Chapter 5 - That incident that happened in the Morcus"s estate (2)
At a time while everyone was asleep.
With the alarm spell and spirit, Heinze canceled the night watches. It seemed as if he had grown a bit more trust towards Jade.
However, while everyone was soundly sleeping, the sound of rustling could be heard.
-The baby boy is waking up.
-He"s a bit old to be call a baby. I"m sure he would hate being called that.
-I wonder what his ident.i.ty is? It"s obvious that he"s a n.o.ble, and not just any n.o.ble, but a high-ranking one.
Jade opened his half-shut eyes to see what the boy was doing.
However, Celestine and Elestra openly stared at him since n.o.body could see them.
Snore! Snore!
On the other hand, Hwid was sleeping well on Jade"s chest.
-I don"t know much about n.o.bles so I can"t say, but I can make a few predictions because there are only a handful of people in Paulstein that can have a Sword Master as a guard.
-It must be the royal family as expected? And, if they"re running away, then it must be because they got pushed back in the struggle for succession.
-It definitely seems like it, but I"m not sure. Even within Jade"s memories, there isn"t enough information regarding the royal family. All he knows is that the current king was born weak, but he has many children?
-It could be that he"s not the king"s child.
-How can you say something so frightening.
Jade laughed in vain.
However, he believed that it was highly possible because it was a common occurrence that had occurred even in his world.
-There is no end to human greed!
-That I acknowledge.
Slide.
As Jade and the group were busy talking amongst each other, the young boy carefully walked to the dirt wall and unsheathed his sword.
He then swung his sword with a determined expression.
He must have known that he wouldn"t instantly become strong like those he had read of in novels.
However, even still, the young boy tenaciously swung his sword.
-The old knight woke up too!
-Well, he"s probably just watching. It"ll be hard for the boy to quickly get strong, so he"s probably just admiring him.
-He must really be anxious. I can feel regret flowing out from his emotions.
-I can tell just by staring at his face expression.
-Hehe!
Celestine laughed out of embarra.s.sment.
She honestly didn"t have the ability to read a human"s heart, but she could tell by their expression and atmosphere.
-Regret, lethargic, frustration, but obstinate.
-However, he has no talent.
Elestra spoke as she watched the young boy.
She could feel how desperate he was, but he unfortunately didn"t have any talent with the sword.
And, be that as it may, he also didn"t have any affinity to spirits or mana.
-If he really is of the royal family, then it"s not important to have, since they already have everything.
-The problem is that the kid has lost that "everything" and is now just a regular human being. His plunge downward will be much longer since he knows the feeling of being at the top.
"Ugh!"
The young boy choked on his tears as he could feel that he wasn"t getting any better.
As he didn"t want to wake anyone up, he suppressed his tears.
However, although this scene was quite sympathetic, Jade"s eyes were cold.
-I"m sure they"re going to the Kingdom of Arhan with a plan, but do you really think it"s possible for them to regain their spot?
-He himself doesn"t have to be outstanding. It"s also a skill to be able to gather and deal with people.
-So sad.
Celestine made a pitiful expression as she could guess how the young boy was feeling just by looking at his face.
However, different from Celestine, Elestra looked calm.
She didn"t have much interest in the boy, because he wasn"t someone she was contracted to and Jade was temporarily using him for his own gains.
"Sigh!"
After crying, the boy went back to the spot he lay at before.
And, just like how he left, he carefully made sure to not wake anyone up, wiped his tears and closed his eyes.
However, his shoulders still shook.
It seemed like he was angry at himself for being insufficient.
-Reality is harsh so blood, sweat and tears much be dropped to change it. He"s not horrible though, since he at least knows what he needs to do moving forward.
-You"re much more positive than I thought, Jade.
-That"s not true. It"s just, I"ve seen kids much worse off than him in my world.
Jade closed his eyes.
He didn"t need to sleep, but he still closed his eyes.
And, as he did, many thoughts came to mind and left.
"F, finally!"
"It"s a town!"
The knights shouted as they saw the old but strong-looking wall.
They were happy to see the old wall.
However, Heinze and the young lady were surprised for a different reason.
It was because, ever since Jade began leading the group, they had not run into a single monster.
"Are all summoners like that?"
The young lady glanced at Jade with a curious expression.
Yet, Jade pretended to not notice her and continued to look at the town"s wall.
"Who is it!"
"We are active mercenaries from the Kingdom of Paulstein! We went into the Great Forest to handle a request but came here in search of some urgent supplies!"
"Hmm. mercenaries huh?"
A soldier on top of the wall stared at the group with suspicious eyes.
As he did, he saw a mana filled staff and nodded his head.
It was difficult to tell the difference between bandits and mercenaries if the party didn"t have a mage, but it was different if they had one.
Only n.o.ble families or skillful mercenaries had useful mages in their party, so the soldier waved his hand to his replacement.
"Let"s begin with confirming your mercenary tablet."
Creak.
The steadfast gate opened and the group walked in with Heinze in the lead.
He had already prepared the mercenary tablet.
"Here it is."
The soldier that received the tablet looked surprised. He had unknowingly made this expression as he felt something underneath the tablet.
"Hmm hmm! Go inside. I welcome you to this city."
"Thanks."
"No need to thank me."
Heinze smiled and walked in after their private transaction was fulfilled.
However, he did not know that the soldier continued to watch them as they walked away and out of view.
"Finding lodging is our priority."
"Yes, sir!"
Although they were thrilled to see so many people around them once again, the knights responded with discipline.
They acted like they were mercenaries, but they were clearly knights.
They had to act the part even more so, because they were escorting important people with them.
"Do you know of any place?"
"I"ve never been here myself."
Heinze asked in a much different tone compared to before.
His vigilance was now completely gone and was now only filled with trust towards Jade.
And, this was expected, because he was able to witness Jade"s abilities during their journey.
"I wish he can come with us to the capital, but I"ll talk with the young lady about this later."
Heinze did not want to simply let Jade go as he had thoroughly felt the usefulness of having a summoner around.
The journey completely changed with the addition of a single summoner to the party. So, if it was possible, Heinze wanted Jade to join them on their way to the capital of Arhan, all the way to the Kingdom of Paulstein.
Although the other knights didn"t say anything, they also felt the same as Heinze.
"Let"s go to that inn over there."
"Okay."
As Heinze was concentrated on Jade, the young lady found an inn.
She had felt dirty and uncomfortable for not having been able to bathe.
"Mister Jade should join us as well, since you came all the way here. I know the Great Forest is comfortable for you, but I want to treat you for at least a day."
"Alright."
At any rate, there was something Jade wanted to do, so he didn"t reject the young lady"s" offer.
There was no point in refusing an offer of being treated.
-Wow! It"s an inn!
Ggyuu!!
Hwid was excited to be in an inn for the first time.
And, because he showed interest and curiosity to new things, Hwid"s eyes sparkled while being held within Jade"s arms.
"Let"s gather again after we wash up. We can eat after that, since we can refill our supplies tomorrow."
"Sure."
Heinze spoke as he allotted the rooms the knights had gotten for them.
As he did, Heinze and the young lady exchanged meaningful gazes.
They appeared to have something to say to each other.
Completed - Chapter 5 (2)