As the sun set and the light from the high-hanging moon weakly illuminated the ground.
In the center of a procession stretching for hundreds, a campfire rose.
Surrounding the rising campfire, here and there, flames were lit close together.
The faces of those seated around it carried deep despair and resignation.
Despite being armed, having food, a place to sleep, and being with family.
Forever exiled from their homeland, they gazed at the fire with gloomy expressions.
As if by staring at the brightly burning flames, some of that gloom might lift.
When two figures’ shadows overlapped over the flickering shadows, they remained silent, still as death.
Plod, plod, plod.
At the approaching sound, one stood startled and aimed a mace, its heavy metal gleaming in the dark.
“Halt! Who goes there!”
Amidst the silence of hundreds, the shout rang loud. Across the vast plain, the echo did not fade.
Thus, the approaching figure naturally stopped and raised both hands.
Conveniently, this was an act of surrender commonly used in Geladridion.
As the aimed mace wavered slightly, someone from beyond the darkness slowly stepped into the light.
“I’m just a passing mercenary. I’m looking for work…”
Embarrassingly, the man smiled kindly as he walked out.
By his side stood a woman.
Their appearance was unmistakably that of mercenaries.
The woman carried a heavy axe on her back, and the man wore under his cloak a well-made, though old-looking black armor.
Their names were Aslan and Ereta.
“Mercenaries…?”
The armed man, rightly called a soldier, stared intently at Ereta and Aslan upon hearing the word “mercenary.”
The suspicion in his gaze wasn’t particularly strong.
But it didn’t fade due to their first impression either.
“Why so serious, Ed?”
Another soldier, presumably Ed’s companion, approached and asked.
Ed, who had been momentarily aiming the mace while pondering, turned his head abruptly.
“It’s nothing! Just a passing mercenary!”
The other soldier retreated without any reaction to these words.
Seeing this, Aslan spoke up naturally.
“We’ll just warm ourselves by your fire and then leave. We won’t cause any trouble…”
And if it gets dangerous, we’ll even hand over our weapons temporarily.
With a friendly smile, Aslan added this, causing the soldier to glare briefly before twisting his lips.
It was tinged with self-mockery.
“There’s no need. We don’t have anything worth stealing anyway.”
The soldier’s expression was pitiful.
That pitifulness wasn’t just the soldier’s.
Everyone looked pitiful.
They weren’t born this way, surely.
Aslan saw this and thought as much when the soldier lowered his mace, allowing them to sit wherever they pleased.
“Thank you.”
The soldier didn’t respond. Aslan reluctantly retracted his kind smile, swallowed his discomfort, and sat by the fire.
And as soon as he sat by the fire, what caught his eye was a certain wooden insignia burning within the campfire.
An insignia made of fish, circles, and dragon patterns.
It was the symbol of the Pervere Kingdom.
Lifting his eyes further, he saw the same insignia engraved on armor scattered throughout the refugee convoy.
The insignias on shields, weapons, and armors alike.
Through these, Aslan realized these people were refugees from the Pervere Kingdom.
‘This is the right place.’
Aslan thought this as he looked at these refugees.
It had only been two days since Aslan and Ereta began their journey.
Immediately after asking Ereta for help, Aslan inquired about the surrounding situation and recent news.
Fortunately, Ereta knew various pieces of information and shared all of it freely with Aslan.
Among the noteworthy information was news about the Pervere Kingdom.
The kingdom, which had already fallen, experienced another upheaval among the few survivors who remained.
Something had fallen onto the land that once belonged to the Pervere Kingdom.
Additionally, Angie and the empire’s army moved toward the territory where the empire bordered the Pervere Kingdom.
Aslan believed all these events were interconnected.
He also realized that the fastest way to join the traveling party was to head towards the imperial territory bordering the Pervere Kingdom.
This was why Aslan was now in the desolate wilderness heading towards the Pervere Kingdom.
Aslan’s intention was simple.
To obtain immediate information about the enemy from these people.
And then prepare while joining the traveling party.
Even though they didn’t need the fire, they joined it for this reason.
As Aslan recalled this while sitting near a kingdom soldier, he looked at the soldier’s family who were watching him.
Though the suspicion in their gazes was thick, there was no sense of imminent danger.
It must be because they really had nothing to steal, and he mentioned that fact aloud.
“Did you say you’re looking for work?”
Likewise, the soldier named Ed spoke to Aslan quite casually.
A faint bitterness tinged his voice. When Aslan looked puzzled, the soldier lowered his lips and said,
“If you’re looking for work, avoid the Pervere Kingdom entirely.”
“Why?”
Upon Ereta’s question, the soldier glanced at the woman and sighed.
Is it something difficult to talk about? The soldier fiddled silently with the mace, then began,
“Do you know that the Veil of Mercy destroyed the Pervere Kingdom?”
To Aslan, it was familiar information.
“Is there anyone in this southern continent who doesn’t know that?”
The incident the soldier mentioned happened four years ago.
An event that caused the once powerful Pervere Kingdom to fall overnight.
Four years ago, on a certain day, six renowned priests of the Veil of Mercy gathered in the capital of the Pervere Kingdom.
Their purpose and intent were unknown, but what they did was clear.
Gathering together, they simultaneously sacrificed their lives to their deity, and the Veil of Mercy appeared in the capital of the Pervere Kingdom.
The moment it revealed itself, the Veil trampled the kingdom.
With just a step, the once mighty kingdom fell.
All that remains now are the refugees who escaped its destruction and the fallen nobility.
Now, it was an old story. No one would choose exile over this anymore.
As Aslan gestured for the soldier to continue, the soldier sighed.
“Recently, something fell into the frozen sea. And… from the dead sea that no one could cross, something began to crawl out.”
The soldier, vividly recalling it, closed his eyes and spoke.
“There were countless monsters. They resembled specters made of black liquid. Despite trying to rebuild for four years, everything crumbled in an instant.”
The soldier laughed bitterly. After a brief pause, shaking off the memory, he looked at Aslan and continued,
“We are coming from there. Those damn monsters forced us to abandon our hometowns.”
It was a story Aslan hadn’t heard from Ereta.
Yet, it wasn’t hard to guess.
The description of specters made of black liquid was very familiar.
Just like the monsters Lewena often mentioned, these specters bore the characteristics of the Abyss.
Perplexed, Aslan inadvertently showed his confusion, prompting the soldier to advise,
“You two seem confident in your skills judging by how you travel alone… But even if you are skilled, it’s best to avoid that place.”
“Ahh, thank you.”
Aslan felt bewildered.
He couldn’t grasp what was happening.
The possibility of the Abyss being involved was almost none.
After all, the Abyss’s stronghold was in Liam’s fortress of Budonggong.
A fortress that was inside-out, defending against the monsters emanating from the Abyss, located at the heart of Liam.
Simultaneously, the Abyss was the only evil deity existing inside, rather than outside, Geladridion.
Upon deeper reflection, there were more than a few suspicious points.
Firstly, their appearance.
Their appearance was pitiable and wretched.
Even from just observing the soldier who had finished giving advice and now tightly shut his mouth while lowering his head, it was evident.
Those who didn’t flee immediately after the disaster occurred four years ago were those who couldn’t escape.
People who lacked wealth, power, or titles.
Such individuals had no reason to flee now.
That these people were fleeing and were now before Aslan meant a lot.
Something was happening, and beneath it lay a crisis significant enough to make even those who had tenaciously held on for four years choose exile.
“Ed! Come take a look for a moment!”
“…Ah, I’ll be right there.”
Once the soldier who was conversing with Aslan left the campfire, only Aslan and Ereta remained by it.
Since everyone else was wary of newcomers, no one sat near Aslan and Ereta.
Aslan sat quietly with Ereta, gazing at the campfire and contemplating.
He couldn’t just sit here.
Whatever was happening, he needed to act now.
Rest could be substituted with meditation later.
As Aslan thought this and prepared to rise,
“Aslan.”
Ereta firmly pulled Aslan back down by his arm.
Looking up at him with an expression clearly dissatisfied,
“Take a break while we do this.”
As if she fully understood what Aslan was thinking.
“You’ve only been revived for such a short time. Are you planning to make me cry again?”
“Well, that’s…”
While Aslan hadn’t intended to do that, it was true he hadn’t considered Ereta’s feelings.
Therefore, Aslan had nothing to say, and Ereta had a valid reason.
The reason being concern for Aslan’s health and safety.
So, Aslan couldn’t stop Ereta from pulling out a blanket.
“Even if we move quickly now, we won’t catch up to Angie or others any faster. It won’t dramatically change anything; instead, we’ll just exhaust ourselves.”
Ereta wrapped the blanket around herself and Aslan while saying this. It was an irrefutable argument.
“To top it off, it’s late, and the night is deep. If we rashly get up and leave, we’ll just appear suspicious.”
Saying this, Ereta embraced Aslan.
She leaned her shoulder against Aslan’s and rested her head on his shoulder.
Wrapping her arms around his waist to prevent him from escaping, she tickled his neck with her breath and rubbed her cheek against his.
“Let’s sleep deeply and leave in the morning.”
For the pre-revival Aslan, this series of actions would have been an easy restraint to break free from.
The pre-revival Aslan had relatively dull sensory organs.
But that wasn’t the case now.
Aslan was vividly aware of every sensation.
He felt the warm body heat pressing against his own through the rustling fabric.
He smelled the cozy scent of her hair as it swayed.
And he saw the gentle expression directed at him, tinged with what seemed like maternal affection.
All of this was an unbreakable bond for the current Aslan.
The fortunate part was that it wasn’t unpleasant.
“So, let’s do that.”
Hence, Aslan ultimately agreed with Ereta’s suggestion.
