"I will take my leave now, sister Maria. I still have some work left to do in the garden. Rudra bowed his head as he intended to head to the garden, as he had picked up a new variety of flower while on his way back to the orphanage.
"Yes, may the Radiant One's blessing always be with you," said sister Maria as she took her leave. Rudra didn't dally around the premises as he took all the goods that he brought and went straight to the kitchen, where the orphanage stored rations.
"Hey, Rudra! Wait a minute, we have something to talk to you about." Rudra came to a stop as he heard someone shouting from behind him.
"Hey Julie, Arthur, what's the matter? Is everything okay?" asked Rudra as he greeted both of his childhood friends. Rudra has known them for a very long time, as they were all raised in the orphanage since childhood.
"Yes, there's a big problem; we both are being taken to the capital for some reason. We said we didn't want to leave, but sisters wouldn't take no for an answer," said Julie, while still grasping for air.
"Exactly, we even asked them to delay our departure for a few days, but it seems like they have already decided to leave this evening. Can you please come with us on this trip?" pleaded Arthur as he was at the end of his wits.
" Yeah, I agree with what Arthur said. Would you come with us on this journey, please? I know you have always wanted to go to the capital for a while now; this is the perfect opportunity for you to visit the place. We even asked sister Maria for permission before coming to you, and she approved," said Julie with a joyful gleam in her eyes.
Hearing the news from Julie, Rudra had a surprised look on his face for a second, but then, remembering something, his mood changed.
"I would have loved to visit the capital with you guys, but I have a prior arrangement that I can't cancel. I am sorry, guys, I will go with you next time." Said Rudra as he suddenly remembered that he still had so many unfinished jobs in the slums. He had taken the payment for the jobs in advance for the rations, so he must fulfill his duties. Missing the opportunity was unlucky, but he was sure he would visit next time.
"How can it be? Can't you do whatever you have planned once we return? We will be back in just a few days," said Julie with teary eyes. She was very sad after hearing that Rudra was declining their proposal.
"Sigh..... Alright, next time it is then, I hope you won't back out when the time comes," said Arthur as he already accepted Rudra's decision. he knew once Rudra says something, he doesn't budge even a little, so there was no point in further trying to persuade him.
"I hope you guys have a safe trip. Here, take this," said Rudra as he took something out of his pocket and extended his hand to give it to them.
"Wow! This is so beautiful. When did you make this?" said Julie as her mood suddenly changed after seeing the bracelets given to them by Rudra. The bracelet was very beautiful, and there was a shiny stone tied to the bracelet, which made it look ten times better.
"I just had some free time recently and thought of making something for you guys," said Rudra with a very stoic expression on his face.
'Ahhhh.... to think that this day has come so fast, I hope wherever you guys go, you will be happy.' Rudra thought to himself as he was a little sad on the inside; nevertheless, Rudra didn't want to show them his sorrow.
Rudra was well aware that these two would be leaving sooner or later. He had overheard some sisters talking about them a while back. All he knew was that Arthur was very talented in swordsmanship, so he would be sent to the best martial academy in the empire for his growth. Whereas Julie seemed to have been blessed by the Radiant Goddess Lumina, she would be sent to the Holy Radiant Academy. Even though Rudra knew this information, he was still sad that they would be departing today.
That's the reason why he had prepared a departing gift for them in advance, as he didn't know when they would meet again.
'I'd better not say anything to them about their journey; they should find out after they reach their destinations,' thought Rudra as he figured that both of them were oblivious to the purpose of their visit to the capital. He knew if they found out the reason, they would cause a lot of trouble for the sisters in the orphanage.
"Alright, guys, it seems sister Amber is searching for you. You guys better depart now, or else sister Amber would be very angry," said Rudra as he could see sister Amber advancing towards them.
"Ah, yes... bye bye, see you soon," said Julie nervously as he started sweating profusely as soon as she heard the name of the strictest sister in the orphanage.
Both of them turned around and left, while Rudra stood on the spot while looking at their departing backs. His eyes met with the eyes of his sister Amber, and both of them nodded to each other. It felt like my sister was also expressing gratitude towards Rudra as he kept the secret. After seeing them vanish from their sight, he still stood there for a few moments.
.......
Two days had passed since that day Julie and Arthur departed. Rudra missed them, but he kept himself busy with work. Even though he died of over working, here even if he was working so many hours a day he was still content with his life. Maybe it was because he had a purpose for working; he knew that if he didn't provide the orphanage with rations every week, it would be hard for the orphanage to feed so many people. So, he kept on working with a smile on his face.
On this day, Rudra had finished his job very early, so he came back to the orphanage very early. Usually, he would come back only after 11 pm, but on this day, it seemed he didn't have much work as he returned at 9 pm. It was the time of dinner in the orphanage, the first time in a while, Rudra was able to enjoy his dinner with everyone in the orphanage.
"The sky is so clear and beautiful today," said Rudra as he admired the beauty of the stars.
After having his dinner, Rudra went to the rooftop of the orphanage. He lay on the roof as he looked at the sky, even though he was in a different world, the beauty of the sky was the same.
"WOOOOOOOOOWWWW..." Hearing a heart-wrenching howl, Rudra was shocked to the core. He got up immediately and looked in the direction from which the howl came. Looking at the direction made Rudra's heart shudder for a moment.
"What are those things? What is going on?" Rudra asked himself as he saw countless flying creatures in the sky above the slums. This was the first time that he had seen something so horrifying in his life.
Rudra knew that this world wasn't the same as Earth; he had heard countless stories about monsters from others, and he had read about them in the books. But seeing them with his own eyes was truly horrifying.