Tale of Discovery

Chapter 177: Age ; Final Town

"You two are behaving much better than I expected you to," I comment while looking at the ex-prisoners with intrigue.

"Based on what this woman has told me," Jeanette rebukes while pointing at Sheffield, "Trying to run away will be futile."

Hearing this, I shrug my shoulders before shifting my focus to the army that has now dwindled by no small-amount.

Due to various reasons, a part of the army decided to either stay behind or head back to the fort by passing through the towns we had cleared.

After some investigation, it turns out that the matter with the first town in which the men killed numerous innocents left a much bigger scar on them than I had suspected.

Their collapse all of a sudden due to Morpheus didn't help much in alleviating that feeling of discomfort they had since then.

If not for Paladin's Aura, I'm sure that even more soldiers would have stayed behind, if not all.

And so, we are currently moving on with less than half of the soldiers we had when we set foot in this accursed kingdom.

As much as I hate the way that he does things, I must admit that Joseph's method is both efficient and resource-friendly, depending on the materials needed to brew that 'zombifying' chemical.

"Such cowards," Krul scorns as if reading my thoughts.

"Who?" I ask, not being sure if she's referring to the soldiers or the Kingdom of Gallia.

"The soldiers," she responds, "If this is all it took for them to cower away from the fight, then they're nothing more than cowards with some strength."

Before I can say anything regarding her statement, Jeanette says in an irritated tone,

"Stop it. If what this guy said to us before is true, then it's completely normal for them to be paranoid about fighting."

Krul finds her words insulting as she frowns a little before asking,

"How is it normal in any way?"

"Think of it like this," Jeanette explains, "A man just found out that their enemies are innocents taken from the kingdom that he hails from. Not only that, but one of the other soldiers found his parents among them.

"Wouldn't it make sense that there would be a high chance of their parents being among them as well?"

Krul takes a moment to think before saying,

"In that case, wouldn't it be better to stay with the army for a chance to save them instead of just running away from reality?"

Surprised, Jeanette for a few seconds before she says,

"The chance of them being able to do that is extremely low, so there is no point in doing that."

For some reason, Krul finds her words amusing as she issues a light chuckle before saying,

"So, they are cowards after all."

Jeanette wants to say something, but before she can do so, Sheffield places her hand on Jeanette's shoulder to prevent her from talking.

"You," Sheffield says while glaring at Krul, "Do you have anyone that you can call family?"

Right after the words leave her mouth, Krul has an odd expression on her face for a few seconds before she ultimately shakes her head and replies,

"I don't."

As if having expected this, Sheffield pats Jeanette's back twice before leaning back.

Jeanette who heard her words has a troubled look on her face as she scrutinizes Krul from head to toe before saying,

"I'm sorry. You're young, yet you have such a rough life, so it makes sense that you wouldn't understand."

Realizing that Jeanette is essentially calling Krul a kid, I am unable to hold back from laughing, causing a tick mark appears on Krul's head as she throws a punch at my face.

Sensing her punch approaching my face, I cancel all the vectors associated with it.

Krul doesn't seem to mind that her punch didn't land as she glares at Jeanette and says in a firm tone,

"Just so you know, I much older than everyone on this carriage apart from this guy."

Jeanette and Sheffield are both a little shocked by this turn of events, to the point that they're unsure of what to say in response.

"Hold on," Saturnus says, "How old are you?"

Krul glances over at her and replies,

"Around two thousand years old. I don't remember the exact amount."

This time, Jeanette and Sheffield both have disbelieving expressions on their faces as they gawk at Krul.

"Oh! That means I'm older than you too!" Saturnus cheerfully exclaims, surprising everyone apart from me and Irene.

Honestly, I am a little perturbed, but not because I didn't expect her to be so older. Rather, it is because it's exactly what I had suspected.

This means that the vision I saw regarding Higgins dates back to at least three thousand years ago.

How troubling Hopefully, things haven't changed all that much.

"Seven thousand," Irene who has been silently sitting on my lap simply says.

With a strange expression on her face, Krul looks at me for confirmation.

"It's true," I say.

As if reality just shattered for her, Krul simply lowers her head and stares at the carriage's floor.

"Are you all messing with us?" Jeanette finally asks after a few minutes.

"Why would we?" I say, "What you heard was their true age."

"If that's the case," Sheffield says in a neutral tone, "How old are you?"

"About nine thousand years old," I respond while shrugging my shoulders.

"No way," Jeanette says while shaking her head, "You're all either mentally unstable or you're trying to pull our legs."

Unlike her, Sheffield seems to be thinking about this more objectively as she asks,

"What is your life-span?"

"I don't know," I respond before shifting my attention to Irene and asking, "Do I have one?"

"No," she replies, "Father is immortal both in soul and body."

After thinking about it for a moment, I realize that she could either be speaking of the Immortality I obtained from Riser or the body created by the Mete.

Just as I'm about to ask her about it, a voice resounds within my ears,

"Your Highness, we've reached the next town. How should we proceed?"

I take a moment to think of the best way to deal with this particular town.

First, it has 'zombified' individuals whose origins we can't be sure of. If they turn out to be more townspeople captured from the Kingdom of Tristain, then there is a chance that the soldiers' morale will drop even further if we are to attack and kill every foe.

Second, the other Code, Theodon is still out there, so I can't let my guard down at any moment.

Finally, this town is the last one that lays in our path to the castle, so I believe that it should have some 'surprises' in it for us.

As such, I think of the experiment I had done a couple of days ago when I asked Yvonne to gather the most loyal men up.

If the results of that experiment are to be trusted, then this battle could be an easy one.

"Go and deliver this message to General Godeffroy: 'Command the men to proceed with caution and catch the enemy instead of killing them'."

"Yes, Your Highness," he responds before swiftly heading to where Godeffroy is.

Hah~ I wonder what Joseph is planning to do once I reach the capital.

Assuming that the men in this fort are townspeople, his army should be in a very well condition for battle, while the men I'm leading would be worn out by the time we get there.

This is most likely what he thinks would be the case, so I just need to figure out what he will do in such a situation.

My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of hustling as the soldiers begin to split up into platoons.

"Here we go again," I say before jumping off the carriage and walking among the men while using Gift to grant them Immortality, Insight, and Organic Constructs.

After having gifted three platoons, AI's voice resounds within my head.

{Gift tiered up.}

A little surprised, I say,

"Show me."

--

Gift II>>III [V]:

{Unlimited usage | Maximum range is 25>>50m | Lasts for 10>>20 minutes.}

--

Seeing that the range and duration have practically doubled, a small smile forms across my lips as I rejoice.

Suddenly, a notion appears in my head, so I ask Irene who is now standing right beside me,

"What will happen to the abilities of the soldiers I had previously gifted?"

"It will remain the same," Irene responds, "Only those who have been gifted after the tier-up will have the new duration."

I see.

Perhaps, they won't be that affected as they're at the back of the army...