As they were traveling towards the mountain, Curtis had spent the time getting more information from the townsfolk about Dierac. From the various men and women, he's asked, it was quite disheartening that they had never even heard of the De Leon estate, it was weird because the town they were in should have been the one he went to years ago, no matter what happened it was still puzzling on how they had never even heard a mention of it. After he was done questioning the townsfolk he went over to Silva to confirm a few things.
"Hey, how come you've never heard of the De Leon name?" Curtis asked straight up. After spending more than enough time asking others, he had enough of beating around the bush.
"Why? Are they famous?" Silva returned. "Should we have heard of your family's name?" he whispered back, after their initial meeting and with Curtis using the soul reacher technique on him, he had known his full name. It wasn't weird that he remembered his name, what was weird was that why did it matter he asked himself.
Curtis was dumbstruck, how was it possible that they lived in a town that his family had sponsored, and they had never heard of them? He then explained to Silva what the situation was, and to the man's bewilderment, it sounded so surreal. Silva could tell that Curtis wasn't lying about it and that Curtis' belief of it himself had caused him to doubt whether he himself wasn't just forgetting.
"I'm sure that it was this town that we came to. I even knew the location of the desert because of that, and I brought us there because there's a place that we can go to. It's not like the estate could just disappear, it wasn't like the Miracle Canyon that had appeared---" Curtis paused as his emotions got to him. Like a lightbulb, his mind had light up with a possibility. What if the town he had come to had disappeared, and was replaced by their town?
It was possible! There were a few other explanations like their memory had been erased or that he was just mistaken about the location of the town itself, but that was unlikely. It was more believable that the town had been moved.
"What is it Red?" Curtis had been brought back from his thoughts as Silva tapped him on the shoulder.
"It's nothing, lets speed up the march, We should get to at least the base of the mountain before it gets dark," Curtis said. Silva nodded and proceeded to get the group to speed up their movements. As they were now if they get attacked it will be like jumping straight into the jaws of the beast. With the few fighting force they had, they wouldn't be able to defend from all sides.
Guard after guard moved to spread the orders of speeding up their pace. Sounds of disapproval echoed out through the group, mostly from the elderly and women who were already having a hard time keeping up. But there was nothing they could do. They had to keep up as they knew what was at stake here. Getting left behind would be tantamount to death.
~~~
It was worth it getting the group to move a bit faster. The mountain was beautiful, from the horizon you wouldn't be able to appreciate it, but as their group got closer and closer they were able to see it in its natural form.
Their group reached the base as night fell.
"We'll send scouts up the mountain tomorrow morning-" Royce started as everyone took a place inside the tent they used for meetings.
"No," Curtis interrupted. "Silva and I will personally scout the mountain, were not sure if it's safe. Sending normal scouts would take some time and they might not be able to make it back." Curtis added.
"Is that a good idea?" Dean chimed in from the side, he had been added to the group who made decisions as soon as he woke up. He was an ability user so his opinion mattered, especially now that his power was key in building their new home.
"Also, I still don't know you," he added as he referred to the silver armored man.
"Call me Red, I saved your town after you fell unconscious." Curtis introduced himself.
"And your real name?" he questioned, as the tension in the tent rose. Curtis hadn't done anything to provoke the man. And he certainly hadn't met with him ever since their short encounter in the battle, if you could even count seeing each other an encounter. And ever since he had woke up he had been missing from the other meetings, and only recently joined as they arrived at the base of the mountain.
The man had spunk, Curtis will give him that, but stupid bravery will get you killed. Plus he hadn't done anything that should cause them to display any sort of hostility.
"It doesn't matter. I'll tell everyone when the time is right." he shot back, applying some pressure to the bear-like man. "Call me Red for now, or not, I don't really care."
"What's more, while we scout the mountain tomorrow, you'll be the one in charge of guard duty. If any of the townsfolk die on your watch. It's your responsibility." Curtis dumped the responsibility of taking care of the people on the man. He couldn't punish him so this was the next best thing. Although he would have assumed the role either way. He had to make it sound like he was still the boss.
Curtis wouldn't admit it but he liked the feeling of being on top. He especially liked it when people followed his orders without complaints. And what he didn't like was that someone weaker than him challenged his authority. And so he set an example. One that Silva and the two older guards should have picked up on.
Curtis then proceeded to discuss a few more things with his companions. It was important that they keep track of the status of their rations, food, and water were vital for the morale of the group. As long as they were fed, they should have no trouble keeping up. And after they set up ways for them to have a sustainable food source, they could focus on other things.
They also needed to discuss the arrangements for shelter, the distribution of the workforce, the status of their security, and how they would be able to keep the people safe. It was all long term projects that they would need to set up to ensure that their town would thrive. It was a good thing that Dean had already gained some experience in building homes and shelter. He would play an important role in ensuring everyone had a place to take shelter from the elements.
Their agenda had slowly been fizzled out as the night grew. Although they didn't make much progress, it was good to at least have discussed these things. They would have a topic to start with at their next meeting. And by then, they would hopefully have more people who are skilled in those areas.
~~~
As dawn broke, Curtis had already woken up to complete a set of his workout. He wasn't able to do it in recent times as he was traveling, and had been busy with making sure that they were safe. But now he had enough time to warm up as they were going out on a scouting mission.
Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and a few kilometers of running. Hjilmar had drilled it into his body that he would need to keep up his physical fitness if he wanted to beat Chaos. For years he had stuck to that regiment, it had even become weird for him if he wasn't able to do his routine. And for a few days now, that itch had become so unbearable that he was even crying that he was finally able to do some exercise.
As he was in a good mood, he even dragged out Silva, the man had been in fairly good shape, not enough to compete with him in fitness, but still close to competing with him in running. The man was gifted with a lightning ability after all, it had boosted his speed by a considerable amount. It would have been strange if he was slow.
Silva was confident that he'll be able to keep up. He even called him out that he'll beat him in speed. But as soon as Curtis started the second set of the workout, the man's smile had faded. He had announced that he'll do the full exercise with him or he'll go and drink a cup of piss.
By the end of their third set of push-ups and sit-ups the man had been complaining. He called him *baliw* or crazy in translation. He had been used to exercising, he loved it, Curtis saw exercise as a hobby, it cleared his head and gave him perspective on things. But Silva, on the other hand, was the opposite.
"I thought you wanted to go the full set?" Curtis called him out as soon as he saw the man sneaking off.
He saw it as a punishment, he claimed that because of the abilities he had, he didn't need to exercise. The older man didn't like pain, exercise caused him that pain.
"Come on, there are still two sets to go." Curtis shot him a sadistic smile. To which the answer he got was a groan filled with regret.