Whilst the warm air of summer brushed through her face, Ebina strode within a corridor and arrived upon two soldiers and a door. A single nod and the soldier opened the door on her behalf. Letting her see the sitting man and his stack of papers before him as he focused on what he was doing.
"Ah, there you are."
The man noticed her presence at last after she entered the room. Leaning his back on his chair, he crossed his hands and gazed at her from top to bottom. His emerald hair trimmed behind, and he wore an attire composed of a black vest and long white sleeves. With one of his eyebrows raised, he stated, "I've heard of your…. Triumphant return. Well done on massacring those vermin."
"I am at your command," she answered without a beat while straightening her posture. Fist on her chest, she paused for a second before continuing, "....Have you heard of it?"
"Well, isn't that obvious? Soldiers in the barrack are looking at that boy like he's the incarnate of the Dialo itself…" in pursed lips, he leaned forward and stared closer to her, "And I've heard… You wish to be his guardian?"
"Until the day his actual parents come to light," nodding her head, Ebina lowered her hands.
"If that's what you wish for…" with a shrugged shoulders, the man shifted back his attention to the stack of papers, taking a few pages of it and laying them on the table where he hovered with his feathered pen. "I will add your completion of the task to the report, as per usual. By the way… That guy wanted to meet you."
Exhaling a heavy breath, Ebina bowed once before she retreated backwards for three steps. She turned around and walked outside. The two soldiers greeted her with a faint nod and she returned in kind.
As she hastened her pace, she came at the end of the corridor and saw an opened iron gate with a spacious field behind it. The light enveloped her eyes for a moment until she adjusted herself to it.
There, many people wear steel armor and hold long, wooden sticks with a cylinder stone wrapped at its tip. In a certain rhythm, they would thrust those sticks at the same time. A man with a pair of slit eyes oversees their training right at the very front. When she recognized him, the man stared back at her.
His face was stiff, and there wasn't any trace of a smile. Some white hairs were protruding from the rest of his brown hair. As she drew closer to him, the man's height became much larger than from the distance. His bulged muscles were noticeable through his ordinary civilian clothes, which made him stand out more amidst the silver river on his side.
The memory of him always smiling at her slithered into her mind. The contrast she saw at this moment made her heart beating a little faster. Her palms became wetter and a bead of cold sweat dripped over her forehead, before she grunted and clenched her fists.
"Sir Gerald."
She called out to him and noticed how her voice was a little huskier than the normal. Fortunately, the man replied and dispelled her notion of him observing her slight difference.
"You picked up an orphan from a Havlin lair?"
The man's straight to the point question caused her to feel a stream of nervousness at the back of her head. Still, she stood her ground and nodded. Gazing back at him in the eyes and answering, "Though it is too soon to say that he's an orphan… But in the meantime, I offered my service to take care of him."
"Humph," snorting through his nose, he narrowed his eyes further and said, "I know you are a swords woman that sticks to the rules and upholds the knight's honor. But we are talking about a boy found in the nest of those Dialoes offspring!"
With her mouth a little agape at the sudden raised tone in his last words, Ebina soon frowned and retorted, "With all due respect, sir Gerald, he is but a newborn."
"That doesn't excuse him for having been taken by the Dailoes' minions! Who knows why they wished to take him! Remember the tragedy of the Resthuur's Kingdom!"
"I can't believe you believed such superstitions to that extent…" biting the corner of her lips, she shook her head and spoke, "You wish to force those sins on a month old baby? You are better than this, sir Gerald!"
Gasps echoed and before she knew it, the rows of trainees on the side had watched their exchange and stopped their training. A pin drop atmosphere ensued and she looked back to the expressionless man before her.
At last, the man replied. His icy tone shuddered her as he turned his gaze, "You are dismissed, Ebina."
Without a word, Ebina placed a fist to her chest and retreated. Faint murmurs about her insubordination and such fell on her ears, much to her ire. She tried to calm herself until she walked far enough to not hear them. The secret glances thrown at her on her way grating her mind still, for the news of her unique arrival and the baby in hand caused a bigger sensation than she had expected. Most of the soldiers, even within her ranks, voiced their frights and apprehensive opinions.
Now, even the first man to recruit her to the military in this kingdom and the mentor of this city's soldiers had revealed his strong objection. Giving her a sense of helplessness inside. The silver lining was that there wouldn't be any rules that state she couldn't adopt an orphan or such. Not to mention, the knight's honor of helping those in need gave her more reason.
But the second she sighted the baby at the hands of her most trusted man in the distance, the previous nervousness was gone and replaced by resolution. Silently, she swore to protect the innocent newborn. This would be her new chapter and perhaps… her own selfishness to amend what once has been lost.