The night that was dark before, is now slowly starting to lighten because of the sunlight that will appear from the east. But kinan really didn't sleep at all because he had to drive it. In front of him was seen people passing by busy with their respective activities. It didn't take long for him to see buildings standing around him.
No different from the towns that Kenley and Eldred had previously visited, where here there were also several taverns and other buildings that were still very well preserved. Gussin was already in sight! Kinan drove his carriage through the highway lined with stones and dark brown earth. He had entered the city center from Gussin city. The people of Gussin, were as diligent as the people of the capital city of Gracylia over there. They got up very early to start their work.
But what is often seen is a merchant and Sheep herder who herds their livestock to a meadow far from the city. The sun began to peek from behind the buildings that Kinan passed. Because it was almost light, the jet black haired girl immediately turned off the oil lamp. perched next to him.
Eldred woke up when he heard the clamor from the people around them. The Elfair was trying to gather all his consciousness. His blue eyes opened as soon as the colored sunlight touched his face. He hadn't realized anything until he asked Kinan.
"Are we there yet?" The Elfair said while looking around. Quinn responded by nodding. "Yes. Welcome to Gussin." Said the girl. "Are you sleeping not sleeping?" asked the Elfair again.
"If I slept, we would have arrived at Gussin longer. I haven't slept well, I'm used to not sleeping."
Suddenly Grash stops automatically. Kinan was a little surprised, but he already understood. "Okay, you hungry huh?" She said as he got off the train. The girl rubbed the cross Daemon, the Daemon moved its head in comfort.
"Okay, you just wait here, I'll buy some food for you." The connection immediately rushed. "Kinan," Eldred called reflexively.
"I'll take you, I also want to buy food for Terrence anyway." he said. The Elfair jumped down from the carriage.
Kenley who had just woken up heard that, he said with a yawn. "That's not fair," he said. "You should also buy food for me." He continued as he opened his eyes. Eldred and Kinan smiled faintly then hurriedly left those who were still on the carriage.
Kinan rushed to a place where people were selling fruits and bread. Fortunately, it was still very early in the morning, so no other customers had come to the shop besides the two of them. "Uncle," said Kinan to the fruit seller. The person turned to him. "I want this bag of Strawberries, please." She said kindly. The man with light brown skin agreed to Kinan's wish and immediately put the Strawberry in front of him into a medium-sized bag. "To feed your Daemon huh?" The person guessed. Kinan smiled then replied "Yeahr."
Eldred gaped a little, "Hey, why are your daemons fed fruit like this? Shouldn't daemon food be meat?" Said Eldred. "It's meat. But I told you last night didn't I? My daemon, not one hundred percent of Daemon blood. It is the result of crossbreeding of a Chilant." Kinan repeated his explanation last night. Eldred forgot about it and only nodded in response as soon as Elfair remembered.
"Because Chilant is a Vegetarian animal and its shape is not much different from Anomius who lives in the Elfair area." Only then did Eldred understand.
After they bought a pack of red Strawberries at the fruit shop, Kinan intended to immediately rush to his carriage. But Eldred stopped him. "Could you come with me to buy some bread at the shop over there? It looks delicious. Terrence and Kenley will love it." He said, pointing to a building that said Fragrant Bakery which was not far from where they bought Strawberries. "Okay," said Kinan then. Eldred was relieved when Kinan didn't refuse his wish.
"Eldred?" Call Kinan slowly. The Elfair man turned his head towards her. "You must be hundreds of years older than humans right?" asked Kinan in a flat voice. Eldred didn't rush to answer. "Even so, there are no signs of aging on you, even your face looks like your human friend's age." Kinan said as he looked at Kenley for a while.
As soon as the two of them arrived at the bakery, Eldred immediately ordered some warm wheat bread. True to the shop's name, the scent of freshly made rye bread, forced its way into the albino-haired Elfair's nostrils and roamed through his respiratory cavities.
The smell of the rye bread alone made Elfair want to eat it immediately, because he had been hungry since the night. With the money he stole with Kenley, Eldred bought quite a lot of wheat bread that was still warm so that Kinan could also enjoy it with them.
"Do you sell sake too?" asked Eldred. The peddler nodded, then hurried to make the intoxicating drink after wrapping up Eldred's order of bread.
"You want some sake too?" Eldred offered to Kinan. The girl shook her head vigorously. "I don't like that drink, because the reaction will make your stomach feel like it's burning." she said. "Hahaha, you're overreacting. I've had it before but it just makes my head spin." Eldred laughed softly.
Not long after, the glass of sake that Eldred ordered came and landed in front of him. The Elfair smiled upon seeing the drink. Then he immediately gulped down the one glass of sake he ordered until it was finished. The Elfair made sure that not a drop of sake was left at the bottom of the glass. After the glass was completely empty, Eldred immediately paid for everything, and they hurried back to the carriage.
"Sorry, you must have waited a long time," said Kinan as he approached the daemon. "Grash, time to eat." Kinan's face lit up, because the only thing he enjoyed most was feeding the big beast.
Daemon Kinan was excited as soon as his master gave him a bag of sweet Strawberries. Kinan had gotten used to the Demon eating fruits and vegetables other than meat. Maybe because of the income factor of his family. Meat is a very expensive food. They can save their daily needs by making the little Monster their pet as Vegetarian.
****
Eldred served the warm rye bread he had just bought on the carriage. Since the bread was still warm and smelled so good, without Eldred asking, Kenley had already hit one of the delicious buns. As for Terrence, even though he was still a child, he was much calmer than Kenley when he ate the food.
"Kinan, let's eat," said Kenley with his mouth still full. "This bread is delicious." He continued after swallowing.
Kinan smiled warmly. "Okay thank you." She said rushing towards them. "You don't need to thank me, because we should be the ones thanking you for taking us to Gussin." Kenley smiled broadly as he scratched his head that didn't itch.
"Hahaha. Alright, no problem. I'm also glad that I could help you guys. By the way, the bread is really really good, isn't it." said the girl who had just devoured it. "Of course it's good, because bread tastes great when it's still warm." Kenley replied again. But Kenley's words were answered by Kinan's demon voice. "Hey! Just shut up." The Hamoursh-blooded man said, pointing his index finger at their night carriage. The others laughed out loud.
"My house is not far from here, why don't you guys stop by for a bit." The girl looked alternately at Eldred and Kenley, expecting a small nod from both of them. Without thinking, they agreed to the girl's invitation. After the agreement of the two, Kinan drove back his carriage, through the main road to her house.
****
The sun had begun to appear and its rays penetrated the small alleys of each building that stood close to each other. The oil lamps hanging in several buildings have now begun to be extinguished. Behind a fairly large building, after Kinan turned the carriage, they could see a river with clear water flowing freely between the two opposite roads. The train crossed a bridge made of strong bricks.
Terrence seemed to remember something earlier. He felt he had passed that place a few days ago when he was banished by troops from the Brandish kingdom. The boy was thought of by his younger sister who was currently still stuck in Brandish. It seemed the boy couldn't help but wait another day to actually be able to go there. Kenley, who accidentally saw Terrence's sullen face, understood very well what the eleven year old boy beside him was feeling.
"Early tomorrow morning we'll be rushing there. Don't worry, Terrence." Kenley's strong hands gently caressed the boy's head. The boy smiled resignedly with his gaze unable to stay away from the bricks arranged below. Watch the wheels of the train spin like clockwork.
In less than ten minutes the train was started, they were already at a crossroads that was already quite busy. There are some people who are busy with their harvest. They are considering the price of each sack containing freshly harvested wheat. "Kinan? You're home apparently." Who is a woman wearing a red headband?
Kinan replied with a small nod and his trademark smile. But as soon as the people there realized the girl's arrival, they saw something caught their attention. Or maybe because there was someone other than Kinan who boarded his carriage. But the black haired girl ignored him and continued to drive the carriage towards the house.
Not long after, there was a building made of stone that stood firmly and had two floors. The building has a fairly large terrace and courtyard and there are several wooden carriages arranged beside the terrace.
Some of the plants that seemed to be taken care of also decorated the building with a clay roof. In front of the terrace, a woman was seen drying the clothes that she had just washed. Once there, Kinan stopped the carriage in front of the building and the girl jumped down. The woman noticed Kinan's arrival, when the girl stomped her foot on the ground, which made the woman delay her work.
The woman immediately embraced Kinan's body. "Thank God you're home, Kinan. I'm really worried about you." She said that it turned out to be Kinan's parents. "I told you mom, that I'll be fine. Because there's Grash protecting me." She said while joking a little to his pet Daemon. Grash let out his usual voice, which squeaked their ears, but they laughed instead.
Kinan's mother noticed that Eldred and Kenley were still on the train. "Kinan? Who are they?" asked the woman in surprise. They were just people I bumped into when I was headed for Gussin. "I helped them because they said they were going to Brandish. That's why I asked them to stop by our house for a while." She explained.
Eldred and Kenley greeted the woman with friendly smiles. "His name is Kenley and his friend Elfair is named Eldred. Oh yeah, that little boy's name is Terrence. They both saved the boy there." Kinan introduced one by one the people he considered new friends.
"Okay, just tell them to come in. They're probably tired." Kinan's mother said as she rushed to continue her work. Kinan nodded then gestured to the three of them. They took their things, and immediately rushed down to follow Kinan from behind.
****
After they were inside, Kinan's mother gave them a banquet in the form of several cups of still hot black tea. They sat cross-legged. "Where are you from? And what brought you here to Gussin?" Asked the mother of kinan who was sitting not far from them.
"Nothing. We're just on an important mission." Obviously Eldred. Kenley nodded. "And we have to take this kid to Brandish too." Kenley continued to look at Terrence. The boy wanted to drink a cup of tea that was in front of him, but he had to give up his intention because Kinan's mother's gaze turned to him.
"We saved him from yesterday's Daemon attack, and at this point he still needs to get maximum treatment." He said again. "What is some kind of Daemon bite wound?" Asked the woman who looked like Kinan worriedly. "It is true." Eldred replied.
"The wound from a daemon bite will cause serious inflammation in the sufferer." Kinan's mother moved closer to Terrence and looked at the bandages on the little dark blonde-haired boy.
"Severe inflammation, will experience serious bleeding. As a result the sufferer will die soon if not treated immediately." The connection. Kinan's mother gently touched the wound covered with a cloth bandage. "But luckily you guys treated it right away so it stopped the inflammation and wiped the blood that was constantly coming out." she said as he stood up.
"Come here son, I will make the right medicine so that your wound can heal as soon as possible." The woman held out her hand to Terrence, and the boy nodded in agreement. Kinan's mother then took the boy to a room under the stairs.
"So if I may ask, what mission are you guys on? I'm sorry if I ask too many questions. I'm just trying to be able to help you." Kinan said after he drank a little black tea which was now warm. Eldred and Kenley were silent for a moment, but fortunately Eldred immediately opened his voice even though he was hesitant to tell.
"We just want to collect the pieces of the Crystal Crytilops contained within this Continent." Eldred said which made Kinan choke a little.
"That Legendary Crystal? Surely you Elfairites are having trouble in your territory, right? And you're going to use those Crystals to advance the Elfair's decline?" Kinan tried to guess. Eldred was shocked, how could anyone from the Hamoursh nation know about it.
Eldred nodded. "But how did you know that?" He said with wide eyes. "Actually I'm just trying to guess. Because if that's true, I-" She broke off. "I can explain." Said the girl as she stood up. "Follow me." The connection.
Kinan took them to a dungeon that seemed to be a secret room. After they entered the lip of the room, they were presented with many bookcases, as well as paintings of foreign faces displayed on several walls. There was a picture of an island that seemed to be a continent of Magire Kivanal that was perfectly drawn.
"This is my father's private room, my father is an archaeologist as well as an alchemist in this city. But when everything changes, the situation in our family becomes shattered." Kinan's expression still hasn't changed since he entered the room. The girl swept her gaze across the room.
"We actually already know about the Legendary Crystals that are Mysteries on this Continent." Kinan took a book that was not too high from the bookshelf. "A few months ago before my father was arrested, my father had researched across several places in this continent, even as far as the Elfair nation's Territory, to look for evidence of the existence of the Crystal." He explained as he opened the notebook with the Ancient language written on it.
"My father is an archaeologist, he only researched a few things that became mythical, including the Crystal. Even though he could auction it off and sell it at a high price to collectors, my father was not interested in stealing it. Because he knew, the Elfaires would later need this mysterious object. for their future. My father said it was their heart." Kinan's explanation just now made Eldred understand more. Although many people do not believe in the existence of the Mysterious Object, not a few also believe in its existence.
Perhaps the question that still remains in his mind is, Why does that thing play an important role in the future of the Elfair nation? Haven't the Elfairies been bestowed with some abilities that other nations don't have? or a few weeks earlier when the pointy-eared Elfair came out of the larnia forest toward Fcycila's palace-.
Hearing Kinan's explanation, Eldred again recalled another explanation related to the legendary Crystal in the book written by kairlt that they had stolen in the Gracylia library a few days ago. and it all makes sense now.
"Since my father has gathered evidence of his whereabouts, I think my father was captured by the Royal Brandish troops for that too." Kinan closed the book and immediately put it back.
"By the way, you must have obtained one piece of that Crystal, the Moon Crystal in the Moon Lake in the Glinth Tribe's quarters?" Said Kinan like a seer. "That's right. And we were very careful about carrying that thing." said Eldred. "Hahaha I didn't think you could be that smart like your father, Kinan." Praised Kenley with a grin.
Kinan smiled shyly, "Not really, I only learned it from my father."
"Hearing that, I became curious about your father figure." Kenley said as he looked at the picture of the Magire Kivanal continent hanging on the wall. "Hey Kinan, don't you miss your father?" He turned to look at the girl. Of course I miss him very much, I always think how to infiltrate the Brandish palace." Kinan replayed his thoughts weeks ago about that crazy plan.
"Eldred, Kenley, can you fulfill my crazy wish? All I want is to save my father. My father has committed no sin at all. The Lord of Brandish is just a greedy man who desperately wants Crystal Crytilops, If they could get it, it would be against the Elfaires. And if that happens, the wars of a few centuries ago, will happen again. And we will repeat the same history." Right throat felt so dry when she had to say the last sentence.
****
Terrence was currently in a room filled with various kinds of medicines and several other medical devices that were complementary in the room. The boy sat quietly, waiting for what Kinan's mother would do to him. Terrence was nervous, his palms were wet with sweat, and his body didn't move. He clenched his jaw tightly. He kept clenching his slightly wet hands and hoped that his nervousness would go away soon.
Every now and then he glanced at the woman who was busy making herbal medicine not far from where she was sitting. Kinan's Mother looks very good at it. It made Terrence think back to when he was saved by Kenley and Eldred yesterday.
"I didn't expect that the troops from the Brandish kingdom would treat you like this too." Kinan's mother said she felt pity. She then unwrapped the bandage that had been washed off by the dried blood. "Fortunately you were healed immediately then, otherwise you would have suffered a serious injury from this." With her hands starting to become slightly wrinkled, Just like Kenley, Kinan's Mother also looks proficient in healing.
On the continent of Magire Kivanal, a person who is capable of healing, is called an Alchemist. Kenley already had healing skills as well when he was in his Guild, but he never realized it until when Eldred gave him an explanation when they were about to head to Myrana three weeks ago.
"Thank you very much." Terrence said feeling awkward. Kinan mother replied with a sincere smile. After ten minutes he used his ability to treat wounds. Now Kinan's mother sat beside the boy. "Where are you from?" She asked softly.
Terrence didn't answer right away. The boy was very difficult to say where he came from. He still has a longing for his home in Invana, but he really wants to try to dim everything that comes from his residence which he thinks only holds gloomy memories. As his mind kept on thinking about his sister who was still in Brandish, the little boy answered honestly.
"My sister and I are from Invana." He said then. "With your sister?" asked Kinan's mother. Terrence nodded. "Our parents sold us to Brandish. I thought that was a good thing, because our parents said we should live with uncle in Brandish. But the reality is worse than I thought." He said while stealing his eyes at the door of the room that was still open since they entered it.
"So your sister is still in Brandish?" She asked again. Terrence nodded weakly. In his mind, he wanted to do something, but couldn't. he had no choice but to go with Kenley and his friends on a trip to Brandish. Besides, he didn't know what else to do. His body had been numb ever since he had received the bite wound from the attacks of the two demons when he was banished one day ago. He still remembers the bad incident, even still ringing in his head.
He took a deep breath. "I don't know what's going on with him right now." This time he said he was desperate.
****
Cletak
It sounded like someone had opened the private room belonging to kinan's father. Those who were inside, turned towards the source of the sound to see who it was who was just about to enter, opened the door.
"Sister," Called the boy with pale brown hair from the doorway. After the door opened wide, then they could see the figure clearly. It was just Terrence with Kinan's mother who had just opened the door. It seemed that he had just finished taking medication for the eleven year old boy.
"How are you doing now?" Kenley asked. Terrence smiled widely. "I feel better. Oh yeah, what are you doing here?" Asked the boy while flicking his gaze around the corner of the room.
"Mom?! I'm sorry." Said Kinan was surprised. The girl knows the rules in her family that must be obeyed. They may enter their guests in a room other than his father's private room. The girl lowered her head to avoid looking directly at the woman who was still standing in the doorway.
"It's okay, i'm understands." The woman said briefly then walked over to her daughter who was still bowed. Terrence had told her all about his problems. And are you good people who are carrying out the trust? Actually, my mother intended to tell you about this place to you after treating the poor boy. But, since Kinan has brought you to this room, so what can you do?" The woman said smiling then. At first glance it looked similar to her daughter's cold face when she smiled.
"That's right. Actually, we only got the task to find and collect the legendary items stored in this Kivanal Magire continent" Eldred said. "And .." he said again as he hurried off to get something. We only just got the Moon Crystal from Moon Lake three days ago." He continued.
He showed it to Kinan and his mother. A very beautiful piece of stone with the same color as Elfair's eyes. Kinan's eyes barely blinked at one of the crystal pieces that his father used to tell him about. The existence of that object was the subject of his father's research a few months ago, now he can see the legendary object with his own two eyes.
"So all this time father was right. That thing does exist on this continent." Kinan said with still unblinking eyes. "The Elfairites worship nature very much, Lord Hardikha didn't tell me in detail about this thing. I think it has something to do with the problems the Elfaires are currently experiencing." Obviously the albino haired Elfair.
Even though Elfair was already hundreds of years old, he really didn't know anything about the Crystal or its very unfamiliar name when Lord Hardikha first told him about it. The Elfair massaged her forehead. In his mind, he should have entrusted this mission to important people in the Fcycila kingdom. To Shalyna or Nyell who are famous for their genius in Elfair territory. Rather than being just an Elfair archer over there.
"Even if it belonged to the ancestor of the Elfair nation, why only important people should know of its whereabouts? Or at least why didn't Lord Hardikha send anyone there but me. This frustrates me." Eldred ruffled his white hair. he had never felt so hopeless since he left Eisternd.
"But, we already have a clue from the book we stole from Gracylia's library, right? What are you worried about now." Kenley replied lightly. The Hamoursh man still didn't understand anything. As Eldred cursed Kenley in his heart, Suddenly a thunderous roar was heard. Outside, black clouds seemed to surround the city of Gussin. A light drizzle began to be felt, until a few seconds later it turned into a torrent of water pouring down the city of Gussin.
It rained heavily, drenching everything. Even the front porch of Kinan's house looks so wet from the rain that is blown by the wind every second. Kinan hugged his body cold. He went to the main room where there was a fireplace. There, his mother had lit a fire using the remnants of firewood that were still available. The fire was then successfully lit, they rushed to the main room as soon as they received a signal from Kinan's Mother.
****