The rest of the villagers in the entire group obeyed Hakan's command as they were starting to see the series of plateaus off in the distance.
This indicated that they were near their home, the Taniko Village.
The Taniko Village peacefully existed within Mount Trinity for an untold number of years despite all the conflicts between Hayden Kingdom and Greenwich Kingdom in the past. Through a series of fortunate events, they had not been swept up by the political and military affairs between these two kingdoms, which allowed them to continue to exist to this day. The last decade or so marked an important time in which these two kingdoms have not actually fought against each other for the territory within Mount Trinity…
It was unknown how long this ceasefire would last…
…
Noctis was still walking right beside Mika as the both of them had long become silent, but the atmosphere between them had strangely become that of warmth and partially that of intimacy.
If the other villagers would have seen this, then they would've definitely become quite shocked to see the charming and entranced state of Mika, but they luckily didn't, since their eyes were more occupied to the sight ahead of them.
Noctis moved his eyes towards the front and was able to see something several meters away from him that momentarily caught his attention.
He noticed a line of tall brick walls that extended as far as he could see, but his main focus was towards an imposing silhouette figure that stood right in front of what seemed like an iron gate.
Behind this figure, were the plateaus that he had already seen back when he had just left the Animo Shrine and was at the viewing platform.
As soon as they got closer, Noctis was able to see this mysterious figure more clearly. It was a man that was as tall as Hakan, but was more muscular and had an overall striking aura due to his appearance!
At first sight, one would notice that his upper body was mostly exposed, but he still wore a large fur vest that complemented the rest of his robes, as well as a unique looking headpiece.
The front of this headpiece had an engraved notable symbol of a majestic flame filled with minuscule designs on it. Whereas the sides of the headpiece, had two sharp fangs that served as horns and were protruding outwards, along with different colored feathers that were sticking out of the back in an assembled manner.
Noctis identified this burly man as the village chief that Hakan had mentioned a few times before. He thought to himself that this man he was closely observing was certainly different than what he imagined him to be like, especially after what Mika had said earlier regarding her father.
Noctis couldn't help but turn towards Mika and ask in a doubtful tone while he slightly creased his forehead,
"Is that really your father?"
"Yes… although he looks quite scary and intimidating at first, he is actually very kind and considerate. My father… he should treat you very well since you were the one that saved us."
Mika looked onwards and quickly replied as she spared no effort to reveal her father's true behavior, in order to not let Noctis get a bad impression of him. This was not only deliberate, but because she also highly respected her father and appreciated all the things he had done for her and for the entire village.
Mika gave out a beautiful smile while her eyes revealed a faint light that indicated admiration and pride.
Noctis clearly noticed this, but didn't comment on it. He had only one thing in his mind, which is that he would've never be able to connect this pair of father and daughter together since their appearances were way too different!
He couldn't find a hint of resemblance between their faces at all!
Mika's face was similar to that of a pure and innocent angel with fine symmetrical features that indicated her youthful and adolescent complexion, which had yet to even blossom to the elegant phases of a mature woman. One look at her would indicate benevolence and feelings of affection, but this enormously changed in comparison to her father's face. This is because it was quite rough, and looked more similarly to that of a refined warrior after experiencing countless of struggles in the battlefield!
The difference was also evident regarding their physical bodies since Mika's body figure was slender and delicate, whereas her father was the complete opposite…
Noctis remained initially confused about this matter, until he realized that the only reasonable explanation was due to Mika's mother. Her mother must've been naturally beautiful and slim as well, which explains why Mika's current appearance is because of inheriting most, if not all of her mother's physical traits.
He didn't forget about Mika's little brother, Moki, and assumed that he was still too young for there to be any notable differences with his father. He casually glanced at the small boy, who had been silent all this time and was also walking besides Mika, and noticed that he looked at him in return with a rather curious gaze. Noctis lightly smiled as he couldn't imagine what this quiet little boy would be like in the future if he did have the same appearance as his father...
...
Some moments passed and the large group of villagers finally returned back home to Taniko Village. Hakan led the villagers to pull up in front of the village chief, before they all said in unison,
"Greetings, Village Chief Talon!"
Hakan walked forward and soon enough, he had stood right in front of the village chief, who was also his blood brother, as he put on a faint smile on his face.
"Welcome back, Brother Hakan."
Village Chief Talon spoke in a short and simple way while he retained a dignified stance, but one would be able to see a hint of brotherly sentiment from his tranquil facial expression. They brought forth both of their arms and firmly shook each other's hands; this was actually a standard greeting shared between these two brothers.
"I have returned Elder Brother, and with excellent news! You should have already been informed by Tahu and the others, but your son and daughter are alive and well!"
Hakan had cut to the chase and straightforwardly brought up the main subject with an exciting tone. As soon as he finished speaking, Mika glanced at Noctis for the last time before she held on to Moki's soft hand, and calmly walked towards the front of the group.
Not before long, they were able to see their father again after what seemed like a long time!
Mika and Moki silently stood in front of their father with their heads down, not daring to look at him straight in the eyes. The whole group of villagers watched this reunion between the village chief and his children without making any noise, fearing that they would suddenly disturb this happy occasion. It seemed as if time had briefly stopped, and it was so eerily quiet that one could even hear a pin drop from miles away…
Mika started to get teary around the corner of her tender eyes, and looked as if small diamonds were twinkling atop of her gorgeous face. This continued on for a little while until Moki was the first to move, despite him obediently standing still while his sister had been tightening her grip on his hand.
The small boy tugged on Mika's arm to free his hand, before he took a step forward and raised his arms high up towards his father to signal him that he wanted to be carried. The village chief finally responded to this after gently gazing at his children with various unknown thoughts in his head.
Village Chief Talon took a half-kneeling stance and picked up Moki with one of his arms, while he simultaneously wrapped his other arm around Mika.
This happened so quickly that Mika didn't have the chance to react before she was pulled into an embrace by her father. She slowly widened her delicate eyes and heard him say,
"Welcome home… it's good that... the two of you are safe now."
Mika heard these soft-spoken words as if they had come from within her dreams. She felt like a huge burden had been lifted off her chest, as she cried while she leaned against her father's broad shoulder. Tears had been continuously rolling from both sides of her cheek, but was wiped off by her father's hand. Despite it being large and coarse, her father wiped the tears off so gently as if he feared that he would damage or dirty his daughter's face. This embrace and the short words spoken by her father were all she needed to know…
…
After some time had passed, Village Chief Talon parted his embrace with his children and told the rest of the villagers to head back inside and return to their homes. Hakan stayed behind because he noticed that his Elder Brother was now looking at Noctis in an intrigued manner, so he couldn't help but speak to clear his doubts,
"Elder Brother, that is the man that saved Mika and Moki from the Silver Dire Wolves. His name is Noctis, although it is more appropriate to say that he is still a young boy since he should be a few years older than your daughter… His background is still mysterious, but he seems to be friendly, so I invited him to our village out of courtesy. Noctis asked me about information regarding Mount Trinity, so I thought it was best to let him speak to you."
A moment later, Hakan saw that his Elder Brother nodded in response, so he patted his shoulder before he followed the rest of the villagers back into Taniko Village.
Village Chief Talon turned to look back at his two children and said,
"Mika… Moki… return to your rooms. I will be with the both of you shortly, since I will need to accompany your savior to the guest residence."
The siblings complied with their father's wish, so they walked past him and arrived at the open iron gate. Moki first went off ahead, but Mika hesitantly stood and slowly turned her head back to take a quick peek at Noctis. She had done this many times before, but never got tired of it because the more times she looked at Noctis's face, the deeper she fell into the rabbit hole.
Mika was unsure if she would ever get out or would ever need to because Noctis's figure had already completely been imprinted within her mind and had greatly affected her heart. Looking at Noctis made her very satisfied and content, which caused her overall state to be in serenity.
It was unknown what her thoughts were, but her gaze lingered for a couple more seconds until she reluctantly left and went after her little brother…
...
Noctis had not talked or made a noise at all during the reunion because he knew that he would eventually have an opportunity soon.
And this opportunity was now since Village Chief Talon was calmly walking towards his way!