Ashes and Kingdoms Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part6

Message from translator: Rhythm games are surprisingly addictive. Because of that, I’ve fallen behind in translating ahead orz. But anyways, enjoy this calm chapter/part after the rush that was the last two.

He was unsure if this should be unexpected or natural, but the first one who noticed Fin’s change was Fauna. Fin left the matter of reporting to the Commander to Varte and showed up at the orphanage, but he had noticed Fauna gathering the children who were playing outside.

“Aunt.”

Fin called out to her with the word spilling out from his mouth, though this made him frown. Even though he was filled with regret at not calling them “Dad” and “Mom” while he was dying, he ended up calling them like he usually did.

However, Fauna wasn’t supposed to be aware that Fin had met with such an experience. He had already changed his blood-soaked, torn clothes in the barracks, and there wasn’t a single scratch on his whole body, whether it could be seen or not.

In spite of all of this, Fauna asked in a worried manner.

“Did something happen, Fin?”

As this was an unexpected response, Fin winced. As well as realizing that he hadn’t prepared himself to tell her the truth.

“‘Something’…..What do you mean?”

Without a decisive tone, he dodged the question with his vague response, but this inadvertently made him more suspicious. Fauna’s facial expression had completely changed into one of puzzlement, and after she finished bringing the children indoors, she immediately turned back to Fin.

“Something did happen. Is it something you can’t talk to me about? If you’re feeling reserved, I ask that you stop it, Fin. You may not realize this yourself, but compared to yesterday….yes, the ambiance you give off is completely different.”

“………..”

Fin silently gazed up at the sky and agreed, “Probably.” It was only a mere five years ago when they had become family, but Fauna was a mother. Whenever Fin was trembling or injured, he would pretend to be composed, but she could always sense the truth. There was no way Fin could escape her sharp, observing eyes. Being at the brink of death was plenty serious of a concern to be had.

Unsure of how and from where he should start talking, Fin decided to postpone answering the question in the meantime.

“I’ll talk about it after I come back.”

At any rate, he didn’t know if he could be heard by someone here. He wondered if a better method would be to return to his room allocated to him in the army corps’ housing complex and gather everyone together first. But if he were to only do that, how could he deal with relaying the news to Max….

Then, as if someone had sensed what Fin was thinking, Max and Nellis just arrived and crossed the garden. They had been getting quite along like actual siblings. A smile spread on Fin’s face when he saw the two, but a strange sensation caused him to blink his eyes. He could see some kind of glittering mist surrounding them.

When he blinked again and rubbed his eyes, the mist faded away. Fin wondered if that was just his imagination, but it was Nellis who stared in wonderment at Fin this time.

“Big Bro, what is that!”

She had said in such a hysteric voice that Fin reflexively looked behind him in surprise. There was only the equally spooked Fauna there. Anything that would warrant a scream like that couldn’t be found. Max also had a look of utter confusion as he restlessly looked back and forth between Nellis and Fin.

Seeing everyone else’s reaction, Nellis realized that she had done it. In a panic, she covered her mouth and quickly looked around. There were figures of several children and temple slaves, but they were all far away. And even the people who did stop to wonder what caused Nellis’ scream went back to their own agendas without coming over.

Nellis breathed a sigh of relief and ran up to Fin. She suddenly grabbed her older brother’s tunic and pulled it up.

“Uwa!? Nellis, hey! What are you doing?”

Fin panicked. While Max and Fauna stared in bewilderment, Nellis took a long, hard look at Fin’s naked chest and shook her head in disbelief, removing her hands.

Exactly what would people think if they saw such a scene? Fin had become bright red and quickly fixed his clothes. Nellis neglected the confused Max and Fauna and looked at Fin straight in the face.

“Something…something huge happened, right? Big Bro, you don’t realize what has happened to yourself.”

“I know that my little sister just stripped me.”

Fin grumbled a complaint as he fixed his sleeves. After letting out a tired sigh, he beckoned to Max and whispered in a low voice. There was no other way he was going to give him the news.

“Don’t tell anyone. But, I think I’ve formed a bond with a dragon.”

“—Eh?”

Max questioned with a blank look. He couldn’t fully understand the fairy-tale plot line that came out all of a sudden. Fin slightly shrugged his shoulders and lowered his voice one octave.

“I’m telling you, Leena isn’t a spirit but a dragon. Though, if word of this gets out, I have no idea what Commander Dirgius will do. So, keep this a secret for me, okay?”

“……..”

Max’s jaw had looked like it would fall off at any moment, but he quickly shut his mouth and nodded deeply. He made a strange face after that and looked at Fauna and Nellis.

“Guess the Missus and the others get to listen to the full details of this world-breaking story. Lucky.”

He played it off with a joking tone, but his eyes were filled with sincere understanding.

What a trustworthy kid. Fin felt a bittersweet feeling and turned to Fauna.

“Can Max stay at our place tonight?”

“Of course he’s welcome.”

Fauna immediately replied, smiled cheerfully, and went off about absurd things, saying, “It’s a bit cramped and there isn’t a satisfactory bed, but since you’re young, it should be fine.”

That night, Fin divulged his experience to his whole family and Max.

They all understood that they must naturally adhere to secrecy about this matter, but according to Nellis, a tortuous light could be seen around Fin's chest area. As such, there was no doubt that people who had eyes like a priest will eventually discover it.

“But, I’m sure those people won’t blabber about what they see.”

Nellis optimistically guaranteed. Ever since she had become clearly aware of her own power, she had been gradually mastering being confident and looking from other points of view, unlike how she was before.

“I think they realize that if this concerns the G.o.ds, it won't be the right thing to do if they carelessly talk about it. Besides….they don’t want to be seen as not right in the head.”

Nellis shrugged her shoulders, and Fin gave a tiny nod. In her case, because of the urgency of their situation, her family was quite accepting of her power. However, not everyone was so lucky.

“The scariest thing would be people who can see fragments of power might notice Big Bro. So, I think we should find some way to hide that.”

Nellis said while staring at Fin’s chest. He also looked down, but as expected, he couldn’t see any sort of change. Even though Nellis had no sense for poetic language, it was a bit strange for him being told about “something tortuous” on his body that he couldn’t see.

“It’s best if you don’t approach the temple until we figure out some method. Especially since I think they’re a bunch of people who can see.”

Nellis added, “Though, I’ll be lonely.” Max was dissatisfied, but he nodded without an objection, understanding the reason behind this.

“Me too. I’ll pretend to be studying for something and search the books in the temple. If, for some reason we can’t get away with hiding this….”

His voice became soft and vaguely trailed off. He exchanged uneasy looks with everyone, their faces becoming clouded.

—Will we have run away again?

Even without these words leaving his mouth, everyone understood.

Even though they had ran away from Nanais and from Tetna and had managed to find a safe place after their arduous journey. Would they be no longer able to stay here?

“…..Sorry.”

Just as Fin utter the single word of his apology, Nellis leaned forward in anger.

“Argh, Big Bro, you really are an idiot, you know! It isn’t your fault, duh!? The bad ones are the bandits! As well as that dimwitted commander!”

Go To h.e.l.l Nellis showed a vulgar gesture with her words, causing both her parents and Fin to raise their voices at the same time. Being attacked by the three of them simultaneously, Nellis c.o.c.ked her head to the side impishly and looked at Max.

He was being drilled by Fin’s intense gaze so he shook his head in a panic, “I didn’t teach her that.” Nellis feigned ignorance, leaving that matter for another day, but returned back to the matter at hand with a clear tone.

“Anyway, even if we have to run away, it will be a matter for that time. In any rate, Winea isn’t our hometown and it won’t be our first time running away. Plus, this time…Leena will help us. Right? Since her powers aren’t being sealed anymore. It’ll be an easy victory.”

Nellis smiled, but Fin could only return a wry laugh.

“Well…..Both Leena and I….we don’t know how far of an extent our powers can go. At the very least, our eyes can see far away distances, so we won’t have to worry about a lack of safe places to rest. Plus, it looks like Nellis and Max, you guys have become more reliable.”

“Yeah.”

Nellis looked a little embarra.s.sed, but she proudly nodded.

“Lord Fentaus has taught me things like various medical herb and treatment methods. To utilize Master Neena’s power is still…..how can I put it, difficult to do. But, I become 'aware' of many new things. I’ve become more dependable, you know.”

“Me too,” Max quickly interjected. “I train my swordsmans.h.i.+p every day. Big Bro Fin is the one who said I’ve gotten better, remember? Not only that. The teachers here taught me about maps and how to read the weather.”

Looking at these two who almost had a compet.i.tive vibe to them to declare who was the more useful, Oandus jested, “Oh hoh,” while he turned to face Fauna.

“Looks like we’ve lost our places.”

“Really.”

Fauna giggled then gave a gentle smile to Fin.

“Fin, no matter what happens, we’ll always be there for you. Don’t leave everything to yourself, like how you did in Nanais. Please don’t have such thoughts as, ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘I can do this myself’.”

“……..Yeah.”

Fin tried to say thanks but he was at a loss for words, deeply bowing his head in silence. He felt the warm emotions coming out from them and flowing towards him like gentle waves. That may be an effect of Leena’s power, but nevertheless, it didn’t matter even if this was merely a feeling.

Whatever happens, he could trust his “family.” Confident in this, Fin raised his head. Suddenly,

“Ow!”

He was. .h.i.t over the head with a well-prepared blow and reflexively raised his voice. A cla.s.sic move that young children often did. Pus.h.i.+ng down on top of Fin’s head while frowning was Nellis as she shouted with triumph.

“Real~ly, our Big Bro is so d.a.m.n serious that it’s boring!”

“Aren’t you treating me too much like a toy?” Fin refuted as he swallowed his good judgment. Though some of it got caught in his throat.

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