Ananke whispered as he looked at the kid sleeping 'Ironic is it not… One who understood others just by looking at their face forgot to look for his own'
It had already gotten windy and cloudy as Ananke carried Smiley and made his way back.
At the Tavern, Rhina was looking outside as rain poured down from the sky, waiting anxiously for him to return as Ananke made his way through the muddy soil.
Soon, they reached the tavern and upon entering it, Rhina noticed as she said 'I have put out a spare set of dry clothes for—' but paused.
Rhina's gaze shifted towards the boy who was on Ananke's back… They surely came out of the rain yet were completely dry. Not a single drop of rain had fallen on them despite the heavy downpour and even his shoes were clean, leaving behind no muddy trail on the floor.
A sight which flooded her with questions but seeing the kid sleeping peacefully, she let it be for it was Ananke after all.
Ananke went upstairs and laid Smiley onto the bed. But as he walked out, he found the leader leaning against the wall with papers in his hand and said 'I guess you beat me to it' pointing towards the room.
Ananke asked, 'What of the report?'
Leader handed out the papers to Ananke, 'It`s just as you said. Like I was chasing a ghost. I was only able to access his past records under your name and this gem.'
He took out a crimson red crystal that was attached to the string and handed it over to Ananke.
The "Jewel of Seldomia", a Crystal-like gem that is the size of a pinky finger and known to be given out by the king of Seldomia himself as a sign of acknowledgement of a hero or someone of high worth. The color varies according to the eyes of the one rose and one can count the number of living people who have it on a single hand.
Ananke asked 'Even the Captain of the town was denied?' confused, he looked at the papers that he held in his hands.
Leader responded 'These records were found in the "Obscure section" rather than the "Arcane Library" but that does not change the fact it was still hidden from every eye.'
^ (Note: Kingdom's hidden library which is only accessible by few. Obscure contains mysterious records uncrackable by humans while Arcane keeps secrets only known by the royal family)
Ananke went to the room next to Smiley and started reading through them.
It was the report of the incident on how everything went off, written by Leader.
The report started how soldiers from town reached the village and found the scout party had not returned from their estimated time so the soldiers went to inspect it just to be shocked by the scenery left behind.
A single tree stood near where bodies lay motionless with no remains of enemies.
The leader of the scout party, Fariz, known for his mercenary group "Black Blade" and once hailed to be almost on par with a Sword Master was found dead, with a smile while leaning against the tree, died by a single wound on his lower abdomen and on ground were trail left behind of being dragged towards the tree.
Few soldiers returned back with the bodies and others went on forward to find some clues on the order of the Town's Captain. After going forth some distance, they discovered three bodies. Two of them were slashed down by single strike but did not belong to the scout party but even further down, laid a young boy in his teens who belonged to the Village.
The young boy who claimed to be Smiley had scratches all over his body but almost healed like they were not from today but a few months ago, having nothing to do with the incident.
Ananke thought 'Healing? No wonder he was interested in him…'
That report was ambiguous, showing that Smiley was just a bypasser who got caught up in this while Fariz defeated those two men but died as he crawled towards the tree. But on a different report it showed another story. A follow up report which no one ever checks.
Near the boy was a mark of sword being thrusted into the ground which was different from the body blade and the dirt around it showed no signs of uprooting.
A feat only possible by a sword master who had thrusted the sword perfectly and pulled it out without causing the dirt to uproot but later said to have been done by an outsider, theory backed by Ananke. The Boy claimed to have delivered a blow that caused bleeding but no remains were found.
Not a single lie was written and well constructed to fool anyone reading into different interpretations. No wonder that Town's Captain has a high reputation of always cheating those nobles with his way of words.
But the last report stood out from the rest.
Smiley's background which was secured so tightly that it was only accessed by "Jewel Of Seldomia", a small crystal like gem which is given only to highest ranking members of the royal family or someone of high worth and their heroic actions.
Only a single record was found on Smiley's past.
A child found alone in the ruins of a nameless village later to be known as 'The Forgotten Village,' whose traces were simply erased from existence as if it ceased to exist overnight and next morning, all they found were the ruins and no remains of living or dead except for a single boy who was soaking wet and almost frozen to death, by the mercenary group called 'Black Blade' which is well known and led by a well respected man named 'Fariz'
The rescued boy had vague memories of his past but no history was found on him nor the village's existence. His existence was that of a ghost itself and was declared the title of 'A Child Of No Origin', CONO* for short.
^* (Note: Title given to children who have lost both their memories and origin place. These were given mainly at the time of war to give them a chance to live their life even if they have no identity left behind.)
The Mercenary group took the boy and asked from nearby villages in hopes of clues but it was hopeless. People recalled seeing a village yet claimed to have no memories of it but when the soldiers went to investigate, the same people had forgotten the village itself and even the ruins of the village disappeared, leaving not a single trace of its existence— except for the boy with no memories. The people did recall talking to mercenaries but had forgotten what they talked about.
Fariz later came to the Town of Satus and the only proof of his claims was the boy who claimed that his name was 'The Smiling Ked'. A name foreign to them that felt more like a title.
The boy was not able to speak properly and was taken in for a checkup only to find that many muscles were torn apart from extreme stress put upon them.
There were no signs of abuse or slavery found on his body.
PS: Whatever happened remains a complete mystery and thus, this case will now be declared an "Arcane Mystery" as no new data was found. Researchers themself have forgotten on multiple accounts.
The more Ananke looked into it, the more mysteries he was left with.
A child abandoned amidst the ruins of a forgotten Village, An outsider whose strength was on par with a Sword Master if not any greater, A Veil appearing out of nowhere and a barrier almost impossible to break… From his missing sword to the boy somehow reaching the Veil before Ananke, who was obviously slower than him.
If that wasn't enough, as the boy barely escaped, the soldier acted out of line and tried to kill the kid who was already dying from high fever— An awakening that nearly caused his death. Had Ananke been not there, the boy could have died from the cold alone, let alone the knife of Radibo's.
Ananke recalled the girl with white hair spoke 'You need to beware of Elenbel, for his Veil is the most dangerous one. His surreal strength is too strong even for us to handle and his trial is impossible to clear in all the timelines we have lived through. Ananke do not go in alone for he is the "One" who can walk out of his own Veil*'
Her face looked identical to Aeel from the weird dream but she had vivid blue eyes, older in age and her hair were silver with a hint of icy blue in them.
*(Note for extra info: Walking out of Veil is a suicide as world burns them for being an anomaly. Protectors are binded to their room so it is not even possible in the first place but those rules do not apply on Elenbel.)
Ananke recalled the 'Elenbel whispers of "Now that is what I call a human"' as he looked onto Smiley. A protector who has never acknowledged anyone worthy chose its successor who was none other than a nameless child— in his mid teens…'
Ananke wondered, 'Something`s changed, with him alone—' but he controlled himself, 'No, calm down, he is still just a kid. There is no need to drag a child into the world of adults.'
Ananke felt defeated 'Smiley, who are you— and how did you survive for this long?'
Ananke laughed slightly, tried and even joked 'Hahaha— Just what in the world did you do for everything trying to kill you.'
It was nothing short of a miracle many times he had cheated death itself to live on and nothing short of a mystery he even survived up till now.
Ananke sighed, re-adjusted his hair and glanced back towards the door asking 'You still there?'
The leader replied 'Mind if I come in?'
'Sure. Just don't steal my food'. The food in question was a moldy bread that was left out for days as he forgot to eat it before leaving.
Leader said 'You really are acting so cold after all this time'
Anake said 'Get to the point. What else did you find'
Leader responded 'There were no records on the village people either or any remains of them. I checked on the soldiers that wrote the report but they had forgotten about this case just like the rest. I was only able to find this record due to the hint Fariz had left me behind and your gem to access it.'
That name caught Ananke's attention 'Wait. Just how did Fariz remember all this if everyone else had forgotten…'
Leader held his head and sighed 'It`s like the world itself wants us to forget something. I feel like I walked into something that I was never supposed to know existed'
Ananke replied 'I guess that makes it the two of us…'
Ananke thought 'Whatever it may be… I might need to go check up with AI*…' and glanced towards Leader 'But what is your real reason for staying?'
^* Note: { Aeel = AI.
Pronounced:
Aeel => A eel (the fish snake thingy),
AI => A-E . Phonetic: its just i (eye).
Point is they are almost identical}
Leader responded, 'I am just making sure you do not kidnap him.'
Ananke sighed 'I don`t know why you are so fixated with Smiley but you already know, he has awakened so it is best if I take him with me since his trigger has still not been determined'
Ananke continued to persuade him 'I am sure you went to the tree before me. He already used his OG to make a small Veil around the tree, making him undetectable. That is why no one was able to find him.'
Leader questioned 'But don`t you need to go to the eastern continent soon?'
Ananke replied 'I can delay it a bit longer. I would just have to work extra hard later on.'
Words true to workaholics.
Leader said 'About the "Kid" part'
Ananke responded 'Yea, it is possible he is from the east. That is probably why he struggled to speak and communicate when he was found.'
Leader sighed 'I hate to admit it but I guess you are the only one who can guide him so I will give up on recruiting him— for now.'
Another thing that was on papers was a small side note of when the kid woke up and was asked of what happened, he claimed two things. That it was all his fault for not listening to his parents and if only he had taken some unknown man who protected him back to the village. His tone was of those in-shock so it was considered a traumatic shock so it was dismissed.
The leader wondered if he was blaming himself for Radibo's actions too and looked outside the window asking, 'But wasn`t that a bit too much?'
It was cloudy and dark but there existed a hole in the clouds from where sun rays shined down in the far off distance where the tree existed.
Ananke had made a hole in the sky… to which he just responded casually 'hmm I must have used quite a lot of OG in the Void so corruption was consuming me at abnormal rates. I just unleashed the bad part of it'
Outrageous thing to say. No wonder they call him Mad Hero but Leader seemed more shocked upon hearing that than seeing a huge quacking hole in the sky as he thought 'Just who in the world did he go up against?'
Ananke leaned back on the chair and looked outside the window, 'But did I really unleash that much?'
=======================
Extra Story:The Slap Incident - Confrontation outside Elenbel's Veil - Discussed in the room:Leader asked Ananke 'How did you know it was caused by my men'
Ananke replied 'Because you know how his body healed weirdly? Everything was healing up except for that swallowed part on his face which is already weird but I also used my wind to inspect it to find that was the only wound he received on face. If it was truly from Elenbel then he would not have harmed him that badly without even landing a single hit on the face.'
By the way, Ananke even used his wind to scan Elenbel's hand, matching it to Smiley's face.
Leader asked 'Elenbel?'
…
Ananke realized 'Oh wait I wasn`t suppose to say that…'
Leader sighed 'I guess that is reasonable. Thankfully you were standing in a distance from the others and used my body to cover his face which let me guess your theory otherwise I would had been in a pinch if they had knew the boy was that badly injured'
Ananke responded 'I guess being coolheaded comes in handy as others do not suspect you' but his real thoughts were leaking out to 'Please forget what I just said'
In the end, Leader just let it go.