As they entered the tent, they couldn't meet Yves' eyes, and Yves was confused.
He tilts his head to the side and says, "Hey, I'm not mad, okay? I'm simply disappointed that the day where we all need to part ways would come so suddenly..."
But they were still quiet.
"I have a secret I want to share," he tells them again after a moment of silence.
"What, are you going to tell us you're a deity?" they all said in unison..
And they were shocked by that. Yves laughs.
"Well, yes. I am a deity," Yves stated, as he walked closer to them. "I was known as the Deity of Void, named Syvestian. Yves was a nickname for me, and I've grown fond of it. As a deity, I've done various researches and experiments, and I've also invented inventions. And not all of them were legal in the eyes of the higher ups, I agree to that as well."
The children listened.
"I was chased down for my 'illegal' actions, and I was force to use a spell I've never used before... which led me to be in this dying human's body..." he confessed and the first to react was Rue.
"...what?"
"Yes, I've stolen this body. The human boy... was already dead before I entered him."
Slowly all of them turned to him, they were in complete shock.
"I couldn't imagine myself dying, because I have yet to finish my final research, which took centuries to finish half of it," Yves continued. "And I hate anything unsettled. That's why, here I am..."
There was a long silence before one of them started talking again.
"...A deity in a human's body with one goal.... eternal life..." Kian mumbles to himself as he recalled their past conversation. He knew Yves wasn't kidding, but he never knew it would be this insane.
They thought that he was a deity in his past life... and that he owned this new body of his...
Yes, they actually believed him. What do expect from kids?
"To finish a research... you want to gain immortality...?" Cimmerian asks, after hearing Kian. Yves smiles.
"Yes, as simple as that, and I'll be doing that for the rest of my life."
They were stunned. Yves has never opened up to them like this. While they were thinking, Yves heaved a deep breath. He was glad that they're taking this in somewhat calmly. They're all too mature for their age.
"For now, I want you to think of your own goals. Something that will take up most of the years in your life, something that will surely satisfy you..." Yves says. "I know it's not easy, but you need to have goals in order for us to meet again in the near future. I don't need empty-headed fools as my friends."
His words struck them like a knife by the gut, but they weren't mad.
Yves was serious for the first time and they couldn't ignore it.
He was right. Someone like him... doesn't need weak-willed companions...
'We need to be stronger... and get stronger alone...'
It looked as if fire lit in their eyes, and Yves was satisfied just by that.
"We can all cry tomorrow, so for now... let's savor the last hours together, alright?" Yves reminded them, and just by that, they all looked up to him...
...and their expressions look as if they were going to break down in tears any second now.
'Ah... I made a mistake bringing that up,' Yves thought to himself as he was then tackled down by hugs from them.
They were later heard crying out loud, the knights can clearly hear them.
Several minutes have passed and they finally got out of their tent. They saw the knights completely set up, and were continuing where the children left off with their cooking.
A knight then later approached Yves. He slightly bowed.
"The commander wishes to talk with you," the knights says. Yves then turned to the others.
"You lot should help the knights cook, I'll be joining in a bit." The others nodded and left him. With that, the knight was in complete awe.
'All of them are really following his orders...' the knight didn't believe that this child was like a leader to all of them.
In a few moments, Yves entered the duke's tent and he was there sitting.
"Care to join me?"
Yves smiled at the energy this man is giving. 'This human matches me more than I thought...' he thought to himself and took the vacant seat in front of him.
"I'll be straight to the point," Samael stated, as he placed papers in front of him. "Two among the noble children have been kidnapped, and the rest have gone missing for months. All ten of you were definitely taken for a reason and it's not by chance. Do you somehow have a clue about it?"
Yves took the papers and started reading it. They were certain report papers about the happenings and movements of certain nobles who buy slaves for immoral purposes.
Reading the lists of names, he saw a familiar one.
He thought for a second.
All races are present. All of them are of noble blood. And lastly… they have insane talent.
Does that man plan to train them? No, he wouldn't have bothered to have two of them kidnapped. There was only one thought in his mind.
"… experiments. Live experiments," he mumbled to himself as he placed the paper down on the table once again. "Can you give me a brief background on this man called Heins?"
Samael raised a brow. Of all names?
"He's a professor at Svetlana Academy, and he teaches various subjects related to magic. He's a bit of a strange man, but he's a well-respected man in the Academy," Samael responded.
Yves smiles. "I heard that we were to be delivered to him," he gave them a short answer.
Samael turned serious.
"Is it okay if we discuss about this more?"
Their discussion went on until they were called over for dinner. They reached to a certain conclusion, but they lacked certain evidences. Samael didn't want this case to go unsolved, and he didn't want to waste this commoner child's talent as well.
The child was amusing, smart, talented, strong, and somehow, he reminds him of himself.
That's why he thought of something.
"Yves…" he called the child after dinner.
All the other children were busy with cleaning. They got along with the knights well, since they're all friendly. Samael took this chance to talk with young boy alone.
Yves turned to him curious. "Yes, commander?"
"I have a deal I want to propose to you, would you be willing to hear me out?"