Cloud let out a tired breath as he walked back to his home. Even if the situation was getting bad, there was no reason to be away from his home for so long.
The recent horde battle brought about another issue with the fighters getting hit with paralyzers, causing Cloud to work overtime to help the healers with the potentially threatening cases. Sure enough, he could always just let them heal on their own, but with the rate of horde battles going on, he wasn’t going to take a chance of losing any help they could have.
But that was the thing. There were only so many fighters they could keep throwing out there. At some point, one of them will make a mistake regardless of how much time and rest they have in between fights–which is to say barely enough.
There were just too many fights, and them being at random times were getting to them. One of them even broke down, putting himself into a fetal position due to the mounting stress.
All Cloud could do is let him do exactly that. After all, he wasn’t that far off himself from doing the same. The entire situation was occuring in a time where they were at their lowest, where this should’ve been involving any major province’s army at some point from all the work.
But Eve Glade’s special position puts them in an awkward situation. If they do receive help from other provinces, it could lead to questioning them about their purpose and policies, which was clearly something that the kingdom that sponsored them wanted to avoid. That was another reason why Zacharia wanted Cloud and Val to hurry up and go out into the fields to search for a cause.
No matter how many times Cloud tried to dissuade that, more and more often he found himself wavering. What else can he do? At this point, a blind search into the woods might be better than just waiting for a miracle.
He squeezed the bridge of his nose in consternation as he headed through the door of his house, wanting nothing more than to either relax on his couch or talk to his wife–both would be extremely pleasing right about now.
But he suddenly found himself hearing several voices inside the living room, as well as the scent of new people along with an unfamiliar hint of auras in his home. It was clear that Val invited folks without telling him in advance again, leaving him to grumble as he called out.
“Val? Do we have visitors?” Cloud shouted, instantly getting everyone’s attention as the sounds dispersed into silence.
…..
“Oh! That’s my husband,” Val quickly stood up, turning back to the supposed ‘kids’ in front of her. “I’ll let him know that you’ll be staying here.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Zeke asked, dumbfounded.
“Oh, I mean to let you stay here. Don’t worry, I’ll convince my husband. He can be pretty weary, but he’s a good man. I’ll be back!”
Val, like a hurricane, gave a gleaming smile and wave before rushing over to her husband who was calling for her.
Meanwhile, Zeke and Mikella stared back at each other with Clara none the wiser, staring at the two.
“Did I miss something?” Zeke asked, just to make sure. Mikella, unfortunately, only shrugged.
“I don’t think she’s trying anything, but no matter how you spin it, this is too much,” Mikella eventually answered. “What do you think? Should we refuse?”
“Do we have any other choice?” Zeke said, slowly being drained as he delved deeper into the couch. It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable thing in the world, but he did sleep on grass and sturdy ground the past two weeks. He might as well be ready to sleep on it. “Can we even refuse?”
“That’s… what I was afraid of,” Mikella dampened, lowering her face. “She was so powerful… Do you think she might hurt us if we refuse?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m talking about where to live. We don’t have a home, and if you noticed, nobody else looked like they enjoyed what they saw.”
Mikella grimaced, feeling her arms that were once so itchy, there were some red marks from all the scratching she did. Zeke had plenty of those himself.
“What I’m worried about is what they expect us to pay back in return,” Zeke eventually said, his eyes turning serious.
“We got a lot of stuff from the tower. From those Attribute Fruits to even some of the coins we got from clearing it. If those aren’t enough, we have plenty of hide and meat to give away…” Mikella asked, listing off all the things they gathered that, while at first for themselves, became great items to bargain with.
“Probably, but she also said that she wanted to question us… it might be possible that they might ask us to give up everything we own.”
“But that’s…” Mikella replied, but she couldn’t find the words to continue.
“We don’t know what laws they have, what rules they live on. Hell, they think we’re kids of all things. They might even say that having weapons around is too dangerous and ask us to give it to them.”
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“I ain’t giving up my sword,” Mikella said with a strong resolve. “But…”
“Trust me, I don’t want to give up the stuff we literally fought to the death for too, but it’s either that or live in the streets… then again, that might be an option for us, but for Clara…”
“That lady is nice!”
Clara’s response suddenly brought the adults to a standstill. They turned to her, creasing their brows.
“That lady is nice,” Clara repeated, now that she got their attention. “She isn’t bad.”
“Clara,” Mikella spoke softly. “We know she’s not bad, but–”
“But she’s not bad!” Clara nearly shouted, which got Mikella to shush her from being too loud. Thankfully, the two folks at the other side didn’t hear, or at least Zeke hoped.
“Clara, what makes you so sure that Val is a good person?”
Zeke asked, honestly wondering where this determination came from. As far as he knew Clara, she wasn’t the very outspoken type unless she knew the people well enough.
That was the case with Zeke, but then again, Zeke managed to get on her good side. On the other hand, she only knew Val for about an hour, but she seemed absolutely resolved that she was good.
“She’s good,” Clara said with no more explanation. “And I wanna stay here! It’s warm and fluffy, and we can clean in hot water!”
Both Zeke and Mikella rolled their eyes at that one. Not in annoyance, but the simple fact that Clara pretty much sealed the deal.
What other places had running water and a workable pipe system like a toilet and shower? It might even be possible that only this house alone in this entire town could have such features. Then again, they can’t gauge their entire livelihood on just having a working toilet.
Or could we? Zeke thought. Honestly, I don’t mind working for a while if it means having a working toilet.
The forest was a horrid place for several reasons. They managed to live, but Zeke constantly looked back to his days where he took going to the bathroom anytime he wished for granted. He didn’t realize how much he relied on such simple pleasures of taking a whizz without interrupting the walking pace as well as not having a damn snake try to bite you.
Oh, and it was concluded that Zeke had a fear of snakes. The moment one actually tried to snap at his greatest weakness as a man, it was confirmed. He had nightmares that very night.
Eventually, the two adults returned to the living room, meeting with the trio. Val came in grabbing the very exhausted looking man by the wrist. He didn’t look pleased at meeting them.
Or anyone for that matter. Zeke had the impression that he was a man that just got off work. Something that he knows very well.
But damn, it turned out that it wasn’t just Val. After seeing her husband come in, it was a clear fact that the husband was just as gorgeous.
A tall man with blond short hair wearing what looked like exquisite robes meant for a caster. However, his features were sharp–a well defined jawline, striking blue eyes, and no hint of wrinkles in sight.
He looked like a young man with the feel of an older gentleman’s soul. Even his frame was impressive as Zeke could tell the dense muscles packed within the robe. But what was more impressive was his aura.
It wasn’t as strong as Valorie’s, per say, but it was dense. It was hard to describe how powerful he was, but one thing was for sure.
Every bit of mana exuding off the man was enough to give Zeke a headache. He held his forehead as he tried to not give way to the man’s striking blue eyes.
Looking back at Mikella. He noticed that she was almost mesmerized by his appearance.
Honestly, he wasn’t even jealous. Zeke wasn’t attracted to men, but he had to admit that the guy was good-looking. He knew for sure that every woman in their old world would cry out in anguish to see such a handsome man already taken.
But he also felt that the man’s appearance was… crafted, in a way. As though it wasn’t built naturally. He didn’t know why, but he also felt the same way from Valorie as well.
Was there something going on? Is that the reason why they were exuding such intense pressure by their auras? Could it have something to do with their levels?
In the end, the man saw them for himself and widened his brows. Then he turned back to his wife who kept smiling giddily.
“You really need to let me know before you invite people to our home,” The man spoke with a tired, but almost deep voice that made Zeke’s hair stand on end. He didn’t expect him to have a richly deep voice tinged with experience like a certain voice actor.
“Sorry, honey,” Val shrugged, though she didn’t seem that apologetic. “But when I saw that they had a child there, I just couldn’t let them be.”
“I suppose,” The man gave up, and soon ended up smiling at her. “That’s just how you work.”
The man then turned back to the trio, giving them another closer look. Nodding, he introduced himself.
“My name’s Cloud, I’m this troublesome woman’s husband,” He said without remorse, and he smirked when his wife gave a playful jab to his side. “I’m sure you’re probably wondering why you’re here. After hearing everything from her, I’ll handle the questioning. I’m sure it’ll be easier for all of you to stay and rest after everything you’ve been through.”
“T-Thank you,” Zeke answered, figuring that it was time for him to speak. “But, I just wanted to know… are we actually going to stay here? We thought we were brought in here for questioning only?”
“Questioning, taking you in–it’s all the same, really. Besides, you couldn’t really be dangerous by any means. You two haven’t even reached level 10 yet. that’s not really an issue for us.”
Zeke and Mikella looked aghast at him now. How did he know what levels they were at? Zeke’s mind whirled at the idea that they could somehow tell their levels as though they could see through them.
Is that actually possible? Was it some sort of skill? Zeke wasn’t able to answer in time before Cloud continued.
“That’s why it’s so interesting to find out that you two managed to stave off attacks from our higher leveled soldiers so easily,” Cloud answered. “I heard you two have some incredible skills in your midsts, so I’m very curious to find out who the two of you are…”
Cloud suddenly had a gleam in his eyes, the kind that made Zeke nervous. He ended up sitting down at the nearby couch near them with Val sitting alongside him. The four adults sat down together as they stared, with Clara the only one seemingly confused as Mikella held onto her tight.
“So tell me… where exactly did you come from?”