"We are finally here," Will said as they both looked at the engraved text stone, standing vertically in front of them.
"Yeah, it's the real one. The one that can save Venpine…no, the whole Saphris island. But it's not the right thing to do at the same time." Eugeo said.
"What do you mean?"
"Now that we are here, let's start what I left off at your room, the great deeds of the Great fish-men species."
"Huh? Is this a joke? You brought me all the way here just to talk history."
"Just to talk history? You won't be saying that after hearing it."
*
The maid hurried back to the main hall with a note in her hand and reached out to the queen who was standing beside the stage with the other guests.
Since the ceremony celebration had already turned into a three-ring circus, everyone looked at the maid for information.
"What is it? Why is Will not with you? Tell me!" The queen asked with a serious expression.
"I-I-I apologize, my lady. I went to the young master's room but he was not there." The maid said in a panicked voice.
"He is not here?"
"But if he doesn't come here, we are all doomed."
"Did he run away all by himself?"
"I don't think so. Maybe he's…"
"Calm down, you all!" The queen shouted.
Everyone stopped talking and looked at her to get an appropriate response.
"What do you mean by he's not there? I came from his room a few moments ago and he was still there."
"I checked everywhere but he was nowhere in the near vicinity. I even checked the nearby rooms."
—Tsk, where did he went off to? I told him that it's really important and still…
The queen thought as she looked in the direction of Will's room, on the above floors.
"U-Um, the young master left this n-note there while I was looking for him in his room." The maid said and presented the piece of paper to the queen.
She looked at the note and opened the folded paper just to find herself more confused.
"He says that he has something important to do and to wait for him." The queen said.
"Is it a joke?" The king said angrily, almost losing his composure.
With each second passing, the feeling of uneasiness was accumulating in the crowd and their trust in the royal family was dwindling.
"But it's strange. Why would he write such a simple thing in this language? We have already discarded it years ago." The queen said.
"Does it even matter right now? We are in a bigger predicament right now."
The crowd started to question the queen as their patience was reaching the limit.
The ministers stepped up to control the crowd but it wasn't working since they weren't in majority.
—(sigh) I should have known that something like this would happen. What other reaction was I expecting? They are not children after all.
The king thought stepped down from the stage and stood beside the queen while looking at the panic.
Suddenly, the four kids, Brian - Zato - Mirajina - Noelle, reached out to the king and the queen.
Zato was still chewing the sticks, apparently having a bundle of them in his pocket.
"Mom, can you show me the note too?" Noelle asked.
"I don't mind but what are you planning to do with it?" She asked, confused.
"Hmm? No, nothing. It's been a long time since I read the old language so it just piqued my interest." She said with gulping.
—She really thinks we can't see her lying. Well, not that she can do anything with a piece of paper.
The king thought while looking at the children.
"Okay, whatever you say. Take it." The queen gave her the note.
"Thank you, Dad! Thank you, Mom!" Noelle said and they all ran away to a less crowded part of the hall.
"What do you plan to do with that note, Noelle?" Mirajina asked.
'Although he is a jerk, I don't think he is an idiot.' She said.
*Are you talking about your brother?* Brian asked.
^Yeah, but do you understand the words that he has written?^ Zato asked.
'No, but we will figure it out somehow.'
"Figure it out…it doesn't sound reassuring."
'There are many things in this world that are demoralizing but we somehow work together with it.'
Noelle said as she looked at the bouncing chest of Mirajina while frowning over the comparison.
They all stopped after reaching a corner of the hall, with barely any crowd around, and formed a circle.
'Let's try to find some meaning in it.'
*But we need to translate it first or else nothing will start.*
"I can somewhat translate it although I am not sure if it will be of much help since I am below amateur in that."
^Leave it then. It will confuse us more.^
'Zato!' Noelle glared at him to get him a little more serious.
'Come on, try it, Mira. Maybe we can get some ideas.'
*Well…better than nothing.*
"Mhm. It says…Me had…some…important to done, I…am back soon."
*What language was that?*
^Nah, it's our language with just a stick up its ass.^
'Stop you both. We have got a rough idea. Just need to refine it a bit.'
*Yeah, yeah, I can't believe she actually translated it.*
"I kind of liked the approach of this language so I started to self-learn it."
"Alright, let's see…" Noelle said and started thinking about different combinations.
^Ah, you all do things too inefficiently. I already deciphered it.^
*More like corrected it.*
^It was really easy if I say so myself.^ Zato said while chewing his sticks more aggressively.
'Who is inefficient now?! Tell it to us quickly!'
^It's something like this - I have something important to do, I will be back soon. How's that?!^
*Sounds good but didn't you just pasted what her highness said in the public a few moments ago.*
'Ah, It doesn't matter. This sentence seems good. Let's go with it.'
They all start to find the hidden meaning behind the sentences but couldn't find anything even after trying all the basic combinations they could.
*Why do I feel like we are thinking too much about it? We have tried everything from every direction but didn't get a single clue.*
"Yeah, maybe it was just a simple note, nothing as deep as you exaggerate it."
'But…'
Suddenly the note falls from Noelle's hand and slides a little far from the group.
"Oh, let me get it."
Noelle moves towards the note and bends to pick it up.
"Hmm?"
While picking it up, she looks at the upside-down note and her eyes widen in surprise.
"What happened, Noelle?" Mira called out.
"U-Um, nothing. It's nothing. I need to go to the toilet, till then you all keep trying." She said and started walking away.
"W-Wait eh-" Brian asked but was interrupted by Noelle.
"See you all, keep trying." She said with a salute and left the hall in a hurry.
"Where is she going now?" The queen said as she looked at the running Noelle, "Kids are really troublesome sometimes."
"You are right but I think she got something." The king said.
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing, I may be overthinking but we should gamble on everything and anything that we have."
The queen looked at her husband in confusion and puzzled manner unable to understand the meaning of his words.
The king gestured to the minister who was behind him to follow Noelle to which he responded with a nod and started following her.
—Why didn't I think of it before? I wasted too much time already.
Noelle had deciphered the real message that the note wanted to say.
The note said- Yanguno, coe El Honle pautitru oalyiefnaw ra py - which when reversed becomes something like this -
Py
Ra
Oalyiefnaw
Pautitru
Honle
El
Coe
Yanguno
When joined all the first letters of each word, it represents 'PROPHECY'.
Although, this is not what surprised Noelle. She had a feeling of uneasiness as she looked at the second message inside the sentence.
yanguNO
coE
eL
honLE
pautitRU
oalyiefNAW
rA
pY
The other message that scared Noelle was the warning given by Will in the note mentioning 'Noelle Run Away'.
"What is going on, brother?!" Noelle said as she sped up and ran towards the underground passage.
[Please do comment on chapters since it boosts my confidence. If you like or didn't like something while reading, you can also post a review of your experience. Thank you for reading.]