Chereads / Smiling Azure / Chapter 23 - Setting off

Chapter 23 - Setting off

"Oh! Sorry moms! I was just taking my first step towards the capitol now to show the messenger how serious I was that I would soon be leaving. Teehee~" Zarue said playfully as she stepped back, revealing an indentation in the hard ground where Zarue's boot had landed, but no other hard impact was felt as she went inside. At this, the messenger squeaked one last time in fear before frothing at the mouth and fainting.

The rest of the morning was uneventful and at some point the messenger had woken up and scurried off by the scrapes on the ground leading towards town. The small family had a nice chuckle at his expense as Zarue packed her thing in her room, not knowing what she might need.

As she wrapped up in her room, packing everything except her furniture, Regen and Vetiol came into the room.

"Zarue, your mom and I have been talking. We want you to take every book in the house library. We hope that they will serve you well on your travels to the capitol since it will take you a couple of months." Vetiol said softly as she walked into the room and gave Zarue a hug. A small frown appearing on her lips as she looked at how empty her room was.

"As for other things, I know you can hunt and forage just fine, and with Relrem with you when you are not in towns, you should definitely be okay. Please just make sure that you write to us when you make it to other towns. Since traizn are still fairly new, they will be expensive and unusable, so unless you find a ferry to take you, it will be a long walk. Please be careful! I also heard that the villagers in town wish to say their goodbyes as you head out." Regen chimed in as she pulled both Vetiol and Zarue in a big hug.

"You sure you want me to take all the books? And thank you for the warm wishes and telling me to make sure to stop by the villagers and say goodbye to them." Zarue said, a smile on her face while she held back her nervousness, this will be her first time away from not only home, but her family. Yes, she had done camping exercises these past five years as well to make sure she knew what to do, but, this time it will just be her and Relrem.

Stifling back some tears Zarue hugged her moms tightly, a concerned look on her face, on when the next time she would see her moms, as she gave both of them a kiss on the cheek, a bright smile on her face as they pulled away from each others warm hug.

Nodding to each other in understanding, the family makes small talk as they walk through the cabin, reminiscing on the fun times they had together as Zarue was growing up. Stopping at the study as Zarue put all the books in her storage ring.

Stopping at the door before opening it, Zarue summons Relrem so the two can give one last hug to Regen and Vetiol, the family in wistful tears in their soft goodbyes. As Relrem goes back to his spot on Zarue, a smile appears on her lips as she looks at her moms one more time.

"Guess it is time to start my first adventure, I will keep you posted as best as possible, except for our home village, I will write to you if anything major happens, if not, I will send notice of major crossroads I make it to, with a date. I love you both very much, be safe so I do not have to worry about you both as you will be worrying about me." Zarue said with a soft chuckle as she opened the door and walked out.

As Zarue walked out the door and onto the path heading towards the village, both her moms stood at the doorway waving to Zarue and giving warm wishes and good luck. Only stopping when they could not see Zarue anymore before going back inside with tears in their eyes, tears of joy, and sadness. Proud parent moment.

As Zarue made it to the village, she could easily see that the usually quaint and quiet place was buzzing in excitement. Only for it to get still as Zarue entered the vicinity of the main square. Feeling a little more than awkward, Zarue nodded to some of the villagers, she did not know how to tell them goodbye, she did not even know how to even say goodbye to them, so, to avoid any other weirdness, she just kept walking north to out of town. Only to be stopped by a tugging at her sleeve.

"Miss Zarue! Will you come back?" A tiny voice asked. Turning, Zarue could see the small children she would come and spend time with behind her. Beaming with pride as if seeing an older sibling off, while some were trying hard to hold back tears.

"It is Zarue, silly little ones, and yes, I will come back whenever I get the chance, make sure you listen to your parents and the other adults while I am gone now." Zarue answered with a bright smile, patting the head of the youngster that tugged her sleeve, kneeling down to give each of them a hug and a pat on the head. Giving gentle words of encouragement to each of them.

As the little ones slowly backed away from Zarue after giving their goodbyes, she stood up, seeing that the rest of the village had gathered before her while she was distracted by the kids. All the adults were smiling, as if they were sending off their own child, the village elder standing in front of the crowd.

"Now young Zarue, I know you are heading off on your first adventure, going to the capitol on forced business, but, know that we support you and look forward to hearing of your adventures from your moms. Please take care of yourself." The elder smiled and nodded his head in her direction. "We can not part with anything, but look forward to a feast when next you visit!"

The elder laughed as the crowd cheered in agreement before raising his hand to silence them. "One last thing before you set off. Beware the group 'The Troll Bandits' and their leader 'The Troll Princess'."

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Release: Mon/Wed/Fri

Hey there reader! Thanks for reading this latest chapter! I would appreciate it if you could leave a review on this chapter or on the novel page. Maybe even a power stone if you so choose! These things will help me know how the audience (you) are enjoying my writing and where I need to improve!

Also a heads up! Still deciding on when to create a discord server so it would be easier to talk to me with ideas or writing issues that you may see that I do not!