The Alrevia Order [Elisop]

#6 Hope and Shadow

Following their meeting with the druid, Eli and Aesop reported to Jose what they had seen and discovered in the hidden clearing. Thanks to their discovery, the expedition was finally able to take a step in the right direction and perhaps make up for the loss caused by the incident in the mines. Everything was not yet lost and they could not give up either. This mission was far too important.

Orpheus had told them to continue south towards Hamel, which they were already doing at first. The other clues seemed to indicate that the sword they were supposed to be looking for was probably in a cave. But the group had no knowledge of the geography of the neighboring country, so things were looking pretty murky...

Until Jose rekindled their hopes by mentioning that he had a duke friend who lived in the countryside of the concerned kingdom. Apparently, the two men had met at the academy and had formed a strong friendship since then. They often conversed through letters even when the captain returned to Alrevia to succeed to the position of vice-captain and it was with this same means that he contacted him again to ask for his help.

While waiting for an answer, the troops of knights and mages camped for a few days in the forest. Even with his new position, things didn't change much for Aesop. He may have had a little more direction to give, but Jose was empathetic enough to give him time to adjust instead of putting the pressure of the position on him all at once.

The young Carl took the lead of his group in place of Joseph who had returned to the kingdom, it was never mentioned before but the young platinum haired nobleman was in charge of supervising the group and taking orders. The group was now composed only of Naib, Patricia, Norton, Eli and himself.

"Where did he go again-"

The blond man let out a grunt while massaging his temple with a frown of annoyance. Eli was right behind him, flashing a sorry smile for his friend who was going through so much hardship, things not seeming to be better with Campbell not wanting to cooperate to take care of the chores that needed to be done. Whenever the dispatch took place, the young man always managed to slip away and it was impossible to find him afterwards.

First of all, it was dangerous to go away alone in the woods as they were in unknown territory and there was a chance that monsters were around. Then, that attitude he was showing was exactly the same level as a child refusing to learn his lessons, an age Norton had long since passed! At this present moment, Aesop was still looking for the male to lecture him yet again.

"I'm sure he can't be far, how about I help you find him?" offered Eli.

The blond raised his green eyes to the dark haired man for a second before sighing.

"Sorry, and thanks."

"It's nothing." the other replied with a smile.

"I unfortunately have a task to do that was given to me by Jose, you'll find me in my tent if you finally find him."

Eli nodded then watched as Aesop walked away towards the center of the camp. It had only been a few days since their friendship had materialized, but the brown-haired man's persistent and friendly nature had quickly melted the wall of ice surrounding the blond. Surprisingly, Eli spent even more time with Aesop than he did with Patricia or Naib, who knew his true identity.

Both of them kept warning him to be careful with the people he was talking to but he obviously ignored every word they said. The probability that someone had already seen his face was low and even if it was the case and that it came to be known, he did not doubt that he would easily manage to make them believe that he was just a look-alike.

Anyway, coming back to the present, Eli had to find Norton. However, this was not as complicated of a task as he thought because he simply turned around and came face to face with the male in question straight in front of his eyes. The latter showed a dull expression as he looked at him and he couldn't help but take a step back by reflex.