Chapter 16: Proceedings

  The ‘ssssss’ sound was now deafening, perhaps louder than thunder at the moment. Yet, as the moments passed it started to soften within Vendus’s and the lion cub’s ears.

  Looking at the reflections within the dagger fragments, the tall man with medium-length black hair had disappeared.

  It was unknown whether the entity that made those slithering sounds had lurked back deeper into the forest, or was now currently pursuing him.

  Whichever the case, Vendus deflated like a pierced balloon. The turbulent ride the previous encounter had taken him on, had all but depleted him mentally, and emotionally. Funny enough the lion cub next to him had recovered its facilities faster, and started to affectionately lick the boy’s face.

  Listlessly, Vendus turned his head to the creature, ‘...For better or worse, I guess we might as well stick together for a bit.’

  ‘If its pride comes…will it protect me and urge them to let me go?’

  Perhaps because Vendus was so out of it, he thought, ‘Maybe they’ll adopt me…’

  ‘The boy raised by lions.’

  ‘It’s like those novel stories in Raina’s study, where the hero was raised by wolves…’

  Vendus stopped putting a distance between himself and the creature, and finally acted on his repressed desires. The lion cub was caught unawares, when suddenly two arms snuggled its chubby frame into a coddling hug.

  ‘Soft! So soft!’ Vendus thought, as the cub started to struggle out from being smothered.

  Finding the strength to stand after an early version of puppy-therapy, he then continued to ponder on his next plan of action.

  …Witnessing whatever immense thing had slithered out from deeper inside the forest, made Vendus want to reassess his plans of immediately intruding the place.

  At the very least, he thought that maybe he should wait a while for the unknown, serpentine thing to leave…or, even make his way around it by traversing a few miles east or west.

  While pondering, the lion cub walked up and stood by his side. To Vendus, it almost felt as if the creature was posturing that it would come with him no matter what decision he chose.

  The young boy scratched the ears behind the back of its head, and tentatively walked away opposite of where the slithering sounds had originated from.

  This time the lion cub didn’t stay rooted to where he was, but walked side-by-side with his new family member. Although, the young lion cub did take a few glances backwards…thinking to himself that he and Vendus were abandoning a free meal.

  Beneath the afternoon sun, in between the borders where the forest started to become more fantastical, a boy and a lion cub disappeared together in the dense greenery.

  …

  With a bored and uninterested look, Ruby rummaged through another inconspicuous bush.

  ‘This is like— the thousandth bush I’ve looked at today.’ Not that she was counting.

  ‘...Or is this the same bush I searched through four hours ago?’

  Ruby sighed, ‘Can’t believe I’m wasting my talents away here.’

  ‘Maybe I really should have ran away to another country too.’

  ‘Get a new identity. Abandon the old, live a new life!’ The young lady fantasized. Although her hands and eyes lazily moved through the bush, her mind was elsewhere.

  That was, until a particular part of the bush shook.

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  Instantly her focus returned from out of her daydreams, and into her body. Boldly yet on alert, her hands lunged into some dense foliage, and parted them.

  What revealed themselves to her turned out to be two creatures: A rabbit, and a red-furred hare.

  Obviously startled, they frantically scurried away, and Ruby’s expression returned to the same bored and uninterested look.

  ‘Couldn’t it at least have been a snake? That way it would have been more interesting.’

  ‘If I don’t slice it in half, maybe its venom will relieve me of my boredom!’

  “Ugh!” She groaned.

  Ruby left her area of search, then walked off to another area.

  “Hey, so did you guys find anything…” Ruby’s words trailed off, getting softer and softer, before disappearing into silence in the wind.

  As soon as she approached and spoke to the other soldiers in her company, everyone else dispersed and started to walk off.

  She was somewhat surprised, but not bothered. So unbothered in fact, that she decided to ask another group of people just a few meters away.

  “Hey…”

  Again, they pretended as they didn’t hear her and scattered away.

  One of the soldiers with a more gentle and compassionate demeanor glanced backwards as she left. Laelin, was one of the few individuals to give the noble lady at least a perfunctory response whenever Ruby asked.

  Not everyone’s relationship with the noble lady was hostile or tense. There were some able to exchange words with her, although they couldn’t quite be called friends or acquaintances. Maybe only Sera had that privilege.

  This time around however, the rumors about her Ladyship had reached those people too. In addition, the groups and people all around them, were calling everyone else to ignore, shun, and oust the noble lady from their circles.

  Maybe a single soldier couldn’t denounce her, but if thousands of them were to express their discontent, or even outrage, then maybe they’d be able to drive her out. If not from the military, then to at least another battalion, or even transfer her to another division.

  Still though…Laelin couldn’t help but feel bad for it. Entire groups of ten to twenty people dispersed whenever she came close, and all that was left, was Ruby’s lone figure amongst an empty clearing.

  Having gone through a similar experience, Laelin clumsily spied on her from a distance, when suddenly she felt someone tap on her shoulder. She jolted, almost losing her balance, before turning her head.

  “What are you doing?” Asked another soldier.

  But before Laelin could respond, Eve looked in the direction of her gaze.

  Although vaguely obscured by the many trees and greenery, she caught sight of a distant figure. Hair blowing in the wind, her back stood straight despite the cold treatment she was being given by everyone else around her.

  From their particular angle, it was hard to see the expression on the noble young woman’s face, but as a popular topic of conversation, people liked to imagine. Laelin imagined a face full of sorrow behind a strong exterior, while Eve imagined someone desperately trying not to throw a tantrum, from how she was being treated by her “lessers.”

  “Hmph. Don’t bother.” She said.

  “Wh– What?” Laelin replied softly. Her voice was delicate and subdued, it was as if a gentle breeze could scatter it into nothingness.

  “I know you. You pity her, don’t you?”

  “She’s not worth that, trust me.”

  “I remember when she first came here, and she sure hasn’t changed. Missy’s always had her head raised so high it was touching the clouds. No wonder she doesn’t even see us as people.”

  “But…”

  “No ‘buts,’ we’re going on ahead.”

  Eve kept on walking, but she couldn’t help herself from glancing backwards, to see Laelin hesitating. The soft-spoken girl had taken a step towards her friend, but the next step was faltering between Eve and another different direction.

  Laelin clenched her fists, but the way it looked on her was more adorably pouty, than serious or severe.

  Looking at the helpless girl, Eve sighed, “Come on, otherwise you might get lumped in with her. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

  “Think about it.”

  Taken aback, Laelin’s face contorted into an expression of guilt and sorrow, before hurrying her footsteps to follow after the group.

  Without glancing back, the last two soldiers left the area, leaving Ruby separated, and discarded from her battalion.

  Time passed as the blue skies turned orange and red.

  There were those who searched the area diligently, and those who simply went through the motions. Whether they exhausted themselves or breezed by though, the end result was the same. Finding nothing, again, they prepared themselves to head back to camp to switch out shifts.

  “Head check!” Battalion leader Gareth, shouted.

  A series of identification numbers and names were shouted out in an ordered sequence. The particular battalion was composed of five-hundred members, split into ten platoons of fifty each.

  As the attendance came to a close, they counted everyone but one missing member. Jeers, scorn, and insults were easily thrown around in her name, “She disappears while we do all the work, and then she calls us useless, huh?”

  “Typical. I heard the House she was born into was one that recently bought their nobility.”

  “All money and no actual class? Ptui! High-bred but still just a bitch.”

  And those who didn’t have an opinion, or were even sympathetic towards Ruby, stayed silent. No one wanted to disturb or go against the trend, and for good reason.

  As they left without even trying to find her, Eve started to laugh at their lame jokes, before glancing behind her at her downcast friend.

  Or who should have been behind her.

  ‘Shit. Where the hell is she?’

  ‘She was here just a second ago— Even if she can’t shout, I remember her voice being audible enough for us to hear.’

  ‘Don’t tell me she went to go and find her Ladyship…’

  Eve quickly alerted the battalion, yet, out of the ten platoons, only her own decided to stay and look, and that number went down as more than half desired to go back to camp.

  “She’s probably just a little lost isn’t she?”

  “It’s not a big deal, Eve, how far could she be from us?”

  “It’s such a hassle. We’ve been looking for some kid the whole week, now that shy girl is lost?”

  Faced with their excuses and complaints, Eve decided to swallow her furiousness, and put that energy into finding the soft-spoken girl.

  As she saw the battalion walk away with many of the members of her platoon coming with them, she couldn’t help but think, ‘So much for community and fellowship…’

  ‘...But I guess…’

  Eve shot a glance at the few companions who decided to stay and look for Laelin. They numbered less than ten, but had already spread out in different directions to look for the gentle girl.

  ‘These guys…are maybe people I can depend on.’