It was surprisingly crowded. Elise was not expecting the town of Rhiona to be this alive after that unfortunate event. The town was one with the ground when they left it, there were almost no buildings standing. She thought it would be a ghost town after that, but the town's people had come back and started to rebuild it from scratch.
They were walking on one of the newly built streets. The town was buzzing from the constructions everywhere and all the artisans and tradesmen trying to establish their businesses. Even though walking in this town once again reminded Elise of the disaster she witnessed, seeing that the people were patching their wounds and trying to live on was enough to soothe her heart.
The sun was reaching the top. The way here from the Gate in the middle of the dense forest that took almost two days before didn't even take half a day this time. She knew her mobility had improved but didn't think it would be this much. The Traveler kept increasing their speed and she played along. They were almost flying in the forest. They even scared some lumberjacks on the way.
"That's why Humans are the most common species in most of the realms." The Traveler was walking next to her, looking around like Elise does.
"What do you mean?"
"Humans are one of the most adaptive species among the intelligent ones. They always find a way to live on." He drove off a salesman who was trying to sell him something on the road. "Do you remember the story I told you about the creation of realms?"
"Yeah." How could she forget? It was the first time she developed an interest in Energy.
"Humans are the first self-evolved intelligent species, unlike the Angels, Demons, and most of the Dragons that are handmade creations. They progressed beyond everyone's imagination because they created everything they had with hardship and endurance, their 'Gods' didn't interfere with anything. The other 'Gods' thought the Humans were the perfect species so, they copied them to their Realms out of jealousy."
He stopped for a moment to look into a greengrocer's cabbage shelf like he saw something interesting in there. Elise looked where he was looking. She was not a vegetable expert but even to her those cabbages were not looking healthy. The Traveler grabbed one with one hand and continued his lecture.
"But they soon found out their conjecture was wrong. The Humans they copied were not the ultimate species. Most of them extinct instantly. They were adapted to their original environment and couldn't adapt fast enough to their new Realms conditions." He turned the cabbage in his hand and showed the rotten parts. "Some lived on and evolved into something else. Some 'Gods' even force-evolved their Humans or readjusted their realms to create the ultimate species. That's how the other variant Humanoids created."
He dropped the cabbage back onto its shelf and kept walking while ignoring the greengrocer's complaints. The creation story he just told was not even close to the one the Six God's Church, the main religion in this continent, was telling. But she could see where it was coming from. She had never been a religious person, unlike her mother, but hearing those stories from someone like the Traveler was a different thing. He was telling those things like they were common knowledge and the absolute truth, and this made her curious about something.
"How do you know this much? Perhaps... were you alive back then?" She asked timidly. It couldn't be the case, right? She knew he was someone with a lot of mysteries around, but this was beyond her imagination.
He stopped and looked at Elise with a disappointed expression on his face. "Do I look that old?"
"That was not what I meant. You just... know too much, and I am just questioning where this much knowledge came from." She desperately tried to explain herself.
"So, you're calling me a liar."
Her eyes widened when she realized the thing she said could easily be understood like that too. She tried to think of a way to apologize, then she saw the mischievous smile on his face.
"I'm just messing with you. If you weren't the questioning type, I wouldn't take you as an apprentice. As for your answer, some organizations study the creation of Realms, and I have friends in some of them. Is this satisfying enough for you?"
She wouldn't believe if it was coming from anyone, but she saw what he was capable of. He had no reason to lie to boast about himself. She once again realized she was in the right hands and happily kept walking alongside him. The street they were walking on almost came to an end and only after that she realized they were being watched. She noticed two people's gazes in the alleyway they passed and two more of them outside of the store ahead. She had no idea how she did it but she could pinpoint their exact locations. Was it because of the Energy sense she obtained?
She immediately took a stance and got ready to take them on. "We are being watched."
"I know." The Traveler said with a careless tone. "They've been after us almost since we entered this main street, and we are already surrounded. Now they're going to act because you let them know they are discovered."
He was right. Elise couldn't help but react as soon as she felt threatened, and now the ones that were chasing them were closing on them from all directions. She recognized their uniforms under their cloaks, they were from the Investigation Bureau. Why them? She thought they were only sent after the ones that committed serious crimes. Why were they after her?
She looked at the Traveler. He was standing still without a care like nothing was happening. "What are you doing? We need to get rid of them before they call for backup."
"No. I don't beat up government officials anymore."
"What!? Whatever, we just escape then." She got ready to jump and get onto a rooftop. There were a lot of buildings under construction, and she could easily jump between them like it was a walk in the garden in her current condition. But she felt the Traveler's hand on her shoulder.
"I thought you were done running." He looked at her with his color-changing eyes, and she understood his intentions like he was fusing them into her brain with his eyes. She needed to clean up her past mistakes to have a cleaner future ahead. But, was he really planning to surrender to them? Who could have known what would happen if they went with them?
"Come on, don't think about it that badly. They will just give us a ride to the capital city. It's not like you committed a serious crime, right?" While he carelessly said those words, eight officers surrounded them in an instant.
"Under the name of the Royal Family of the Alethani kingdom, Elise Vandenberg, for insulting the Royal Family and the Royal Crown Heir himself through adultery, you and your lover are under arrest and will be delivered to the Royal Court. Please do not cause any unnecessary trouble and come with us quietly."
She looked at the Traveler with eyes wide open. He was also looking at her with visible confusion. She turned her gaze back to the commanding officer.
"My what!?"