The journey towards the Forest of Labam was tranquil.
Before the journey, all the soldiers bid farewell to their families and friends. All of them are aware that they might not be able to go back.
The night came fast since they started the journey around the afternoon, so they prepared to camp outside to spend the night.
Kyrie and Ian started to notice the tense atmosphere also affecting them. Kyrie looked at Imogen riding her horse and saw that her expression was not that much different than her usual one when she is bored.
[She must be so used to this...]
The crackling sound of the firewood, the boiling sound from the kettle, the rustling fallen leaves on the ground, and the wild sounds of the outside were the sounds that reigned in a camp full of nervous people.
"Aaaaah! I can't take this any longer! I miss my wife! I miss my son! I miss my warm meals!" yells a soldier.
The sudden outburst of this soldier created a chain of sniffling. The tension finally reached its peak. Everyone was afraid, but now they all know that other people are feeling the same as themselves. They comforted each other and encouraged each other.
"Miss saintess, how are you so indifferent about this?" asked one of the soldiers who were too sad to remember how frightening Imogen can be when bothered.
Imogen glanced at Kyrie and signaling with her head telling him to do the bothersome job.
Kyrie sighs and thinks about it. Then he says, "There is no nobler love than the wish to protect those who mean a lot to us."
All the soldiers remained in silence for a long while, making Kyrie self-conscious of his words.
[Were my words too cheesy or unrelatable to this atmosphere?]
Then, the soldiers cheered and agreed with bursts of energy.
"Yeah! We were given the duty to protect those we love!"
"I will not let those demons pass unless on my dead body!!!!"
Ian gives Kyrie a soft smile while Imogen also had one on her face. Kyrie shyly laughs with embarrassment.
"Sir Rowan! Who knew you had such a way with words!!!" exclaimed one of the soldiers.
Ian chuckled and says, "I cannot agree more!"
---
With more conviction in the eyes of the soldiers, after two days, they finally reached the affected area from the first wave.
The king has already sent the mages to help repair faster the walls of the fortress in case of an unforeseen invasion happening again.
The sight was worrying because the town does not look anything more than just ruins and smoke.
Even as they were hours away from this town, they already encountered many people migrating away. They were people who have lost their livelihood in their land.
Walking through the town, Kyrie sees the streets were filled with rubble, injured people, and corpses. Despite how many people left the town, none of them helped to bury the bodies. Many were half dismantled, and others severed into pieces. The scene was gruesome, more than enough to make anyone's stomach turn.
Everyone looked at the scene with a pale and darkened expression. Of course, all except for Imogen. Those injured sitting on the street were either mourning for the loss of their loved ones and others numb with dim eyes like they have lost their soul.
Fearing that the sight might cause the soldiers to lose their moral, Kyrie looked around but was surprised to see that more determination filled them.
[I guess they have more the reason to protect.]
Kyrie looks at Ian with concerned eyes and remembers the conversation with Imogen when they were training.
Imogen says, "You are not doing any favors to Ian by shielding him all the time."
Kyrie frowns and says, "What do you mean by that, and why are you suddenly so interested in other people's affairs?"
Imogen scuffs, "Ian was much stronger in all my previous rounds than this one. He won't survive if you continue to act like this!"
[It's true. I know I prevented Ian from being banished to the front lines, which hindered him from the experience of fighting demons. However, how can I let him experience such things knowing how much he will suffer? But what Imogen said... is true.]
"Ian... Will you resent me for taking you to this place?" asks Kyrie.
Ian smiles and says with confidence, "No. I would hate not to be able to do anything."
[That's right. This sounds more like Ian.]
---
Although it is vital to defend against the horde of demons, their main objective is really something else.
They have to get into the forest and retrieve a relic that helps the demons to open a port from their land to the forest of Labam. In addition to that relics have essence, some relics would possess a kind of unique attribute.
The one that is currently being used within the forest has the attribute to connect specific locations. To stop the horde of demons invading into their kingdom, they have to get the relic from the demons' hands.
Therefore, for the next couple of days, the leaders of the mages and priests sought Imogen and Kyrie for the upcoming plan and strategies of battle.
Ian inclined more to help with the town, so he asked Kyrie to just explain to him when they meet during the afternoon.
After days of hard work with a team consisting of priests, mages, and soldiers, Ian was able to find resting places for the dead and do a lot of relief work. The town was in a much better condition despite still in ruin.
Many people that became strong enough after being healed left in groups towards other towns. Some, grateful for being saved but left alone in the world, decided to stay to help with the menial work.
Everything has worked except for one thing: an orphan that became attached entirely to Ian.
Ian approached the orphan because the kid was alone with no adults to rely on. At first, the kid would hide and run away, but after Ian's perseverance, the kid finally would stay at the refuge tents. However, the kid would only follow Ian and would run away if other adults would come close to him.
Although he will not be in the way when Ian is busying himself, the orphan would always follow Ian and keep him in sight.
The kid possessed matured eyes and would be understanding to almost everything except for leaving Ian's side. However, these characteristics were the ones that made Ian worry more for the child.
Thinking of his step-sister, normally, kids would throw tantrums or cry if something happens to them. However, this kid doesn't, so Ian would also be extra vigilant with the time to give food to the kid or else the kid would just not eat.
This also became partially the reason why Ian was not able to push the child away. Although some people offered to take him to the next town's orphanage, the kid will always be able to escape from them and go back to where he can see Ian. Kyrie also ran out of ideas on how to deal with this situation, so they both let the child stay with them.
Kyrie asks, "What is your name, little boy?"
The little boy stayed staring at Kyrie without replying. Ian also tried, but also just received the little boy's stare.
One of the priests that were in charge of taking care of the patients says, "I heard around that this little boy might be from the orphanage before the invasion since no one knows who he is. The families from this town are rather close because the town is so small, so the children from those families would naturally be recognized by others."
"Thank you for telling us," says Ian.
The priest nodded and left to busy himself again.
Kyrie is in a great mood since he saw how kind Ian was to the orphan. He is also slightly jealous of that kid because he was an orphan too.
He knew the hardships of living in a world where there were no parents by his side. The orphanages, despite being a place where the children who have heartbreaking stories gather, are also the cruelest places to belong in.
Kyrie also knows that the kid might not even have a proper name.
[Well, even if you have a name, they just call you as 'you' or 'kid']
"So, is it okay for us to just name him?" asks Kyrie.
The little boy nods enthusiastically at the suggestion. Even though the boy would not talk, he seems to understand words.
"What is a good name? Hmm... How about Nathan? We can call him Nate."
"It's a cute name!" says Kyrie while hugging Ian from behind.
Kyrie and Ian soon got into a conversation about what was discussed today with the leaders and Imogen.
Nate tries to go out sneakily from the tent, but gets called out by Kyrie, "Nate! It's getting late, don't run around too much. Come back as soon as you are done."
Nate smiles and nods. He goes out of the tent and encounters Imogen, but he ignores her and runs away. Imogen narrows her eyes in suspicion when she passed by the boy but then brushed it off. She turns around to go inside the tent where Kyrie and Ian are.
The little boy enters into a deserted area, unlike how Kyrie thought that the kid just needed to go to the washroom.
His body gets surrounded by blue light, and his figure suddenly turned into a young man. He has long black hair with some shades of blue.
His eyes curved into downward crescent moons that show a slyness and calculative nature. If Imogen and Kyrie were to see him in this appearance, they would know that this person has a nickname since his actual name is unknown.
People call him the Collector.