Road 2: The Old and New Promise

The village of Syaf was a traditional village with houses shaped like cow's horns. It was a lively village where everyone relied on each other for survival. Syaf was renowned for its rice, every year the villagers celebrate a day when every single person in the village, including children, works together in a wheat field. Syaf village is filled with mystery, and it is always surrounded by thick mist in the morning, making it feel isolated. Syaf village is far from other villages as there is a forest that separates them.

Kai was currently accompanying Princess Aira on their way to the head of Syaf village, walking in the center of Syaf village. The center of Syaf village is full of people going about their daily routine. The centre of Syaf village is a market where there are people selling meat, weapons and field utensils. Kai and Princess wanted to meet the head of the village to discuss the mission in more detail.The head of the village is a very stern old man. He was famous in his village for being strict to the person he had hoped for and very kind to the children. For the children he is a nice old man but for Kai, he is a very stern, stubborn old man and the worst thing is he likes to make a weird kind of joke. Nevertheless,He is the man Kai respected the most in the village.

Upon arriving at the head's house Princess Aira was surprised to find the house is not as big as she thought. The house looks more like a hut than a house, unlike the other houses in the village. Princess Aira wondered what kind of person the head of Syaf village was. Princess Aira knew that the head of the village would be a weird person like Kai. Princess smiled a little bit when he remembered when Kai refused her offer and looked at Kai.

'What's up Princess. Why are you staring at me?'

"Nothing, I just remembered something. Stop calling me Princess, just call me Aira. I don't want people to know my identity." said Princess Aira with an angry tone.Kai was surprised by Aira's words. "Sure, I'll call you Aira," said Kai with a small smile. Princess Aira gets mad when Kai calls her princess because she wants her identity to be kept as a secret for her safety but the other reason is she doesn't want Kai to treat her like royalty. She wants to be friends with Kai, a friend she never had before.

Kai knocked on the house's door to let the head of villagers know of his arrival. However, there was no answer. Princess Aira thinks that the head village was not home and maybe they should come again later. "Maybe we should.." Princess was interrupted by Kai, who looked irritated. "This damn old man." Kai's face looks irritated. Princess Aira was shocked with Kai's reaction and wondered why Kai was getting irritated. Kai suddenly then looked at the roof and Princess Aira who saw Kai doing that, did the same thing. When she looked at the roof, she saw a silhouette of a man. "Who's that?" Princess Aira was curious about the man standing at the top of the village head's roof.

The man on the roof suddenly jumps from the roof and falls towards Kai and Princess Aira's direction. When the man almost hit Princess Aira's face, Kai quickly stepped in and punched him, sending the man flying and breaking the house's door. Princess Aira was shocked by that man's action. "Who is that guy? Is he an enemy?" Princess Aira was surprised and quickly put on her guard and put out a small dagger with an eagle symbol on the cross guard because she thought that the man was affiliated with the wolf that had chased her before. Kai remained silent and shook his head. 'Unfortunately not, he's not our enemy. He's just an idiot.'

The old man who had been punched by Kai stood up, and was furious. 'Oii who are you calling an idiot?! How dare you punch the village head, you punk.' That old man was the village head. He is a man with broad shoulders and looks like he was in his fifties with an unshaved face. His physique is well-built mostly because he always helped the villagers with their work and had a wheat field on his own.

Kai was getting more irritated. "Who asked you to make that stupid joke again? Do you know how many times I have been stomped on by you, you old man!!" indicating the situation had happened so many times before. The head village is getting infuriated. "You punk!" but stopped his words when he saw the lady with Kai and went near Kai's ear and whispered slowly.

"Is she your girlfriend?" whisper the old man with an annoying tone.

Kai, hearing that, was mad and quickly punched the old man on his head. The old man screamed after getting smacked by Kai. A few moments later, Kai, Princess Aira and the head village are now sitting in the head village's home. The situation in that house is silent with Princess Aira who keeps staring at the lump on the village head after getting punched by Kai before. Kai's face looks furious while the head village is just playing around. The inside of the village is very simple and there is no couch or a table. They're all just sitting on the mat and in front of them are just a jug of tea and some cups. The house is very simple and clean.

The situation is silent for a while, Kai already decides that he'll take the mission the head village gave to him as he already promised the Princess before. 'What do you want me to do with the mission that you asked before?' The old man's face quickly changes and the mood around the old man becomes more tense. The old man looked to the Kai's and shifted his eyes towards Princess Aira. 'We should talk about this mission alone.' signalling Kai that the woman Kai brought needs to stay outside when they discuss the mission. Kai, who heard that, just smiled and crossed his legs. 'This woman's involved with this mission. That's why I brought her." said Kai with a carefree tone.

The old man was surprised why the woman that Kai brought is involved with the mission he gave. The old man then remembered that a princess was missing after the attack by the Shadow organisation. He then remembers the dagger that pointed to him before have an eagle symbol that is the symbol of the Kiara Family. The old man was sure that the woman in front of him is Princess Aira, who's missing but he still can't believe that the princess is with Kai.

'Are you.. Princess Aira?" The head of the village was asking the question with a stuttering voice.' Kai readied to answer the question but the question was immediately interrupted by Princess Aira. 'My name is Aira. Princess Aira, the oldest princess of Kihara. I'm very glad you want to help me.' The old man was surprised by the woman's identity but very glad that the princess was safe. He cannot control his smile as he has been thinking about Princess Aira's safety nonstop after he heard the news of her disappearance..

The old man then looked at Kai and after a few seconds, the old man began to speak about the mission in more detail. 'Since Princess Aira's already here it'll be easy now. Kai, escorts and protects the Princess with your life. The organisation that chased her is very dangerous. I heard the organisation has one of the 8 Stars. I can confirm to you that he is as strong as you Kai.

Princess Aira was surprised not by the fact that is one of the 8 Stars that are chasing her but the fact that Kai is at the same level with the 8 Stars .The 8 Stars is a group of people who gained fame during the past decade, known as the Golden Decade. These 8 people proved their worth by achieving so many achievements in a short time and leaving people in awe and admiration. With so many talented people appearing at the same time people start calling them as the 8 Star of the Golden Decade.

'Don't worry about that.' said Kai calmly while drinking tea. After hearing Kai's words, the old man was enraged. 'You're reckless and an idiot who's ready to sacrifice yourself but now you've a person to protect. You need to be more careful with your actions, Kai!' The old man was mad with Kai's simple answer as he thought Kai was playing around. Kai just stayed quiet because he knew that what the village head said was right. He knew sometimes his recklessness hurts other people and he definitely doesn't want anything to happen to Princess Aira. However, he already decided that he will protect Princess Aira with his life.

'If you fail, you'll be chased from this village! ' said the village head with a serious tone.

Princess Aira was in shock after hearing that 'You don't have to do that…' but her words were interrupted by Kai. 'I'm okay with that.' Kai just answers with a calm attitude. The head village was silent because he already expected Kai'll answer like that. He knows Kai is someone who always keeps his promise and prioritises other people first. That's the reason why he chose Kai to take this mission to escort Princess Aira to her family.

'Princess, your father is waiting for you. He's really worried about you..' hearing that Princess Aira almost broke into tears but she did her best to refrain herself from crying. She knows that if she cries now she will not be able to hold her tears after this. Hearing about her father, Princess Aira remembers the conversation she heard at the event

'We will move next month..' a conservation between a man with long purple hair and a person who looked like a monk in the event that created this all situation. Princess Aira's memory is hazy and she only remembers the conversation and not the face. Princess Aira tried hard to remember but she couldn't. She faced so many troubles since the organisation attacked her family at the event, making remembering the exact face of people who planned the attack isn't an easy task.

Princess Aira was scared of what would happen to her family if she dont send the message to her family about the date of the attack. 'We can't waste any more time now.. They'll attack and kill my family.' Kai and the head village were shocked, 'What makes you so certain princess.' Kai and the head village were still confused as to why Princess Aira was suddenly in a rush. Princess Aira tried to explain about all the things she heard. The head village then quickly instructed Kai and Princess Aira to do this mission ASAP. Kai and Aira quickly stood up and were ready to go. The head village just looked at Kai and held Kai's head and drilled his hand on Kai's head. Kai just let the head village do it because he already got used to it.

"Remember what i said before."

Kai just kept quiet after hearing that and smiled a little. He then asked the Princess to prepare what she wanted as they will depart from the village tomorrow morning. A morning came, Kai and princess were ready to go but when they just took their first step they were stopped by someone.

"You cannot leave without me." said a little girl that came out of nowhere and started to stop Kai and Princess Aira. The little girl just looked at Kai with her furious face and began to shout with rage. "Kai!! You said you want to bring me with you!!". Kai, who heard that, was surprised and covered his ears as the girl shouted very loud and maybe the whole village heard the shouting and maybe even the sky had split after hearing the girl shouting.

'Calm down Aisha, I'll only go for a little while, you're still a child. You can't follow me.' said Kai tried calming that little girl's rage. The girl's name was Aisha. She's the daughter of the blacksmith in the corner of the Syaf village. She was saved by Kai when she was still a baby and has been close to Kai since then. She always admired Kai and secretly wanted to be Kai's wife although she thinks that wife is just a person who will stay with Kai the longest. Kai made a promise with her before that he will bring her outside the Syaf Village.

Aisha still with her furious face and her red plum face turned her gaze to Princess Aira. Princess Aira was scared of that little girl and she felt that the little girl was blaming her. Princess Aira started to feel nervous and quickly hid her face behind Kai. 'Is that because of that woman, you want to leave me Kai!.' The little girl's still not satisfied with Kai's answer and wants Kai to take her too. Kai is already at the end of his thoughts as he doesn't know how to convince Aisha to stay at the village. Kai just prays that someone or something will appear and help him to convince Aisha.

'Oi Aisha, there you are.' suddenly a voice calling for Aisha. That voice belongs to Aisha's father. He is a very energetic old man and he always speaks in full volume due to his work. 'I look everywhere for you! You little kids!' and proceeded to smack Aisha's head with a soft hit. Kai felt relieved that maybe Aisha's father will be able to convince Aisha to stay as he already cannot think anymore on how to convince Aisha. Aisha then starts to tell her father what happened and she wants to go with Kai even if her father dont allow her.

Aisha's father then looked at Kai and then with a smile he said 'Take care of my daughter Kai, if it is you I know she'll be safe.' Kai was shocked to hear Aisha's father, the person he thought would help him, supporting the little girl. Kai forgot that Aisha's father is that kind of man and he blamed himself for forgetting that. Kai then knelt and stared at Aisha's eyes. Aisha was surprised by Kai's sudden action, but she tried to remain calm. "Aisha, if you want to come with me, you need to take care of yourself cause I can't keep my eyes on you every single moment. This journey's gonna be really difficult for a little girl like you so do you still want to follow me? Aisha looked at Kai without even blinking her eyes 'Yes! I'm always waiting for this.' said Aisha with a determined face. Princess Aira, who heard that, wanted to interrupt because she knew the journey was dangerous and bringing a little girl was a reckless action. 'Wait Kai. You can't.' However, before she finished her words, Kai lifted Aisha high and placed her on his shoulders and shouted 'LET'S GO!'