Footsteps. He heard footsteps. Heavy ones.
He opened his eyes and saw a tall and powerful figure. His eyes were clear enough to see the emblem on the flags behind that man.
"Oh... Grimestone, what took you so long...?" he addressed the man as if he was some sort of acquaintance. The beast man was surprised that he can finally utter some words, it seems that the sealing magic had come undone.
But the man gave him a hard cold stare.
"Tuck... how are you still alive at that state?" The man asks, bit the beast man, Tuck, laughs.
"A ten year old child did this to me, can you believe that?" Tuck stated, and the man remained quiet.
Other than this notorious beast man criminal, they've found several bodies alive yet severely injured around the area. All of them had similar injuries.
Their limbs were either cut or blown off.
It was surprising that they were still alive at this point, but it seems that the bleeding was stopped by using magic. At first, they thought that some sort of monster had came and started eating them, but monsters wouldn't keep any of them alive.
It was strange that there wasn't a single corpse among all twenty four of them.
Yes, fortunately, none of them were dead. The knights had the answers to their questions.
"Was that child one of the slaves?" the man asks.
"Yes, but he was different from what I know. I beat that brat up until he was half dead, but he came back to me, fully cured and with insane magic," Tuck says easily. He wasn't afraid to share information at this point, since he was basically dead and useless.
'All their stories match... he's not lying,' the man thought to himself.
They saw this gruesome scene just as they were on the way home back from a monster subjugation. This area was one of the safest and shortest route back to the Capital city, and just an hour ago, have they discovered this.
The campsite itself wasn't a mess, but it was bloody. 'It was a quick ambush,' the man thought again.
"General," his right hand in command calls for him. The man glanced back at him. "All the injured traders have been captured. There were traces of strange mana and small footsteps near the destroyed cage."
"Those children have escaped somewhere with that strange kid who claimed he had lived for centuries," Tuck decided to but in their conversation. The man then turned back to him in confusion.
"Centuries? Are you fucking with me?" the man was in disbelief, but Tuck could only smile at him.
"It came from that damned brat's mouth. It's up to you if you want to believe me or not, Samael Grimestone…" Tuck stated once again.
Samael, the man, gave him a displeased look before turning away from him. All the stories matched, but that beast man's story was the most absurd one yet. A mere child lived for centuries? Is that even possible? Of course not, for a human that is.
But that child was a human.
"We're splitting up. A group will head straight to the capital and have all these bastards in prison for illegal slavery," Samael ordered. "The others will stay with me, we'll be searching for the missing children."
The right hand man saluted by the command. "Understood, General!"
Samael sighs in frustration. 'Great, another fucking problem I need to deal with, just because I have no choice. Fuck.'
For the last few days, Yves and the other children got along quite well. He observed their behavior, how they are as a person, and who they get along best among the group. It was all simple observation as they were kids… but they seem to be hiding something that they don't ever want to share.
Which is fine, he has secrets, too.
But unlike them… he was a bit crazy.
"I'm a deity in a human's body," Yves randomly brought up during their lunch by a river side. They were travelling once again.
All the children stared at him, but the siren child, Rue, chuckles.
"You've been saying that since yesterday," she says.
"It's because you don't believe me at all!" Yves exclaims childishly with pouty lips. The demon brat, Nilsine rolled her eyes.
"We believe you already, just shut up," the lass says.
"SEE! You even act like you don't believe me!"
"Shut up, Yves!" Lysander was annoyed as well. But the others laugh at their bickering.
Every day was fun with all ten of them together… and other than that, Yves was starting to learn more about this world, this continent, and this country.
The country they are in is the Slora Empire, and this was the largest empire in the world they live in. Yves was familiar with this as he spent centuries researching about Earth and existence. He wouldn't be that ignorant.
Yves has recalled enough information about this country. Other than the fact that they are more advanced that his last research on them, everything else was still the same. It was still the largest country on this Earth.
Of course, who says there's only one Earth?
In any way, Yves was enjoying each moment spent with these children... maybe because he's a child at heart? While the kids were happily swimming by the river, Yves was simply dipping his foot on the cold water as he watched them.
His companions' laugh filled the air, the breeze is softly brushing on his skin and hair, and the rays from the morning sun were not burning him. The trees were green and healthy, the wildflowers were dancing softly, and the water felt cold and refreshing.
Everything... was full of life.
'Life is such a wonderful thing,' he thought to himself as he closed his eyes.
He was a Deity of Void, and he was someone who was meant to be full of nothingness... a complete emptiness. However, he changed... He became curious as years go by, and he developed his own personality. It shocked not only many, but himself as well.
But on the other hand, he wasn't too surprised.
He was a deity, someone who had immortality. To him... all those curiosities, researches, inventions... were his method to find a way to die. He had made inventions powerful enough to kill a deity. He had that realization as he was making the platform. All along... he was finding ways to kill himself.
He was still the Deity of complete Void.
To him, there's no meaning to anything.
So, in the end, he removed that thought. Right then, he decided to find the reason for existence... which was one of the restrictions given by the Council.
He was already halfway through after researching for almost a century, but he was caught and captured, and almost executed....
Being the curious man that he is, there was no way he'd stop his research for the reason and meaning of existence. It almost took him a century to get halfway, and there's no knowing how many years it'll take to finish his research, but he had to complete it.
Or he won't die peacefully.
"What are you thinking so deeply about?" the human kid, Kian, asked him. Kian sat next to him, completely wet.
"How I'm going to achieve immortality with this body," Yves replies, and he expected Kian to laugh, but Kian was calm..
"Hmmm, isn't that impossible for humans like us?" he says, like a child that he is. "We don't have more than a hundred years lifespan like all the other races. Won't you feel frustrated in the end if you fail?"
Yves smiles at his question.
"Impossible huh... I don't know about that," Yves says. "I've never failed, after all."
Kian stared at Yves in awe...
'He has a deeper personality than I thought... as expected of a former deity,' Kian thought to himself and smiles by himself. He's just a kid, after all.
"If you've never failed, then you'll probably get there."
"What do you mean probably? I will get there!"
"Yes, yes, sure. Whatever floats in your boat."
"Mark my words!"
"I know already, just shut up!"