"Where're you going this early in the morning?"
"It's that day of the year again."
"Today? Feast of Santa Maria?"
"No. What is that even anyway? I'm talking about Morning Glory."
"Oh~ I thought it's Williams who always harvest it. You're assigned to harvest it this time?"
"I volunteered this time. I'm going to take a detour since I'm curious about those Travellers they keep on talking about."
"The people blessed by the gods as they sometimes call it... Faith and I met one in Eurus—You know Faith, right? If any men look at her for at least three seconds, that person won't live another day. One unlucky Traveller got the end of her fist- To my surprise, that same person who died and mysteriously vanished into the air got caught glancing over her again. The same happened twice in a row."
"He must be a pervert, that Traveller."
"Yeah, I agree, but that's beside the point. I never heard someone just vanishing after a lethal blow then appearing again after a few minutes. The title blessed by the gods has really some reason for it."
"Or they're 'Outsiders'."
"SHH! Don't let anyone hear you. That's a taboo topic here in the palace especially for the King."
"I don't care. He knows me and I despise him for that. We both know our standing towards each other. There's no point being on the good side of Isaac always."
"But many guards and citizen does not think so. I can't help you if the people are your enemy."
I smiled at his response. Even though he is quite stupid and most of the time not dependable, he is always there to offer his help. Although I do not want him to get in trouble for me.
"Oi, what's with that look that says awful things about me."
"You noticed?"
"Sigh~ Do whatever you want. Just don't get into trouble and be careful around Travellers. If they're really what you think they are, it's best to avoid them. You might not be afraid of the King, but the Overseer is still out there."
"Jackson! Majesty is looking for you."
"Oh shit! Time to go. See you later, Vaughn."
Tapping my shoulder before he left, Jackson ran like his life depends on it.
That is also my sign to go. If I leave this early, I should be able to return tomorrow. But I should probably visit Hank in the library first.
The library has no people this early in the morning. The only person inside the library now is Uncle Hank. He is reading the daily newspaper with a cup of tea at his side. An atmosphere that would be difficult to disturb, but Uncle Hank is a good guy. He does not care if I talk to him now.
"Good Morning, Hank"
"Hoho~ Good morning too. Want a cup of tea for the morning?"
"I'll pass on this one. I'm going to leave to Twilight City soon. I just want to ask some questions regarding the recent appearance of the people called Travellers."
*sips* "I was right that you would be curious about them, but what do you want to know? You should have read about them already. I don't know any book in this library that you haven't read yet."
"You know more than all of the books here combined. Maybe you also know where they came from or why they suddenly appeared today?"
"Hmm~ I can't answer that. Even if I know, I can't tell since the King has recently forbidden anyone talking about them."
He told me disappointedly. I knew that his answer would not bear fruit to anything. All topics about anything outside Astrea, this world, will be dismissed instantly. Or they would be changing the topic out of nowhere.
This was a common occurrence to all people beside us, the Children of Past which we like to call ourselves. No doubt that everyone knew something was strange ever since we stepped into this place or to be more exact after we woke up in what seems like forever.
I know all Children of Past know that this place is strange.
But for the past 10 years, we have lived here, no one attempted to question our very own existence.
Well, there was one girl who did so. She tried to escape this reality in many ways that would be difficult to imagine for a young kid-- After a month of her disturbance, we have never met her ever since.
That happened in the first year we set into this place. Her mysterious disappearance may be one of the reasons why today, many of us have accepted this place as our home and reality.
Isaac, our current King, has the worst case of this.
As the oldest of our group, he was automatically the leader of our younger selves back in the days of uncertainty. In fact, he was a great older brother to us. He was always someone you can depend on.
Yet, his position right now is the beginning where he started to change.
After he was assigned to be the King, everything we know about the outside world was forcefully abolished. There were circumstances where violence became an option concerning this. Since he was the king, no amount of our cooperation could overturn his orders or else we would be met by the public's wrath.
I do not know, but I felt the title King was artificially given to him without any proper preparation at all. At that time, we just accepted it as is because, among us, he was the most capable one to be the King not realizing why we were the candidates in the first place. But it was too late when we recognize that everything was too good to be true.
We were children when we got all this special treatment, so hardly anyone questions this at all. Even my position as an Imperial Lord is practically given because I was an acquaintance of Isaac or to be exact, one of the Children of Past.
Now almost all of us are the most significant people of this kingdom. A life with nothing but goodness is easily accepted even at the cost of forgetting what once we knew.
I feel the same way in the first few years I have been pampered by basically everyone. Maybe this was the outside world I had read when I was seven or eight years old. Astrea has offered beautiful cities and horizons I once imagined visiting. Everything stated in the books I have read could be seen and experience here.
All except for one thing. The sense of freedom.
For the whole life, I have been reading, eating, and living alone. I always felt that everything was already set for me. I never remembered the last time I had control of my own situation fully.
This uneasiness continued to haunt me every single day to the point I wanted to be like the girl who questioned everything. But in the fear of whatever happened to her, I kept myself from doing so.
Back to my current situation-- The Travellers who appeared out of nowhere could be the answer to everything that is happening to me, to all of us.
'With that in mind, I will seek their presence as the Imperial Lord- no as a person who wants a favour.'
"Hank, can you give me a map for Twilight City?"
"Hoho~ That's unusual of you going to a crowded place. Finally touring the cities?"
"Yes. So, can I have permission to borrow a Royal Gryphon?"
"You don't need my permission. You can use them any way you want. Just be careful, those Gryphons could go crazily fast."
"That's what I want."