Chapter 70: I Am Still a Child
Chapter 70: I Am Still a Child
Roel felt his heart contracting sharply. It was not because of an enemy attack or a problem with his body, but a natural response to the sheer shock he felt.
The clues littered everywhere had given him a rough idea as to the situation he was in, but he still found the current situation hard to believe. Traversing through time and returning into history, is this really something transcendents can accomplish with their strength?
At the very least, Roel knew for sure that neither Nora nor himself was capable of this. At Origin Levels 5 and 6, the two of them were much too weak! Even Origin Level 4 Peter Kater was able to easily triumph over them.
It was impossible for them to deal with anything related to space-time, given the limitations of their strength. This world that they lived in was one that didn’t have convenient teleportation doors like those commonly seen in fantasy works, or else traveling wouldn’t have been such a massive hassle!
There were indeed transcendents with space-related abilities, but most of them were limited to short-distance teleportation, and they would have to pay a frighteningly hefty price to use it. And this was still for the easier-to-grasp spatial abilities!
Roel had never even heard of anyone wielding a time-related ability before, and clearly, it was the same for Nora too.
“Could it be my grandfather who sent us here? But, I don’t think anyone in our house has that sort of ability…” muttered Nora in confusion.
All of a sudden, she set her eyes on Roel, assessing him from head to toe. By the process elimination, if it wasn’t herself, it could only be him. However, her companion was just as baffled as she was.
Time ticked by in silence. Fear of the unknown was gradually creeping into their hearts, leaving them feeling like rudderless ships heading into turbulent waters. It took quite a while before they were finally able to calm themselves down.
“It could be the labyrinth artifact, or that I might have some mysterious ability that I don’t know of, but in any case… it seems like we really have returned back to Empress Victoria’s era.”
“Such a thing…” murmured Nora.
“Otherwise, we can’t explain this corpse either. Is there any soldier in the world who would wear a set of antiques from a hundred years ago and march off to war? Besides, it’s obvious that this armor is still new, not some sort of old artifact.”
Roel picked up the breastplate to emphasize its lustrous metallic surface that clearly hadn’t been through the test of time yet. Toward this, Nora was unable to come up with any counterargument.
“Speaking of which, how can you tell that it is from Empress Victoria’s era?”
“I’ve been training in the Knight Order since I was young. My historical knowledge of military equipment is still quite reliable.”
Prompted by Roel’s question, Nora pointed to the shoulder intersection of the breastplate.
“In more recent breastplate designs of the Theocracy, this portion is usually linked using chainmail. However, during Empress Victoria’s era, the mainstream way is to use multiple layers of this silk-like material to link up this intersection.”
“Is that so?”
Roel tried to prod the white silk used for the shoulder intersection of the breastplate, and it was surprisingly hard to the touch. He could tell that this material was newly woven, causing it to still be rather stiff.
“… Let’s find some other clues. We need to first figure out of where we are,” said Roel.
He lifted the breastplate and tried checking the fit, but in the end, he could only toss it away with a deep sigh after confirming that it was too big for him. It would be great if he could wear it. For one, it would have raised his defensive ability, and for the other…
Well, he and Nora were simply dressed too finely, wearing a suit and a dress respectively. No matter how one looked at it, they were awfully out of place with the surroundings.
Furthermore, the two of them were blessed with good-looking appearances, making them look like child models standing in the midst of a battlefield. It was both overly conspicuous and incongruous, making them likely to attract unwanted attention all around.
One must know that noble children were free money during times of tumult! It was commonplace for revolutionary armies to kidnap noble children and demand ransom money from their houses. If their houses refused to pay up, they could then sell the noble children elsewhere to serve as slaves.
“The armor is too big for us to wear. Let’s find some plain clothes from the residences nearby.”
“Yeah, it’s already turning dark. We need to move quickly.”
The two of them quickly discussed their plan under the final embers of the evening sun, before determining their destination to be the three relatively intact residences right ahead of them. The stronger Nora led the group, and weaker Roel backed her up with his short sword.
Their journey was still relatively smooth as vision under the setting sun was rather poor, and the physiques of those two children were much smaller than the bulky armored soldiers. It was hard for anyone to notice them from afar.
The first thing that the two of them saw upon sneaking into the courtyard of one of the three residences was the usual bloodstains and corpses. Nora quickly searched for a safe pathway into the residence whereas Roel shot glances at the breastplates worn by the corpses, paying close heed to their insignias.
Tiger, tiger, and tiger again. Looks like the Elric House has suffered great casualties. Good!
Having a clear distinction of ally and enemy allowed Roel to put aside his empathy for the deceased soldiers. After scanning the area and finding nothing dangerous, he proceeded to enter the residence through the open windows. It was safer this way, since they would be able to avoid the creaking noise produced by opening doors.
The two of them remained next to the window a while to control their breathing before advancing ahead once more.
There were too many dead corners inside the residence, and they weren’t sure if anyone else was here or not. So, they were forced to proceed more carefully than ever. It took them ten minutes to sweep this two-storeyed residence.
All in all, there were two casualties inside. One of them was a soldier stationed by the windows on the second floor—it looked like his face got mosaiced out by some sort of powerful spell—and the other one was an old man killed in the living room. Roel deduced that the old man was the owner of this residence, judging from his fine garments, the silver pocket watch that hadn’t been picked, and an envelope on his chest.
「Esteemed Sire Rhodes,
I have followed your request, securing my possessions and sending my family members away in advance. However, the fighting in the city has been worsening with each passing day. I’m afraid that it’ll eventually reach here as well.
I hope that you can find a way to help me so that I can tide through this crisis safely.
Edward Pott
Year 828, 13 March」
Nora fell silent after reading the letter. Roel also sighed deeply as well.
March of Year 828, this was a date that left a deep imprint in history. The battle of the royal twins, March Turmoil. It was said to be the biggest event in recent history for the Theocracy, a battle that marked a turning point for the country. It was an event that had been studied time and time again by historians.
Who could have thought that a day would come where they would become witnesses for this major event?
“Alright, let’s stop thinking too much into it. The most important thing we have to do now is to ensure our survival. We need to secure water and food. Let’s search the area,” said Roel as he pulled himself together.
Nora, now reminded of their purpose here, also quickly nodded in agreement. The two of them began ransacking the residence, searching the kitchen, the dining room, the washrooms, and even the bedrooms on the second floor. However, there wasn’t a morsel of food nor a drop of potable water to be found.
Most likely, the soldiers already ransacked the place.
“Tsk, aren’t they way too thorough with their ransacking? We need to do our searching at night, or else it’ll be hard for us to get supplies once dawn arrives. There aren’t any proper clothes here either; all of them have been ripped to shreds,” grumbled Roel.
“Same formation; let’s go.”
The two children, whose teamwork was gradually improving, quickly left the first residence and headed off to the second one. But this time around, they encountered an unexpected situation.
“Wait a moment, where did this fog come from?”
“This is weird. There wasn’t any fog when we came here earlier!”
“This is bad. It must be the effect of the labyrinth!”
The sudden shrouding of the fog left them in a fluster. It arrived so quickly that it only took dozens of seconds for their distant destination to become completely blurred.
That wasn’t the end of their bad luck. Just as they were about to make haste toward the second residence, they suddenly heard many footsteps coming from their front left. What was abnormal about this situation was that the sound of the footsteps didn’t crescendo gradually; it was quiet one moment and loud the next, as if they had appeared out of nowhere!
Completely caught off guard, Roel and Nora ended up bumping right into this group of soldiers. At the same time, a voice sounded from their front right, and a blurred figure gradually approached amidst the fog.
Just like how Roel and Nora were astonished by this ridiculous encounter, the armored soldiers were equally taken aback. The commander of the soldiers took quick note of the fine clothes Roel and Nora were wearing, and his eyes lit up. He immediately issued an order for the soldiers to capture them.
“Suspicious figures! Capture them!”
“Roel, we’re going to run. Hold my hand!”
Following the commander’s order, the soldiers drew their weapons and approached Roel and Nora. Seeing that the situation was very disadvantageous to them, Nora reached out to grab Roel’s hand as she prepared to flee into the depths of the fog.
To her surprise, Roel grabbed her wrist instead and stopped her.
“Roel?”
Nora looked at Roel in surprise, then she noticed that his eyes were not on the approaching soldiers but the other figure approaching from their front right. The figure had already come into their line of sight while no one was paying heed to him.
It was a pale-faced, black-haired man covered with blood. There was a fresh stream of blood that was flowing down from his left shoulder, which he was clasping with his right hand. He appeared to be in a bad state.
Yes, it was none other than Peter Kater.
His sudden appearance swiftly caught the attention of the soldiers. Before they could demand that he identify himself, Roel had already delivered the answer that they were looking for.
It was a marvelous performance that transcended the boundaries of reality and fiction, expressing such vivid details that it drew the audience into the scenario he crafted. With eyes glistening with tears of agitation, Roel looked at the stunned Peter as if the man was some long lost kin that he had just reunited with.
“Now! They have fallen for our trap, Uncle Peter!” shouted Roel.