Chapter 53: Ch53 – James and Jared

The two young men who had just entered the room locked eyes with Ryan.

It was James and Jared, the two brothers from the hideout.

For a moment, none of them spoke.

Then, at exactly the same time:

“You?!” Ryan blurted out.

“Ryan?!” the young man said.

Eleanor stepped forward, her mismatched eyes widening. “James? Jared?”

James’s attention snapped to her. “Eleanor! You’re alive too!”

Jared’s sharp gaze swept over both of them, his expression unreadable. “We thought you were both dead.”

“No thanks to you two,” Eleanor replied.

An awkward silence settled over the room. James shifted his weight, glancing at his brother, then back at Ryan and Eleanor. His expression was conflicted, somewhere between relief and guilt.

Jared broke the silence first. “You both made it out of the Foles forest.”

“Barely,” Ryan muttered.

“We know you had to run,” James said quickly, his voice earnest, almost pleading. “We know you didn’t have a choice. We—” He stopped, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “We’re sorry. For chasing you. For… everything.”

Ryan blinked. “You’re sorry?

“Yes!” James said, stepping forward. “We shouldn’t have—Jared shouldn’t have drawn his sword. If we’d known the truth, we never would’ve…”

“Known what truth?” Ryan interrupted, his confusion mounting.

James and Jared exchanged a glance.

“About Toris,” Jared said. “He was a spy.”

The words hung in the air for a moment.

Ryan stared at him. “What?”

“Toris,” Jared repeated, his voice calm but firm. “He was working for the elves, that’s why you killed him, no?”

Ryan’s heart hammered in his chest. “That’s not… he saved my life! He brought me to the hideout. He was training me.”

“He probably had not verified whether you were actually a hero before he reached the hideout… or maybe he wanted to tell the Elves first so that he could get a larger reward.” James said.

“Wait, if you didn’t know he was a spy, then why did you kill Toris?” James asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

“I… didn’t kill him. I just blacked out and a minute later he was dead. Eleanor thinks it was some kind of spell to protect me… Maybe the Spirit that sent me to this world casted it.”

“So you didn’t even know he was a spy… untill now.” James said, shocked.

“How did you guys figure out he was a spy?” Eleanor asked.

Jared butted into the conversation, “I kept this… I’m glad I did. It’s proof he was a spy”

“This was in Toris’ quarters,” Jared explained, he handed a mostly burnt parchment to Eleanor who after a quick skim gave it to Ryan. “After… after everything happened. We were cleaning up his room, trying to figure out what to do, and then we found this in his fireplace. Half-burned, like he tried to destroy it.”

Ryan’s eyes scanned the parchment. “This is…”

“It’s orders,” Jared said. “From the elves. To kill you.”

Ryan looked up sharply. “Toris was actually a spy…”

“Yes,” Jared said. “That’s why we’re here… he would have told the elves all about the hideout. Why they had not destroyed us yet, we are not sure, maybe they wanted more value, you know, wait for more humans to arrive before they destroyed the hideout.”

“Since the Elves knew about our hideout we had to evacuate immediately. Marcus decided it would be best for me and my brother to go to an academy as he believed that we had more potential than simple frontline soldiers… so he sent us here. We’re both training to be knights as we both have strong mana… but no elemental affinities.”

Ryan’s grip on the parchment tightened. A strange mix of emotions churned in his chest. Anger. Betrayal. Confusion.

But also… relief.

He hadn’t killed Toris in cold blood. Whatever happened during that meditation session, Toris had deserved it. He’d been planning to murder me all along.

“So what are you doing here, Ryan? Since you actually are a hero, shouldn’t you be paraded around the streets by now? Like those Elves did with their heroes… well… before that Dwarven hero was assassinated.” Jared said.

“We’re meant to be keeping our identities secret. Some guy called Field Marshal Gregory, he told us to keep our identities as heroes hidden and to grow in strength to prevent us from dying early.”

“Wait… OUR identities…. heroes!?” James shouted. “You are BOTH heroes?”

“Well done Ryan.” Eleanor said, rolling her eyes. “Within thirty seconds of the first conversation with the first students we talk with, they know I’m a hero too.”

Jared’s jaw fell, “So to recap… NOT Only are both of you heroes, but you also spoke with, the, Field Marshal Gregory! The unofficial leader of basically the entire Coalition’s forces. The man who, single-handedly, fought four elf Tier 6 mages at once, and escaped, killing one of them!”

That sounds… mildly impressive.

“Seems like you’ve hit it on the nose.” Ryan said, with a thumbs up and a grin.

James let out a low whistle. “No wonder they want you keeping a low profile. If the elves found out there were two human heroes at this academy…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

“They’d send assassins,” Jared finished bluntly. “Probably a lot of them.”

Eleanor crossed her arms. “Which is why you two can’t tell anyone. Not your instructors, not other students not your parents. No one.”

“We won’t,” James said immediately. “Right, Jared?”

Jared nodded slowly, his sharp eyes moving between Ryan and Eleanor. “Your secret’s safe with us. We owe you that much after… chasing you away.”

“Besides,” James added with a grin, “having heroes as roommates? That’s way too cool to ruin by getting you both killed.”

Ryan couldn’t help but smile slightly at that.

Eleanor moved toward her bed and sat down, finally allowing herself to relax.

James and Jared sat down on their beds, absorbing all the information they had just received.

Now it was time to find out what message the postman/golem had given them.

Ryan took out the piece of paper which he had stuffed in his pocket while talking with James and Jared.

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