In the blink of an eye, the season of summer officially took over Mundo, with the educational institutions of every nation ending their school year.
This also meant that by morning, the familiar summer heat had already begun permeating the air. Although the continent of Winter and the northern portion of the Autumn Kingdom would remain fairly cold, the other countries would feel the season's warmth in its entirety.
Such was especially the case for the continents of Summer and Spring, where the heat annoyed the citizens as it caused them to sweat from head to toe. Even monsters who had more advanced thermoregulation adapted to the heat by mostly hunting at night.
That was why the Autumn Kingdom found itself with an influx of tourists at such times. Unlike the Continent of Winter which didn't appreciate foreigners in its midst, and Awdita, the Kingdom of Elves that didn't really open their gates to just anyone.
Nonetheless, for the duo, Naell, and Owly, the heat was of no concern to them at all. Perhaps it was because one of them had a continuous source of coldness, or perhaps the fact that they were on their way back to Beryldot.
Both were in such a pleasant mood that even Naell was comfortably resting without his usual nausea from traveling.
However, a long trip was still a tedious one making Owly quite bored. Hence he inevitably opened the window of the carriage to sight the scenery, making the air inside somewhat cozier.
Yet that only bothered Naell due to the light as he said, "Close the window Owly."
"Why? You can't even feel it, HOOT."
"It's the light..."
"Then just close your eyes, HOOT." Responded Owly nonchalantly as he pecked some watermelon seeds little Anna gave them.
"Only if you'll close your bea—"
By then, they were on the outskirts of Taglagas, accompanied by Lieutenant Dikolam and his subordinates. With a helmsman driving the carriage, and three horsemen accompanying them, the journey was quite easy ignoring the distance.
It was two days ago when Dikolam and co. arrived in Taglagas. They went directly to the Beryldot mansion to greet Butler Lebrut.
The second thing Dikolam wanted to do was to hang out with Naell and Owly, yet he knew both were at EDSD preparing for the end of the school year.
As a result, knowing he also was solely responsible for preparing and leading the travel back to Beryldot, Dikolam settled with the decision to start planning while he had the time to do so.
Little did he know, the duo really was just lazing around, and had he announced his early arrival, Naell and Owly would have made their way to the mansion without worry.
Of course, the two visit the mansion from time to time, especially to hang out with Lebrut. Yet often, they'd find themselves too engrossed with their books, the food at school, and even their mere sleeping position.
.
.
.
As evening came, they all decided to head to a small village and rest. It was still miles away from Beryldot, but one could already see the Dukedom of Mard from that distance.
For some reason, Naell still felt awkward going to that place. Although he and Rinca already made up for their troubling past, he felt it was not up to him but for the old Naell to actually bury the hatchet.
Not to mention, there might be nobles who held grudges against him, hence he decided to stay in the small village where only one inn was available.
Just at a glance, one could see that it was more like a barn as only farmers lived in the area. Yet anyone could see how virtuous the Dukedom was as several knights were stationed throughout, effectively protecting the area from monsters and bandits alike.
By the time the knights caught sight of their carriage, the armored men immediately greeted them and presented themselves with utmost kindness to Naell. Likewise, the people were welcoming and even offered warm food which Owly delightedly took.
Naell couldn't help but reminisce about his old life on Earth. Instances like that reminded him of how kind people were in the small villages. As he sipped the warm soup given by an elderly woman, his tiredness was seemingly washed away.
"By the way, where's Iwan, HOOT?" Asked Owly.
"Ah... he is busy orienting the Yetis." Replied Dikolam while glancing away from the young master.
"Still? Sorry, I didn't know they'd need supervision for that long." Said Naell apologetically, he was afterall the one who made the suggestion.
Truth be told, when Fharom and Sebastian read the letter about the Yetis, they were impressed and at the same time conflicted on whether the plan would really work.
While they did discuss it with Naell beforehand, it was not to the point where they concluded all monsters could be trusted. Likewise, Captain Estra, Iwan, and Dikolam were the same as well, especially upon first meeting the bulky and intimidating Yetis.
Nonetheless, as they wholeheartedly trusted Naell, they both welcomed the Yetis with open arms, resulting in a great relationship with the awakened monsters.
Unsurprisingly, the very first residents of Beryldot to have befriended the yetis were Drew, who became buddies with Husby, and Andrea who easily got along with Wifey. That had only confirmed Naell's guess that those with a lovey-dovey nature tend to appreciate their own kind.
Soon, even Lily successfully befriended the two yetis, bringing forth new fluffy playmates for the young girl to visit outside her home.
Dikolam recalled the whole situation with a wry smile. In truth, he refrained from revealing the real reason Iwan was not present with him.
The night before, Sebastian and Drew discovered Husby had a genetic tolerance to alcohol. Challenging the yeti anyway, the two men went on to finish several bottles, fueled by the desire to one-up their opponents' monstrous capabilities. The poor Iwan, who really was just an innocent bystander, was pulled into the competition with no escape.
And then the morning arrived with a groggy and drunken Iwan (alongside Drew and Sebastian) on the day they were meant to visit Taglagas.
Not that Dikolam could blame Iwan, as if he was present at that time, surely he would be blackout drunk as well. Even Fharom couldn't blame the lieutenant knowing how persistent Drew was on any occasion that he'd start drinking.
Dikolam then scratched his head and momentarily forced the Beryldot escapade at the back of his mind. He then swiftly fetched a paper from his bag and said,
"Ah, by the way, young master, Rizaul told me to give you this."
Immediately Naell opened it and recognized it as a map, it seemed it was a planned exploration of where the protagonist party would go.
After seeing the results of their exams, the protagonist party actually went ahead to Arigare and Beryldot. There they decided to tentatively stay for the duration of their summer, to train and find clues about the pieces of Lucile.
It was afterall close to the bandit hideout that they encountered the pieces of Lucille in the first place, and so, Andrew and the rest couldn't help but think there could just be clues and accomplices still hiding in broad daylight.
As for Naell, he just wished to return home to rest and solidify Beryldot's defenses even more; While he would sometimes catch Owly looking rather glum after coming back from their mission with the Tribes of Pegasus.
He knew it was due to Owly missing his mother Athena. Yet as much as Naell wanted to accompany the young owl to visit his mother, none of them really knew her whereabouts.
Begrudgingly, Naell knew the reason Athena had left her son with them had some relation with the demons, and in turn, the pieces of Lucille.
'I'll try asking my father.' He thought while sipping more of the warm soup, washing his worries on hold. At the same time, he could already hear the soft hoots of his fluffy companion who had oddly fallen asleep after eating.
*************************
Hey guys, if you would want to know more about the characters in Mundo, or would like to recall who is what, please check our patreon.
The post is titled "Character Portraits WiP" Under the "Arts" tag at . It's free for public viewing and is a work in progress that will soon have every character we've introduced in TNBS thus far ' ')/
P.S Also if you guys want to further support us as well, you can do so with our patreon or paypal. XDThanks for reading everyone!