"After that, just use some light healing to help her recover from blood loss," Kyran told Yalen after dressing Soria's wounds.
"This is very thoughtful of you. Thank you," Yalen thanked him because he refrained from touching Soria while instructing her on how to apply the balm and dress her wounds.
"What?"
"Not touching Soria. She is a lady, as you know..."
"I don't want to be accused of something for wanting to cure her," Kyran replied with a shrug.
Yalen frowned, "We won't do such a despicable thing! Besides, all of us are witnesses to how you saved her. In addition, you helped cure us and—."
"I'm messing with you. Don't take my words seriously."
Yalen was dumbfounded at Kyran's response.
Not wanting to dwell on the matter, Kyran stood up and joined the other Eidums in fixing the tents.
Yalen frowned at Kyran's attitude. She felt like he was not taking her seriously.
'Right. He did say not to take his words seriously,' she thought, frustrated.
Yalen looked at Kyran, and her brows furrowed in thought. Judging by appearance, she should be a year or two older than him. He could have at least shown her some respect, right? But recalling his knowledge in apothecary and healing, his age did not seem to add up.
Could he truly be an Imon-spawn? After all, it was harder to tell the age of a beast-like compared to a complete being.
"I don't think he is an Imon-spawn."
Oded's remark, which seemed to coincide with Yalen's thoughts, brought her back to reality. She looked at him and asked, "Why do you think so?"
"His knowledge of a complete being's body is not something a beast-like would know."
Oded's reasoning made Yalen gasp in realization. Why did she not think of that? She was too hung up on Kyran's attitude toward her that she overlooked such an obvious clue.
"You're right."
"I am starting to believe he is similar to the Saint. A complete being with an Anathema."
"The Saint's condition was first thought of as an illness. His dark hair and eyes could also be treated as such. Unless we proved to them, he is not ill then..."
"True. But it can be easily affirmed that it is not an illness. Think about it; how can he have such monstrous strength if he is ill?"
"The first sign of an illness is the weakening of one's body," Yalen recalled what she read about a complete being's illness. "With his strength, not to mention knowledge of a complete being's anatomy, it is possible to argue that he is a complete being with an Anathema."
After a while, she chuckled and looked at Oded in amusement, "I am surprised you are giving his origin real thought. Did he grow on you already? It hasn't even been a day since we met him."
"Yeah, but not as much as you," Oded replied, tongue in cheek. With a slight sneer, he stood up and joined the others before Yalen could react.
Yalen's face burned once more. She did not expect Oded to notice her strange reaction earlier!
'D-Did I really look that way... to him... T-This is embarrassing!'
By the time their resting spot was fixed, Hilam had woken up.
As Kyran said, the pill's efficacy did wonders for Hilam's body. Not only did it restore his energy, but it also mended all his internal and external injuries. Because of this, he unhesitatingly went up to Kyran and thanked him, shocking the other Eidums.
Kyran accepted his gratitude without any drama, making the others sigh in relief.
If this had happened in the Abbey, and Kyran was like a regular stuck-up Eidum, he would have already demanded Hilam an apology without accepting his gratitude.
Seeing Kyran's nonchalant attitude toward Hilam's earlier hostility made them realize how mature he was compared to his young appearance.
Once everyone had settled, Kyran offered to keep watch while they rested.
Hilam initially wanted to insist on doing it because he had already rested, but Kyran had left before he could make his point, leaving him somewhat helpless.
A few hours later, when everyone was well rested, and Noam and Soria also woke up, they prepared to leave.
Honestly, Noam and Soria's condition should have delayed their journey. But because of the effectiveness of Kyran's medicines, they were healed practically miraculously and could already move without any problems.
Their estimated arrival time at the Great Divide was three days at the rate they were going. They had arrived at this number after considering several factors, such as sneak attacks from the enemies and ferocious beasts alike, food gathering— because their ration was not enough now that they decided to share it with Kyran—well as their resting time.
Surprisingly, their estimated time was cut by a day because they did not encounter any enemies or ferocious beasts along the way. It was as if, Kyran's presence stopped any mishaps from happening around them.
His talk about the rule of the forest suddenly made sense to them.
With such a 'strong' person with them, the 'weaker' enemies and ferocious beasts had no choice but to give way.
In any case, their travel time was down to two days, which meant their ration was enough to accommodate them until they reached the Great Divide.
Two days later, they finally arrived at a desert-like field.
They all stopped in their tracks as Hilam looked at Kyran and said, "The Great Divide is just over there."
He pointed up ahead. But apart from the desert, there was nothing else to see.
'See there? There is a dark line over the horizon,' the old man explained to Kyran.
Kyran did see the 'dark line' and knew it was a chasm. At first glance, it might appear small, but with his heightened senses, he knew the chasm was vast and long.
Basically, The border separating the Eidum's territory from the enemies' territory was a long and vast chasm.
'That chasm is why the border is called the Great Divide,' the old man continued.
For the record, the old man was initially angered at Kyran suddenly cutting off the feed from the projector a few days back. But after learning what transpired and that his goal had been to teach those 'rookies' a lesson of the 'real world,' his anger dissipated.
"The HQ is also located there," Hilam continued appearing somewhat mysterious.
'I'm sure you've already sensed it. The HQ is underground and built along the chasm walls, placing the battlefield below.
"I see," Kyran spoke aloud. "The HQ is located along the chasm walls. That's pretty neat. If not for the ongoing war, I would have liked to explore how it was made."
Hilam's face fell. He wanted to give a grand explanation about where the HQ was located. In the end, Kyran already guessed where it was, and the 'grand explanation' he had in mind was rendered useless.
"Yes," Soria agreed. "The HQ's construction had been one of the turning points of the Eidum's history. I would accompany you and explain it in detail, but you are right. There is a war we need to focus on."
She and Noam were the few who warmed up to Kyran the most. It was reasonable since he was the one who saved them.
Besides that, Soria was truly grateful for Kyran's considerate action by letting Yalen take care of her wounds.
"Anyway, we have to leave you here for the time being," Soria continued, looking uneasily. "With our clearance, we can't invite you inside HQ. Even if you have a temporary identification issued by the Abbot, your appearance... well..." Soria's voice trailed off.
"I understand. Do what you have to do. I'll wait here."
Hilam and the others looked at him apologetically. They were already used to his appearance after being with him for a few days. But the sentries at the entrance might not be that welcoming.
"Soria and I will report to the commander and request an audience with the leader," Hilam added hastily. "We'll come back and take you to her, then."
"I can wait here with Nar—."
"You have to report to the Infirmary as soon as possible," Soria reminded Yalen before she could finish what she was saying. "Plenty of injured members needed you and Oded, Lady Yalen."
"But—."
"Yalen."
Yalen pursed her lips. As much as she wanted Kyran not to feel unwelcome by leaving him here, she had a responsibility. Besides, a Soria suddenly dropping the honorifics while saying her name was scary.
Yalen feared the scary Soria.
"We'll bring the supplies to the inventory manager," Noam also quipped.
"Here," Kyran gave him the storage ring where he kept their supplies. "I've added some items in there. In case you'll find a discrepancy in the number of supplies."
Noam looked at the ring on Kyran's hand in disbelief. He would be lying if he said he did not doubt the supplies were all in that ring because it was too small! How could all their supplies fit in there?
The truth they had been mulling over where Kyran hid their supplies. They never considered he had kept them inside such a small item.
They were getting more and more intrigued by Kyran's background.
Hilam turned to Kyran, "Well then. We'll be back."
Kyran only nodded in response.
Hilam walked over to a spot in front of them and took out a translucent disc. He spoke a few words, and the ground beneath him lit up the same time the disc did.
Kyran's eyes widened. He had not been using his magic sense lately because of the thin magic energy around them. Thus, he did not notice the array formation.
More importantly, after staying in Somuli for a few days, he believed no one could use Array. To think he would find one right here.
"A transportation array?" Kyran's brow furrowed after recognizing the runes on the formation.
Soria looked at him in surprise, "You know about the lost technology?"
"Array is a lost technology?" Kyran asked, looking at her questioningly.
Soria could not help but smile bitterly. They already established his ignorance of most common knowledge was due to his hiding because of his appearance.
"It is," she answered. "There are only a few places that still possessed Arrays. While we can read its runes, we can't replicate it. We can't even fix a damaged array, so the entrance to the HQ must be kept secret. If the enemies knew where the array is located, then..."
"You don't have to worry about that," Kyran assured her.
He did not elaborate, but to Soria and the others, they took his words as an assurance he would not tell anyone where the entrance was.
Others who knew Kyran, however, knew he meant 'fixing the array if it got damaged was nothing to worry about.' After all, he was an Array Saint.
"The array is ready. Let's go," Hilam called them.
The rest of the Eidums looked at Kyran as they stepped into the array. They did not bid him farewell because they knew they would meet again.
"Later, Nar."
Kyran smiled and nodded, watching them disappear as a blinding light from the array enveloped them.
'You've grown fond of those kids, haven't you?'
The old man, who had been silent for a while, suddenly gave a cheeky remark.
'I have,' Kyran admitted.
The old man smiled without saying anything more.
Getting the approval of the commander took some time. He asked Hilam and Soria several questions and even checked with the inventory manager if the supplies were truly in one piece and had not been tampered with.
Hilam and Soria were glad they did not try to take Kyran with them because they felt ashamed of the commander's attitude.
After receiving the entry approval of Kyran from the commander, the next tricky part was requesting an audience with the leader.
The commander was such a pain in the ass and refused at once. Only when they revealed the news of the Abbot's abduction and that Kyran was likely the last person he talked to before it happened did the commander agree.
The commander gave a different disc to Hilam that would directly transport them to the leader's receiving room upon its activation at the transportation array outside.
Hilam and Soria went outside soon after and brought Kyran to the leader.
The moment they appeared in the receiving room, they saw three people.
Kyran already knew the leader was a woman. He even guessed it was the Saint. That was why when he saw a woman wearing a similarly designed robe like the Abbot, albeit having feminine touch, sitting on the high chair, he felt nothing.
...
That was a lie.
The truth was that he was disappointed.
He never thought that he was actually hoping the Saint was Cyneah. And learning that it was not her, he was greatly disappointed.
The Saint could not even be mistaken for Cyneah because the color of her hair and eyes were like the complete beings he met: blonde hair and blue eyes.
With a bitter smile, Kyran muttered, "In the end, it is not as I expected."
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