~ Bonus Chapter ~
From village to village, Ruzen met many people, the blue carpet directing his trail, as at certain point some brave followers even started to follow his parade.
These brave souls were hesitant, but when the two helpers behind Ruzen told him about this change, Ruzen didn’t mind the forced company, rather, it made him feel very comfortable. So, to show his gratitude, he happily directed his helpers to let these people know he wouldn’t mind their intrusion.
He wasn’t a person magnanimous enough to receive such love from strangers, yet the thought of them following his lead filled him with a surge of emotion he couldn’t name.
Just how much would they care if something happened to him someday, he didn’t have an answer for that, but as depressing the prospect seemed, he knew it wasn’t written on stone. If he made his status known, and if he really impressed this crowd, there were chances he would be treated well even in future.
Ruzen was aware that he was beginning to feel greedy; it wasn’t an emotion he ever paid much attention to, neither did he ever remember being greedy. But currently, he couldn’t hide the voracious desire lingering in the depths of his soul.
He could ascertain that his wishes weren’t evil… any fully conscious being, if designed with emotions and a heart, eventually would start to feel desires and wants… so it wasn’t such a shameful development as Ruzen first acknowledged it.
If Ruzen worked for the people, may be, they would give him the warmth he seemed to be missing. His King was his; but no matter how strong their bond, people like Ruzen needed a safe community around themselves whether they wished for it or not. Now in a strange world, so far away from his previous life, Ruzen wished for the same monotonous reality that he might never receive again. Going to university, learning new things, watching his classmates chatter, rejecting social invites, chuckling at goofy bench mates, Ruzen would always miss it. His parents, the love they had for him, their concern and care, their protectiveness towards him… he hadn’t paid much attention to these little everyday details until it slipped away for eternity.
Feeling his eyes watering at the turn of thoughts, Ruzen blinked several times, he hadn’t cried yet, or he think he might have at some point, but all of that didn’t matter, he couldn’t dwell on what was lost and ruin his best day. He would smile and he would watch, he would keep this happiness he felt at the moment as a memory for later. So that he could remember what he wanted and what he came for.
The King chose this path for him, chained him to a fate that Ruzen couldn’t push away. Certainly, it was a pressuring reality, just opposite of what he wished for, however, Ruzen had already made his settlement with it, there was no need to hatch up the uncertainty again, he wanted to be free.
In front, another village, slightly larger than the previous ones, made an appearance in midst of a foggy valley. The day had dulled to evening, the sky shadowing to night, parting for a dusky hue glittering with lantern lights floating along the wind.
Symbols and meaningful wishes were written on each lantern, as they floated around the village, like fairy wisps and firelights.
The closer Ruzen got to the village the more he could notice the details. The people who stood to greet him were few, but they were all elderly, smiling and waving at him, their eyes holding the same twinkle that surrounded their village.
“Welcome to our humble village dear Keeper,” a wobbly but bold voice attentively spoke, “please proceed at ease, we hope this walk would be one of peace and prosperity.”
Ruzen greeted in return and walked with a smile on his face. The elderly were very kind to him, but he wondered where the younger populace was.
Still, he had no time to ask, and certainly not with a ‘being’ watching his every moment.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He crossed the village rather fast, despite the span, he had no resisting crowd, and his pace was stronger than before. The parade behind him were still loud, but their flutes were more pleasant, the drums were mellower and the war horns were less jarring. It seems like the onsetting night had its own melody.
Time passed and his walk led him to many more peaceful villages, both small and big. His marching parade seemed to have become bigger as more and more people joined him in. All of them local leaders, humble travelers and joyous adventurers.
Be it men or women, they followed him onwards through crevices of hills and borders of lakes, through the bridges on mountains and trails of forests. Whether cold, or warm, drizzling or dry, his followership kept increasing in number.
They didn’t stop to eat or drink, just kept pace with him. Those who got tired eventually, fell behind, but it never dwindled the crowd. It seems like they were very happy with him, worshiping him as if worshiping someone saintly.
Nightfall decided for his helpers that they could let Ruzen take a breather. And according to them a breather meant he was to stand on the trail and catch his breath. He couldn’t sit or sleep, couldn’t eat or drink, but could only stand still, letting his legs what little rest they could have.
“This ritual is too tough on the cursed one, remind me why they do this?” Ruzen was a little breathy by now, and knew he had only crossed one fifth of the trail. Then it meant this would go on for four more days before he could rest.
The helpers and Ruzen were a little further away from the crowd, and even the ‘beings’ weren’t recording at present, so Ruzen was bold enough to ask.
“We do not have opinion on this, however we believe that every Kept is not a King, so they mobilize and stay as near as they can to make things easier for their Keeper, but a certain distance needs to be kept to avoid disturbing the ritual. The ritual takes at most 2-3 days for most, but in your case, keeper, the Ghost king is not someone who can relocate at whim…”
Ruen blanched, “So it will take me 3-4 days.”
The helpers nodded. Not at all phased by the difficult expression Ruzen made.
“A person can survive without nourishment for a week if stable and still, but I have to keep walking, do you expect me to finish it at one go? I don’t even think I can-” Ruzen stopped, noticing a ‘being’ hovering closer and closer, the red eyes bright and intense again.
‘What?’ Ruzen glared at the ‘being’, ‘you want a scoop? News flash, I am not going to let you have it.’
The wind swept at him closely, ruffling his hair as he shivered involuntarily. And a cold feeling below his ear suddenly caught his attention.
That right! How could he forget? He had a dimensional earring and inside that dimension, there were 31 pouches of herb ash. If he took in the ash, wouldn’t it rejuvenate him?
Still, the idea was pulled under a damper when he realized his cheat might disrupt the ritual, and he didn’t want that to happen… or, he could just ask.
“Fellow brothers,” Ruzen whispered, catching the eye of the ‘being’ at the same time he did of his helpers. “What exactly is allowed and what isn’t, when it comes to eating.”
“You cannot ingest anything; eating is part of it.”
Oh well…
Knowing he couldn’t cheat anymore, Ruzen just decided to do what he had happened to believe in previously. He would just drag his body to the destination if he had to.
“Time is up, please start moving again.”
Ruzen nodded, “As you say.” He silently wondered how these helpers would keep following him until the end, and if the parade behind him would leave him after a certain time. “Just want to know, how do you both mean to follow me for five days? I haven’t seen you resting or even eating.”
The helpers looked at each other, a little surprised, but not entirely. “We practice Inedia, sustained by prana, it is a term not of this world, but follows the same universal order. You must be more knowledgeable of what we say.”
Ruzen… was.
He proceeded to walk but dared not halt as his marching parade followed suit. He was tangled. They knew about the term ‘Inedia’ and also ‘Prana’, something he had been forced to learn about when he participated in some collective group activity back then.
How did they know those terms, he hadn’t heard them in so long, he almost forgot that they were his previous world’s terminologies.
Does that mean, there is a connection, a knowledge of his previous world that he could learn about? Was it actually possible to travel back?
It was a bit unsettling, suddenly hearing something that gave him a hint of hope of knowing about worldly secrets. Those same secrets which may lead him back to his previous world… but could he really go back? And what about the King?
A little frustrated and thoughtful, Ruzen kept walking, he knew he wouldn’t just leave this world now that he had the King to think about. He had grown attached to the King in what time they spent together, and he had been planning to take their relationship further. He had already decided upon that… but he missed his parents as well, if he could meet them, even once, he would like to do it.
For now, he didn’t even know if these brothers knew of anything helpful that could be of use to him, so it was not good swaying with the flow… for now. He would discuss this with the King, when he has time, then he would decide what to do. Even if he couldn’t go back, he would like to understand what really happened to him.
The night was growing darker, if possible, as torches were flamed along with the music, in the silent night, his parade seemed a bit harsh, but it suited the situation, and Ruzen wasn’t complaining. He could hear whispers and talks of the people that had decided to follow him, and it relaxed him. He silently mulled over certain thoughts but his loudest part just wanted to meet the King again. The talk with these helpers made him a bit restless.
Should he ask them, if they could connect to different worlds? And if they could, what was he going to do?
No, no, he needed to first do what he came to do and then think about it. He wondered if his parents were doing well… were they mourning his loss? Did his entire existence got erased? It was hard to tell.
He was still thinking deeply when he heard a loud roar, and it wasn’t the howl of his parade beasts, it was more dangerous, much deeper and more threatening.
The red dots of the ‘beings’ focused on the sudden loudness, tracing the path ahead, as trees started to thicken and the ground got steeper, uphill.
“Defense!” Shouted a male voice from behind and the hooded ones surrounded Ruzen, being careful to not stop Ruzen’s walk.
Ruzen slowed his steps, but didn’t stop, as his helpers reminded him to keep walking.
And right then, a tall creature, with stick legs and pincers jumped in front of Ruzen. Its body was so big, Ruzen could only see a giant hard shell facing his eyes, with moving solid limbs protruding from it. It was hard to define what creature it was exactly, just that it was massive and a major threat.
“Attack!”
The hooded robes listened to the commands and each started to speak of spells of their own, their hand movement swift and easy on the eyes. But Ruzen wasn’t watching them, he was wondering if his legs could keep walking with how they trembled under the pressure of the aura this creature had. It was similar to the Skeletal beast that Ruzen had seen during the competition, but alarmingly, even more powerful.
Blasts and winding swirls of magic condensed around the creature, yet it only screamed and didn’t back away.
“This has never happened before. The King has weakened, he cannot uphold the barrier any longer it seems.” the soft murmur got lost in the roars and shouts, but Ruzen heard it easily, since the helper who said this was right behind him.
Ruzen gulped, he had known the King was not well, but the most astounding thing was that his barrier actually kept these creatures away, they were such powerful creatures… yet the barrier shielded the protected lands. He had known this, thought of this… but he realized the depth of it… now.
~~~
A/N – This chapter is powered by Ina, Ko-Fi supporter and Robot Butterflies. Thank you dears for you kind words and well wishes. Your words and support keep me going.
thanks for the chapter
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Obstacle! Keep walking toward the skeletal threat…okay…
hehe. thanka for commenting 💜
Nooo, don’t stop him on his way. punches the huge creature 😭 How dear someone disturb the happy parade. 😤
your comment is so cute. also punches
ahhhh! just keep walking!
thanks for the chapter <3
thanks for reading !!!
Did his entire existence got erased?
^ small typo in this sentence
Also 😮 I feel like someone is putting these creatures in the shield on purpose they’re not breaking in someone is letting them in!
👀 baby ruru trying to start a family with the king
That critter sounds so frightening! Thank you so much!!!!
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Thank you for the chapter!
I was just wondering how the path seemed too smooth to be true for Ruzen, and here we go with the attacks!
I wish Ruzen could use his power!
Mighty suspicious indeed. I agree with ‘I am hungry’; sure the king is sick, but this strong creature just happened land on Ruzen’s path? Who’s the stinky plotter? I spray you with Lysol! Feel the burn of disinfectant!