"What the hell are you doing here?!" the woman shouted.
Meanwhile, the child slipped from the arms of the man Juan had knocked out and ran straight to Arsh. The woman lunged to grab the boy, but Arsh moved faster. He took the child in his arms and stepped behind Juan.
"Wait, don't tell me you know this slave trader?" the woman asked Juan with a serious expression.
"A slave trader? Arsh?" He turned back and glared at the child. "This kid has been glued to Arsh since the moment we got here. If there's a criminal around here, it's him. I can literally feel that he stole my companion from me."
"Companion... This brat?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's a long story. I'll tell you later. So, there are no slave traders here. What about you?"
"Ah, it's a long story. On our way back to Tirsit, our ship was damaged. We've been stuck here for a month, waiting for repairs. And right when we were about to leave… we lost this little one," she said, pointing at the green-haired child.
"Do you know that he is not human?" Juan asked.
"Not human? Can't you see he's just a little child... with a weird hair color? Whatever, let's go to my ship," she said. Then she started to nudge the man lying on the ground with her foot.
"Fred. Hey, Fred... You beggar-looking bastard, did you really have to knock him out?"
"How should I know? I thought someone was cornering Arsh again. I didn't realize it was Fred."
Arsh listened to the conversation between the two in silence, the child still in his arms. However, after helping Juan lift the man from the ground, the woman turned back to Arsh.
"Let's go. Don't think I'll forget that punch. We'll settle the score later," she said.
"You hit me more!" Arsh said, but the woman's murderous glare quickly shut him up.
If Juan had called her Helen, then this person was propably Professor Reiner's sister. He had heard a few things about her from Mes before. His first impression was that she was the exact polar opposite of Professor Reiner. Physically, he couldn't see any resemblance between them besides their hair and eye colors.
Arsh approached Juan.
"Did you get the tickets?"
"I bought three tickets, but we don't need them anymore. We're going with them. It'll be faster anyway," Juan said, before turning to the woman. "When are you guys setting sail?"
"Since we've found the child, we can leave within a few hours," she replied. "But you're pretty quick to count yourself in without even asking."
"Come on, the kid won't even let go of Arsh. Are we supposed to just put him on a ship with random strangers? Besides, time is tight and we're heading the same way anyway," Juan said.
"What's the rush? Is there somewhere you need to be? Or did you finally get yourself a girlfriend waiting for you?" she teased Juan.
"My friend is dying. We came here to find an antidote. We need to go back immediately," Arsh cut in.
"Hm… first, let's grab your things. Let's go," she said. Then, Arsh heard her muttering to herself, "I can't even make a joke. Look how serious that brat is."
...
Even though Arsh thought they had gained an extra day by leaving early, they ended up being even luckier than that. Helen's power was over wind.
Without making any stops, they traveled swiftly with the wind she guided into their sails. Although she couldn't maintain it for long, using it from time to time when the sea was calm allowed them to cover the distance much faster.
Arsh could feel Helen looking at him with something that almost resembled jealousy. She seemed rather attached to Harummatum. But even though she wanted to get close to him, the child kept avoiding her.
They had found him after sailing into the Distant Seas, on an island several months away from Eldoran. By the time they arrived, there was no one left of his tribe.
Helen had no idea what had happened to the natives living on the island. She couldn't find any trace of anyone having died around there. It was as if the people had suddenly vanished into thin air. While exploring the island, they had come across the child. Even though the boy didn't want to come, they had forced him onto the ship.
"Are you sure you didn't just kidnap someone's child?" Arsh asked, which only made her snap at him.
"I'm telling you, we checked the island and the neighboring ones just to be sure! There was no one. They were all deserted islands. What was I supposed to do, leave a tiny child behind just because he didn't want to come?"
Of course, under normal circumstances, she had a point. But this child wasn't human. So would it have been better for him to stay there, or if bringing him along was the right choice? Arsh couldn't answer that question.
Arsh managed to help the child overcome his fear of Helen and the rest of the ship's crew. Interestingly, the boy did whatever Arsh told him to do, and he gradually lowered his guard around other people, becoming less aggressive.
At least, instead of biting people's hands when they tried to pat his head, he would just glare at them, and instead of throwing away the food they offered him, he would simply push it aside.
Among the crew, besides Fred, there were a few others who knew Juan. They were young people connected to FFSD in one way or another. According to them, one day they found a letter at their doorstep that simply said: "Are you ready for an adventure into the Distant Seas?" And they had been foolish enough to join Helen. Spending months at sea without seeing a single piece of land was difficult.
Besides them, there were also experienced sailors on board. Even though they were aware of Helen's abilities, they were trustworthy people recruited by Herman.
The enjoyable journey with these people, which was supposed to take three and a half days, was cut down to just two. The moment their ship docked at the harbor, Arsh, Juan, and the child left immediately.
When they returned to the manor, Arsh rushed up the stairs to Ezra's room. But the moment he opened the door, he froze. Ezra was still lying in bed, exactly as he had left him.
And that was the only thing that remained the same.
Until that day, Arsh had thought Ezra was the most handsome man he had ever seen. When he wasn't using his siuni, he had the kind of face and presence that naturally drew everyone's attention.
But now, the man lying before him looked completely different. His face had sunken in, his pale skin had turned ash-gray and become stained with black veins. He had lost so much weight that the ribs on his bare chest could be counted one by one.
He stepped closer, trying to check whether Ezra was still breathing. But he couldn't hear his breath, nor could he feel a pulse.
A moment later, Professor Reiner and Juan entered the room behind him.
"Are we too late?" Arsh whispered, looking at the Professor.
"He's still alive… But I'm not sure what will happen from now on," he replied. "He lost his strength much faster than I expected. I thought he could hold on a little longer."
Arsh opened his hand and held out the golden, shimmering stone to the Professor.
"The worms said we should place this where the poison first made contact," he said.
The Professor took the stone and examined it for a few seconds.
Then he approached Ezra, pulled his hand out from under the blanket, and placed the stone on top of it before stepping back. They began to wait.
They waited…
But nothing happened.