NOVEL WEB Cleron
During the course of the first day, Kael spent most of his time asleep. He dreamed about his past life, recalling the blurry faces of his family, along with the people he call his friends. He was lying down by the side of the carriage, his grandmother holding him on her lap. Cora was amused looking at him smiling while asleep.
On the following days after, he got to see the wonderful pathway that Amos, along with some of the old people made when they were young. Amos claimed that they made it for their devotion to the lord.
Both side of the path were lined with alfris, which were trees with glowing rounded fruits. These trees came from the land of the elves, procured by Amos’s ancestors to be used as ornaments. Amos found out its herbicidal properties, and decided to make good use of it.
Kael became a little sentimental while looking at the alfris trees. He remembered someone, a person who supported him in everything he decided on. He was lost in thought for a moment, wondering if that person was still alive. He was brought back to the present when Amos called for his name.
In a couple of days that passed, Kael tried looking for landmarks he knew from his first life. His aim was to find out if his past had some relations to the place. He didn’t remember a town named Cleron, but he felt like it should be familiar to him. In the morning of the seventh day, they see the town on the horizon, but Kael didn’t find what he wanted to know.
Cleron is a small town. It is the smallest human settlement in the duchy of Levaldis. Most of its territory extended past its thick wooden walls, and were cultivated by the servants of the town’s lord. Although a small settlement, the people of the town were well taken care of by the duke.
Looking around the town, Kael still didn’t recognize anything at all. With all its fields and structures introduced to him by his grandfather, there’s not a thing that he recognized. He’s confident that during his past life, he was able to see every human town that existed. It’s a bit of a shock to him that the town of Cleron was too foreign to him.
Depressing ideas came back to his mind. He recalled everything that happened to him in his first months living in his new life. During the past months, he does wonder sometimes, how long ago was his first lifetime? How long did it took him to regain his consciousness?
Kael felt a little dread, thinking he’s close to answering such questions. He had a hunch, but he didn’t want it to be true. After all, if what he thinks was proven right, he will never see his family again. It scares him, to feel alone, to be the only one from the past. Rebirth does sound good back then, when he created it during the four rulers’ betrayal. But now, it’s a brash decision on his part, thinking it’s the best way for revenge.
‘I was lost, I didn’t have a choice’, Kael thought.
Kael looked at every structure they went past, aimless and low-spirited. He couldn’t hear Amos’s jubilant voice introducing him to the different parts of town.
“Kael?”, Amos called, but Kael didn’t hear it. “Son?”
Cora stopped Amos, and hugged the regretful child. Kael looked at her, and she reassured the child that everything’s fine. She brought back Kael who was lost in his regretful mind.
“Are you alright? Did the people scare you?”, Amos asked concerned.
“I miss our village”
“Don’t worry, we will be back soon”, Amos patted Kael’s head.
‘Right.. they’re my family too’
Their little moment was interrupted by a strange man. He was clothed in a simple brown robe, and was respectable in demeanor. He’s tall, brown-haired, his irises lacking in color that it almost blended to the whites of his eyes. Aside from his eyes, he looked like a normal person, but Kael looked at him and was baffled to see him. Without his full awareness, Kael uttered a single word.
“Edrei..”
“What?”, the strange man said, equally as baffled as Kael.
Amos looked at the man blankly, which made the latter to force a small cough.
“Good day, Amos, and my fellow faithfuls”
“Good day, Deacon Elalios, I apologize for our visit”, Amos said shrugging off the deacon’s strange behavior.
“It’s alright, my fellow faithful”
Every single one of Kael’s companion greeted the man who they call a deacon. Kael was urged to greet the deacon too, which he does after he recovered from his bewilderment.
‘He’s not him, I messed up’
Deacon Elalios was introduced to Kael as someone important to their faith. The deacon claimed that he came from Ligdlan, which is considered the most important place for their faith. He became an important figure to the old people, and thus became their guidance in practicing their faith.
“What is the objective of your visit?”, Deacon Elalios said.
“We wanted to thank our lord for returning our grandson to good health”, Amos replied.
“That’s an admirable act, I’m sure your gratitude will please our Lord Lucien”
‘Huh? Did I hear that right?’, Kael thought.
“Thank you, esteemed deacon”
“By the way, did my fellow faithfuls brought donations for the community? Our lord will be well pleased seeing generous hands”, Deacon Elalios asked.
“We brought the fruits of our land, will that be enough?”
Deacon Elalios looked at the carriage, and see the bags of fruits Amos mentioned. His gaze conveyed no emotion, but his voiced gratitude to the travelers was of great joy. He invited them to the community of faithfuls where Amos and his people originally came from. They talked about many things while getting to the place, but Kael noticed the deacon’s unusual actions. The deacon was glancing at him from time to time.