second- that he controls himself and his anger turns into hatred at his helplessness to avenge his mother and brother. Hatred is a very ugly emotion Matilda , it covers the person's eyes and taints their vision black, preventing them from living."
"Why would he regret killing charles" Matilda asked
"That guy is responsible for everything. He is responsible for both of their deaths."
Gideon turned around and he looked deeply at Matilda.
"Because that is not the type of person he is. We have sunk too deep in this mud of war and constant killing. Arthur is not like us. He is better. We have become numb to death and I hope he never becomes numb like we did. I hope he never becomes rational like we did. I hope he helps people and stays the Idiot he is" Gideon thought as he remembered the scene he saw back in the market of how Arthur gave everything to someone he doesn't even know when he himself was in need of it.
"You are not kind when you can be. You are kind when you choose to be"