Chapter 52: Please Be Safe
It had been two months since EESOP's first year was shut down. No more classes, no more missions. The students sent away on missions were all called back. Everyone was on edge.
The reason was justified.
One of the teams who went on their first mission had gone missing. And the Heir to the throne was part of that missing team.
Dragons loved their kin. It was a fact anyone close to those noble and mighty creatures know.
Then what if the next ruler of their race had suddenly disappeared?
Would those noble creatures, as they say, sit around and watch?
The Guardian Dragon Center had been thrown into chaos the moment they lost track on the said missing team. To top it off, The former Dragon King Endymion stormed into the headquarters and hadn't left the scene since then.
Be that as it may, it would have been a relief if the sole ruler of the Primal Plane was in a state of tranquility. But unfortunately, that ruler was also a Dragon. Hence, not only the Selene Palace but also the entire Selene City had been consumed in chaos.
There were even rumors that he had personally visited the Isaz Kingdom and threatened to burn it down before being dragged back to the palace by The Ancient Dragon Council.
GDC and ADC as well as the heads of all Houses had to beg for the two Golden Dragons to stay in the city. If they made a move, a lot of chaos and misunderstandings might follow. After all, they were key figures in the unseen political scene.
It was indeed chaos.
And amidst that chaos where everyone was trembling for various reasons, they forgot they had neglected someone very precious and important.
Someone who had been sharing their panic and sorrow in silence.
Kyrios glanced down at the City from the highest tower of the North Wing. His earrings glowing red for days non-stop. Usually the rules suggest that Kyrios wasn't permitted to enter the North Wing where only the Heir could stay.
However, the Heir was his Twin sister, who was very fond of him. She had granted him access to her Palace the moment she got the right to live in it.
Even if she didn't, there was no place in this vast Palace he couldn't go if he put his mind to it.
And so, in the midst of chaos, when he was left behind, all Kyrios could do was to find comfort in the cold Palace where his Twin once resided.
—Ria…—
There was no response from the other side.
—Sister…—
Kyrios' heart sank at the unbearable anguish he felt. He bit his lips as he clutched his heart.
He couldn't hear her voice. He knew that it was only possible when they were a certain distance apart, however he was too emotional to consider that fact at the moment.
He called for her whenever he had time ever since the day he found out Kyriaki was missing.
The only thing that gave him comfort was his Twin Link, which hadn't been served yet. It meant that Kyriaki was still alive somewhere.
"Your Royal Highness." In the dark behind Kyrios, a pair of violet eyes glowed like jewels.
Netzer, who had recently grasped the foundation of verbal languages thanks to the blessing he received, fiddled with his fingers as Kyrios refused to answer.
A few minutes passed before the golden hatchling opened his mouth.
"Report."
"It was reported that there's no trace of her in the Celestial Plane or Eternal Plane."
"..."
Kyrios's response was utter silence. A quiet sigh escaped Netzer's lips as he blinked in worry. Kyrios was never the type to stay silent. It worried him to death just looking at the hatchling withering away in deep sorrow.
"I don't think Her Royal Highness would like it if you keep acting like this." Netzer couldn't help but share his thoughts. There was no awkwardness in his voice that was as clear and cool like a soft spring breeze.
"...What should I do, Netzer?" Kyrios turned around. His watery eyes held countless passing emotions. Netzer flinched unknowingly before collecting himself like a proper composed assistant.
"You must believe in her. She's smarter and more powerful than any other hatchling. Have faith in her."
Hearing his words, Kyrios nodded absentmindedly. He glanced back at the dazzling city once before moving his unusually heavy body. His heart pounded with unknown worries as he thought;
—Please be safe—
It was an earnest plea, more sincere than any other.
∆ ∆ ∆
'At this point, it's like a necessary ritual.'
Marina thought as Kyriaki introduced another strange boy as her teammate. This was the fourth time a child popped out of nowhere claiming they were lost.
But in the first place, was this a place where a child could survive on their own for even five minutes?
The answer was no.
Marina already knew that the children before her were no ordinary children. On the contrary, they don't appear to be humans either. But getting reminded of that made her feel strange.
All four children were exceptionally stunning. But the most beautiful of them all was the golden haired girl that acted like a leader among them. Watching them, It felt like watching a classic painting come to life.
That alone was enough evidence to conclude what's visible wasn't entirely what they appeared to be.
Marina was curious. Yet at the same time she felt she shouldn't be. She felt like she'd get entangled in dangerous trouble if she discovered their true identity.
"..so I suppose the Gate was in the territory of Ghosts." Marina suddenly came to her senses at the beautiful voice that sounded like a dream.
"Wait a minute—Ghosts?!"
"Yes, Ghost. It seems they had taken over the task of guarding the outer walls of Tower of Hunters." Kyriaki replied.
"But didn't you tell us the monster there was a Lindwurm?" Mr.Romanov calmly asked back.
"That was the case before the Crimson Moon rose. It seems that either the Lindwurm was also affected by crimson miasma and was lured out of the Void Plane or there was a territorial war that killed them."
"It's the former." Just then, Euclid chimed in calmly.
"The source?" Kyriaki also asked in her characteristic polite yet distant voice.
"Atlas. He was there until the end of all the monster waves."
"Ah right, Students could only participate in the first three monster waves, whereas the professors stay until the end."
"Correct. He said the guardian also came out and was killed by professor Timotheos."
"Gasp! I didn't know Professor Timotheos was that powerful." The Dark Elven girl—Levana, naturally joined their conversation.
"Although his interest lies in Elixirs, He's still the former head of House Zoticas." Euclid shrugged his shoulders with an expressionless face.
Levana looked at him with a strange expression.
"You've changed, Lord Euclid."
"Is that so?" An indifferent reply came back.
"Yeah…You've become cold and arrogant. It's a bit scary."
"So what do you want me to do?" The cold response this time was rather different from his former indifferent tone.
It was not the calm and indifferent coldness Kyriaki occasionally displayed, but an aggressive and arrogant coldness unique to Euclid only.
That was enough to tightly shut Levana's mouth.
Marina couldn't stay silent any longer as the children chattered things only known among themselves. And so she took a step forward and cautiously opened her mouth.
"Are we still going to find the Gate?"
At that all the chattering paused and various colors of eyes turned to look at her. It was like suddenly falling into a world of magical rainbows. Golden, blue, grey, teal, brown, red and amber…the collection of rare eye colors made her head feel dizzy for a moment.
"Of course, what else could we do if not that?" Kyriaki finally spoke, her calm voice, paired with the indifferent tone seemed to have softened quite a bit.
As they spoke leisurely, they failed to realize the gaze watching them from afar. None, not even wolves of such high rank nor dragon hatchlings of superior senses were able to detect it.
Regardless, the group soon resumed their journey.
Time as their only witness, the struggles of the survivors continued for another week in Void time.
Sometimes they had to hide and hold their breath when high ranking monsters passed by, sometimes they had to use every trick at their disposal to break through tough enemies.
The two Hatchlings seemed quite displeased at first, not because it trampled on their pride, but because they realized how weak they were despite being acknowledged as the strongest of all.
But what can they do?
What good is a bloodline if they were equally suffering like others?
As they adapted slowly to their harsh reality, finally, the Tower of Hunters came to their view.
Together with it, a new problem arose.
∆ ∆ ∆
"By the way, about Einn…"
"What about him?"
"Was he always like that?"
"Like what?"
"The twin heads…it's strange. You were there too, so you might know something. There were no records of Titans having twin heads, so I'm curious."
Prince Einn was Erik's uncle, and the current King Ragnar's younger brother. His disappearance was linked to the succession battle all royals of the Kingdom had to go through.
What was perplexing and strange was the fact that a Titan, who doesn't even know a piece of the outside world, was able to stay hidden for this long. But even so, a Titan prince being charmed by a demon without getting caught was unimaginable.
"As far as I know, he never had two heads, though he had multiple personality disorder." Erik spoke with a hint of disconnect.
He was unfamiliar with the common language of the world, as Titans never went out of their Kingdom. But as a royal, he knew the basics of the language, leading to conversations mixed with Titan Runic and common language.
"It seems the abnormal physical condition he had was influenced by his psychological condition and Demonic magic." Levana spoke enthusiastically.
"Perhaps, he acted as an experiment for Demons?"
"That's interesting, did they create a head for his other personality?"
"That kind of magic…" Euclid frowned. "Only a high ranking demon could do that."
Then he gave a side-long glance to Kyriaki, causing her to sigh.
"What?"
"You mentioned the name of the Sin of Lust."
"And?"
"Is that true?"
"I think it's possible." Instead of Kyriaki, Erik replied with a thoughtful expression. After all, he was there when they defeated Einn.
"What do you mean?" Euclid questioned.
"We might not be as tough as Dragons when it comes to mental resistance, but we are still in the category of Higher races. Who else but the Scubbuss Queen could charm a Royal Titan?"
Euclid couldn't help but nod. Indeed, who else but a demon king could attain such a feat.
Rustle.
"Ahem, Ahem." An interruption came from above with a soft rustling of bushes. "I'm sorry to bother you. But, are we in a position to converse ideally like this?"
The four children looked up in sync. Marina was standing behind them with an awkward pose. All four of them knew she was there, but they intentionally ignored her for their own sake of boredom reliving.
"Right, we aren't." Finally, Kyriaki broke the awkward silence, looking back at the faraway land.
Currently, they were on a small hill in a dense forest. Below them lay the land of Ghosts, only a few hundred meters away. There were several factors that kept them from entering Ghosts' domain. This made them stuck in the same place for days, unable to advance.
The six weeks Kyriaki spoke of had been spent days ago. Her calculations had been proven wrong ever since they reached the boundary of Ghost land. Advancing forward was visibly dangerous. Thus, they were delayed until properly making a plan.
Until then, they could only spy, like they do now.
Because ghosts were a unique type of monsters that were hard to encounter.
"Let's get going for now." Kyriaki stood up from her crouched position and stretched like a cat. The others followed her without any objections.
∆ ∆ ∆