4 days have passed since the group left the town of Flavrence, and they finally arrive at Port Victoria.

“Ooooh~!!! So this is Port Victoria! It’s my first time coming to this location!” Victor exclaimed, admiring the city from an elevated view over a hilltop.

The port contains a colorful coastal town. Various sea vessels can be seen docked at the harbor ranging from various structures and sizes. At the center of it resides a golden statue as tall as the nearby two-story houses. The group make their way through the bustling streets of the town, riddled with fishmongers and street merchants stationed parallel across from each other forming narrow street paths.

The honking of a loud horn grabs Victor’s attention. In the distance, a huge super structure shaped as two highly sophisticated yachts conjoined together takes off from the town’s port.

From his sudden stop in his distraction, something abruptly bumps into Victor behind him. He quickly turns around to apologize to the person, but is confused to see no one…

His attention quickly returns back to the super structure.

Victor: Woah~! Ho! Ho! That’s an insanely huge ship…! I didn’t think they could even get that big...I wonder how that works?

Darren: Oh man…I can’t wait…! I’m too excited! We’re really about to go off to a new area! This is gonna be a first, even for me…!

Sharon: Right…! I wonder how much different it’ll be from here, or if it’s going to be the same…!

The three were just a step away from their newly awaited adventure. Their forethought left them thrilled with heart-pounding anticipation.

***

The group soon finds themselves at the heart of the harbor by going down a pair of step streets and following the crowds. There, the sight of the golden statue shaped in a woman beheld in front of them. Ridges formed on the statue’s details, highlighting the characteristics of the women – The women held what appeared to be a long staff, layered in intricate and regal floral-like patterns until it flourished out at the top into interlocking circles with a crystal melded in-between.

The statue imposed a graceful posture. Folds from the statue’s short dress crinkled against her finely curved body, mimicking the motion of being blown elegantly in the wind with her long curly hair. If it weren’t for it being a statue, it was easy to imagine the dress was made out of silk material.

People gathered around the statue – whether it be to admire it, to pray to it, rest beside it, or to drop money into the crystal clear pond that it stood on top of.

“Wow. What a detailed statue…!” Sharon said, admiring the artsy figure. “It’s pretty!”

Victor: Yeah…There’s a lot of people here too…

A random voice speaks out to them –“Are you folks here to admire the statue as well?”

The group turns around to see a disheveled man lurched against a wall with a hanging lamp attached to a staff resting next to him. His ragged clothes wrinkle as he lifts up his small gourd to gulp down on it. The way he drank was also a mess with droplets of liquid spilling out of the side of his pursed lips. His ragged hair covered the man’s eyes…and on top of that, his hood was drawn up covering the rest of his head. Despite his dreary expression of clothes, the man showed no signs of wrinkles. He looked to be somewhere around young to middle age.

Disheveled Man: She’s quite the beauty isn’t she…

The man finds the group have already turned their backs on him.

“Hold on! Don’t ignore me!” The man cried out sheepishly with his arms stretched out. “If…! If you were going to ignore me anyways…You shouldn’t have acknowledged me in the first place…!”

Tatsuo: So what is this statue? – He asks the man.

Sharon: Hey. Don’t talk to strangers.

Disheveled Man: Why, you folks must know her already if you know the name of this port town. That statue represents the person that this town is named after…Victoria.

Victor: Whooo– Whaaaa~? So that’s Victoria? I didn’t know this port was named after a person!

Disheveled Man: Yes…This town was named after this legendary heroic figure. The people here erected this statue in honor of her legendary deeds, and marks as the hallmark of this port-town.

Victor: So she’s kinda like Irene then…

Darren: Yeah, except she had an entire land mass named after her.

Disheveled Man: Well, there may always be a chance for her to come back in her case. – The man says while taking another sip from his gourd.

The disheveled man’s words left the group a bit confused.

Victor: …You mean…Another Irene? You talking about some sort of second coming…?

Disheveled Man: No, no. I meant Victoria.

The group looked at the man crazy.

Queenie: But that’s not possible. Victoria is already dead. – Queenie chimed in.

Queenie: Her time of living dates back millennia ago with her life ending in the fight between The Reverence and the Puppet Master Harold.

Disheveled Man: Hm? That’s not what happened. There was a fallout within their group and they had sealed her within a pillar–

“Oh.” The disheveled man softly said cutting off from his sentence. “I’ve forgotten that the stories told to your kind is different.” He teasingly smiled to himself.

Queenie: ….Huh?

She was annoyed. For her, it seemed as if the man was patronizing her. To even dare challenge her knowledge about what she’s read over the course of her life.

Disheveled Man: Hm…Well…According to the tales you folks would be familiar with, many members of The Reverence sacrificed their lives against Harold. But the ending of The Reverence was more tragic than it actually is. While Harold was a strong entity himself, it was The Reverence themselves that ended each other.

“…Or at least, that’s how the story played out from where I’m from.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The man wryly smiles at Queenie.

Queenie: How is that any different…? The few who survived the fight came back after having fought their comrades who fell under the control of The Puppet Master.

Disheveled Man: The general direction is correct, yes. But there are nuances and details that are left out. No one from The Reverence was held under influence from Harold. What actually happened was the group had an internal struggle amongst themselves and betrayed each other on their own accord.

“What?!” Victor gasped. “What made them do that…?”

Disheveled Man: Hmmm…To put it simply for you people to understand…It was Harold who was good, and instead the nations that assembled The Reverence were evil? The tragedy that occurred then is what eventually led to the events you folks call, The One King.

Queenie: I’ve read all sorts of iterations of The Reverence and their stories. Not once do I recall any of them ending like that.

“Hmm? Well, you don’t have to believe me…After all–” The man lifts his gourd, shaking it on top the tip of his tongue…With only a couple droplets dripping out. Even though you couldn’t see his eyes, his mouth hanging openly showed his disappointment.

The disheveled man silently laments to himself.

Disheveled Man: …..

He simply sat there, staring hopelessly into the empty gourd.

With child-like mannerism, he childishly cocks his head with a fist. “Whoops~! Don’t mind me~!” He impishly says with his tongue playfully sticking out. “What was I saying again~?” The man’s face flustered red.

The group’s face droops in disturbance on the disheveled man’s jarring tonal behavior.

“Sorry~! I think I was drunk!! I must’ve been talking to myself! Ha! Ha! Ha!” – The man scratched the back of his head.

For Tatsuo, he didn’t smell alcohol in the drink. He was, however, enamored by the smell of its contents. Whatever it was that the ragged man was drinking, he wanted to try it too.

Disheveled Man: Ah, before you folks go, could you perhaps spare a couple change on my person.

The group contemplates for a moment. They folded their arms while looking at each other. Even though they had no shortage of money to go around, they didn’t know how to feel about handing free money to a suspicious individual.

Darren: And here I thought this guy was some kind of hermit or something…Providing some sort of profound wisdom…

Victor: I was thinking more a monk.

The homeless beggar beckons to them, “Please, I ask kindly! I can reassure you’ll be rewarded back in kind if you do!”

Victor: Oh? And what would you do?

Disheveled Man: Why, I’ll give you a gift that you won’t be able to get anywhere else! You can’t put a price on it!

Sharon immediately shuts down the strange man’s offer.

Sharon: Yeah, no. This man is clearly suspicious.

The beggar turns to face Sharon, “Aw~ Please don’t say that missy–”

Sharon: Beat it mister, anybody could tell you’re a lost cause from a mile away. Isn’t that right, Windie?

Windie floats down next to Sharon.

Sharon: Honestly, you would’ve done a better job at just begging us for money–

As Sharon turns to face the beggar again, she stops in her sentence to see an astounded expression on the beggar’s face. His mouth was gaped open speechless with his body remaining still as a statue while staring right back at her. No…Upon further inspection, it wasn’t Sharon that the man was staring at. It was Windie.

Sharon: ….

“Uhm…?” Sharon hesitated awkwardly.

Sharon: Hey…Sir…? Are you okay…?

Sharon’s words snaps the man away from his awe-struck captivation.

Disheveled Man: Hm? Oh…Sorry…! – The man chuckled.

Disheveled Man: I was just thinking about something…That’s a cute pet you have there…

Sharon: Oh. Why…Thank you…

The disheveled man turns his head to face Tatsuo.

Disheveled Man: You too. Aside from my initial impressions, you’re also pretty cute.

Tatsuo makes no reaction to the man’s immodest comment towards him. Sharon on the other hand revolts in her head, disturbed by the man’s perverse attitude.

Sharon: A-aaanyways…Regardless of whether we give you money or not, you shouldn’t rely on begging for money from others. Go learn some responsibilities and take up a job or something.

Disheveled Man: Oh. I no longer need your money. I’ll give you all the gift for free. – He shakes his hand in a polite gesture.

“HUH?!” Sharon exclaimed dumbfounded. “B-but then…Why all of a sudden…?”

Disheveled Man: Let’s just say…I’m suddenly in a really happy mood is all.

The disheveled man faces the group and places an open palm beneath his chin. He purses his lips together, and what comes out of it is a ‘mwah’ sound with a slip of intimacy.

The group stares blankly at the man.

“What the hell was that?!” Victor uproared.

Disheveled Man: A kiss! A kiss! Obviously!

Darren: Yes, but why did you do that?! THAT was your f*cking gift?!

The disheveled man lifts his arms up, gesturing them to calm down. “Now, now, this is a good luck charm!” He proceeds to point the group towards the pond underneath the statue of Victoria. “Look! You folks would toss coins into the pond for good luck, right? It’s the same thing, but better!”

“How is that any better?!” Darren remarked back in disgust. “I’d rather toss a coin in the pond than receive a kiss from you!”

The boys go through a back-and-forth with the beggar jestering back at them. Sharon and Queenie didn’t bother to make any attempts at a remark to add. They simply stood by watching the guys in an outrage. Disappointing, but not surprising. Though, it was clear from their upside-down acorn shaped mouths that they also held a sense of loathing for the beggar.

Tatsuo: Why don’t you just take some of the coins inside the pond?

Sharon: What? He can’t do that. That’s disrespectful, and he’d be committing theft of property.

Disheveled Man: I’ve already tried doing that. I got chased off by the locals.

Darren: Do you not have any shame?!

Tatsuo asks Sharon to give the disheveled man some money. Baffled by Tatsuo’s request, Sharon rejects it, but after prodding her a bit, she eventually gives in and reluctantly hands Tatsuo a pouch of gold coins.

Tatsuo: Here. – He says, handing the pouch to the beggar.

Tatsuo: Take this.

Disheveled Man: Huh? You’re giving this to me? Like I said, you don’t have too–

Tatsuo: It’s okay. You need it right? Besides, we’ve got a lot of money on us anyways.

The disheveled man smiles back to Tatsuo, “Thank you. You’re a kind soul, indeed.”

Tatsuo places his hands on the man’s shoulders. “Also, you shouldn’t be talking to yourself like that. That’s not healthy for you.”

Of all people, Tatsuo was the last person who should’ve been saying that, was what his friends thought behind him.

The group parts away from the disheveled man. Sharon walks up to Tatsuo asking him, “Why did you do that?”

Tatsuo: I mean, was there a reason not to? Besides, we were also like him before. It was just an act of kindness, the same thing Queenie did for us.

Sharon had no refute to follow up with. Instead, it made her think again just how unnecessarily demeaning they were towards the eccentric stranger.

And so, the group discusses among themselves on where to go next. They take a detour to the nearby fish market to stock up on ingredients for the trip. Next, it was finally time for them to head out to Odale.