Chapter 2. The Northen Lights 9

There were only shouting, and sounds of weapons hit
against one another, which Rashid could only hear.
He was looking for Eiolin.
“Sis.. Gray is…”
“I know, Rashid.”
Eiolin looked worried and told Duran,
“Let all Paladins gather in front of the gate. We will
open the barricade to charge into the enemy.”
“But… Princess!”
“It is an order!”
She was firm, and Duran did not have any choice.
“Raymond, Venom, and Michael! Cover us with magic and
arrows.”
Locarno still complained,
“Why do we have to rescue him?”
“If we lost Gray, we will be lost in middle of ice field, Sir.”
Michael answered him, and prepared for spelling magic.
Soon, the paladins gathered.
They removed barricade and opened the gate for charge
attack.
However they could see unscathed Gray, a number of
dead Calipers, and few survived Calipers with scared faces. The Paladins
started to charge toward the Calipers. The Calipers were already scared and
they all retreated or died.
“Gray! Are you OK?”
Gray was breathing fast, and looked exhausted, but he
smiled at Rashid and said.
“I am fine, Prince.”
Locarno complained,
“Damn! It was waste of time!”
Druid Denis came to Gray and said with casting healing
magic for Gray.
“You are really unbelievable. You did not get hurt
much, but should carefully take care of yourself.”
“I will, thanks for the advice, Druid.”
“Rashid!!!”
There was a girl standing behind him with angry eyes.
She was Eiolin.
“You know what you have done?”
“Sister…..”
Rashid could not look at her face.
“You were not brave, it was daredevilry! Because of
you, Gray was in danger! You must know that your brashness can make other
people be in danger!”
“Sorry… sister. I am sorry.”
“Say sorry to Gray, not me.”
Rashid told Gray,
“Gray…. I am really sorry.  Because of me….”
“No, Prince. You do not have to be sorry. As a result, it makes a
good chance to escape from here. The Calipers get damaged a lot. They will not
be able to attack us for a while.”
Eiolin agreed,
“Alright, let’s move!”
They all finally got out from the
Caliper’s area.
“What is the thing shining?”
Rashid found something shining on the peak of a
mountain.
“It is Castle of Ice, Prince.”
“Castle of Ice?”
Gray kept explaining,
“In the castle of ice, legendary frost dragon Xavier
lives.”
“Frost dragon!!? I really want to go there to see the
dragon!”
Rashid looked quite curious. Gray smiled at him and
said,
“Hahaha, It is not the good time to meet the dragon.
Let’s come back here next time with me, prince.”
“Hmm….”
Rashid kept staring at the castle.
“Is it Ryka Tribe village?”
Locarno asked Gray with looking at the village over
there. Gray answered,
“No, it is the Caliper’s village.”
Everyone was astonished,
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
“They cannot find us if we move quietly.”
But, Locarno disagreed,
“No! We have to remove the danger! Princess! Let’s
attack and kill them all!”
“Let me think…”
“Sister!” 
“Princess! No way!”
Gray and Rashid strongly disagreed.
Eiolin told Rashid frigidly,
“Rashid, I have told you many times. The king
sometimes has to be heartless. If the king hesitates due to empathy, there
would be more things to lose.”
“But….”
Locarno said,
“We have decided! Prepare for the attack, Paladins!”
At that time, Gray stopped him,
“What!?”
“They are just ordinary people, are you going to
slaughter the civilians?”
“They all have their weapons! Do you think they are
just civillians?”
“Those weapons are for hunting! They are nomadic
people! Hunting is the only way to survive in the ice field!”
Locarno mocked Gray,
“Hahaha, Ok. Hey coward, just stay here. I will do it.”
Duran was looking at them, and said
“Locarno! Why are you getting hasty? I feel like you
are being an imperial knight!”
“I just want to remove the potential danger!”
Gray cut ahead of Locarno, and said,
“If you want to go, defeat me first!”
And Gray drew his sword. Locarno smiled and said,
“Alright! I really want to experience your sword. What
a good chance!”
Eiolin shouted,
“Stop! Both of you!”
Locarno rejected her order,
“I can’t, Princess. It is a battle between knights.
Once the battle starts, nobody cannot stop it even you.  Come on coward!”
Rashid seemed worried a lot, and asked Eiolin.
“What should we do? Sister…?”
Eiolin said,
“Ok, then. The winner will decide whether to attack or
not. If Locarno wins, we will attack the village, but if Gray wins, we will
just pass here quietly, clear?”
“Of course!”
“Ok!”
And two guys were standing against each other.
“Is Gray going to be ok? He is against a Paladin….”
Venom came to the prince and said,
“Prince, you don’t know him much.”
“Yes?”
Venom confidently said,
“He will be OK. He is the greatest ranger ever in
history of Bifrost.”
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