"Where have you been?!" A salt white-haired man suddenly dashed towards Risa with a worried look.
Jason narrowed his eyes a bit as he recognized the man. His name was…
[ Brian. ] The system supplied as Jason nodded his head in acknowledgment.
Brian had been the guy who had invited the Syrward family to the Crystal ceremony and was also the person who managed to shut up Issac, an event Jason remembered clear as day.
[ Its a surprise how you don't remember his name yet still remember the interaction you had with him. ] The system amused as Jason shrugged in response.
'I only remember him because he managed to shut grandpa up. If we get some time to talk, I would ask him for some tips on how I can do that.' Jason replied as he examined Brian's appearance.
Compared to what he had seen in the past, Brian was dressed in a more casual manner. He looked ready to go on an exploration yet still managed to retain his noble aura.
'Wait, he is dressed the same as me…' Jason noticed that though Brian's clothes were slightly better in quality then the ones he had been wearing, they were initially the same thing.
Brian's coat was bright purple with a rose symbol drawn on the chest. A drop of blood, Jason presumed, was dripping down one of the petals of the rose.
"I have been here only, staying inside the carriage," Risa finally replied after taking her time to digest Brian's sudden appearance. "Nora, is also inside the…"
Risa turned around to point at the carriage when her mouth suddenly closed. Her eyes parted as she looked around with a wild expression.
"Carriage right there…" She finished her sentence before staring down at Jason with a shocked expression.
Jason reflected her expression as he had nothing to say.
'System, I wasn't hallucinating the entire time, right?' Jason asked in a confused tone as both him and Risa exchanged a look.
[ Even if you were hallucinating, I don't think that's the case for Risa as well. There is something else going on… ] The system replied as Brian finally spoke up.
"Both of you were inside the forest for 5 days," he spoke in a clear voice. "The ceremony will be starting tomorrow. Also, Issac is going crazy so its better that if we get out of here."
Brian then turned around before Jason could catch the expression on his face. He rose in the air slowly, surprising Jason as he realized that Brian could actually fly.
"You know what to do." Brian looked at Risa who nodded and placed her hand on Jason's shoulders before turning her gaze down at Alex.
Alex had been silent the entire time considering how he didn't have any say in the talk between Brian and Risa. However what bugged Jason was the fact that Alex didn't look the least bit surprised at the vanishing for the carriage.
"Brian, can you handle three people at once?" Risa suddenly asked as she too lifted in the air alongside the two children.
"Three?" Brian asked with a confused expression as his eyes moved over Jason and Risa. "There are only the two of you here though."
Risa inhaled sharply as her grip of Alex's shoulder tightened a bit.
"I guess I am just really tired and confused after all that happened." Risa sighed as she pointed the finger at Brian and then towards herself and Jason.
Brian thought that she had referred to the three of them as a group and nodded considerably. He turned his head towards the north and started flying with the duo there.
Risa on the other hand raised her right hand's index finger to her lips. Jason understood that she wanted him to remain quiet as he nodded in acknowledgment.
The system was reviewing everything that had happened from the moment Jason had woken up so he had a lot of free time while they were flying.
He spent some time staring at Alex while trying to figure out who he was. He gave up a few minutes later, realizing that Alex was more focused on the scenery beneath them and didn't even look at Jason.
[ Host, look forward… ]
Jason's eyes turned forward before parting suddenly. His mouth was left hanging open as he saw a huge square shaped building in the distance.
The building was at least 400 meters high and covered a distance the size of ten football fields from Earth. This enormously large structure looked as though it was capable of housing at least a million people.
This was a rough estimate Jason had thought off by looking at the building from afar but the truth would only be revealed when he would get closer to the building.
"That's the place where the ceremony will take place," Risa smiled while noticing the expression of awe and shock on Jason's face. "Its much bigger from the inside."
Jason gulped nervously as he tried to imagine the crowd that would be present inside the massive structure. He had known that the event would be huge considering it was held all around the kingdom.
But Jason had underestimated it to quite an extent.
[ You have crowd phobia? ] The system asked curiously as Jason rolled his eyes.
'I used to be super nervous even while giving presentations in front of my class. Such a thing is going to kill me…
[ Introverts… ] The system almost sounded disappointed but Jason no longer paid it any attention.
Brian was increasing their flying speed with a constant velocity and the capital was getting closer.
Jason could soon see that the capital too was surrounded by walls but they were much different than those in the last city they had stopped in.
They were enormous and half the size of the massive structure though they too were made from stone, one of a much higher quality with strange symbols carved all over them.
"Are those protection runes or something like that?" Jason asked aloud as he looked at the carved symbols more closely, trying to find one that he could recognize.
"You can consider them protection runes but they are much more complicated. These runes were carved on this wall thousands of years ago and over the ages, many changes have been made to them. They are the oldest structure of the capital."
Instead or Risa, Brian explained about the walls to Jason. The latter seemed satisfied before his eyes suddenly caught two symbols that he recognized.
'That's Theta symbol and that's Omega symbol.' Jason's eyes darted across the wall as they landed on the ground.
Two bright red hundred meter tall gates were present in the center of the wall. They looked like the gates to a mansion and the metal formed a weird pattern all around the gates.
Jason could easily see past the gates, making him wonder why they were there in the first place. They certainly didn't seem as though they could stop anyone from entering. Furthermore, they were open so they didn't seem to be serving any purpose.
A man and woman were also standing near the gates with a calm expression. They looked at Brian before raising their eyebrows.
"They are with me." Brian replied as he rushed inside the gates with Risa and Jason closely following him.
Alex on the other hand was seeing the walls with his jaw wide open. He was so awestruck that Risa had to push him forward which was extremely awkward.
The man and woman looked at the group with an interested look yet their gaze passed right through Alex.
He didn't exist for them or at least that's what it looked like.
"Grandma, what are we going to do?" Jason whispered as they passed through the gates and entered the public capital of the kingdom, Troyalias.
"Let's go see the rest of the family first. I will see what to do after that." Risa replied but before either of them could walk further, something crashed down at them.
Risa could only blink as she felt someone hugging her. Issac came into her vision the next second with his arms wrapped around her back.
He was tightly hugging Risa to his chest which made her cheeks get just a tidy bit red. This was due to the fact that they were standing at the entrance of the city and many were staring at them.
"Issac…" Risa coughed slightly as Issac finally pulled away before bending down and doing the same with Jason.
Jason didn't know what to do as he patted Issac's back slightly before his grandpa pulled away.
"I would have torn that forest down if Brian didn't show up with the two of you in the next hour." He spoke in a protective manner as Jason and Risa exchanged a look.
Both of them could tell that Issac wasn't joking. Fortunately, they had returned before Issac could have launched himself towards the forest and torn it down.
"We had no idea that we were missing though," Risa pointed out before looking down at her left side. "But first of all, can you see this child?"