"We were gone for that long?" Alan muttered, gazing at the sky above.
By the time the group left the underground, the sun was beginning to rise, peeking just over the horizon, vaguely brightening the night sky, it was almost a new dawn.
Alan didn't expect their little trip to take that much time, he didn't even get to sleep.
Well, at his level of strength he could go days without sleeping, but still having to leave that comfort was unpleasant.
"Indeed." Know what else is unpleasant? Julia, who was still holding his hand, but at this point he just gave up resisting.
"Do we just leave the entrance like this?" Alan gestured to the illusionary castle wall, which served as the entrance to the underground.
"It's fine." Julia waved it off. "No one will find this place anyway, the two of you were the only ones, other than me and Iris."
"Alright, fair point." After his agreement, the group fell into a small silence, moving through the forest.
...
After some time, they arrived at the camp.
Two perfectly deployed tents stood positioned on the sides, four messy sleeping bags scattered across the floor, and charred remains of wood lay in the absolute centre of it all.
"So, uh." Alan scratched the back of his head. "Are you two going to be staying with us?"
"Yup!" Julia chirped.
"Well, we have to find a better place to stay inside the garden, other than the forest over here." Alan rubbed his chin. "And do you not eat breakfast with the royal family?"
Alan didn't know much about the noble etiquette, after all, he was the bastard, still he heard from Alden that he, his sister and his mother have breakfast together every morning.
Thus, he naturally just assumed it to be the case for every noble family.
"Um..." But Julia's reaction was a bit different. "The royal family is almost never at the castle lately, so the family never gathers."
Silently listening to her words, Alan continued strolling forward to the burnt remains of the campfire.
"The emperor, too, is mostly absent."
Alan kicked the charred wood, clearing the space, tapping his necklace, he brought out new bundles of firewood he could use.
"The three princesses are all in the Western continent."
Snap
He clicked his fingers together, lighting the new firewood into a burning blaze of violet once more, turning the air hot with its heat.
"The first prince is in the Eastern continent."
Alan sat down on one of the four logs, touching his necklace once more, he took out cuts of raw meat, placing them over the burning flames.
And he did everything while Julia was still grabbing his hand, sitting beside him, Lucian took a seat on the log across from the two, while Iris seated herself on the log closest to Julia.
Crackle Crackle
The flames quickly turned the meat surface into a light brown, filling the surrounding wind with a pleasant aroma.
"Grrr." A soft growl suddenly interrupted the quiet atmosphere.
On the log opposite to Iris, a small boy appeared out of the blue, his oversized robes fell to the ground as he excitedly stared at the grilling meat.
'Finally.' Alan smirked, having accomplished his goal.
"Sparky!" And sure enough, Julia leapt from her seat, finally releasing her hold on Alan.
"Gah!" Poor Sparky could do little to resist, instantly caught in Julia's embrace, mercilessly having his head patted.
'My bad, little guy.' Alan mentally apologised for handing over Julia, but didn't care much he tossed the cooked piece of meat to Sparky.
Gulp
The dragon's annoyed expression vanished in a split second, replaced by a satisfied grin as well as eyes full of expectancy.
"I've been meaning to ask." Alan shoved a new stick and meat onto the surface of the campfire. "But what's going on in the east?"
"The Eastern continent?" Iris asked back, tilting her head to the side.
"Yeah, that place." Alan paused for a moment. "You may know, but I've got an older brother who's over at that place right now."
"Alvin Nyx Zevril." Iris nodded, understanding who Alan was speaking of.
"Yeah, well I've never met the guy." It was true, Alvin left for the east just two years before Alan started coming to the knight's order, thus never actually meeting the man. "And now I hear the first prince is there too?"
The eldest son and heir to the grand duchy of the Zevril family has been absent from home for almost eight years, and not only was he gone, but he also took the entirety of the second battalion along with him.
Whatever was happening was clearly not normal, especially if the prince of the continent was personally there too.
"Hmm." Iris stared into the flames for moments too long. "I've heard of the situation from my father."
"The patriarch of Caelis, huh?" Alan mumbled, sometimes he honestly forgot the status of his family and those around him, considering their questionable behaviour.
"Yes." Iris affirmed. "He told me the east is in dire conditions."
"Hmm?" Alan thought about what could be happening, and the only conclusion he could come to was related to the Abyss.
"The entire continent is at war with abyssal creatures." Iris finished her sentence.
'Bingo.' Alan sharpened his eyes, what could it mean if the continent was at war with the abyssal creatures?
A possible second demons continent.
"Why the hell is this not known to the public?" Alan immediately voiced his concern, how come he didn't even know until Iris informed him?
"It's information being kept secret only among the higher-ups of the continents." Iris frowned. "And what good would informing everyone do? Cause more unnecessary panic?"
"I guess so." Alan conceded. "So the other continents are helping the east?"
"Indeed." Iris nodded. "But that is as much as I am informed."
"Alright then." Alan shoved some meat in his mouth, after chewing for some time, he thought of something. "You guys still got your blindfolds with you?"
"These ones?" Iris tapped her dimension artifact, bringing out a familiar ribbon of scarlet silk.
"Yes, those."
"Why?"
"Why don't we just use them when we are escaping?" Alan grinned, spreading his arms. "Think about it, we won't have to go through too much hassle if we just wear a blindfold that covers our eyes!"
The primary factor that revealed their identities would be their eyes, Alan's and Iris's eyes held a very distinctive colour known for their own respective bloodline, while Julia's eyes were crimson, a shade which no humans were known to have.
If they were to simply use a blindfold, it'd save much of their issues.
"Not a horrible idea." Iris rubbed her chin, gazing down at the silk in her hands, seriously considering Alan's words.
"Sweet!" Alan jumped up. "Let's think of a group name!"
"What..." Iris immediately frowned. "Why would we need that?"
"A group name?!" But Julia was instantly excited by what she overheard. "Are we making a name?!"
"Yes, we are." Iris oddly switched up her previous dissatisfaction with a thumbs up.
"Alright!" Alan pointed to Julia. "Do we have any ideas?"
"Bondage!!!"
"What the fuck???"
Alan's jaws immediately dropped to the floor, as did Iris's, only Sparky and Lucian remained normal, not understanding what she was speaking of.
"Young lady, who the hell told you about these things?" Alan immediately scolded her.
"What?" Julia seemed confused. "It's a good name."
"What the hell makes you think that?"
"Because we have blindfolds, duh."
"That's not what bondage means..." Alan muttered weakly, then turned to Lucian with some hope. "Got any ideas?"
"Bastards." Was Lucian's response.
"You two are fucking hopeless." Alan sighed, sitting back down. "Oh wait, what about that guy who sold us these artifacts."
He remembered Felix, the half-beast folk, and the artifact dealer who sold them the blindfolds, the man stated he would be leaving for the Eastern continent afterwards.
"Oh yeah, he is screwed." Alan accessed, then returned to feeding Sparky occasionally.
And just like that, with a lot of questionable events.
Three weeks passed.