Theo stepped out of the carriage, it was parked in front of a church.
A bunch of adult citizens were waiting for him outside the carriage kneeling, likely the teachers and officials in charge of the town.
An old bearded man with a white robe looked to the leader of all of the adults.
"Welcome to Apple Town, your imperial highness." The old man said, kneeling.
Unusual name for a town. Whoever named this town has the naming sense of a child.
Selene pops up from Theo's mind briefly, a person that has a bad naming sense.
"We have nothing much, but with the help from the capital we have a room that will accommodate your stay"
Theo nodded and smiled awkwardly at the elderly man in front of him.
Theo felt a little bad that they had to make so much preparation just to accommodate him, even though all he needed was just a room and some food to work with.
"Young master, I told the carriage and knights to head to the barracks."
"Good job Bennet, And all of you may rise. I'm delighted by your services. I have some questions to the mayor of his town and don't worry I'm just interested how things work here"
The mayor smiled at Theo's words, relieved that he wasn't meeting a spoiled brat which is not unusual when one is of imperial blood.
"Of course Your imperial Highness, right this way"
The crowd then disperses after the old man waved at them to leave.
Before Theo could move forward and follow the Old man, someone tugged his sleeve from behind.
"Mister why are Grandpa Jack and the other adults are bowing to you?"
Theo looked back and saw a light blue haired young boy, who looked to be around the age of Selene's younger sister, pulling his sleeve.
This kid.... don't tell me.
"Sky! What are you doing!? I'm sorry your imperial Highness! Please have mercy on this young and naive child."
A female Caretaker pulled the child named Sky and forced him to kneel down on the ground with her.
Here I thought I'll be visiting every single orphanage, but here you are in front of me!
"I don't mind, he's simply a child filled with curiosity. Lift your heads up."
The female Caretaker stopped trembling in fear and lifted herself and Sky up from the ground. Theo crouched down, leveling his sight with the child.
"Your name's Sky, right?"
The child nodded meekly, trembling because of the sudden event that transpired a second ago.
Theo reached out his hand and placed his hand on the child's head gently, halting the child's shaking body.
"Your Sky? Nice to meet you Sky. My name is Theodore Ignatius, you can call me Theo from now on"
The kid smiled back at Theo gleefully and responded
"Yes, Big bro Theo!"
" Oh and the reason why they were bowing is because I'm the empire's prince"
"That's so cool! Then if you're the Prince can you make me a Holy knight?"
"Sky!" The Caretaker said, alarming Sky that he was going too far.
Theo smiled expectantly and replied
"Sure, how about I take you with me after I finish my business here in Apple Town?"
The Caretaker became agape in shock, while Sky was jumping in place, happy that he was finally be able to fulfill his dreams.
"Will you really!? Big bro Theo!?" Sky screamed, excited with Theo's proposition.
"Well you gotta train first before that happens so look forward to that when we go back to the capital. And Ms Caretaker, prepare for him to leave. I'm going to take him with me to the capital."
"Theo, are you serious about this?" Patrick was concerned for the rash decision Theo made.
"Don't worry about it. I'll be responsible for him. Anyways I'll see you soon Sky."
Theo stood up and turned to meet the mayor.
"See you soon Big bro Theo!!!"
The child responded with the biggest smile on his face.
Sky Windsor, future adopted son of the prime minister Duke John Windsor, and Prodigy, rivaling even the talents of a main character in Legends of Alethea.
Sky was picked up by John Windsor in an aftermath of a wide scale dungeon break in one of the Orphanages in the region of Eden, the region Theo was currently in and the safest region out of all the regions in Virtus, situated at the top right of the empire.
Well, it used to be safe until a dungeon break occurred and wiped out half the region's orphanages, luckily John Windsor's was scheduled to check on the orphanages that certain day, saving the rest of what was left.
Theo arrived in Eden ten days before the dungeon break occurred.
He wanted to know where this dungeon was, so he could prevent it from commencing a dungeon break.
All he needed to do was inform John Windsor ahead of time before the dungeon break begins at the expected time.
He also expected that he was going to take a long time to find Sky.
Now that one thing was done, all he needed to do was find the dungeon and call it a day by sending a messenger to the Duke's close estate.
The game explicitly stated that it'll occur closest to where Sky used to live, so I don't need to worry about moving to another orphanage.
Theo felt more motivated than before, seeing Sky who used to only drown himself in vengeance, was currently still filled with aspirations and hopes for the future.
"Alright sorry for delay, Please lead the way sir and tell me your name,"
In response to Theo's words the old man bowed his head
"My name is Peter Your imperial Highness. If you need anything in your stay, I Peter am glad to serve you"
After Peter's introduction, they went into the church and went in to meet the mayor.
*****
"Big bro Theo! Look, look! I got this for you!" A young girl offered Theo a wreath.
"Big brother Theo, come play tag with us again!"
"Theo! teach me how to get as strong as you are!"
"Yes, one by one guys. One buy one" Theo said with a twitching smile on his face
It's only five days before the dungeon breaks and we still don't have a single clue about its whereabouts.
Theo and his escort knights have been searching the vicinity of the town, yet not a single trace of a dungeon was noticed.
It was explicitly mentioned in the game that it had a cave-like entrance that stretched down into the ground and it contained ten floors which John Windsor breeze past through in less than a day, it was, after all, a master tier dungeon.
A Grandmaster tier like the Duke would easily finish it without breaking a sweat.
He might've had it easy physically, but mentally? One could say it was hell on earth.
Thousands of corpses strewn across the region made by the unrelenting monsters that hoarded out of the dungeon.
Is what the game described it as.
Theo decided to start searching other towns a day ago just in case the game's information was unreliable or a variable had risen, so he could only wait in nervousness for the next few days.
Theo who was contemplating deeply once more out of nowhere was distrusted by a little girl.
"Big brother! What are you staring at? Are you ok Big brother Theo?" The little girl was trying to give a wreath she made and seeing Theo's face filled with concern made her thug his sleeve in worry.
She had blonde golden hair and green tinted eyes, which enchanted Theo for a split second, snapping him from his dazed figure.
Ah, I should seriously stop thinking deeply out of the blue.
"I'm sorry, I was thinking of my sister, I miss her a lot you see. Thank your, I'll treasure this"
I should focus on playing with the kids for now.
Theo made a routine every afternoon after his search to play with the town's kids whenever he could for at least an hour or two.
They reminded him of his little sister when she was young in his past life, so he couldn't help but give joy to the kids in front of him whenever he could.
Theo took the wreath from the little girl and placed it on top of his head. He also didn't forget to the the little girl on the head while giving her a warm smile.
"Does it suit me?"
"Yes! Right guys?" the little girl asked the other children that surrounded Theo
"Yeah he looks more pretty!" the little girl chimed.
"What do you mean? He looks girly now. Big bro Theo, girls should be the only ones wearing that!"
"Yeah yeah! Flowers are only for girls!"
Theo couldn't help but smile at the sight of the innocent arguments the children were having.
This is what we're fighting for Selene, the peace and happiness of children like them.
His hope that children wouldn't have to go through the hell and live a generation of bleak hope.