Fruits are placed on bamboo plaits wrapped in white cloth. Vegetables are left hanging in rows on the wooden ceilings of almost all the stalls. People began buying and selling, haggling and transacting as they would in a market.
One of the fruit stalls had a large number of buyers. They were excited to see a new type of fruit that they said they had bought from a neighboring country. The jagged green skin with light brown flesh and sweet taste like a mixture of honey and milk managed to spoil the tongue. A delicate aroma greeted the nose.
The stall owner smiled broadly when all his merchandise was sold out. The lanky man with half-bald hair prepares to close the stall. From cleaning the fruit containers, collecting small pieces of fruit peel, to packing up the items he brought from home.
"Hey, Old Man! Is that prickly fruit still there?"
The stall owner looked at the three teenagers in front of him. Their matching black hair and deep blue eyes made the stall owner snort lazily. He was quite tired of them always coming to his place to buy fruit and insist on getting discounts.
"Scram! All the fruits I sold are gone." The Stall Owner shooed away as he quickly resumed his cleaning activities.
"Oh come on! You didn't leave any for us?"
"You can get fruits from other stalls."
"No one is as good as you, Old Man," said the teenage boy with a mole on the corner of his eye.
The stall owner ignored them. However, as he was about to lock the stall door, he noticed the haggard faces of the three teenagers in front of him. An exasperated sigh accompanied the old man's pitying gaze.
"Come with me, I have some yamut."
The three teenagers cheered happily. There was no one better than the old man who owned the stall. He always gave them a discount or fruit for free.
On the way to the Kiosk Owner's house, the sounds of chatter became an introduction. As brothers who were born at the same time and forced to live in an orphanage since the age of seven, their relationship was close without rigidity.
Raffles Sakerio was the first to be born. The Sakerio family's distinctive hair and eyes cut into his face. A speck of mole under his chin and at the tip of his eye distinguishes him from his Rakaya—twin who also has the same gender and even facial features that have almost no difference.
Flower Sakerio was born after Rakaya. The only female of the last remaining generation of the Sakerio family. The seventeen-year-old girl was the desired by the men in the orphanage of many young men at the orphanage. Her short, shoulder-length black hair with a soft sheen and a sweet smile that showed gings on both sides of her gums were the desired of the boys.
Being rescued by Sansega ten years ago and living in one of the orphanages in Inlane had made them better versed in the language and customs of the people in this country than their home. Like now, when they entered the dark brown wooden house with two floors and several closed square windows, with plants and fruit trees in the yard, they cupped their hands and greeted.
"May the Lord save His creatures." They said together.
The three of them soon followed Jagy who seemed to have slipped inside. Without being invited, Raffles, Rakaya, and Flower sat on the long wooden chair that always adorned the living room of Jagy's house.
"It's taking so long, Od Man!" grumbled Raffles.
"I'm sick of your ignorance, Raffles, but you're right this time. Where to, Jagy? He's taking so long!" chimed in Flower.
"Ka-if be-be-so ki-ki-ki-" Rakaya's speech, which had been stuttering since childhood, was cut short by Raffles.
"Gosh, where have you been, Old Man?! Don't you know your loyal customers are waiting for a very long time—"
"Shut up, Boy!"
Jagy was carrying a basket of yamut fruit, a new type of fruit developed in the Kingdom of Jewela and distributed only in recent days by Jewela. Flower and Rakaya ran to Jagy to sort out the good fruit. Meanwhile, Raffles was still on the chair.
"Hey, Raffles! Come over here!" called Flower, her eyes busy in the basket.
"Silly boy, do you want me to put this fruit back where it belongs?"
Raffles didn't seem to care. He tapped his fingers on the side of the wooden chair, making a sound. He looked out the window. The view of Jagy's vast fruit plantation was mesmerizing. But that wasn't the object of his thoughts.
In between Flower and Rakaya's commotion, and Jagy's bemusement at the two brothers wrestling with the fruit, Raffles spoke up.
"Old man, do you know the news about the war in Jegedi?" Raffles asked suddenly, making the three people who had been focused on the fruit look at the teenager intensely.
"Yes, I know. It's a hot topic in the market," Jagy replied casually. He then stepped over to one of the chairs and sat quietly there. "What's wrong?"
Flower and Rakaya looked at each other. On the chair, Raffles began to face Jagy.
"How did it go? Who won?" Raffles already knew that the battle probably wouldn't go smoothly because of something the guardian leprechauns did, but he needed more detailed and definitive news.
"Why are you curious? Ah, I forgot, you guys are from Jegedi. Well, I'll tell you some of the things I heard from people in the marketplace about the war."
Flower and Rakaya, who had been excited by the yamut, now joined Raffles and Jagy. They sat cross-legged on the floor as they looked up at Jagy on the chair. A long sigh began the old man's storytelling.
Word after word rolled off his lips like a waterfall ready to hit the three brothers. There was a sense of relief, worry, and curiosity that gnawed at their minds as Jagy's words formed several paragraphs of sentences.
"Most of the missing knights and warriors have already reunited at the fairy palace. However, not the palace doctor, Lord Sansega. His whereabouts are unknown." The last sentence Jagy said made the three of them surprised. "Yes, that's all I know."
Raffles stood up from his seat. Staring tensely out the window. He and his brother and sister were responsible for this after all. Soon enough, the teenager in the brown t-shirt and light brown cloak walked out of Jagy's house without a word.
Flower ran after Raffles, while Rakaya was confused. She stared at Jagy who looked astonished.
"I-I-wi-will-"
"Yes, I understand. Just follow your twins!"
Rakaya nodded and immediately ran after his brother and sister. Meanwhile, Jagy paused as he got something in his head. He remembered the two young men who came to the orphanage next to his house covered in blood a few years ago. They brought three twins who had just left his house.
However, the two only lasted two months at the orphanage and immediately left to return to Jegedi for some reason. Until ten years later, there was no news of them.
"Is it ... Mr. Sansega?"
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"How is that possible? All... all, you say?!" King Hugofara struck the large dining table in front of him.
The humans and elves in the room fell silent. The looks of shock, sadness, and anger were overwhelming. They were trying to digest the obituary that one of the soldiers had delivered about the chosen warriors and soldiers sent to help Sansega.
If the news was true, how great was the demon that destroyed White Jasmine Fairy Village?
"Sansega ... too?" The King asked.
"All the bodies are indeed in a state of disintegration, their internal organs are coming out of their bodies, but we can still recognize them. It is certain that Mr. Sansega's body is not there."
There was a sense of relief that inhabited a corner of Hugofara's heart. At least, one of his beliefs could still be hoped for. Even so, something else crossed his mind.
"Then, where is he?"
"We do not know, Your Majesty."
The mauve-haired woman with bright purple eyes as elegant as diamonds got up from her seat. A long dress in shades of light purple and dark purple decorated with glitter added to the Fairy Queen's luxurious and charismatic appearance. A small tiara studded with crystals covered a small part of the long hair that reached her pointed ears.
"I don't want to prejudge fate, but I suspect Doctor Sansega was kidnapped by the demon." The Queen said with a stern look of mixed worry.
"This is bad." Hugofara growled in frustration. "Prepare the carriage! I'm going to meet the Grand Wizard."
The few soldiers who had reported earlier withdrew, while Hugofara's trusted bodyguards hurried to prepare the chariots as ordered by the King.
"Queen, I entrust my people to you."
The Fairy Queen raised an eyebrow.
"That means, you will be looking for Doctor Sansega?"
Several strands of Hugofara's bleached hair flew in the wind. He stared outside the room that was directly connected to the colorful flower garden. A long sigh accompanied his blank stare.
"I've lost my wife. While my two sons never exchanged greetings. Do you know, Queen? Only Sansega can make them drink tea from the same pot."
The Fairy Queen nodded in understanding. As far as she knew, the two princes were quite close to Sansega. When she visited the Jegedi palace a few months ago, Sansega, Hagarino, and Hagasino were seen chatting while enjoying tea in the garden.
"May the Almighty Protect You."