The weather grew warmer day by day as they reached the southern border. The border was the Zephyr Coast which continued to the other end of the kingdom to the northeast that was connected to the Leviathan's Bay. The name so indicated this because the Leviathan itself was the symbol of the kingdom since its formation. The deadly yet mystical sea serpent that people since ancient times believed that is a guardian of the seas and protected their merchant ships from the pirates and enemy warships.
This is why the royal family's symbol is the sun shining upon the sea serpent in the seas. The sun means superiority overall. The Leviathan symbolizes the war tamer and the seas symbolize the tranquility and vastness; whereas the sunlight represents peace, wealth, and grace of the great deity.
Whenever the ships were destroyed people believed that the great guardian of the seas was angered and the wrath of God was incurred upon them.
That is why trading was the only business that barely left traces of corruption. Eight months have passed and Sloane's troops have succeeded in stabilizing the dire conditions of the south and captured the sea pirates who ruled the west seas for nearly two and a half decades. Few of the Nirvana knight squads and the royal knights were deployed and handled the rest while they were ordered to return to the capital briefly for the celebration of their successful first operation.
"ady...lady...My Lady!" A woman's voice rang in Sloane's ears.
She lazily woke up from her bed and found Patricia going to the mirror to tie her brunette hair.
Sloane had gotten used to Patricia's voice or either woke up before the first ray of dawn to train by herself.
"You seem to be excited Patricia." Sloane washed her face with the cool water in the basin near her.
"Of course, I am. It's been eight whole months. Can you imagine? This has been the longest mission for me in my whole life. And we're finally ending this mission by the end of next month."
Sloane could see her getting red and nervously fidgeting in front of the mirror. But couldn't figure out the purpose of such behavior.
"What's wrong Patricia?" She asked after she got ready to start another day of hellish labor that she was now used to.
"O-oh nothing! It's just...time sure has passed by."
"Passed by?" She tilted her head clueless about her words.
"What I meant was take care of yourself. You are a girl. Look how your skin is tanned because of the hot sun."
"I'm not that tanned," Sloane said bluntly examining herself.
"I-I mean a lady must take care of everything for a man to like her. Your hands are calloused. And your body is covered with scratches and scars from head to toe."She insisted.
After a rough silence, Sloane scratched her head and shrugged as if she didn't care about what a man thought about her since she trains and carries out missions purely with men daily.
" See? You are unusual today Patricia. Are you alright?"Sloane raised a brow suspiciously staring at her.
"N-nothing!"She blurted out abruptly and hurried out of the room.
-" She's acting weird...Is she that excited to go back?"Sloane wondered as she descended the stairs to the dining hall where she was greeted by her comrades.
"Good morning commander." Sloane greeted Laurentius who was also descending the steps in a hurry.
"Ah you too." He said in a hurry and dashed out of the hall.
"He seems to be in a hurry," Jack said as she helped herself with her share of breakfast.
"Something must've caught him again. Since we'll be departing anytime soon.
After their breakfast, they went out to start packing. They were given shifts to watch over the prisoners.
" Looks like this case will have to be dragged further considering the amount of loot they stored upon their ships."Leonhardt scorned.
Sloane gazed at the blue ocean as the cool sea breeze swept through her hair.
The locals were grateful for what the knights had taken care of for them. They had congratulated them and showered them with gifts of gratitude to them.
"Sloane." She heard Laurentius call out her name.
"Yes Sir?" She turned back ready to receive his commands.
"You look rather determined...Nevermind that. Have you seen Patricia?"
It was an odd question for Sloane who saw Patricia just this morning. Surely she was somewhere around.
"She's been avoiding me since morning. I wondered what's gotten into her." He scratched his head in irritation.
"Argh! Did I do something wrong? Did you feel anything off this morning when seeing her?"
"Well, it was a bit strange. She stood in front of the mirror for longer than she usually does." Sloane replied hastily.
"In front of the mirror?" He raised a brow.
"And she was smiling. But her face was all red. And she kept mentioning how this mission came to an end."
"What! Her face was red? Did she get sick?" He suddenly raised his voice anxiously.
"I...don't think it's that Sir. Instead, she was enthusiastic about returning to the capital city."
"She's acting weird." He pondered restlessly.
"I'll search for her." Sloane offered help to which he was grateful since he had a load of work to finish off before departing.
She saw him hurry off to the ships again to inspect the security.
"I think she's just too nervous to be around him."
"Wah!Jack!Don't pop out of anywhere like that." She jumped out of her skin in fright.
"But what do you mean by that?"
"Remember during our four-month training? I heard the knights say that Lady Patricia and Sir Laurentius were to be wedded after completing this mission. So she knew that once reaching the capital the first thing to be done was their marriage."
"So that's why she was acting that way." Sloane felt sorry for not understanding her thoughts even after they'd been together for quite a while.
"Let's search for her or we'll have to delay the departure to noon.
" Yeah."As she turned away she felt an ominous aura from behind her. She heard the screams from the ships on the shore. The water that seemed calm a second ago was now sending chaotic tides as the ships crashed into one another.
"Leviathan! The Leviathan is coming for the shore."
She turned back in horror. But what she saw was probably the last day of their lives.
-"The wrath of God...is upon us?"