I BELONG

We set out by chariot in the direction of the south as planned, the vegetation is not dense, not like the rest of the empire.

Contrary to what we expected, the area was active، full of mercenaries and knights.

An ominous feeling gripped both Alvis and Dara.

Dara turned to Alvis and said:

-"Alvis, as far as I know, there shouldn't be that many Aeolus Knights here. Is that normal?".

- "This is not normal. It is assumed that this area is a deliberate security breach to cross the border."

Then she said to me:

-"Raiden hid in the carriage just in case."

What they say is true, why they are here.

As we approached the place, it became clear that it was a checkpoint.

As we passed by the knights we heard their conversation.

- "Damn the mercenaries, it's all because of them."

From the grumbling of the Knights, it seems that the reason for establishing the checkpoint is criminals and enemy mercenaries.

- "We were rested, and now we're working so much. In addition to Herodotus, we have another thing to do."

- "But they put a lot of money in If we find him, isn't that good for us?".

What?

Damn that's bad, now everyone is looking for me.

Edgar turned and tension appeared on his face

-" let's back off now and draw up another escape plan..."

-"You stop where you are."

We were stopped by the knights.

Edgar stuck in his place, trying to think of a solution to escape from the situation.

"We can't fight here. They outnumber us. We don't have time to hide him. Dara can't use invisibility magic."

Horner grabbed his sword, but Alvis  stopped him

Then he go forward to speak to them

"What's the matter, why were we stopped?"

-" We have search warrants."

-" Since when did  Aeolus's Knights become border customs??"

-"since now, These are direct orders from the emperor".

-"The Emperor?"

Despite Elvis's attempt to disable them, some knights advanced towards the carriage

- "Wait, you have no right to do that."

- "Stop resisting, I will consider it disobeying orders."

-"Alvis stop"

Edgar shouted.

He stopped arguing.

There is no way but direct combat.

He exchanged glances with the others.

At the right moment they will attack.

The knight approached the carriage door.

Everyone clinging to his weapon, waiting for the moment to attack

-"Sir...there is no one"

What?!

-"You can go ahead"

Alvis bowed to them, while the rest turned straight to see the carriage.

They did not find Akir.

Where did he disappear for the sake of the Creator?.

Donal checked the cart

- "Even his things are gone. There's no way he can escape from the carriage without us noticing, how he escaped?."

Edgar scratched his head

"What are we going to do now? How are we going to find him? We can't wait for him here, and we can't cross the border without him."

Alvis said, looking at the knights staring at them:

"We will attract attention if we continue to stand here. Let's go slowly and find an optimal solution."

Edgar's expression was dark.

he had failed the only request he had been given by his friend.

Everyone tried to comfort him.

Dara patted his back and said:

- "Even I am worried about Raiden, but he is a smart boy. He is definitely hiding somewhere. Let us cross the border first, avoid suspicion, and then come back for him."

He nodded and said :

"Come on, let's keep walking."

The silence prevailed over everyone, all of them worried about Akir.

whenever they took a step closer to the border, a lump pressed on their hearts.

Finally they left the empire, but without him.

After moving a certain distance from the border within the western Kingdom, they stopped to rest in a nearby forest at the shady spots.

Alvis tried to break the silence and relieve the miserable atmosphere

- "You must be hungry. I'll cook something for us to eat."

Silence is still camp

Horner got up and said :

"I'm going to collect firewood."

Elvis bit his lip and then headed towards the cart to fetch the ingredients

-"Have we reached our destination?"

-"aaaaah".

Elvis screamed in his throat.

Everyone stood and wondered why he was screaming.

Then they saw a child get out of the cart.

It's Akir

Edgar ran towards him and hugged him tightly.

Dara's tears fell and she asked:

-"How did you come?"

- "Leave me a moment so I can tell you what happened."

.... hour ago....

  -"You stop where you are."

Damn this way they'll find me

- "What's the matter, why were we stopped?"

That's good Alvis will buy me some time.

I opened a gate at the last place we camped.

I started moving all my stuff

- "Wait, you have no right to do that."

Just more time

At the last moment

I'll wait a while.

I was going to open the little gate and see what's going on, but I was afraid that they would feel my mana.

This is a wonderful, my magic had a remarkable development that I could move all this distance.

I wonder how they will react.

As soon as I come back I will explain it to them now I will rest a little.

....Now....

So I waited an hour until I got back.

Edgar looked relieved.

-"thank God you are fine".

Donnell said:

- "That explains why you disappeared so suddenly."

-"Yes, this is correct"

Then Alvis said:

- "That is why Lord Herodotus was so angry because his heir was a doorkeeper"

She hit him for what he said and then moved closer to me.

-"It's a wonderful ability you have ,it will help us a lot on our journey."

- "It's true, but I don't know everything about it. I only learned about fire magic."

Dara smiled and said:

- "Don't worry, I'll teach you all about magic. I used to be a tower witch."

-"Tower Witch??"

-"Don't focus on this part."

  I wanted to ask her, but silence seemed the best option.

-"AAAKIIIIRRR"

Horner's screams filled the place.

Alvis put his hand on his forehead and grumble.

"Oh, my God, he was collecting firewood."

He ran towards me and hugged me tightly .

-"Where have you been all this time? I was worried about you".

- "Stop, you're going to crush him, and his name is Raiden, not Akir."

-"N.no need for Alvis, h.he must have been w.worried."

He let me go before he broke one of my ribs, and then we sat down to lunch.

Everyone seemed happy.

Edgar smiled and then told me:

"They're glad you're here. It's good that you're back."

I haven't felt a sense of belonging since I was born into this world, but now I do and finally have a place to belong to.