Chapter 364 - The History Of The Twelve Suns
In the morning the next day, Solaguer had recovered from their shock. The streets started its normal hustle and bustle again, only this time all eyes were in a particular seven foot woman who was walking in the street, carrying a basket.
Connor watched Gasha roam the market with a scrunching of his face. He turned to Elliot who had a wide grin on his face.
"Uhm, Elliot?" Connor called out, walking up to his friend. "What is this?"
"Gasha needs her own redemption arc," Elliot said. "You know the people didn't come out yesterday as their sign of saying that their trust in the Adventurers is dwindling, right?"
"Yeah, of course I know that," Connor rolled his eyes. "But why is she doing this?"
"To make the people see how good of a person she is," Elliot said. "So that they'll understand more about the other Guardians and not focus on Lilith."
"Well, I don't think you'll like her true self," Connor pouted, pointing his finger behind Elliot.
"What do you mean–"
"I said I was regretting what I've done!" Gasha yelled. She was having an argument with the male vendor who tried to egg on Elliot and Connor the day before. The Guardian took her axe out and pointed it at the vendor.
"Oh, my God," Elliot gasped.
"You seem like you want to pick a fight on everyone you meet. You also argued with the woman there earlier. Why can't you accept other people's views and not just yours? That's problematic," Gasha growled. "Why are you like that?"
"That's my wife, if you must know," the man said, making Gasha form an O with her mouth. "We fight all the time. That's the kind of couple we are."
"But you were…" Gasha trailed off. She kept her axe back on her back where the harness was for the weapon. "You said you don't trust Guardians. That were unreliable. And the only one who you think you could trust betray you."
"That is very correct. You really think all of us believe in you? A lot of you are more likely to become criminals than us civilians, how can we trust that?" the man spoke, narrowing his eyes and glaring at Gasha. "And you just proved me right. If a Guardian like you is this conceited and has such fragile ego, I don't know if I could trust the others."
Gasha was speechless. She knew it was her fault for lashing out like that and she didn't have any excuse. Her anger diminished over time as more and more eyes were focused on them.
"Okay, that's enough," Elliot intervened. He got in between the two and tried to create as much space as possible.
"Oh, so you are with this guy," the male vendor scoffed. "No wonder you both have the same attitude. You're both Adventurers, after all."
"Excuse me?" Gasha scoffed, regaining her anger back. "You sir is very rude–"
"Gasha…" Elliot gave the woman a pleading look. "Let me handle this."
Gasha was silent for a moment. She closed her eyes and sighed, glaring one last time at the male vendor before walking away. Connor went to Elliot's side the moment the Guardian left the market, that still had silent vendors and customers.
"Elliot, I think we should go too," Connor said. "We ordered from Ilwoo and asked him to cook beforehand. I bet he and Jung are waiting for us right now."
"Alright," Elliot sighed, not leaving his gaze at the male vendor. "Let's go."
It felt like it was a walk of shame when the two boys walked through the stalls of the main street and into the center where the food stalls were. Every person was looking at them with stoic expressions.
"The atmosphere here is very heavy," Connor whispered to Elliot's ear. "It's suffocating."
"Let's just go," were the only words that came out from Elliot's lips before they got out of the silent street. In the food square, the stalls weren't as silent. After all, they didn't know about what just happened between a Guardian and another vendor.
Seeing the red tent that made the boys smile. It was Ilwoo and Jung's restaurant, and the two were standing outside with bags in their hands.
"Elliot, Connor!" Ilwoo waved his hand with a wide grin on his lips. "Here is your food for lunch."
"Thank you," Elliot bowed, taking the bags. "I'm sorry we didn't get to talk yesterday. We were hungry, so we rushed back home."
"Oh, no worry, Elliot," Ilwoo smiled. "How about some tea since it's not exactly time for lunch yet."
The two boys looked at each other before nodding. "That would be great, Ilwoo. Thanks."
The couple led the boys inside their restaurant. Elliot smiled at how more crowded it became compared to the first time he's been there. The Kkeuner couple also hired workers now, running through the table, taking orders and delivering food.
"Elliot, I have something to tell you," Ilwoo said after seating Elliot and Connor. "Jung and I talked about this a lot of times. And we're going to move out soon."
Elliot was expressionless after the news was broken to him. He looked at the couple, but they seemed to be smiling. "You're both awfully happy for people who's gonna move. Because usually, when you say something like that, the atmosphere would be heavier."
"What?" Ilwoo scrunched his forehead in confusion. "Oh, silly, no. Not like that. The tournament season is over and we just got to stay here for a few more day since the kingdom needed a food court for the people working on rebuilding it."
"But we found a space in the West district," Jung said. "The flood of customers here provided us with the money to buy the space. We will move there after we finish our contract here."
Elliot covered his mouth with his hands. "Oh, my goodness you two. That's amazing!"
"And it wouldn't have happened without your help," Ilwoo said. The couple bows at Elliot, "Thank you, Elliot."
"It wasn't me who did it," Elliot smiled. "It was you two. I merely took a few friends to eat. How the next steps planned out were possible because of the both of you."
"And speaking of," Ilwoo nodded to his wife as if he was talking about something. Jung nodded back before walking away, heading to the kitchen area and disappearing behind a door.
"Where is she going?" Elliot asked, looking at Ilwoo who now had a wider grin.
"Just see," Ilwoo chuckled.
It didn't take long for Jung to come back, but this time she had a book with her. She placed the book on the table and smiled with her husband.
"We take it that you're going to the East," Ilwoo said. "We have an Eastern friend that gave us this. Figured it might help you."
Elliot opened the book and gasped after seeing the title, "The History of the Twelve Suns?"
"Referring to the twelve kingdoms of the East," Ilwoo said.. "You know that only eight among that twelve survives to this day, righ? This book will provide the answer as to what happened to the other four."