THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 304: 304. THE CITY LORD

”The N’folu’s chief’s house in the inner city has not been used for years. You will have to stay at the war base until then.” The general said to Sagiri, who had been standing at the edge of the city unmoving.

”Tell me how it is. No need to lie. I am not a child.” Sagiri said in a low voice. He preferred to be quiet at this time, yet he had to speak.

”The council had to gather in two weeks to make a vote. You arriving in the capital as chief of N’folu will not be easy for everyone, you understand.” The general said, and to that sagiri could understand. He would be stupid to even begin to think that everyone was going to welcome him like the kai. Perhaps the kai had done it out of guilt, as N’varu had said, or for whatever reason.

The others would doubt him or even wage war on him. That is the least he could expect. There were still thirteen members whose opinions mattered, and since this was Thazir, the city lord of Thazir capital would make the fourteenth member in this matter. That is, if he was willing to join the fun, and by the looks of it, he was not warm and welcoming.

”Two weeks is a long time. I am not too patient.” Sagiri said. All he cared about was finding koru within the two weeks and sending the squad north within the two weeks. He did not have time to waste. He had two weeks if he wanted everything to go right. He had to be able to send the squad personally out of the south. He could not trust anyone with the task. Not even the kai.

The Kai was about to answer when suddenly there was a heavy sound of footsteps. Hundreds of them even. By the sound of it, it seemed that they were armed. Sagiri froze, and his hand tightened on Nokai. Had the general set him up to have him enter the gates so he could...

A young man wearing armor that looked too big for him was the first person to burst through a street before joining the main road coming straight at them. He stopped when he saw the gate open. It was yet to start being lowered. His eyes then snapped to Sagiri, and his hand went to the almost-too-big sword on his side. More than a hundred men burst behind him, and they stopped behind him, and when they saw his hand on his weapon, they did the same.

The young man looked at Sagiri for a long time before he looked at the man beside Sagiri, and his demeanor changed.

”Uncle....”

”Uncle! uncle!” He yelled before he started to run towards sagiri and sagiri furrowed his eyebrows. He was not old enough to have a niece almost the same age as him; that was for sure.

”This child! How many times do I have to tell him he is now too old to act like this?” Suddenly, Zifara mattered beside sagiri in frustration, but sagiri did not miss the warmth that emanated from the man as the young man ran to him.

According to the crest on his chest, it was clear that he had a high rank, yet he was acting so undignified.

”City Lord Azir! You can’t run around like that. You are now the city lord.” Zifara suddenly could not take it anymore when the young man was three feet away, and it was clear he was gonna throw himself at the general and hug him or some dishonourable thing.

The city lord?

The city lord

The city lord of a prestigious capital such as Thazir was this kid? He was the one who had given the order to fire a cannonball at him. Sagiri almost laughed at the irony. No wonder the general was so unwilling to hand over the city lord. Not for the fact that he just called him uncle and ran to him with snout running down his nose, but because the freaking boy did not look a day over fifteen.

The boy came to a stop in front of sagiri and the general. He hung over and breathed before he stood up and started yapping away as if something out of a dream had happened.

”Uncle, it’s good that you are here. I was so scared that Thazir was going to fall. My messenger said we have a strange man at the gate claiming to be of the fourth mythical tribe of N’faya. They sacrificed themselves for the peace of the South. So I got so angry and asked them to fire a cannonball at him. Is he dead?” He asked with eyes shining with youthful purity. He did not have any malice emanating from him, and sagiri had never encountered a person so pure like a child.

Did the child think this was a joke? Had he been dying to use a cannonball so much?

”Has Thazir enjoyed so much peace that they put a child in such a high position?” The words tumbled out of Sagiri’s mouth.

”Who is this uncle? Did you bring me a friend from the Azreen capital?” The boy asked, turning fully to Sagiri. ”Why does he smell like he is burnt?” The boy sniffed Sagiri.

”This is the man you wanted to kill.” The chief said, and the young man said, his brows furrowing.

”No way. A fireball doesn’t leave anyone alive.”

”Yet here I stand,” Sagiri said, pushing his hood back, and his right eye rested on the boy.

Nokai reacted to his silent command and snapped out of his pocket.

The blade cut through the air. The young man jumped back with surprising agility. So he wasn’t completely useless? Sagiri did not do it to kill him, but let Nokai tear into the ground where the boy had been standing moments ago. One of them sharp ends digging deeply into the ground.

The ground trembled, and dust rose with the force.

”Who is this?” The boy asked in a small voice, looking at Sagiri with fear and fascination. ”And what is that weapon?!”