Heroes of the Holy War

After calling the guards and taking away the troublemakers, the boy who had been bullied suggested paying for their dinner. 

"My name is Jay. And this is my sister. Introduce yourself," the boy says, and the girl swallows and shyly introduces herself, 

"M-my name is Liki." Kaen replies with a smile, 

"Very nice name. How old are you?" Liki shows with her fingers that she is 9 years old. 

"Oh, you're already grown up," Kaen says, trying to make the girl laugh.

As Kazoto finishes eating, he asks, 

"So why did they attack you?"

Jay, placing his hands on the table, says, 

"My uncle has debts. I help him pay them back behind his back... but when I found some sword, they started to get aggressive, demanding I tell them how on earth I'm able to lift it."

Elarina, after finishing her drink, asks, 

"Has anyone else managed to lift the sword?"

Jay shakes his head no. 

"Listen, I'll be honest. We are looking for this sword and we have to take it," Kaen says seriously.

"Why? What do you need a sword for that you can't lift?" Jay asks.

At that moment, Kaen realized he didn't know why they were looking for the sword at all.

Elarina speaks for Kaen, 

"We're looking for it because it's a mystical artifact that could help us stop the Holy War attack."

Jay, surprised, replies, 

"You won't be able to take it today. Tomorrow evening, I have an appointment to move it to the home of their boss."

Kaen, taking the last piece of meat, says, 

"Then we'll meet here tomorrow." Jay, wiping Liki's mouth, says, 

"You can stay at my place. We have a big house." Kazoto, distrustful, asks, 

"You don't have any debts, by any chance?" Jay laughs and replies, 

"It's a house in the old district, so we almost have it for free." Kaen agrees to stay over, and as they walk to Jay's house, Kaen asks, 

"Are you a warrior?" Jay replies, 

"I'm learning. I'd like to be someone the world writes stories about someday."

Elarina notices that Liki is getting sleepy, so she carries her on her back. Liki, delighted, smiles from ear to ear, and Kazoto asks another question, 

"Is it not a sword from Eldarion?" Kaen, surprised, asks, 

"What's Eldarion?"

Jay answers, 

"Eldarion is the result of a rare and complex geological process that occurs in the deepest and most isolated caves under the forgotten mountains, on the edge of the world. Unfortunately, I don't know much more, except that it has energy absorption properties."

Jay, taking out the sword, answers Kazoto's question, 

"Yes, it's a sword made of that material. I got it from my late father as an inheritance. He called it 'Xerantheon.' He liked fancy names."

When they reach Jay's house, Kazoto says, 

"It's scarier here than in Elarina's eyes when she's angry." Elarina gives Kazoto a deadpan look, saying, 

"Is there a problem?" Kazoto, saluting, says, 

"No, ma'am."

Entering inside, Kaen smells perfectly roasted meat. 

"Who cooks like this?" Jay, surprised, says, 

"It's my uncle. But how did you even smell the food here when the kitchen is at the very end of the house?" Kaen, still inhaling the wonderful aroma, says, 

"I'm half-fox."

When he takes off his shoes, Jay is the first to enter the kitchen to call his uncle. When his uncle enters the dining room where the rest are sitting, Kaen and Kazoto become terrified. A muscular blonde man, wiping his hands, looks threateningly at Kaen and then at Kazoto. 

"This is my uncle... Liki, did you wash your hands?" says Jay, after which the man smiles warmly and extends his hand to the boys, saying, 

"My name is Victor." The boys shake his hand, and after a while, Victor brings out the food. The boys explain the situation while Elarina plays with Liki.

"So that's how it is, huh?" says Victor, then adds, 

"The Sword of Legends can only be lifted by those with a strong will. I could lift it if I weren't mundane." Kaen asks, 

"What is 'mundane'?" Victor, handing Liki a ball, says, 

"I'm someone who practically has no ability to use mana. I can't train it either." Kazoto, frightened, replies, 

"Then what was that we sensed at the beginning?" Victor smiles and says,

"On every downside, there's an upside. Instead of mana, I have almost unlimited aura—energy produced by spirits. Everyone has it, but people like me can increase its amount. But you have a fixed amount from birth." Kaen and Kazoto are impressed when Jay bursts into the room shouting, 

"Uncle, trouble!" Victor, raising his head from the table, asks, 

"Has he come here?" Jay nods his head fearfully, and Victor gets up and says, 

"Guys, will you help me? I feel lucky today." Kaen and Kazoto go with Victor, while Jay and Elarina stay at the house to take care of Liki if something happens. 

"Hello, Victor," says a short, round man.

"I see you've found yourself some bodyguards," the man adds, to which Victor says, 

"Not bodyguards. Part of my plan to get rid of you, Hans." Hans starts laughing, and from behind him emerge two twins holding a stone into which a sword is embedded. Kaen realizes it's the Sword of Legends and whispers to Victor, 

"If we kick his ass, can we take the sword?" to which Victor says, 

"If you help me destroy his entire headquarters, then it's a deal."

Kazoto draws his sword and eagerly says, 

"Finally, a real fight!" after which the twins release the stone and attack Kazoto. Victor pulls Kazoto away from the attack, and the twins land in the house, destroying the wall. 

"Hey, no kidding, a new wall!"

"Fox boy, could you manage to kill them?" Kaen nods, and Victor says, 

"Good luck then." Kazoto asks, 

"Aren't you going to help?" Victor, looking at the laughing Hans, says, 

"No, because they have my daughter as a hostage, and if he dies, she will die somewhere in a dungeon." Kaen draws his katana and says, 

"Don't worry, we'll help you, sir." Victor responds, 

"I'm counting on you," after which the boys get hit by the twins and end up behind the fence. Standing back to back, Kaen says, 

"I guess it's time to test the new technique." The twins appear in front of the boys, and the boys grab each other's hands, with Kazoto starting to spin Kaen around. Then he throws him high into the air. As Kaen falls, Kazoto and Kaen cover their swords with lightning and fire and then clash them, causing a burst of mana, blinding the twins. Kaen cuts one in half but notices they are not real humans. Kazoto, trying to pierce the girl's head, is attacked from the wall next to him. From the wall emerges the second girl Kaen had just killed. 

"Body division techniques... well, I wasn't planning to use this, but we have to hurry," says Kaen, creating flames around himself, and Kazoto, activating Raigan, says, 

"I guess we have to acknowledge them as worthy opponents after all."