Chapter 723 Finally Home
Astaroth and Phoenix stayed in the guest room of the Guardian wing for two hours, waiting for Commander Levine to come back. They started wondering if something had happened to him.
This feeling was only grew when he came back, his face livid, and his footsteps heavy.
"Are you okay, Rodney? Did they do anything funny to you?" Astaroth asked.
"Huh… No. I'm fine… Sort of… Let's just get going. I need to get away from here and get back to my daughter…"
He looked totally out of it, and this made both Phoenix and Astaroth wonder what he had discussed with his parents. But it was not the time or place to ask.
They only hoped he would open up when they got back into familiar territory.
Grabbing their things, the trio headed to a barracks at the entrance of the inner city, where they found their waiting party members, most of them bored. Aside from the few mage players, of course.
For them, this was a mecca of magic knowledge, and different magical classes. They had never seen such a diversity of spells and ways to use them.
If they hadn't already picked a guild, which ended up being a faction/kingdom already, most of them would have come here to study. And no one could fault them for thinking this.
Even though Phoenix had come from the outskirts of this very city, she knew the inner city held much more knowledge of magic. Even she was tempted to come back.
But situations always changed. Who knew?
Maybe in a few months, Themiscus would have opened up to them and would allow them to send students.
But for now, it was time to go home. Grabbing all their players, the trio led them back to the portal plaza, this time with a much smaller military escort, making it seem like they were guests rather than prisoners.
There were still rumours fusing here and there from the random citizens. But it was much more restrained.
They reached the portal plaza in minutes, their pace much quicker than in the opposite direction, and the guards with them took care to prepare the portal for them. In less than a minute, the portal was tearing open in the portal plaza, and they were ready to go home.
Looking around him, Astaroth nodded his head, before walking into the portal wordlessly.
It had been a long day for everyone. It was time to call it.
As the distorting feeling stopped, and they reappeared in Stellar Woodlands, the fresh air, with its piney aroma, reached their noses.
Astaroth took a big breath in, smiling.
"I never realized how our air smelled this good before. It feels more like nature. It feels like…"
He stalled, looking for an accurate word to describe his feelings.
"Home?" Rodney said, a bit of colour back to his cheeks.
"Yes. It feels like home. Welcome home, Rodney."
The commander smiled at him before walking away. His back was still hunched a bit, and his steps still seemed heavy to him, but at least he was talking again.
'Whatever he heard in that meeting room, it shook him. Let's hope it doesn't make him question where his home is.'
Phoenix was already dishing out the rewards to the players that had followed them, aside from the promised items, which they would need to claim themselves at the treasury.
Yelps of happiness echoed as the players saw their levels rise, and their gold pouches fill up. This had been a good day, all things considered.
Everyone parted ways, Phoenix sending a message to the other parties on standby, and apologizing for making them waste their day waiting.
Of course, they were also rewarded levels and gold, just for sitting around, so it wasn't a complete loss.
She then looked at Astaroth, who was busy looking around, watching everyone pass by, smiles on their faces. He watched as children skipped past them, unaware of who was right in front of them, and probably uncaring as well.
It seemed so peaceful, it almost felt out of place.
"All these people. They know the world is turning to shit. And yet, they seemed unbothered by it. Life just goes on," Astaroth said, his face pensive.
"You know, this is thanks to how Leon established the kingdom while we were gone, and how we built on this after coming back. Yes, there are still monsters in our lands and corruption at our borders. But here, it is safe. And that is all that matters to them. Being safe," Phoenix said, grabbing his arm in hers.
"Then we better make sure it stays this way. And we have to try to make something similar in our own world. I would hate to see this place be spared while our world goes to shit. Both worlds deserve peace."
Phoenix nodded, his sentiment resonating with hers.
"We will try our best. But for that, we need to get stronger. Any ideas how to go about that?" she asked, smiling at him warmly.
He grinned at her.
"As a matter of fact, I do! Follow me. We may not have an entire Ley line plateau beneath our city, like Themiscus has. But we have the next best thing, which we can exploit in peace. Come."
Walking toward the palace, people finally started recognizing them, and the residents wondered why the king and queen were strolling about the city in this fashion, without an escort.
But it also reassured them that their monarchs felt like it was safe to do so. It meant that the trust between the rulers and the population was good enough for this.
The pair took their sweet time, even stopping by some food stalls to grab a bite, making the merchants almost faint with excitement as they walked away with their little piece of offering.
Reaching the inner gates, the guards were astounded that the king and queen were without escort, and immediately tried calling for one. But Astaroth called them off, saying there was hardly anyone in the city that could threaten them, and that it was useless.
There was only a small way to go to the palace, anyway. The guard gulped before bowing and letting them through.
Astaroth guided Phoenix down into the palace underground, where they had initially closed the small breach, and sat down on the center dais.
"Come here. Let me show you what I mean," Astaroth called to Phoenix, tapping the ground next to him.
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