Going on a journey was something that Azmir had already known he was destined to do. He was not the type of prince to stay still in one place. Ever since he was young, he had always found a way to escape the palace. It was also one of his reasons in choosing to be a merchant in disguise. He just did not expect to make his first journey in life to be with total strangers.
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Three days ago...
"MIAAAAAAA! IT'S YUZAN! ONII-CHAN IS HEEERE! MIAAAA!" The adventurer shouted while looking at the crowd frantically.
The crowd wore confused expressions. The High Priest looked completely bewildered too.
Azmir decided to step forward and end the noise the adventurer was creating.
"We can look for your sister in the Archives," Azmir said, holding the adventurer by his shoulders.
The adventurer smiled in relief. "Thank you."
The High Priest approached the adventurer with a wary expression. "May we know your name, young man?"
"Yuzan. I apologize for yelling earlier," the adventurer said with an embarrassed smile. "I just really want to meet my sister again."
The High Priest nodded. "I understand. Did the God of Reincarnation say that she is here too?"
"He said that she reincarnated too," Yuzan said.
Azmir could clearly see Yuzan's excitement. Were they separated in their original world? It was highly unusual for siblings to be reincarnated in the same world. In fact, that had never happened before.
"Your Holiness, I shall guide him to the Archives. Will you excuse us?" Azmir said.
The High Priest nodded. "I can see that the young man's priority is to be reunited with his sister. I trust that you can guide the new adventurer in our kingdom?"
"Yes, Your Holiness," Azmir said and led Yuzan out of the Cathedral.
The Archives was only a few minutes walk from the Cathedral. It was a small building made mainly out of wood. The Archives contained the names of the citizens of Feylantis. It also contained the records of the visitors from outside the kingdom.
Azmir glanced at Yuzan as they walked. Yuzan carried himself confidently. He was like a foreign prince. He did not seem interested in his new surroundings. New adventurers were usually very excited when they see Feylantis for the first time. This new adventurer was silent and aloof. He was obviously only thinking of his sister.
The two entered the Archives and asked an archive keeper for someone with the name of Mia. They waited for quite a while but Yuzan was silent. Azmir found himself getting more curious at Yuzan but he stopped himself from asking. He shouldn't even be with this new adventurer! He should have been focused in his mission in looking for the missing people!
The archive keeper arrived and . . . gave the bad news. There was no record of someone named Mia in Feylantis or anyone with that name in the visitors' log.
Yuzan looked crestfallen. His excited expression completely wiped off from his face.
Azmir felt pity for the new adventurer. The God of Reincarnation said that his sister had also been reincaranted. Gods never lie but they were known to not give the complete information needed.
It was the only explanation Azmir could think of.
"I think your sister is in Aderlan," Azmir said.
"Where is that? Why do you think my sister is there?" Yuzan asked.
"There are only two kingdoms that have reincaranted people like you. Feylantis usually gets new adventurers several times in a year. Aderlan gets a reincaranted person once in every hundred years and they also need to do a summoning for that. I've heard that they just summoned the new Saintess recently."
"You think my sister is that one reincarnated person there?" Yuzan frowned.
"Well, there's only one way to find out," Yuzan said.
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Azmir found himself a new companion by his side. Azmir took care of the preparations in going to Aderlan. He looked for guards who will protect them in their journey. It was going to be a very dangerous journey.
Azmir explained to Yuzan that the normal route going to Aderlan would take them almost a year. They had to go through five kingdoms and in each kingdom they would be confined and inspected. There was a shorter way which would take them four months or fewer if the journey would be smooth but that route was very dangerous.
They would first be going through the Vyridian Woods, the forest of magical beasts and thieves. There were no soldiers patrolling the forest so it was a nightmare route for merchants. The forest was also known to be inhabited by dangerous magical beasts.
Azmir was able to hire a group of guards. They were like adventurers who took on odd jobs in fighting beasts and guarding travellers but they were not reincaranted. The group of guards he hired was made up of two men who would be the stagecoach drivers, two male guards, and one female guard.
Azmir was very busy in the three days before the journey. He bought supplies and packed his collection of magical devices. Yuzan was by his side the whole time. He was silent but he helped Azmir carry and check the supplies they would bring in their journey.
On his last day in Feylantis, Azmir met up with his favorite sister, Kiera, to say his goodbyes. Kiera hugged him tearfully.
"Maybe I should come with you," Kiera said.
"You can't. Everyone knows you here. If you go missing, the kingdom will be in panic. I'm just a prince they know by name. The kingdom will not miss me," Azmir said with a reassuring smile.
"I'll miss you, of course. I have no one to reprimand anymore!" Kiera said while crying.
Azmir laughed and rubbed her back. "I'll be back before you even start to miss me."
Kiera wiped her tears and frowned at him. "Why are you with that new adventurer? Did he force you to accompany him? Should I put him to prison?"
"He just wants to find his sister and there is a high chance that his sister is in Aderlan. We're going the same way so there's no problem with me. Also, he's an adventurer! I'm sure his powers will be useful in guarding me," Azmir said.
Kiera shrugged. "Fine. If he's just a liar, use your water magic and drown him."
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The Vyridian Woods was like a living creature in itself. Its colors were vibrant like a beast showing off. The forest ground seemed to pulse with a beating heart. The sounds of birds and beasts in the hiding seemed to come in all directions. They were inside the heart of the woods.
Inside the stagecoach was Azmir, Yuzan, the female guard, and two male guards. Beside them were their supplies inside huge wooden boxes. It was cramped and there was no space to even stretch out their legs.
"Are you all right, Yuzan?" Azmir asked worriedly.
Yuzan nodded. A man of few words as usual.
Azmir had a feeling that Yuzan would only engage with him in a conversation if the topic was Yuzan's sister.
The carriage suddenly jolted. The horses neighed.
"AAAAEEEEARGHHHH!!!! HEEEEEELPP!!!!"
"EAAAAERRRRRGHHHH!!!"
The shouts were from the two stagecoach drivers. Then there was silence. The carriage stopped moving.
Azmir hoped that whatever beast had attacked the drivers, its belly was full already.
"Should I check?" One of the male guards whispered.
"No, Bren! It might still be there!" The female guard said.
"Someone still has to go outside to drive the horses," the bald guard said.
"Then you go out, Yaz!" The female guard said.
"Are you ordering me, Ashka?" The bald guard said in a warning tone.
"Shush! Be silent for a while," Azmir whispered to them, trying to listen to the sounds outside.
Yuzan suddenly got up and opened the stagecoach.
"The beast is gone. Who will drive?" Yuzan asked.
Azmir looked at Yuzan in shock. He did not look afraid at all and he did not even looked horrified at the dead bodies of the drivers.
"Yuzan, are they dead?" Azmir asked.
"Yes. There are only bits of bones and organs left on their seats. I think we should clean them up or lest we attrack more beasts," Yuzan said calmly.
The guards looked terrified. It wasn't even a day and two of them had already been eaten by a beast of Vyridian Woods.
Azmir was more shocked at Yuzan's demeanor than the beast attack. It was not normal for someone to be calm in a situation where two men had just died a bloody death. This new adventurer was either a cold hearted killer or someone who had seen so many killings in his life. Which one was he?