Unlike their ascent, their descent was fast.
When they got close to the village,they saw a small crowd gathered for a funeral in front of the house at the head of the path.
Probably all the people who lived on this small island have gathered outside the house of the old man Arsh thought must have been around two hundred years old. Dressed in white, they had come to send off a man who had probably witnessed the births and deaths of their own parents.
The fisherman noticed them from a distance.
"I was actually about to head up with a few young men to find you," he said as he walked over to them. "Old Milor told us you'd spend the night there. Who could've known he would die today of all days."
"How did he die?" Arsh asked.
"The woman who takes care of his house said she heard sounds from his room just before sunrise. It was as if he was laughing. When she went into his room about an hour later, she found his body. Probably he died because of old age. He lived far longer than anyone is supposed to anyway," the man said.
"I see. May the Goddess's blessing remain with him even after death," Arsh said.
After paying their respects to the dead, they headed toward the pier. Since there was nothing left for them to do, it was time to leave. But even if they took the first ship from Valdor to Elyrion, it would be impossible for them to catch the ship to Tirsit that same day.
"There is nothing we can do about it. When we arrive, I'll buy tickets for the next ship. You grab some food and head over to the inn. After a little rest we will leave. We'll stay the night in Elyrion and board the ship first thing in the morning," Juan said.
Arsh nodded.
The fact that Old Milor had died right after their arrival troubled him. He couldn't help but wonder about the reason behind it. According to the old man, the worms had asked him to tell the story of how they met, and in return they promised his wife a good reincarnation. Milor had fulfilled the conditions, yet he still died.
"I wish they had told me what they wanted from me too," Arsh muttered to himself, watching Juan rowing the oars.
...
When they returned to Valdor, Arsh and Juan parted ways. Arsh walked down a street with the green-haired boy to grab something to eat.
The child seemed to love fruit. Even though he couldn't speak, he would point his finger at the things he wanted, and Arsh would buy them for him.
What he was supposed to do with this child was a whole different story. The girl had told him to keep the boy with him. Yet, he was probably far away from the lands where he belonged, separated from his own nature. Still, taking him along with them made more sense than leaving him at the mercy of slave traders.
After buying a few things for Juan and himself, they headed back to the inn
"What should I call you? Do you have a name? I know you understand me... Look, my name is Arsh... Arrshh," Arsh said, pointing to himself.
"Ayshhhh," the boy mimicked.
"Okay, better than nothing. Now tell me your name," Arsh said, pointing his finger at the child. However, the boy just stared back blankly, tilting his head to the side as if he didn't understand.
"This is difficult," Arsh said.
As they continued walking, the child suddenly stopped him.
Then, just like Arsh had done earlier, he pointed at himself and spoke.
"Harummatum."
"…Huh?"
"Harummatum."
"Please don't tell me that's your name… Harammatum."
But the child happily shook his head.
"Haru… Harummatum."
"Okay, okay. Harummatum. Let's go. I'm glad you can speak," Arsh said with a smile.
Even though it was midday, the street leading to the inn was unusually empty. He didn't like this silence in a place where pirates roamed all day. He picked the child up and continued walking with faster steps.
However, he became even more uneasy when two figures stepped out from a narrow alley between two buildings just a little ahead. He took off his own hat and placed it on the boy's head. He regretted that it hadn't crossed his mind to hide this green hair until now. This strange feature made him valuable to slave traders.
He tried to keep some distance and quickly pass the two men who had come out of the alley. But just as he did, one of them stepped in front of him. When Arsh tried to turn the other way, the man repeated the same move.
"Excuse me," Arsh said politely.
He wanted to avoid any situation that would put the child in danger.
However, the man insisted on blocking his path while the other person came closer. Only then did Arsh realize that the other person was a woman.
"I'm sick of these slave traders. We've been in Valdor for a month, and we've been beating people like you up almost every other day. Put the child down slowly, and we might not beat you as badly as the others," the woman said.
"Slave trader? I think you are mistaken. I'm the one who saved this kid from slave traders," Arsh said.
"Ha! Is that so?" the woman scoffed. She was nearly the same height as him. Despite the hot weather, she wore a dark cloak that covered her face. Even though she spoke Eldoran, the white skin visible through the openings of her cloak made it obvious she wasn't a local.
At that moment, the child began to cry.
"Hey, hey, why are you crying? Don't worry, I won't give you to them," Arsh said, lifting the hat that covered the boy's face to get a better look at him.
The child clung tighter to his neck.
"Oh? How did you manage to earn his trust? For a whole month, he didn't even give us a glance... Now, put down the child."
"No," Arsh said.
"Then we will take him by force."
As the woman said this, her companion lunged at Arsh. However, Arsh easily stepped back. The man's movements were slow and careful; he seemed to be making sure he wouldn't hurt the child. They continued like this for a short while.
"Don't waste your breath. I'm not giving this child to slave traders," Arsh said.
"Slave traders? Do we look like slave traders to you?!"
"...Yes," Arsh replied.
This time, the woman furiously pulled down her cloak and began yelling at Arsh.
"Hey! Who do you think rescued that child? We found him stranded in the middle of some island and brought him here..."
"What a temper," Arsh muttered to himself.
However, as the man's anger grew, his movements became sharper. It was obvious he was a skilled fighter. To defend himself, Arsh would have to put the child down.
He set the child near the wall and stepped in front of him. He was ready to lunge but the woman signaled to the man to stop.
"You take care of the child. I want to beat this one myself," she said.
A sudden gust of wind swept the dust from the ground into Arsh's face. He instinctively closed his eyes—and in the next second, he found himself on the ground.
"Pathetic," the woman said, placing her foot on Arsh's chest. The child was already in the other man's arms.
'What is going on' Arsh thought. She was extremely fast. But he couldn't give up that easily. He suddenly grabbed the woman's leg and twisted his body sideways. Using her momentary imbalance, rolled to the side, slipping out from under her foot.
But the next split second, she was right in front of him, throwing a punch straight at his face. He barely dodged the first one, but dodging the second was impossible.
While he was still dazed from the impact of the punch, he heard a voice.
"She has a siuni. I think she can control the wind and it makes her fast. Be careful."
"Got it!" Arsh said loudly.
"What? Giving up already? I haven't even beaten you up yet," the woman said.
"I won't let you take the child," he said as he pushed himself up to stand. One of the worst-case scenarios was that the person in front of him was one of those people who used children for siuni experiments.
The woman wasn't faster than Bera. However, her punches were a bit more powerful than Bera's. Even though he still struggled to fight back against Bera, he might actually stand a chance against this woman. This time, he would fight as if Bera were the one in front of him.
Once he realized that his power was useful for finding his opponent's openings, he had started using it during his training with Bera. It was a really useful ability. However, the problem was that no matter how many openings he saw, the gap in strength didn't allow him to take advantage of them. Since he usually ended up getting beaten even worse because he lost his focus, he preferred to practice and develop this skill only when he was with Walter. But now, he might as well take his chances.
The woman lunged at him again with incredible speed, but this time he managed to avoid her. After dodging for a while, he caught an opening and managed to land a blow on her for the very first time.
But the punch to her stomach only made the woman angrier. At that moment, Arsh saw a bluish light reflect in her eyes. As he braced himself for the next blow, something completely unexpected happened.
The man who had first attacked him suddenly collapsed to the ground. Arsh could see a shadow gliding right along the edge of the wall. The woman was slightly startled, but after a few seconds of hesitation, a single word escaped her lips.
"You!"
At the same moment, Juan emerged from the shadows.
"Helen!"
"Juan!"