Chapter 15

Sentry Ship (Part 3)

"Yaaawn!"

With arms stretched overhead and back arched to a perfect 45 degree angle, Royce smiled in satisfaction. He blinked the drowsiness away and stood up.

He was too dazed from sleeping so well that he couldn't open his eyes and only navigated through reflex.

The room was too quiet and it was still dark out.

He was kind of proud. He felt that at least he wasn't slacking, that even when they drifted away from a dangerous place he had retained his routine diligently.

But…

Why are my feet on cold floor?

Royce frowned and forced his drowsiness aside, brown eyes glaring downwards, and paused.

"Hm? W-where are the foams?"

He looked around.

His futon was at the center of the room, the only one foam there while everything else was put away on the side neatly. The beds were set too as if untouched and empty.

"W-Where's everyone?" Royce panicked.

Before he could make too much noise, a pillow hit him from behind and a grunt pulled him back from it, "Shut up, will you? I'm trying to sleep."

It was Nameless.

Her transformation magic was undone and her eyes had dark circles underneath. She looked really tired.

Royce bit his lip and walked closer. "Sorry, Nameless… But what if you get caught?"

"Hm…" The girl grunted, "The saintess is alert. Do you not trust her?"

He coughed in embarrassment and pulled a blanket over her, "O-of course I trust you. I'm just wo–" He paused slightly and noticed the pillows next to her. All her sides were bombarded with soft material as if wanting to swallow her, but she looked extra comfortable though.

Royce left the barracks.

She hadn't slept at all for three days. Since the day of the escape, while travelling and explaining the plan to Eliron and even up until last night probably.

He saw her leave briefly last night, there must've been something she talked about with someone. But since the children fell asleep together last night, it was obviously one of the soldiers.

As he walked out towards the ship's lobby, he found something peculiar.

"Oh you're awake."

He greeted Ayu who was seated close to the barracks while reading a book, she was not alone.

Eliron was by her side watching the scenery with a strict gaze.

"Good noon, Royce." Ayu greeted with a smile, her elf ears twitching a bit. Under the bright sun, her hair looked golden, and seated next to Eliron who had bright blond hair made them look like siblings.

Hearing his name come from her, he suddenly felt shy. Royce didn't think she'd remember any of their names since she'd always been asleep. "Er, well, good noon A-Ayu."

Seeing his unusualness, Eliron stared.

The children were out of the strict and dangerous life of living in the lands of Gashu. Such a scene would be normal since they're normal now.

"Good noon to you too, Mister dragon…" Royce frowned, "Did you just say noon?"

"You said it too." Ayu giggled.

"Ah yeah I did…" Royce scratched the back of his head, "Do we have work to do? What are we supposed to do now?"

Eliron looked ahead to where the other kids were, "You asked the same thing as they did too. Now the soldiers felt bad and taught them how to play and eat well."

"Since it's noon. It's lunchtime already, huh? Have you guys eaten yet?"

"The twins will bring us food." Ayu answered calmly with her eyes on the book.

Royce nodded and watched the two.

They were both the quiet type and were doing whatever they were doing. Royce felt awkward for some reason.

When they were in a limited time, Royce had no qualms in talking with them. He even had the chance to command the dragon at some point when they were in Georgies. And he didn't hesitate in talking to Ayu when he needed to.

But now that peace had settled in and they weren't on borrowed time, he didn't know what to do nor talk about.

His brown eyes caught sight of the book on her lap.

"What are you reading?" Royce sat next to Eliron's side and looked over Ayu's book, Eliron was annoyed but kept and just closed his eyes to rest.

"…It's a memoir of the elvish priestess." Her blue eyes reached his and smiled, "Do you wan'na read it?"

"I don't know how to read…"

"Then you can just ask questions and I'll answer."

Royce wasn't really curious, he just didn't want to be quiet, but seeing Ayu's blue eyes spark in excitement as she waited, he couldn't help but find a question.

"Errr… What's her name?"

Ayu giggled at his half-hearted question but replied happily nonetheless, "Her name was Ayaleigha."

"Her age?"

"Her last recorded age was 397, she was a high elf after all."

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"So she's um... not here anymore?" Royce frowned, reluctant to ask but could not help it.

When Ayu was trying to find the right words to explain, Eliron opened his eyes. "Child," he addressed Royce beside him. "Priestess Ayaleigha was the one who bore the Fruit of Steady Strength, and she's always been loyal to the land of Gashu."

Royce's lips formed a thin line. Though it seems he understood now, Eliron continued.

"She was there when the Demon King surfaced on the land and was the first one to get caught after me."

The mood turned somber.

Whenever Eliron's past was mentioned, Royce always wanted to bite his tongue and bleed to death.

Seeing the red-head's pale face, the dragon smiled faintly. "It's okay. I'm sure the priestess did her duty well until the end. That's the kind of being she was..."

"How did she live her life?"

The two boys turned their heads to Ayu. She was asking with a tilted head, innocence clear on her blue eyes. "I want to know how she lived her life, from before she became a priestess and during it."

"It's actually really simple. The priestess loved planting... it's those words alone that portrays her perfectly." Eliron sighed, "Before she became a priestess, I heard she left her aristocratic home in the Continent of Penon and discovered the goddess' religion in the Continent of Winshen. However she liked the country of Gashu because of how unified it is with nature. We were neighbors for awhile and all she really did was plant."

His small hands raised up, a finger pointing to the direction of the shore they came from though it isn't visible anymore.

"Before she came there weren't a forest near the shores before. Remember the cabin we were in? It was surrounded by trees, right? All of those trees were manually planted by her. She dig the ground with her hands in the first year because she was a shy elf and didn't know how to approach her neighbors." He chuckled at the memory.

"But one time the mothers banded together and they, who didn't like wearing pants at the time, suddenly made an excuse of wanting to try out jogging. It was silly. They all came by the shore and accidentally stumbled upon the elf who was busy digging around."

Eliron took a deep breath. He could remember it.

It was during his 200th birthday when she came and suddenly appeared. Someone so awkward and kept to themselves, he wanted to befriend her but she'd runaway whenever they met.

"She easily blended in with everyone because of her good heart. Then after five years, one tree became ten, and ten trees became a hundred.

Without any of us noticing, there was a forest by the ocean, and she was blessed by the goddess' light."

"Did you become friends with her?"

Eliron shook his head, "We knew each other, but she was closer to the mothers who made efforts to talk to her and she really, truly, ultimately loves planting. Even when she became a priestess she only ever planted things." He sighed.

"...Planting, huh?" Ayu nods her head in understanding, "Was she adept to something besides planting? What about magic or praying?"

"She never prayed for herself but for the land's fertility and for magic..."

"The priestess can do healing magic," Aria answered, appearing with Lemon and Lime, with four plates of food. She handed Ayu her plate with a smile, "I heard that she can even bring a dying person back to health. But her last traces were... the golden light from her was last seen 9 years ago."

"Did you know her, Miss Aria?" Lemon asked, handing Royce and Eliron their plates as Lime went to the barracks for Nameless.

Aria brushed her ponytail back, "Not personally. But during the war, the soldiers experienced a massive healing magic from the capital of Gashu. My mother who was a soldier and had a terrible wound was healed instantly. It was such a mystical experience she says."

"How did they know it was the priestess?" Lime joined the story after delivering Nameless' food.

"No one can use healing magic other than those working at the temple, and it was such a bright and pure light that it can easily be mistaken as the goddess' light."

"Hm? Really? We've never met someone that amazing among the prisoners before..." Lemon scratched his cheek.

Aria frowned, "You've worked and seen the prisoners?"

"Emman, Lemon and I were assigned to—"

"Food delivery," Another presence appeared out of nowhere.

It seems that there were a lot who came to see them and was interested with the conversation.

Emman was smiling, his eyes on Lime. "We were assigned to deliver food for the prisoners."

Aria blinked. For some reason, she felt like they were hiding something. "I see..." but she let them go. Trauma was like that, maybe it was something the children didn't want to show, something they were ashamed of.

She knew the rumors of what goes on inside the fortress of the capital of Gashu.

Mindless puppets, maybe they were—

"I was part of the mining group." Royce cleared his throat, wanting to join in and tell them about himself.

Then as if drawn by the topic, the other children came around and found out about it.

"I was in the mining group too!"

"I was plates!"

"Me! I cleaned the clothes!"

"I'm a messenger!"

The other soldiers also came close, eyes soft after seeing the children excited but at the same time gloomy again. It was child labor, something that was allowed if they wanted but illegal if forced. Something like that was normal and they didn't even think it was bad.

Maybe it was a blessing that they didn't know much about the world, so they can innocently think of it as gathering skills in life.

"Oh, so Keith is the only administrative member?" Jesse, the right hand personnel of the sentry chief, was curious. "What kind of documents did you handle, if it isn't too rude to ask?"

Keith raised his head, gazing up at the adult but remained calm.

"I handle the organization of blueprints and..."

The children and soldiers ate lunch together. It was the second peaceful day and everyone thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated each others' presence.

The soldiers rekindled their desire to vanquish the Demon King, and the children found out that there was a bigger world out there...

"Hm. This'll make me look like a bad person..." Sentry Chief Dynil Walker passed through the lobby with a bunch of documents. Everyone turned to him when he came, eyes focused to what he came here to say. He cleared his throat, "Actually well... you know... the children must be trans—"

"Have some cake, chief!"

Ayu walked closer, unafraid, as she hand him a plate of strawberry cake.

"Oh, uh? Thank you, young lady but I—"

"A fork."

"Thank you..."

With Ayu's gentle poking, Dynil sighs and joined them instead.

Everyone was aware what news the chief had, but right now, it was time to be at peace.

After lunch time...

"The small ships have been prepared, Sir." Jesse reported.

Sentry Chief Dynil Walker was silent, standing aboard an elevated part of the ship, gazing at the children and his soldiers below. It had only been two days.

He was satisfied that the bored look of his soldiers became determined and soft, as a commander of his legion, he couldn't wish for anything more.

The children were dressed and cleaned up well.

"Bye, children~"

"See you in the mainland, okay?"

"Stay healthy and sleep early! Eat well too!"

"Ugggghhh~"

Dynil frowned. Maybe they had become too soft.

"Let's go."

There were three metallic ships, dividing the children with different soldier groups.

The ship commander were the closest to the children, chosen for their considerate nature, but good commanding skills. Dynil was happy with the children's arrival too, because of them he saw potential commanders for the future legion.

Karson Gofir led Ship 1 with Keith, Ynez and Loyd.

Aria Baygan led Ship 2 with Royce, Emman, Lemon and Lime.

While on Ship 3, Dynil Walker will command. He is on the same ship as Nameless and Ayu.

The dragon, Eliron, was going to fly over them.

With everything set up, the soldiers waving and hurling their wishes for happiness, the three ships headed to Efascht set out.