Chapter 209: Arok’s Last Gift Before The Departure

About an hour before sunrise, at Zaelyane’s hut.

Rion sat in a chair with a lowered head, and before him, Dora sat on the bed with a weak, forced smile.

Zaelyane, as usual, sat in her chair with a flat expression, and Yuura was leaning against the wall with a sombre expression.

The mood within the hut was heavy as all of them knew that after a few minutes, they would no longer be able to see and meet their parents, friends and other loved ones for an unknown amount of time.

Following the heavy mood was silence as all of them anonymously agreed to stay silent.

Dora raised her head and began to brush Rion’s hair with a guilty expression on her face.

She knew that Rion always wanted to see the world beyond the mountains, but now that he was being forced to do so because of her condition, she couldn’t help but blame herself for everything.

’Only if I hadn’t been there—’

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, and all of them instantly turned their heads towards it.

Yuura looked at Rion, and he nodded with furrowed brows.

As his Zone was active, he was able to perceive the person who was standing at the door and sensing that the person’s left hand was full of clothes, he wondered, ’Did the old man send him?’

Yuura pushed open the door, and his gaze fell onto a man with black hair.

“Ah, finally!”

Yuura looked at the man with a confused expression, and without a word, the man pushed all of the clothes he was holding into Yuura’s hand and said, “Lord Arok sent me to give all of this to you.”

Stepping back, the man added, “Now that I am done, I have to go.”

The man turned around and left, his departing words reaching Yuura’s ears, “It’s already so late…”

Yuura glanced between the departing man and the clothes with a dumbfounded expression and mumbled, “What the hell?”

“Don’t stand at the door,” said Rion.

Taking a final glance at the departing man, Yuura stepped back inside, closed the door and walked over to Rion.

Rion raised his hands, and Yuura handed the bundle of clothes to him.

Rion studied the clothes with a calm expression.

The clothes were unlike anything he had seen within the tribe, but they were similar to the attire of the medieval times of his past world.

’Did he make these so we don’t stand out?’ He wondered, his gaze shifted towards Zaelyane, and he asked, “Are these what they wear in the outside world?”

Zaelyane nodded and said evenly, “They are similar to the attire of adventurers.”

Hearing her, curiosity flickered in Dora’s eyes, and she asked, “What’s an adventurer?”

Zaelyane looked at Dora and explained, “Most adventurers don’t stay at one place; they roam the world, search for treasures and excite themselves with risky acts that any sane person would call… stupid.”

“That sounds like her,” Yuura commented while looking at Dora with a smug expression.

“Shut up,” she mumbled and looked at Rion, who was still staring at the clothes.

Worried, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

Rion, who was thrown into nostalgia of the shows that he used to watch, came out of his stupor and replied, “Hmm? Ah, nothing… These are just very different from what we wear…”

Yuura nodded and commented, “Why do they even have to wear so much fabric? Does it not get in the way?”

Rion looked at Yuura with a deadpan expression and said, “Marin had told me — In the outside world, humans are more dangerous than kareths… because unlike humans, kareths don’t wear friendly masks.”

“What does that have to do with wearing such clothes?” Yuura asked with a puzzled expression.

A frustrated sigh escaped Rion, and he explained, “We wear hides because we want to absorb the energy seeping out of the red and black mountains. They wear these because they want to keep themselves safe from the world… Attires change based on the need, and at the moment we have to go to the far lands so…”

He threw a set of clothes at him and said, “Go and wear them.”

Yuura’s hands blurred as he grabbed the clothes. Turning around, he mumbled while scratching the back of his head, “I still don’t get it.”

“Why are you trying to explain something so obvious to someone so dumb?” Zaelyane voiced, her forehead wrinkled in irritation.

Rion shook his head and said, “He is not dumb, he is simply unaware.”

Zaelyane nodded and remarked, “But you seem to understand it pretty well…”

Rion smiled wryly, standing up from his chair, he said, “I am a princess’s son, after all.”

Zaelyane stared at him with a deadpan expression, she knew Lara very well — For Lara, Haden wasn’t just a person she loved, no, she was like a moth to a flame and her flame was Haden so there was no way she would tell her son about the outside world without Haden’s agreement… but she had nothing else to believe in.

Rion handed one set of female clothes to Dora and said, “Change into these.”

Dora gripped the clothes, nodded and mumbled, “Okay…”

He smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead before walking over to Zaelyane and handing the last set of female clothes to her.

Zaelyane took the clothes from him, and he left the hut to change.

After reaching his hut, Rion began to wear his new clothes, and as he was doing so, a small, rolled leather parchment slipped out of one of the pockets.

He caught it before it fell on the ground and muttered with a curious expression, “Were yesterday’s words weren’t enough? Huh, old man.”

He unrolled it and began to read, “Yes, they weren’t enough…”

A chuckle escaped him. “I am not sending these clothes for you, but for the others because I don’t want you to do stupid shit just to get some clothes…”

’How does he know that I was going to beat some bandits and steal their clothes? I mean, this is the right time for that troupe, no?’

“Even though these look subpar considering the clothes upperclassmen wear, I’ve made sure that these are no different than an armour… You might not need it, but others will… for the final time, take care and don’t get into trouble… and if you do get into trouble, make sure they can’t trouble you anymore.”

“Hah… tsundare old man..”

He rolled back the small parchment and placed it in his pocket.

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