Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit-Chapter 166: Warm Welcome

"I...I’m so sorry! I may have been deceived, but that doesn’t excuse my actions. Whatever punishment you deem fit for me, I won’t complain or beg for forgiveness, I know I don’t have that right. If I am to be executed, I’ll accept it without a fuss. But, at the very least, I’d like to request that it be painless-...!" Began Akila as he bowed his head.

"Uh, please calm down, there’s really no need to apologize. Like you just said, you were deceived, so I have no intention of blaming you. And besides, there was no real damage done in the end, so it all worked out fine," Responded Lyra with a smile.

It was the next day, the 26th of August, 1919. The Irregulars set Akila up in an inn to get some rest, the shock of finding out that he was being tricked and used left him pretty worn out, both mentally and physically.

And after having some breakfast in the morning, they took him to the Capital for an audience with the Queen. He’d been pretty nervous and on edge, understandably so, but thanks to Lyra’s friendly, amicable disposition, he was a bit more at ease now.

"Still, it could’ve been a lot worse. I even ended up badly injuring one of the Knights. Not to mention the innocent child that was sacrificed to summon me in the first place," Replied Akila with a guilty look on his face, as he lifted his gaze.

"You don’t have to worry about that, that was in no way your fault, Alphonse Plore was entirely to blame for that. And as for the Knight you injured, rest easy, he was healed shortly afterwards and is perfectly fine now. If anything, we owe you an apology...you were abruptly taken away from your old life, but we have no way of sending you back," Remarked Lyra apologetically, before elaborating, "The Hero Summoning Ritual is a relic from over a millennium ago, we didn’t even know a copy of it still existed until this incident, let alone how it works.

You see, in our current era, we simply don’t have the knowledge required to understand how Ancient Magic Rituals work, let alone make a Spell that can reverse their effects. So, to be frank, we have no known way to send you back to your own world. We have been searching through our archives to try and find such a Spell, but we don’t know if such a thing even exists. So, there’s a high possibility that you’re stuck in this world."

"Oh, that’s fine by me. Even if it was possible to send me back, the truth is, I don’t want to go back to my old world. My life there was pretty miserable, so I’d rather stay here, if that’s okay. Regardless of the fact that I was being deceived, I still tried to kill some of your people, after all, so I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want me around," He replied, before turning to Jules, who was standing next to the throne, and added, "Um, I’m sorry for attacking you at that abandoned mansion...and also for saying you look evil, about how your face looked wicked and your eyes devilish and stuff, that wasn’t cool."

"I-It’s fine, I’m not concerned about that in the slightest," Responded Jules with a strained smile, her eyebrow twitching slightly as Lyra stifled her laughter and tried to pass it off as a cough, not particularly convincingly.

"I have warned you not to frown so much all the time, your face is going to end up getting stuck like that if you keep it up," Remarked Lyra with a teasing smile.

"Th-That’s not-...! I-I mean, I’ll keep that in mind, your Majesty, thank you for your advice."

"Come on, you don’t have to be so uptight, Jules. Anyway, let’s get back on track, shall we? Of course, you’re more than welcome to stay in our nation, Akila, we’ll provide you with a residence and money to help you settle in. If you’d like to request anything, please feel free to do so," Smiled Lyra assuringly.

"I have a suggestion, actually...if you’re willing, I’d like to recruit you into the Knight Order. Considering your immense Magic Power and how useful and versatile your Magic itself is, it would be a shame to let it go to waste. Of course, we aren’t going to force you to join if you’d prefer not to, the choice is yours," Added Jules.

"A Knight, huh? Yeah, okay, I’m in."

"Huh? Just like that?" Responded Lyra in surprise.

"Yeah, I...I want to help people. And if that’s something I can accomplish by becoming a Knight, then count me in. And besides, it’s the least I can do after causing so much trouble for the nation. Also, well...fighting and using Magic is pretty cool, so yeah, that too," He admitted sheepishly.

"Alright, then, we’re glad to have you on board. Hm...I’ll place you in the Second Squad, they’re a bit low on manpower after recently losing their Vice-Captain."

"Sure, I’ll do my best to contribute. Also, I’d like to apologize in person to the Knight I attacked and injured."

"Of course, I’ll arrange a meeting with him on your behalf."

...

...

"This is the Captain of the Second Squad, Fyre Mozill, you’ll be under his command. You will be starting as a First-Class Knight, based on the evaluation of your abilities submitted by the members of the Third Squad," Jules informed him, as they entered the Knight outpost in Amethyst City, under the jurisdiction of the Second Squad.

"Hm? What’s going on?" Responded Fyre, having been zoning out.

"U-Uh, hi, nice to meet you, sir. My name is Akila Ekanayake," Akila introduced himself with a nervous bow of his head.

"Oh, okay. Nice to meet you. What can I do for you?"

"Please pay attention when I’m talking, Captain Fyre," Sighed Jules in exasperation, before adding, "He’s the newest addition to your squad, and-...hey, I just said pay attention!"

"Sorry about him, Commander, he’s been a bit more spacey than usual lately," Chimed in Cleaza Opera sheepishly, one of the First-Class Knights of the Second Squad.

"U-Um, we’ll make sure to keep reminding him until he gets it," Added Kia Werfer, another of the Second Squad’s First-Class Knights.

"Thank you, I’d appreciate that. Now, as I’m sure you’re all aware by now, Akila is the summoned Hero from another world, so he’s unfamiliar with our world. I ask that you make him feel welcome and show him around the city to help him familiarize himself with the area."

"Yes, ma’am!"

"Now, then, I should take my leave and head back to the Capital. You’ll be in good hands here, Akila, and please contact me if there are any issues. We’ll have your residence arranged for you by the end of the day, I’ll send someone to escort you to your new home once it’s ready. Do you have any particular requests?" Jules asked him.

"No, anything’s fine, I’m good with a normal apartment room or something, nothing too lavish or extravagant."

"Very well, I shall keep that in mind. I’ll be off now," Replied Jules with a nod, before leaving the building.

"Alright, I’ve got a lot to make up for. Just because they forgave me doesn’t mean I can just pretend like I didn’t cause all that trouble for them. I’m going to need to work hard to redeem myself. I wouldn’t be surprised if at least a few of these people are wary of me, and I certainly won’t have any right to complain-...," Akila thought to himself, before his train of thought was interrupted as several of the Second Squad’s Knights approached and gathered around him.

"Welcome to the Second Squad, we’re glad to have you!"

"Hey, is it really true that you’re from another world? How was your old world different to this one?"

"I heard that the world you came from doesn’t have any Magic, so how does it work there?"

"Can you show us your Magic? We’ve only seen Arcane Magic from The Irregulars before, so I’m kinda curious to see what yours is like, if that’s okay!"

"Wait, didn’t the Undead King also use Arcane Magic?"

"Huh? Oh, right, I forgot about him."

"Your Arcane Magic lets you pass through stuff right? What does that feel like?"

"U-Uh...," Stuttered Akila, feeling a bit overwhelmed and taken aback.

"Hey, slow down, guys, he can’t answer all of you at once, go one a time."

"Oh, uh...sorry."

"Yeah, my bad, guess I let my curiosity get the better of me, haha!"

"I’m sorry about them, they didn’t mean to bombard you like that," Smiled Cleaza apologetically.

"N-No, it’s okay, I don’t mind," Akila shook his head with a smile, while thinking to himself, "Wow, I...I didn’t expect to get such a warm welcome. Being surrounded by all these nice people, it’s encouraging. I hope I can make a lot of friends here, real ones this time."