BXBX NOVEL Chapter 458 Decisive Travel
The next day, Eli and Kayden are already prepared to embark on their journey to the Portia Valley.
Governor Fidel will accompany them until the entrance of the old asani village he will immediately go back to assist the Emperor when the envoys come.
Meanwhile, Leon became a single daddy.
There was still a little more time before the Crown Prince attends as the envoy of the Pope, and according to the intelligence they have gathered, he was still going around the Capital exploring some tourist destinations.
Of course, each and every move he makes did not go unwatched by Leon's men. So far, none of his movements were suspicious.
On the other hand, Leon had to take care of Little Han on good days and leave him with either the Forgeworns or Faraulds on busy days.
"Daddiii! Owfish~~~" Little Han happily cheered as he was carried by Leon to the teleportation array. He is excited to play once again with the brave big brothers in his father's office.
"Aren't you excited, little one?" Leon glanced at Little Han with a helpless indulgent smile. Seeing his son's happy and carefree face, he touched his tiny nose gently.
He was glad to see Little Han act carefree and not uneasy about not seeing Eli. He prayed that it would stay like this until Eli came back, or he would be helpless on what to do.
"Ayeeee! Johann plays with daddy owfish!!" Little Han answered cheerfully, an unmasked excitement glowed in his crystal blue eyes.
When they finally finished teleporting, Little Han wiggled excitedly in his father's arms as his eyes were stuck outside in the training field where the Blades were doing their morning routine.
"Yayyy!!!" He exclaimed while asking his father to let him down so he could walk around the large training field.
While the father and son were being greeted by the Blades, Little Han bounced cheerily as he walked towards his favorite spot in the field - it was the shaded part under the tree where he first played with his Uncle Blaze.
The men watched him with delight in their eyes, watching the toddler do his own thing, occasionally asking the blades to help him spread his playing mat on the grass mat and then politely saying thank you afterward.
Sometimes, he would interact with the Blades curiously, like asking them what is the thing (weapon) they are holding.
Little Han is a sensible child, he knows when they are busy and when they are idling.
"Umcle umcle… can you teech me how to swoosh??" At one point he asked the Blade how to use the sword.
"Errr… young master, this sword is too heavy for you… I can't teach you the sword yet. But when you grow up a little bit more, all of us can teach you how to handle the sword." While the Blade was elated that he had finally talked with the little master, he had to unfortunately decline his request to touch the sword.
"Oww… Awieee…" When Little Han heard the Blade's gentle refusal, he was downcast and sad. His eyes formed heartbreaking puppy dog eyes as he tried to bargain, "Umcle, can I touchie???"
"Errr…" The blade looked around deeply troubled.
Seeing Little Han's pitiful puppy dog eyes made him unable to refuse outright. When he looked around all his brother's blades turned their backs on him, unable to help him reject the adorable little prince.
"You guys…" Feeling alone and betrayed by their actions the poor blade's eyebrows twitch uncontrollably.
In the end, he sighed and compromised, "Young master, this blade is truly dangerous for you. Master will also scold us if ever you get hurt by the sword. Why not do it like this, I will make you a little wooden sword for you to use?"
"Weally?" Little Han looked up at the Blade with excitement, his eyes beaming in anticipation.
"Yes, only if you can wait until it is finished, young master." The blade reminded me.
"Owkieee!!! Owkieee!! Thayku umcle!!!!" Little Han clapped happily as he smiled and thanked the Blade.
The next moment, the blade sat beside the shaded tree while Little Han sat beside him sculpting the wooden sword he will give to Little Han.
He chose a specific wood that was light and suitable for Little Han's size and he ensured that the edges were smooth and not pointy so that he would not get hurt by it.
He also made its own leather scabbard, so that Little Han could keep it nicely whenever he wanted it out.
Finally, before giving it to Little Han he told Baobao not to let Little Han play unattended with the sword so as to not cause any untoward accidents.
No matter how safe the object can be, it can still hurt the young when they were not under adult supervision. Even a small piece of the toy can choke a child to death when it was swallowed away from the adult's sight.
When Little Han received the sword, he was incredibly happy. He even grabbed the hem of the blade's uniform and hugged his thigh happily to say thank you.
"Thayku Umcle!!! Little Han likes swoosh so much!" He squealed.
"You're welcome Little Master!" Seeing Little Han's face made the Blade feel that the work he did is worth it.
The next moment, the blade taught him some simple moves suitable for Little Han's current physique. In essence, it could not be considered as sword fighting moves but rather light exercises to improve the toddler's motor skills.
For they were very well aware of how fragile and weak a toddler's body could be as compared to children of suitable ages to start with sword fighting.
Little Han became highly interested in the exercise, so much so that he would insist on going to the barracks and 'attend practice' every day. This went on for the succeeding days until Leon became truly busy with the envoy's arrival.
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Meanwhile, Eli and Kayden finally reached the entrance of the asani village in the Portia, or Blood Valley.
"This is the Portia Village, the only village that housed the small tribe of the Asanis." Governor Fidel introduced the place."
Eli and Kayden looked around Portia Village as it was quite remote and hard to locate, especially when it was located beside the mountain wall.
As it was located in the blood valley, it looked so desolate and eerie. There lingered a trace of chaos and deathly struggle in the vast expanse of the valley itself.
Contrary to the name blood valley, the surroundings were not colored red, rather, it was because of the number of people that died unjustly in the land that it got its new name.
"I'm sorry that I could only escort you here… up until now, I have had no courage to step inside the village once more… I'll leave this troop to accompany you on the journey. I'll be going back to the Capital and reporting to the Emperor."
Governor Fidel reminded them. In his usually calm face was a trace of desolation, regret, and sorrow.
Kayden and Eli could now understand why he was acting like this, so they comforted the Governor and assured him that they would be completely fine continuing the journey without him. They also thanked him for giving them troops to accompany them further.
After all, the troops might help them in times when two people were not enough in the fight.
And so Eli and Kayden with a small troop of seven scouting knights entered the village and explored the place.
As they walked deeper, they finally found traces of the habitations of the previous asanis. However, there was no longer a single hut that remained intact.
All of them were only remnants, as the remaining wooden poles and huts were burnt and torn down.
"Are we going to dig these places?" Eli found the place rather heavy as if there was something in her that grieved deeply.
They are here to investigate deeply and find the trace of the remaining relics left by the Asanis, however, with the scarce traces of the previous village, how are they going to find any clues? The traces were almost wiped out by the passage of time!
"Governor Fidel gave me the old layout of the village, we can refer to this map and start choosing places to investigate strategically. Also, you have the clues from the Elder Leprechaun's notes, we have to remember them and consider those in choosing the place to search." Kayden calmly explained.
"Alright then…" Eli agreed right away.
Seeing that it was already late in the afternoon, Eli suggested that the troops look for a place to prepare for camping. While the troops were doing that, she and Kayden started analyzing the map.
"We will start on these three places tomorrow. These places were the previous places of the elders and the village chief back then. Assuming that those relics were quite important to the village, then they might be housed in one of the official's residences…"