Falling: How to Survive as a Cannon Fodder

HTSCF CH 059 Old party members always want to make trouble.

The morning of the next day, Ophelia wandered into the kitchen to discover Raven preparing breakfast and Jun nowhere to be found. Aurelius was outside drawing some water from the well to carry up to the bathroom. Ophelia, who was almost 8, had been forced to mature early because of her past predicament as a Dark Omen, and having been around these three men long enough, she understood the present situation.

As she sat down at the table to wait for breakfast, she flashed Raven a thumbs up. Wearing his usual expressionless face, he returned the gesture, though there was a bit of a spark in his eyes. Two men and one little girl ate breakfast while Jun slept until late afternoon, completely worn out.

When he eventually woke up, a light meal and some iced milk tea were waiting for him by his bedside. The corners of his lips curved, Raven patted Jun's head and helped him sit up. Aurelius leaned in and started massaging Jun's waist, hips, and legs for him. They had overdone it just a little the night before.

Life continued smoothly for their family of four for the following three years. While in Illia, they scarcely left the city unless there was a need for it. Illia had a protection stone in place, so Dark Flames were never a problem. Perhaps because there was no plot to rely on, the world didn't try very hard to bring about Jun's suffering. At the most, there might have been a shortage of tea leaves, which was very torturous but acceptable for him. Somewhat.

The week that happened he was extra unmotivated to do much of anything, laying around listlessly with a look of despair on his face.

In about two months, it would be March and Ophelia's 11th birthday. It was a special age because it was the last year she'd be considered a "child" before transitioning to a teenager. To celebrate, they allowed her to decide what to do, and having never been there before, she wanted to go to Gondoa, the capital of the continent where the King was.

Gondoa was also where Aurelius and Raven had been born and raised. They had the same mother but different fathers, and Aurelius was the result of a second marriage. Raven's father passed away a year after his birth and had left his mother nothing, but as a gentle and beautiful lady, she was able to remarry easily. Her second marriage was with Aurelius's father and both of them were still alive, residing in Gondoa.

The two men hadn't seen their mother for years, and she probably assumed they were dead. This would be a good opportunity for Aurelius to visit his parents and let them know he was still alive. And of course, to introduce his wife to them. His mother, Gracie Gravadain, most likely wanted to see Raven as well. Because he was still a wanted man, Raven often wore an intricate wooden mask created by Jun whenever they went out, covering the top half of his face. They weren't worried about being caught.

A week before Ophelia's birthday, their family set out on foot. The last time they left Illia was half a year ago, so it was a nice change of scenery to be back on the road again. Who would have thought that about halfway to Gonda, they'd run into Aurelius's old party?

Regarding Aurelius's old party there was no plot left to rely on and Jun didn't know what to expect. Aurelius never talked about what happened with his party. Jun had assumed they perished, but that was apparently not the case.

On a plateau high above, they stood by and watched Aurelius's old party battle against several hundreds of Dark Flames below. Purifying a Sword required deep focus and time. When Shields weren't performing their responsibility, they were essentially useless while others were busy fighting and protecting them.

"They seem to be struggling," Ophelia stated. "Are we not going to help them, Ark?"

Frankly, Aurelius didn't want to, because he had severed all ties with them in his heart the moment he realized they had left him for dead. As he had anticipated, his old party had managed to secure not just one, but two Swords to replace him. But since they had previously been teammates, he would help them just this once.