Chapter 22: The Cursed Children & The Eternal Wanderer

In the capital city of a kingdom in the center of the continent. A nation named after a beautiful flower, a city which bears the meaning of calm and peace. And yet, it was the center of all undesirable eyes.

In this city named Serene, beings of power lurk within, hidden from the eyes of many. Beings that no ordinary creatures could hope to overpower, nor defeat. One of these powerful beings was a man. Young and handsome.

In an alley, this young man with long bronze hair was wandering around. His golden eyes looking at something. His smile was beaming with amusement. Why was it? Well, it was because of the bottle of liquor in his hand.

He nonchalantly looked at the bottle of wine.

“This is an expensive wine, I hope it's worth the time.”

Well, not that his time was strictly limited.

He only arrived in the city more than a day ago, and he did take a leisurely time going around the city. It had been a while since he was here. More than a decade ago when he heard of something interesting and kind of a big deal for him.

He looked around the alley he was walking in.

“Hm, it changed a little.”

The reason he scoured around the city was that he wanted to see what changed. Even little ones were interesting. As a being such as himself, he appreciated even tiny things that he deemed interesting.

He gazed at the bottle in his hand once again.

“... Fine, just a little sip.”

He was not slacking off amidst his task, just experiencing little things. And a bottle of liquor was one of those little things to enjoy. He opened the cork of the bottle and drank a small amount of its content.

“Hm, not bad.”

As he expected, the wine was good. Wisteria was one of those who made good quality wine after all.

“... It never disappoints. Hm, that aside, there sure are a lot of bothersome guys around here.”

Despite him appearing to be fooling around, he was taking in a lot about what was going on in the city. He had to be extra careful, and had to hide his presence to not be discovered.

“The princess is going to have her hands full.”

The Princess of Wisteria, Estelia. Her hair of platinum was blindingly dazzling, and hypnotizing crimson eyes. He had only started observing her recently. Although, he found nothing worth noting for, especially knowing the prophecy.

It’s starting to make me think that it was fake.

But of course it was not, it was absolutely genuine. But he was still a bit confused about it. Maybe things turned out this way because the gods were in disarray. Or perhaps there were other factors at play.

That aside, as he thought of the order of the gods falling apart, he cheered for the Observer in his heart. He was never on the side of the gods anyway. That was why he felt elated to hear that the Neverending Observer was rebelling against them.

But the Observer was alone, so there was a high chance he would fail and fall from grace. But if he succeeds, then good luck to the world then.

He drank a little from the bottle again.

Alright, the princess is out in the city.

Quite risky, very in fact. But of course she didn’t know that very risk. He could easily imagine what factions were around in the city.

The Mystic Race. Then the Cursed Children.

Those two were the first for the time being, but there would surely be others that would join late.

Well, I may be the third faction.

The Mythics.

He may be alone, but he believed he alone would be enough to be able to call himself another faction. Well, for now he was just watching.

“Whatever… At least this wine right here is good. I can relax for a bit…” He furrowed his brows. “Or not.”

He sighed as he sensed a few presence surrounding him.

They’re fast, as I expected.

He was already completely outnumbered and surrounded, and the other party were no normal beings. However, he didn’t feel threatened, he was nonchalant as always.

Then, amidst the shadowy shades of the buildings surrounding him, several figures came into view. Humans, perfectly human in appearance. Men and Women, young and middle aged. However, they were not entirely human which betrayed their completely human outer appearance.

A man around his early twenties showed himself in front of him.

“Eternal Wanderer, why have you come here?”

The man had black hair and amber eyes. The others also have the same black hair and amber eyes.

The Eternal Wanderer raised both his hands, showing he was not intending to fight. The beings before him were serious after all, they were showing their hostility openly.

And here I thought we had an amicable relationship.

“Why can’t I be here?” The Wanderer said.

The man in front of him glared at him.

“Your presence alone is something to be cautious about. So, answer me, why are you here?”

He smiled as he looked at a dark corner by one of the alleys.

“Well, as you can see… I am merely… wandering, obviously. What else could I be doing here?”

The man narrowed his eyes.

“This isn’t the time to be joking around.”

The Wanderer was amused to see them so agitated.

“Why do you have to be so cold towards me?”

“You know that reason why.”

Of course he knew. In addition, how serious these people were, he anticipated that they would show themself to him eventually. After all, these guys have more eyes here than the Mystic race.

“Ah, yes I do,” he smirked. “The only Salvation of the Cursed Children. That is the reason why you are here.”

“Then you being here is no mere coincidence.”

“But what if it is? I mean, I always go around places, so it’s certain that I would end up here, at this place, at some point.”

“As if.”

He scoffed, he didn’t believe him at all, despite looking all honest.

“Come now young man, you were not that hostile to me in the past… What’s your name again?”

He only met this person for a short while, so he had forgotten his name since he wasn’t all that important at the time.

“I don’t need to answer that. Now, why are you truly here? Have you come to intervene?”

“What? No,of course not.”

The man gritted his teeth as he spoke in a threatening manner.

“This is not your battle, Wanderer.”

“You’re right. I’m just here to drink the wine I just bought.”

The man walked closer to him as he kept his sharp glaring eyes at him.

“Just as the Princess survived from the absolute prophecy, you came here. There must be a reason.”

The Wanderer smiled, as though reminded of something.

“Ah yes! I should congratulate you on that. Good for you! And if I do have a reason to be here, it is surely not to intervene with you, or the Mystic Race.”

“Really now? Hah! As if I will take your word for it,” his eyes glowed as he threatened the Wanderer. “If you even dare try to harm her, we will hunt you down.”

The Wanderer chuckled in amusement.

“Really now? What will you do? Kill me? That wouldn’t work, nor will it ever will. And, if my goal here was to slay the Princess, I would have done so already,” the Wander’s power began to emanate just a little. A presence and aura that could drive away mild beasts and monsters due to fear.  “You wouldn’t have seen her, the hope you so cherished would have vanished from your grasps, you would have returned to your pitiful home, crying in agony and despair. Praying that your torment would end.”

“You bastard. If it comes to it, I will just destroy your entire being until there is nothing left of you.”

“Then better ask the gods for a blessing if you wish to do that.”

“Damn the gods!”

The man’s anger and irritation was evident from his voice and eyes.

The Wanderer sighed and turned towards a corner as his strong aura vanished.

“Old man, why don’t you come out already. I already know you’re there.”

There was indeed someone there.

“It seems I can’t trick your senses.”

A faint fog which camouflage with the shadows spoke and slowly formed into a man. He was around his late early forties, black hair and amber eyes.

“Nice try though,” the Wanderer casually said.

“But I should be the one calling you old man.”

“But I look way younger. Anyways, you don’t have to be so hostile towards me.”

“Perhaps. We may have been acquaintances in the far past, but we still have different goals. And as you said, this is our salvation, our one and only. We can’t tread everything lightly. I hope you understand, Taneva.”

“Of course I understand. But if I am planning to do something, I would have been acting on it, or have done it.”

Taneva turned to the young man in front of him. The man merely scoffed at him as he stepped back. The older man stepped a bit forward, but still kept a distance from Taneva.

“Not everything is as it appears.”

“True. However, I ask you, Heneis. If I were to fight either of your factions. Them and you. Which one do you think I would slaughter first?”

Taneva and Heneis stared at each other for a long moment.

Then Heneis nodded his head.

“Indeed. You are not a threat…for now. And, I couldn’t think what motives could the Mythics have to execute the Princess.”

“See?”

“We are going.”

The older man was about to leave when Taneva called out to him.

“Ah, before you go. May I suggest something?”

“What could you suggest?”

“Well, you wanted to keep the Princess safe, right? Then I suggest you do not keep her in the dark. If she had even the slightest idea what is going, or what she should be wary about, that could at least extend her life.”

“We are planning just that.”

“But not everything, I suppose? You need her for yourself, after all.”

Hell, she might even die in these people’s hands. Eventually, they will need her out of the palace and this kingdom, and have her for themselves.

“Taneva, that is our business alone, no need to poke your nose in.”

Heneis said threateningly. But Taneva merely shrugged it off.

“Fine fine.”

With that, all of them turned into black fogs as they ascended into the air and they became faint to the point that the human eye could barely see them.

Taneva looked at the bottle in his hand as he pondered. Then took in a small drink.

“It’s fortunate that I didn’t encounter them at night. That would be troublesome.”

He thought about the Princess. Taneva began to wonder why his old friend sent him to watch. There was no point to it. Maybe it was just him.

However, he found this situation interesting and so accepted his friend’s request. And he rarely questions what reason could his friend have for requesting things. No harm will come to him anyways.

Ultimately, he fully trusts that dragon friend of his.

But he didn’t know how everything would turn out.

“Good grief, the entire world feels like it’s on the move.”

He casually went onward.

At this rate, if I feel like it, I might end up helping the Princess in the future.

Tearing_Sanctuary

Oh? Who's gonna be Estelia's ally? Hehehe. Or, does she even have any allies at all?

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