Chapter 513: Freedom or Exclusion.

‎The horses didn’t have the strength to move anymore, and it was in the middle of the night. Agnesia and Marina created a small house made of dirt, drying it and turning it into a clay house. The roof was tree branches entangled with each other, giving gaps that allowed the moonlight to enter. The three Sorcerers decided to rest after they had dinner because they were exhausted since they had never been horse riding that far before.

‎The night was quiet, Rasmus, Serena, Videl, and Aris enjoyed the wine Rasmus brought with him in the spatial ring. Doloran and Lance were outside, guarding the house from any kind of danger since they were close to reaching the Efiva Mountain.

‎”Hey, muscle head…” Marina tilted her head, peeking out through the door and looking at Doloran. “You said you want to guard the house but you’re actually drinking?” She stared at her husband with disappointment written in her eyes.

‎Doloran coughed, choking on the strong alcohol that made his whole face red both from embarrassment and from getting startled. He slowly turned around and shoved the bottle to Lance’s chest as if it would change anything.

‎”I’m just taking a few sips, that’s all,” Doloran cleared his throat while his face was still beet red from embarrassment.

‎Marina sighed as she shook her head, wondering why she had fallen in love with such an idiot like him. She then walked out of the house with Rasmus, making Doloran and Lance look at him with suspicion. They weren’t that affected by Rasmus’ reputation, but the fact Marina and Agnesia didn’t find him dangerous was something worth observing.

“Count Blackheart volunteers to guard for the rest of the night. Both of you should get some rest now,” Marina said with her arms crossed, her tone commanding rather than suggesting.

“No, we will stay here. Not sleeping for a night won’t affect us in any way,” Doloran answered with a firm tone. “If he wants to join us, then let him be,” he added as he looked at Marina with a serious expression.

Marina hummed with understanding and went back inside, leaving Rasmus alone with her husband and Lance. She knew that her husband wanted to have some time with Rasmus because she knew what kind of man her husband was.

“Have a seat,” Doloran said as he patted on the ground.

Rasmus sat down, and it shocked Doloran that Rasmus didn’t hesitate to sit on the dirty ground even though he was wearing expensive pants. Rasmus looked at the bottle that was half empty in Lance’s hand and pulled out a high quality whiskey from his spatial ring.

“The night is still long, might as well empty another bottle,” Rasmus put the bottle in front of Doloran.

Doloran raised his brows and began to laugh loudly as he nodded in agreement and grabbed the bottle as he opened it without hesitation. He drank it straight from the bottle like it was water before he passed it to Lance.

“That’s a fine drink,” Doloran laughed as he looked at Rasmus and punched his shoulder. However, when his fist hit Rasmus’ body, he felt like he was hitting a thick steel, shocking him to his cord. “What kind of body is that?!” He asked as he rubbed his stinging knuckles because he wasn’t prepared to hit something that hard.

“This body of mine is not longer of a human,” Rasmus answered as he looked at the two moons facing each other. “You should be careful of not hurting yourself,” he said as he watched Lance pass the bottle to him.

“What do you mean by that?” Lance asked out of curiosity as he watched Rasmus take a sip of the whiskey.

“I’m half Orthias, I have a human body structure but with the durability of an Orthias. My body has grown sturdier on its own the more I awaken the bloodline from my mother side,” Rasmus answered as he passed the bottle to Doloran again.

Both Doloran and Lance looked at Rasmus like he was a rare species that they had discovered. Doloran remembered when Rasmus released his killing intent and he could tell it was a killing intent that a beast would release, not the human kind. Lance on the other hand knew so little about the Blackheart family, but he knew what happened to them in the end.

“Is that why you’re so confident about yourself and have decided to take revenge on the people who killed your family?” Doloran asked after he took a sip of the whiskey, feeling bold after he tasted the finest whiskey he had ever had.

“Perhaps,” Rasmus answered, his eyes and expression were unreadable. “Now I wonder why Sorceress Marina warned me about this continent. She said thated wasn’t welcomed here. So, I want to know why,” he asked back as he looked at Doloran and Lance.

“You made a kingdom disappear in a single night, and you’re still asking us why?” Doloran arched his brows. “Also because you’re a disgrace in our eyes. You’re the product of a human with Orthias blood. You have tainted what we have considered sacred for the longest time,” he added.

“Some people don’t bother or care about one of the two, but since you have both, they bore hatred toward you for either of the things you have,” Lance answered as he took the bottle from Doloran’s hand.

“Why do I ask? I need to confirm it and it’s because I want to know what kind of people I’m dealing with,” Rasmus answered with a straight face. “With that being said, you two hate me for the second reason? That’s quite illogical to hate me for something I have no power to change it compared to hating me with logic because I did take revenge on the Refenus Kingdom,” he looked at them with his brows raised.

Doloran rolled his eyes out of annoyance because he never liked politics and royal families. He lived in the forest and befriended beasts for that reason because other than humans, they never lied or faked their feelings and emotions.

“You sounded just like them. You ruined the night,” Doloran snatched the bottle from Lance’s hand and emptied it out of annoyance. “I don’t care about any of that bullshit. People like you are the reason why I chose to live in the forest. Your fancy logic and all that nonsense,” he scoffed as he crushed the bottle with his grip.

“With that kind of reason, aren’t you basically giving up on humankind by letting those people take control over the people?” Rasmus asked as he looked at Doloran. “Doesn’t that makes you as bad as I am?” He raised his brows.

Doloran chose silence while Lance stayed out of it because he knew if he joined in with the conversation, he would fall into the same hole as Doloran. Both of them didn’t care enough about what kind of world that had become. However, they knew Rasmus was wrong about one thing, and that they were giving up on humankind because the reason they fought demonic beasts was enough to prove him wrong. Yet, they chose to be quiet because they knew Rasmus was wrong, and there was no need to argue with someone who failed to see that.

“I know that you’re not giving up on humankind in the slightest,” Rasmus said as he pulled out another bottle of whiskey, a different one but as expensive and as good as the previous one. “I apologize if I ruined the night, but I just need to understand what kind of people the two of you are. Now that I know, I won’t pry on it,” he put the bottle in front of Doloran.

Doloran glanced at the bottle and he had never seen that brand before, and he could tell by the look of it that it would be as fine as the previous one. This time he hesitated at first until he took a sip of it and tasted the fine and rich flavor of the whiskey.

“And what kind of a person am I?” Doloran asked and passed the bottle to Lance to taste.

“An honest one, both of you,” Rasmus answered almost immediately. “I like that kind of people because they’re easy to manipulate,” he pointed out with a straight face.

“Nonsense, because we don’t desire power,” Doloran scoffed.

“That’s the point,” Rasmus smiled as he looked at Lance who offered the bottle to him.

Both Doloran and Lance furrowed their brows, not understanding what Rasmus meant by that. However, this time Doloran didn’t pull away from the discussion because he knew he wasn’t stupid enough to ignore this kind of understanding.

“What do you mean by that?” Doloran arched his brows.

“To put it simply, because you lack desire, they make sure you never develop one. Lack of desire creates opportunity to be manipulated, and by manipulated meaning to be controlled because you’re so easily to predict,” Rasmus answered and took a sip of the whiskey. “Those powerful figures never tried to shackle you into their agendas, and what they did is actually the opposite. Power and manipulation don’t need to control those who refuse to participate, it just steps around you and make you believe you’re free while in truth you have become insignificant and irrelevant,” he pointed out and passed the bottle to Doloran.

Doloran and Lance never thought of that before, and thought their freedom was earned until Rasmus revealed it otherwise. Their freedom wasn’t truly earned, it was given to them and made them believe they had achieved a privilege of being free when in truth they were pushed away. That realization left something bitter in their mouths, more bitter than any alcohol they had ever had.

“See how I can easily manipulate you just now? You believed my words because of your honesty and I took advantage of it to create tension and conflict,” Rasmus said with a smile on his face. “Freedom without relevance is not freedom, it is exclusion that feels merciful,” he said as he slowly got up. “Enjoy the rest of the night, gentlemen,” Rasmus fixed his suit before he excused himself and walked back into the house.

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