Chapter 84. Aethelgard City - 1
Chapter 84. Aethelgard City - 1
"Go down," the bald man ordered the kids who stepped out of the cabin while he himself got off the boat first.
Hearing him, Orion and the other kids walked down the boat and landed on the land before them.
A moment later, the round man and the armored woman also got off the boat and came to their sides.
"Let's go," the lady ordered the baldie and the other guy as she led the way to the gate in the distance.
"Follow us," the bald man said to the kids.
Orion and the other kids could do nothing, so following them was their only option.
"Let's go," Orion said to Famir and Ryfin as he followed the bald man.
***
After a moment of walking, they finally arrived before the gate.
Orion observed the gate and saw that it appeared to be just a normal metal door. There was nothing special about it.
At that moment, the lady took out a rectangular piece of purple paper the size of her palm and stacked it against the gate.
Almost instantly, the purple paper shone with a brilliant purple light, causing everyone standing before the gate to close their eyes for a moment before everything returned to normal.
However, Orion noticed that the purple paper she stacked on the gate was gone. He didn't know whether she had taken it back or if it had just disappeared.
He then saw that the lady lightly pushed the gate, and it opened without much difficulty.
As the gate opened, everyone entered through the gate before it was automatically closed.
***
As Orion and the other kids stepped through the gate, they found themselves standing in the middle of a city.
The buildings here, however, were packed closely together, with some even stacked atop one another. This was entirely different from the orderly layout he had seen outside the gate, where each building and structure was spaced apart, suggesting careful planning. In contrast, this place appeared hastily constructed, with little thought given to its organization. Orion could tell that the chaotic arrangement was a result of rushed development.
The city was just like the ones they saw outside the gate; however, unlike last time, it was bustling with people of all ages.
The buildings here, however, were packed closely together, with some even stacked atop one another. This was entirely different from the orderly layout he had seen outside the gate, where each building and structure was spaced apart, suggesting careful planning. In contrast, this place appeared hastily constructed, with little thought given to its organization. Orion could tell that the chaotic arrangement was a result of rushed development.
As Orion looked around the surroundings, he could notice that the people walking down the streets or standing around them all looked at the ones responsible for bringing them here with hatred in their eyes.
"Leave them here and follow me to General Dray's quarter," she said to the bald man and the middle-aged man who brought the kids here before turning her attention to the kids. "This is your home now, and before I leave, I will give you kids a piece of advice—don't trust anyone here." She said this to them before she started walking in a certain direction along with the round man.
The other two men followed behind the round man and the armored lady. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Orion and the other kids just stood there, watching their backs as they disappeared from their view.
"What should we do?"
"I don't know. Maybe ask the people here."
"Why are we here, by the way? What's their purpose for bringing us here?"
"Hey guys, did you notice we can use your mana and talents now? We can use our powers now!"
The group of kids started talking among themselves as they stood there, not knowing what to do, when a kid shouted, saying they could use their talents once again.
Hearing him, everyone hastily tried to use their talents and was pleasantly surprised to sense that they could use their powers now. They had felt hopeless when they lost connection to their mana and their talents earlier, but now that the bracelet was still on them, they could still use their powers for some reason.
'That's very odd. They blocked our powers outside the gates but not inside.'
Orion couldn't understand why they had planned to do something like that, but he felt that things would be much easier if all of them could use their powers.
"Hello everyone!"
At that moment, a very loud voice sounded from their sides when they saw that a boy and a girl of about eighteen and sixteen years walked towards them, respectively.
The boy walked with a smile on his face. He had neatly combed black hair and a handsome appearance, with a perfect jawline and a face that seemed to always radiate warmth.
Beside him walked a girl with long black hair who appeared much younger than the boy. However, her face left Orion uncertain about how to feel. It was riddled with scars, giving her a menacing and disturbing appearance.
As they neared them, the boy introduced themselves.
"Hello, I am Vance," he said, smiling, and then pointed out the girl beside him. "She is Elyn."
Orion was about to say something to them when a guy in his group took his chance.
"I am Victor," he said, looking at the other two with vigilance. "What is this place?"
Orion saw that Victor appeared to be one of those kids who appeared calm while the boat was sinking in the whirlpool earlier, but now it appeared he didn't know about this place.
'It seems he only knew about the city outside the gate but had no idea about this place whatsoever.'
He thought as he observed Victor, who appeared to be around sixteen years old. He had dark, golden hair tied in a ponytail and a very charming face. Victor wore a brown tunic paired with a blue half-coat that only reached his shoulders.
As Vance heard Victor's question, he smiled in response.
"Victor, it's nice to meet you," he said, extending his hand out.
Victor hesitated for a moment before he shook hands with Vance.
"Alright, before we discuss anything, let me take you guys to a place," he said to them.
"What place?" Orion interjected. He didn't want to follow a guy he just met in this suspicious place. Moreover, he still remembered what the armored lady had said to them when she left. She talked about not trusting anyone here, so he was just being careful about all of this.
"You are?" Vance turned to him when he heard him.
"I am Orion Darkwood," Orion introduced himself. He didn't know why he just couldn't bring himself to say his name without adding Darkwood. It was as though whenever he mentioned his name 'Orion', 'Darkwood' came along with it automatically. But he didn't care about this anyway since it didn't matter if he told someone his full name or just his first name.
"It's nice to meet you, Orion," Vance said, smiling as he extended his hand in greeting.
Seeing that, Orion helplessly shook his hands with him. He felt that Vance was way too happy for some reason, as he kept smiling regardless of the situation.
"About what you asked," Vance said, looking at him. "The area we are going to is the place you guys will need the most living here."
"Just tell us already," Orion frowned as he asked him to reveal it.
"Alright, alright," Vance sighed, looking at him. "It's not fun at all knowing everything beforehand, but I will tell you since you are so suspicious about it. It's a place where you will live here... for the rest of your lives."