Chapter 51: Departure

"Okay, thank you. I’ll keep your words in mind." Chris ignored Aelonen and smiled at Aelia.

Placing his hand close to his mouth, he let out a loud whistle.

*ROAR!*

Azreon dived down from the sky, landing beside them.

"Hop on, Aelonen, boy. And one more reminder: don’t grab me if you get startled. Grab the saddle, or I’ll punch you in the face." He said while patting Aelonen’s shoulder.

Aelonen simply nodded with a wry smile. It seemed like nobody cared about him anymore.

"Prince Aelonen, wait!" Suddenly, a female voice came from the side.

Aelonen turned towards the voice with hopeful eyes.

"Ednela!" He saw a young female elf running towards him, carrying a backpack.

"Prince Aelonen, please take this. I’ve prepared some food and clothes for your journey. Please stay safe." She bowed while extending her hands and offering him the backpack.

"Thank you! Thank you!" He had literal tears in his eyes as he thanked her. Finally, someone had remembered him.

But before he could enjoy his newfound happiness, Chris grabbed his shoulder and threw him onto Azreon’s back.

*Whoosh!*

"AAAH!"

Chris turned and jumped onto Azreon as well. "Why are you screaming like a girl? Let’s go. We’re wasting time here."

He turned towards Aelia and the Sage and waved. "We’re off. Take care."

They waved back.

"Stay safe, and try to return him in one piece if possible." Aelia added.

"Sure, I’ll try." Chris replied as Azreon spread his wings. He then turned towards Aelonen. "Hold on tight."

*WHOOSH!*

Azreon flapped his wings, sending a burst of air in all directions before they ascended at great speed.

"AAAAH!" Aelonen grabbed the straps on the saddle as tightly as he could, but the speed still startled him.

"There you go again, screaming like a little girl. Before you pass out, point me in the right direction. I have no idea where we’re going." Chris shook his head.

"T-there!" Aelonen yelled while pointing in a direction.

"Azreon."

*ROAR!*

"B-brother-in-law, are we going to fly at this speed the entire time?"

"Yes. What’s the problem? Also, don’t call me brother-in-law. Did you forget our bet? You’re supposed to call me big brother from now on."

Aelonen’s face tightened. "Okay."

They headed towards the Kingdom of Narta.

...

Two days passed.

While flying over the forest, Chris suddenly spotted a familiar river beneath them.

’It’s my lucky day.’

He finally knew where he was, so he began following the river.

’Little snakes, wait for me. I’ve left you waiting for far too long.’

Activating his Dragon Eyes, he intended to survey the area more closely, but what he saw made his eyes widen in horror.

"Azreon, hide! Now!"

Azreon dived down at full speed and descended into a thick patch of trees in the forest.

"What’s the problem, big brother?" Aelonen asked.

"Shut up. Stay quiet." He replied in a serious voice, making Aelonen flinch.

He jumped down and walked forward until he reached the edge of the patch of trees, then peeked out from behind one of them.

On the distant horizon, he could see a giant corpse bird flying above the forest. Looking closely, just as he had expected, a dark-cloaked figure was standing on its back.

’That persistent bastard! Seems like the little snakes will have to wait a while longer.’

The figure was flying above the forest, heading in exactly the direction Chris had wanted to go. He had intended to finally attack the horned serpents, show them who they had messed with, and increase his level a little more. But now it seemed he had to abandon those plans.

Luckily, he had activated his Dragon Eyes. Otherwise, the figure might have spotted him if he had gotten any closer.

Shaking his head, he waited a few minutes until the masked figure was no longer easily visible before jumping back onto Azreon.

"Let’s go. Straight to Narta."

Azreon flew up again and changed direction.

"What was that, big brother?" Aelonen asked again.

"Something very dangerous. Luckily, we avoided it." He replied.

"Dangerous? How dangerous?"

"You know about the Fallen, right?"

Aelonen nodded. "I know about them, but I don’t know much."

Then his eyes widened as he took a sharp breath. "Don’t tell me..."

"Yes, it was one of them." Chris nodded.

"Crazy! Why is one of them here?" Aelonen felt goosebumps all over his body.

He had heard many bad things about the Fallen. Even though he didn’t know much about them, he knew that he would easily die if he encountered one.

"Probably waiting for me. That place is exactly where I got ambushed last time. I was a bit careless to come here again, but luckily, we avoided it."

Aelonen nodded.

"You have some good observation skills. I’m surprised." Suddenly, Chris heard a familiar feminine voice beside him.

The pouch he was carrying flashed for a moment before a streak of light emerged from it, turning into a little fox with nine tails that settled on his lap.

"Thanks? I was wondering when you would come out of the pouch."

"I had to make sure that the grumpy old guy hadn’t noticed my disappearance first." Aura replied.

"Why are you calling him a grumpy old guy? Aren’t you also very o—" Chris wanted to say that she was old, but her glare stopped him.

"I suggest you don’t finish that sentence." She said.

"Fine..."

"And for your information, that guy is still much, much older than me." She added.

"Huh? Really? The Sage is that old?" Chris had no idea.

"Of course. He looked the same as he does now even before I was little."

"Ehm... Big brother, who is this? Did that fox just talk?" Aelonen suddenly asked from behind.

Chris looked at him strangely. Didn’t this guy know what their Guardian looked like?

"Quite rude of you to call me that, boy." Aura said while staring daggers at Aelonen.

Aelonen felt a chill run down his spine as he looked into her eyes. He suddenly felt that the fox looked familiar, but he couldn’t understand why.

"Should we tell him who you are?" Chris asked.

"I don’t care, as long as the old guy doesn’t find out. And by now, it should be too late even if he does."

Chris then turned towards Aelonen with a big smile on his face. "Behold! This is your great Guardian."

He eagerly waited for Aelonen’s reaction. He was getting excited just thinking about the guy freaking out.

And he wasn’t disappointed. At first, Aelonen simply stared at him without saying anything, as if trying to process what he had just heard.

Then his eyes widened, and he opened his mouth as he looked at the fox in terror. "Y-you! You!"

Aura smirked. "You only figured it out now? You’re not really that smart, are you?"

Aelonen simply stared at her in terror before looking at Chris and then back at Aura. A moment later, his eyes rolled backwards, and his body slumped onto the saddle.

"Look what you did to him," Chris said, but he had a big smile on his face. It seemed he was enjoying the show quite a bit.

"It was clearly you who wanted this outcome. Don’t blame me." Aura replied with an equally big smile.

"You know, seeing a fox smile like that is really weird. Why don’t you turn into your real form?" He asked. He felt that something wasn’t right whenever he saw a beast smiling.

"This form keeps the demon energy at bay so the Fallen won’t be able to find me. If I transformed now, I’m sure that guy we just passed would be on our tail within minutes. The only places where I can stay hidden in my real form are Ael’Zoria or a separate space, like a dungeon."

"Hiss! Don’t change! Never change!" He took in a sharp breath.

"What’s the problem now? Don’t you want to see my beauty again? I can transform now if you want." Aura teased.

Chris fell silent for a moment, thinking about what had happened the last time he saw her real form. Then his eyes unconsciously lowered from her face to her chest, even though she was currently a fox.

She instantly noticed his eyes darting downward.

"P-pervert!" She yelled and lunged at him, punching his chest with her paws.

But her strength was almost nonexistent in her small form, and Chris couldn’t feel anything at all.

"Sigh... It’s not my fault, okay? Who asked you to appear in front of me like that?" He said while lowering his palm and patting her fur.

"!!!" Aura visibly trembled for a moment.

"Ah, sorry. I did that unconsciously." He replied, removing his hand.

"Continue..." She suddenly said.

"What?" He thought he had heard wrong.

"Just... continue." She said more quietly this time.

"Okay, then." He lowered his hand again and continued patting the small fox. The feeling was very pleasant, as her fur was softer than anything he had ever touched.

Silence lasted for a few minutes before Aelonen began to open his eyes.

"W-What happened? Did I fall asleep?" He asked as he woke up. "I had the strangest dream ever..."

He rubbed his eyes and looked around, but instantly tensed again when he saw Chris and Aura.

"!!!"

He opened his mouth in shock for a moment before his eyes rolled backwards again, and he slumped onto the saddle.

"Pfft... Hahahahahahahah... This is so entertaining!" Chris started laughing.

"You’re evil." Aura looked at him strangely.

"Evil? Me? What made you think that?" He asked with a smile.

She simply shook her head and didn’t continue bickering with him. She knew the guy would just keep denying it.

He turned around, pulled out a water bottle from his storage ring, and poured the entire contents over Aelonen.

*SLAP!*

"Wake up!" He didn’t forget to slap his face either.

"W-WHO DARES!?" Aelonen woke up instantly and shouted, but when he saw Chris’s smiling face, he immediately trembled.

He started to think that Chris might be even scarier than his big sister.

"Just try not to pass out again." Chris said while turning back towards the front.

"Huh? I passed out? I also had a strange dream."

"That wasn’t a dream. It was reality. You’ve passed out twice so far."

"Huh? You mean..." Aelonen looked at Chris’s lap and saw Aura again.

"!!!"

His eyes widened in shock once more, but before he could think any further, Chris swung his arm and hit him across the stomach with his elbow.

"UGH! Cough! Cough!" Aelonen grabbed his stomach in pain. "Why did you do that, big brother!? What did I do?"

"Just making sure you don’t lose consciousness again. No need to thank me, though."

Aelonen wanted to cry by now. He had been bullied far too much recently.

He took a few deep breaths to calm down before looking at Aura, then back at Chris.

He didn’t know whom to ask, but he had to ask something. "How? Why? Why is the Guardian with us?"

"It’s complicated. You wouldn’t understand." Chris shook his head. "Just know that we made a deal, and now she’s with me."

"B-but who will guard Ael’Zoria!?"

Aura decided to give a brief explanation. "I was injured and can’t guard Ael’Zoria until I recover. Chris will help me heal. That’s all you need to know. And another thing, don’t tell the grumpy old guy!" She said sternly.

"She means the Sage. Don’t tell the Sage." Chris added.

Aelonen remained silent for a minute before nodding.

"I don’t understand the situation, but I’ll listen to the Guardian."

Chris and Aura nodded.

"Anyway, it should take us another two weeks to reach Narta, so sit tight."