Evan D. Sherden, Meets the Legend (2)
Evan's sleep training was successful. Although he was suffering from mild fatigue because he constantly used his strength while sleeping, he enjoyed the process anyway, so there was no problem in his daily life.
To put it plainly, the amount of muscle fatigue due to slime training wasn't damaging his body at all.
As sleep training became a part of Evan's new everyday life, three days passed without any problems, and the slave trader finally came to Evan. He had brought new children with him.
"Master Evan, I brought the children I mentioned earlier. There are two female twins and one boy."
The twins were six years old, while the boy was eight years old. All three of them had different coloured eyes. The twins had green and purple ones. If they were to face each other in a mirror, the colours of their eyes were opposite.
On the other hand, the boy had yellow eyes that looked almost golden. They also had vertical slits and were shining brightly. Evan felt as if he was staring into the eyes of a snake.
"…They are all Rookies. They had a hard time until now."
"The girls were separated from their parents some time ago. By the way, young master? Do you have any problems with any of these kids?"
Evan seemed to be rooted to the spot after seeing the children, he shook his head and replied.
"I was just surprised because they are all so pretty. You aren't bringing only the ones that you think would please me, right? It doesn't matter how many Rookie children you find, you have to bring all of them to me."
"…Yes, of course, Master. But I may not be able to find some more for the time being. I managed to find these children after I mobilized all the intelligence both inside and outside the Silk Line."
Evan's words shook the head of the slave trade. Evan roughly guessed the reason, so he just smiled bitterly. He had thought his poker face techniques might have advanced enough to be used in such a situation, but this was not the case.
"Parents of Rookie children often live in hiding. Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong."
"Of course, I will continue to look for them."
"You've done well enough so far. Thank you. Please do your best."
"Of course. As long as you believe and have trust in me, I'll always do my best, Master!"
The head of the exchange bowed deeply and stepped back. Even then faced the three children.
The twins looked at him with curiosity mixed with a little excitement, while the boy was still gawking at him. Evan could predict that he was still trying to be on his guard. It was natural for him, too.
"Then should I introduce myself first? I'm Evan. Evan D. Sherden. What are your names?"
"Ran."
"Lin. I'm Ran's sister."
The twins responded immediately. Lin's left eye was green, and her right eye was purple, while her younger sister Ran had purple colouring her left eye and green in her right one. Except for that, their faces were the same, and it wasn't easy to differentiate them.
"My oppa is very handsome."
"Yes, he is!"
"You are both also very pretty, especially when you smile."
"Thank you!"
Both of the twins indeed had smiles on their faces. Although they were born as Rookies, it didn't look like they had suffered so far.
Perhaps their parents had struggled to keep their children from feeling inadequate. Evan couldn't help but feel respect for them.
"…."
Meanwhile, the boy was still hesitating to speak first. After greeting Lin and Ran, Evan turned to the boy while carefully patting the other two children's heads. He then asked in the same voice as the first time.
"What's your name? Can you let me know?"
"…It's Jin."
"Aah, Jin. That's a very cool name."
"No, it's not."
Evan had spoken like that to bring out some response from him, but Jin, withdrawn until now, suddenly reacted harshly to his words. With his big yellow eyes wide open, he glared at Evan.
"My eyes aren't great at all!"
Lin and Ran covered each other's ears as he started yelling.
However, whether it was out of joy or anger, Evan deemed it as his victory to have sparked something inside of him. He spoke with a big smile.
"Is that so? They look cool to me. They're like the dragons in the legends, so they look very amazing to me."
"… Like a dragon's?" Jin, who had been denying Evan's words unconditionally, asked reflexively.
Evan could see the blatant hostility simmering down. Jin seemed to be debating whether Evan's words were serious, or if he was just sarcastic.
After all, he was still just an eight-year-old child.
"Yes, a dragon's. Do you know about dragons?"
"It's a huge monster."
"Oh, a dragon is not just a monster. It is the strongest living being on earth with high intelligence, arrogance, and strength appropriate for it. Unfortunately, they are only a legend now."
"Arrogant, strong…"
Originally, the story of dragons worked best for children, if not for warriors. Jin's posture became awkward all at once. He wanted to hear the story as well as defend himself at any time. On the other hand, Lin and Ran were blinking and focusing on Evan's words.
"It is said that ancient humans feared dragons and honoured them at the same time. Since the dragons had power that no one else could overcome, the humans couldn't even dream of daring to fight them. And as they couldn't fight them successfully, they had no choice but to obey."
"…"
Strength made their existence perfect. The dragon was such a perfect being. Of course, that was why they were all dead in the end… Evan decided not to talk about that part now.
"There is a special power in the eyes of dragons. They have eyes that see more accurately than anyone else can, and at the same time can see anything's essence. I always thought it was very cool. Maybe Uncle Tom, the gardener, thinks that way too."
"Uncle Tom?"
"There is a man who makes dragons from plants every day. I'll introduce you later. There is a dragon that he is making with a spirit that he will decorate the streets during this festival, and it's really cool." Evan said this while smiling widely. This act's power was outstanding regardless of gender. Jin's pale face finally seemed to blush a little. He seemed a little shy now.
"Jin, do you have good vision?"
Evan suddenly asked him a question. Jin hesitated for a long time on whether or not to answer, then responded in a small, but clear voice.
"No matter how far, I can see things as they are."
That was the case, indeed. And Evan knew about it already. His smile widened. It was just a little bit, but you could see that Jin had opened up to him.
"You also resemble a dragon to me."
"Dragon… Resemble…?"
"Oh, do I look like one, too?" said one of the twins.
"Me too! Do I look like a dragon to you?"
"Let's see… You are more like cute rabbits."
"Ah, rabbits are weak."
"I like rabbits."
"I don't know how strong your rabbit is. Listen, a real strong rabbit is living in the north, and they…" Evan started chatting with the twins again.
Jin looked at Evan and suddenly said:
"I would then be a dragon."
"Haha, yes. That would be great, too."
"If I become a dragon and become stronger than anyone else, will everyone not bother me?"
Evan didn't answer him immediately. This was because he thought he shouldn't answer quickly. Jin was filled with anxiety as he waited for Evan's answer. Soon, Evan's opened his mouth to speak.
"Of course, it would be nice to be a dragon."
"Then… "
"But Jin, there must be someone who will like you even if you don't become a dragon. If you don't forget that, then you can aim to be one."
"But nobody likes me now."
"I like you. I like your dragon-like eyes, your longing for strength, and your willingness to live without giving up."
After listening to such words of sincerity, Jin donned a subtle expression. Evan was not disappointed. He thought it was rather natural for him to be acting like that.
By now, the young boy's head was probably full of dragons. Evan had made it like that to give him determination.
"I am not asking you to accept all of my words right now. Just when one day you can afford to think again for yourself, remember what I said. Can you do that?"
"…Yeah."
"Fine then. That's good." Evan smiled again and stroked Jin's hair. Jin hesitated a little, but then closed his eyes and accepted it.
Evan knew that it would have been a surprise to others if they had seen him dissolving the child's vigilance in an instant. Moreover, this done easily with a gentle and handsome expression was even more fascinating.
The twins were infinitely bright, and the boy with the golden eyes had an infinitely dark nature. Evan just laughed at the children in front of him, who so brilliantly contrasted with each other.
'These are all characters with the highest of importance.'
In fact, in Yo-Ma Great War 4, there were far more Rookies against the protagonist than against the Demon King. Rather, it was natural as not even a single Rookie hadn't experienced complicated and dangerous circumstances.
'Twin Priests, Lin and Ran. Both became priests following the goddess of good luck and were used as puppets for a group of warlocks disguised as the Church. They believed in the same god, and they could link the divine powers of each other, which was why they came out as very threatening enemies.'
Lin and Ran were very popular villains because of their beautiful designs and unique and powerful abilities. Their sticking to each other was also an attractive factor.
In particular, the end of the two in the main story was very unfortunate.
'On the other hand, Jin… I didn't even know I could meet this child here.'
In the Yo-Ma Great War series, there were always people who betrayed humans and attached themselves to demons. It was a long tradition that ran from the first to the last game.
And, among the betrayers of Yo-Ma Great War 4, Jin was among the strongest ones. In terms of pure strength, he was weaker than the Silent Knight of Yo-Ma Great War 3, but he was one of the strongest men who never fell behind anyone else in terms of being difficult to deal with.
'He had exceptional long-range sniping capabilities, so even if the enemy was caught just a little off guard, it resulted in his death. He wasn't weak in close proximity too. Even if it wasn't rapid-fire, he shot piercing arrows aimed at the vital organs from a very short distance…'
But Evan had to try to reap that talent himself. Of course, just because he had met Jin earlier, there was no guarantee that Jin would remain on his side until the end. This applied to all the other Rookie children Evan had under him. However, it would be possible to protect this innocent child from experiencing horrible experiences that would make him want to betray humans.
Evan was confident about this. In the future, no one would ever bother this child. Jin was now under Evan's protection. No one could so much as touch him.
"Alright then, we shall go wash ourselves after eating. Then I will introduce you to your friends."
"Friends?"
"They are all children like you."
"Wow!"
"Like me…!?"
The twins started jumping around happily as Jin lamented over the words and slowly began to understand. Evan nodded and spoke, patting Jin's head again.
"You will definitely be able to get close to them."
Jin nodded his head at this and bowed. Half smiling, Evan stood up and shouted at those waiting outside the room.
"Shine, Lua! Let's go take a bath with the kids!"
That was the day when the number of the reserve members of the Dungeon Knights increased by three.