The Empyrean's Reign
Ch.7-Compare

"Look, General! I've found the last ingredient!"

Enzo exclaimed to General Aldios eagerly making the other party happy. General Aldios received the weapon materials Enzo gave before praising the young man, "What a good thing, Mr Enzo! You have a talent for being a researcher. This kind of field of searching is their specialty."

Niel who had been silent since he did not want to get involved with the strange conversation just continued to slowly observe his surroundings. An hour had passed and he had already found two of the four weapon materials he needed.

It seemed like he was not too lucky when compared to Enzo who had found all the materials he needed.

Ssh...

Niel spontaneously turned his head towards the source of the sound he had just heard. I don't know why the feather immediately rose when he heard the sound.

"Niel?"

"Are you okay, Mr Niel?"

Niel gazed towards the depths of the forest where the voice had been heard for longer before shaking his head when he saw the worried Enzo and General Aldios.

"It's okay."

***

"Day has started at night. Mr. Niel, Mr. Enzo, let's build a tent and rest and continue our journey tomorrow. We can't be too tired."

The two younger men nodded their heads in unison, agreeing to the General's suggestion without resisting in the slightest. They had also started to get tired from being faced with the Beasts that were hindering their path all day.

While taking a short walk through the forest, they finally found the right area to rest. When viewed from its condition, it seems that this area is often used as a stop for adventurers who visit Tregwey.

Niel stared at the dim decoration lights hanging on the trees around the area strangely. What kind of person lost his wits to decorate this creepy and dark forest?

That person seemed to have quite a personality... Unichowo.

Well, it's better not to think too deeply.

General Aldios impassively scrambled his own bag to search for an object before finding it. What was in his grasp at this time were three miniature tents that strangely looked very very detailed.

Enzo and Niel stared at the oldest among them in a daze after witnessing an incident that was very incompatible with the stature of General Aldios. Why did the General suddenly take out a miniature?

Does he want to play house?

More and more questions arise in the minds of each young man even though they only close their mouths and do not say a word. Without any communication, they agreed not to comment on General Aldios' strange behavior because the General always acted using logic.

General Aldios then arranged the three minatures of the tent on the surface of the ground covered with grass. The man at least put the miniatures with a distance in each of them about two meters more.

"General, what are you doing now...?" Enzo could not help but be curious and finally asked a question based on defeat for his curiosity.

Niel and Enzo looked at General Aldios who then retreated from the miniature location he had placed before taking something back out of his bag that looked like a magic bag over time. If Niel's vision is correct, the object issued by General Aldios is a transparent glass ball with greenish-blue smoke that fills the contents of the ball.

The two men from the other world then tried to guess what the General would do next. Commenting on everything the oldest among them is like a football commentator.

Unexpectedly, the General threw the ball towards the location where the three miniatures were!

BOOM!!!

The sound of an explosion was then heard before smoke surrounded the three men in the middle of the forest where they were standing now. The sound of a baton immediately filled the entire forest after the smoke began to roam.

"GENERAL! IF YOU WANT TO DIE DON'T TAKE US!!!"

Another young man had stopped coughing for a long time and stared at the scene in front of him in a gasp.

"... What kind of magic is this?"

Three gray tents with a touch of forest green now stood firmly before them. If you peek at the contents of the tent from the open cloth that became the entrance of the tent, you can see a long mattress with pillows and blankets that look comfortable.

"This is the creation of Researcher Mavis Lotus, the third greatest Researcher in the Isychos region. He was my classmate when we were still studying at the Academy of Heroes of Valdis Kingdom." General Aldios explained some things to them after receiving a bewildered glance from the two youths younger than him.

"Well... He also often harassed me but it was nothing to talk about..."

""what?""

"It's okay." The General immediately shook his head when Niel and Enzo wanted to reconfirm his previous remark.

Aldios then reverted back to their conversation, "Well, I can admit, this is indeed one of his extraordinary creations. Mavis has innovated various creative ideas for less than 31 years of his career until now. If we want to put these tents back in shape, we can throw this red ball that I'm holding in the same way that it was."

Niel and Enzo were amazed as they listened to the statement coming out of the mouth of General Aldios himself. If even a General acknowledged a person to such an extent, there was already no doubt that that person was an extraordinary person.

"All right, gentlemen. What if now we go to the nearest river to clean ourselves up so that tomorrow we can fight the Azure Wolf with vigor?"

Enzo nodded enthusiastically at General Aldios' invitation while holding back the hand of Niel who was trying to escape.

"Come, Niel! It's a hundred years' experience!"

"Ugh..."

***

"General, is the rose on your right waist a tattoo? Your tattoo is so cool!"

Now the three adventurous men had started their activity to clean themselves in the river not far from their stopover. Enzo who saw something like a tattoo on General Aldios' waist asked about it to enliven the atmosphere.

Niel looked at his best friend who had just asked strangely, "Hey, have your eyes been broken? It was clearly a picture of a tiger."

"... Actually this wound is shaped to resemble the Goddess Synthia."

"...Oh!"

The atmosphere between the three men instantly turned awkward when the two guesses from the younger one turned out to be mistaken. One person with cloud-white hair who guessed wrongly is now trying to be indifferent in order to cover up his embarrassment.

General Aldios laughed when he saw the behavior of Niel and Enzo. It had been quite a while since he was able to be casual with the younger surrounding people since he had obtained the rank of General. The tiredness of the work that continued to accumulate more and more days slowly subsided as the man with the unique wound conversed with Niel and Enzo.

"Where did you get this wound, General? A very unique wound, was the person who made it an engraver?"

Niel immediately nudged Enzo when he felt that the question he was asking sounded insensitive. Enzo who also felt like it was spontaneous said an apology to the General.

Aldios let out a laugh upon hearing the question until the water splashed in her eyes from laughing too much.

"Well... He was a great engraver. I can even bet that he is one of the greatest sculptor candidates in Zendia of the century." General Aldios replied to Enzo's question after wiping away his tears.

"Unfortunately, there was an incident that made me and him not related well. I can't even do anything to restore our good relationship.

Well, that's. All greeting words will eventually end with goodbye."

Niel and Enzo were silent for a while before agreeing inwardly not to talk about General Aldios's unique wounds in the future.