Land: The Chronicles

Chapter 3: Claudius

Today, I was with my father attending a banquet invitation from an old friend of my father, he was a middle-class Ruler with a territory covering 3 cities in the Arakaza Kingdom.

After we reached the Ruler's residence, the servants greeted us and led us to the banquet hall.

In front of the door stood two servants who opened the door. Inside the room, the Master Ruler was already sitting on one of the chairs. There were two other chairs placed next to the round table.

The waiter shifted the chair to let us sit down, then he poured tea for me and my father in a cup with Arakaza ornaments. The aroma and taste of this tea is very refreshing, according to my taste.

On the side of the room, stood three Arakaza Warriors, from his uniform, they were seen to have high positions.

“So, is your trip smooth?” the Host opened the conversation, he did not speak formally to father at all. Because they don't exchange greetings at all, so I conclude that they are very familiar.

“Currently, it took 2 days to get here, but all the facilities you prepared during the trip are very good, so I can not protest.” father replied to him.

“Good.” he just nodded.

“So Staurog, what is the purpose behind this banquet?” well ask after sipping his tea. Mr. Staurog laughed at my father's question.

“Hey, come on Benedict, it's just an old friend reunion, I invited you to hear the news that you're in Grandis Empire.”

Dad also laughs “I'm just kidding.”

“So this is your son?” Mr. Staurog asked as he looked at me, I nodded for the sake of manners.

“Yes. You're right, he's Claudius.” Dad patted me on the shoulder.

“Greetings Mr. Staurog Kuddard Grezenas. I am Claudius Ixora Filiformis.” I stood up and put my right hand on my left shoulder.

“You don't need to be too formal Claude, just think of him as your uncle.”.

“You have three children heh? Though at that time Cassia was still very small.” Cassia is my older sister, so it turns out that this sir has met my older sister.

“Yes. At that time, my wife was still not pregnant with Claudius.”

After that they talked about some topics that I didn't really understand, such as the affairs of royalty and their past, I wondered how familiar they used to be.

“Well, Claudius. Are you interested in marrying the Arakaza girl? I can introduce you to a noble girl with a high-ranking family.” I sipped tea to hide the nervousness.

“That's a shame, Claudius is engaged.” The father replied, Mr. Staurog was disappointed and nodded.

“Because Cassia has no desire to get married anytime soon, so I thought that it was best for Claudius' marriage to be carried out as soon as possible.”

“Ah, you made me remember something. Zarakhel's wife was the daughter of Helarc Marvette, their first son inheriting two bloods at once. Interesting isn't?”. Mr. Staurog mentioned a foreign name, but one of the bodyguards on the side of the room slightly lowered his head when Mr. Staurog said that.

“So you're Theodore's son-in-law? I heard about one of his daughters who was in Arakaza Kingdom. Forget it, more than that, your son inherited two bloods at once?” father looked at Zarakhel in awe, he was apparently interested in Zarakhel's son who had a rare case.

“Yes, Mr. Benedict. I am honored that Mr. Theodore accepted me as his son-in-law. As for my son, it is true.” The man named Zarakhel answered my father's question.

“If I'm not mistaken, Zarakhel's son is the same age as Claudius. Am I right, Zarakhel?” Mr. Staurog asked.

“You are correct Mr.” Zarakhel.

Mixed blood is so rare, I only heard about them in lessons, I wish I could meet him in person.

The waiter came in carrying a trolley containing an appetizer, it looked good, it was fruits and vegetables cut in one container then sprinkled with honey.

I like to eat this dish at home, but it's a little different, the fruits used seem to be wild fruits I've never seen.

“What do you think? I myself went to the forest to find the fruits of it”. Mr. Staurog asked the father after the father had eaten this dish.

“Not bad, really nostalgic.” Father commented, he suddenly got into the spirit of eating, forgot about all the noble etiquette, Mr. Staurog did not care at all and he also ate voraciously.

I'm more curious about their relationship in the past, have they ever had an adventure together or something?

I tried one piece of fruit that looked fresh. It tastes really good. Plus, the sweet taste of honey is able to complement the slightly sour fruit taste.

While we were enjoying this meal, the door was opened by a private soldier Mr. Staurog, he looked very panicked. After whispering something to Mr. Staurog, his face suddenly became serious.

“What happened?” Dad asked seriously when he saw the atmosphere suddenly become tense.

“Have you ever heard the story of the war of two alliances?” Lord Staurog asked my father and I, I nodded. Yeah, I've heard that story.

“The strange disaster that stopped that war, is now happening in my territory, in the City of Iria”.

Someone gasped at Mr. Staurog's words, he was Zarakhel.

“Tuan .. my family.” he looks very panicked.

“Yes, I understand” Mr. Staurog sighed, after which he gave orders to the soldier earlier.

“Gather all the Dragon Fighters and prepare the dragon mounts, we will see the conditions there.”

The soldier lowered his head and walked out of the room, Zarakhel also asked to retreat, then Lord Staurog looked at us with a sigh.

“This banquet seems to be disturbed, you can wait here until we solve this problem.” Said.

“No, this is really bad. I'll also be coming to location”. The father replied, Lord Staurog nodded, as if he had expected this.

We are also prepared. I, father and three of our bodyguards boarded the Goose Cabin that became our vehicle, while Lord Staurog and the Arakaza Knight called the Dragon Fighter rode on the mount dragon.

We're coming out of Staurog's Palace. Seen out there, about 30 minutes away using the Flying Cabin, a gripping black hole.

I trembled as I looked at the black hole in the sky, it appeared amidst the cloud.

How could a disaster that only exists in fairy tales, happen in this world?

On the way to the city, I saw the debris of the building sucked into the hole, before finally disappearing into dust before reaching it.

The hole disappeared completely before we reached the city. I couldn't believe what I saw, the city left only rubble, no sign of life at all, no buildings standing.

The manual search was done by all who were there, I also split up with one of my father's guards.

I walked through the rubble of the building that was no longer shaped, muddy ground because the rain made my steps a little hampered.

Some everyday items look splattered, the air suddenly feels cooler.

Rottweil started sniffing around, and we realized something strange, there were footprints here, the rain falling down quite heavily made footprints filled with water, so we could see them clearly.

What Rottweil found later was more gruesome, he found clothes torn to pieces full of blood, with blood welling up around him.

We then walked through the area around the pool of blood, leaving the footprints aside. Rottweil found the place where the blood came from.

I instantly felt nauseous as soon as I saw the scene in front of me.

There were pieces of flesh and bone scattered in that place, this person likely fell from a height, then hit the rubble of a building and destroyed his body.

But just like the rest of the city, this person's body mysteriously disappeared.

Rottweil and I were trying to figure out where the footprints were going, there was a possibility that the footprints and blood belonged to the same person, but again we found something confusing. The footprints were cut off in a field, there was no sign of where the trail went.

We tried to make sure once again, but the footprints actually ended here, Rottweil said there were two smells left here. One smell was unrecognizable, and the other he could not confirm whether it was Arakaza or Human.

I was shocked when I heard his words, and I immediately remembered something.

The son of Zarakhel, he had two bloods in his body at once.

Rottweil sniffed the blood in the puddle to make sure.

“I'm really confused, it smells like Arakaza and Man smell simultaneously.” Rottweil didn't follow us at the banquet, so he didn't know what we were talking about Zarakhel's son.

I immediately showed this location to Father and Mr. Staurog.

They were at a loss for words when they saw this scene. After we explained what happened and Rottweil's allegations about the blood of those who were scattered there, they were no less surprised.

I asked if there was any chance of anyone else having two bloods other than Zarakhel's son, Mr. Staurog shook his head.

“Even across Arakaza Kingdom ... No, in this corner of the world though, I can assure you that Zarakhel's son is the only”. Rigorously.

We were silent hearing this. But his missing body is still a mystery.

If the other residents disappeared without a trace at all, why would Zarakhel's son still leave a trace? What the hell is going on?

“Added these footprints have a strange smell, the smell is clearly different from the smell of the owner of this blood, and I have never encountered such a smell before." Rottweil explains the strangeness he found.

Rottweil is a Zakmee dog that has advantages in the sense of smell, and he has recognized the distinctive smell of all races. That means, he intended to say that these footprints belonged to 'something' that was not a Seven Race.

“Then where did these footprints go?”. Father asked after we fell silent on the fact. Rottweil just shook his head.

“This is strange sir, the owner of this footprint like appearing just like that in this place then also disappearing just there.” Rottweil pointed to the location where the footprints disappeared.

"Is there any chance that this is a Monster's footprint?" mr. Staurog tried to speculate.

"I'm afraid that's not true sir. These footprints clearly do not look like bare feet, but rather look like shoes, or at least footwear." I expressed my opinion, Rottweil then took off his shoes and set his foot next to the mysterious footprints.

I activated Fire Magic to vaporize the water pooled in the footprints.

The obvious difference is that the tip of the mysterious footprints is pointed and the surface looks flat, looking like footwear. Unlike the Rottweil footprints that have a distinctive shape of the soles of the feet. It shows that 'something' was using some kind of footwear.

"Young Master is right, my Lord. Looking at the shape of these footprints, it was certain that the 'something' was not a Monster." Everyone agrees with Rottweil.

"In other words, these footprints belong to something that is not a Seven Race, but also not a Monster's footprints." Father observed the difference in the shape of the footprints more closely.

"I'm afraid it's true, my Lord." Rottweil responded to father's words.

"It's just getting more and more disturbing, isn't it? Thinking there was something 'outside' outside the Seven Races that suddenly appeared in a place like this and disappeared without a trace, I was worried that this matter was not just for the Arakaza Kingdom alone." Lord Staurog sighed and rubbed his face.

"I'm worried about that too." Father responded.

We were silent and lost in each other's thoughts, trying to find the most reasonable reason to explain the incident that happened in this city.

The black hole in the sky as told in the fairy tale, the inhabitants who disappeared without a trace, the blood that allegedly belonged to the son of Zarakhel. On top of that, there is evidence that suggests the existence of 'something' that is not part of us exists in this world.

Mr. Staurog is right, I fear that this matter will trigger a reaction from the entire Great Country.

Amidst the silence, a bodyguard of Mr. Staurog approached us and confirmed that the entire population had mysteriously disappeared, no trace of life had been left behind at all.

We decided to consider Zarakhel's son missing in this incident, and regarding the findings, we will keep him a secret from Zarakhel.

Knowing that will only make it worse, although the truth is still uncertain. But even now, he was just sitting blankly in front of the rubble that used to be his residence.

After that, we returned to Lakia City where Lord Staurog's Palace was located, my father and I decided to return to the Human Kingdom as soon as possible to report this incident.

Mr. Staurog also did not hold us back at all, as from now on he will be very busy especially reporting this strange incident to the Kingdom.

On the way home, I was still thinking about the various oddities we found.

"That means, it could have been 'something' that left the footprints had something to do with the disappearance of the entire town" I said as we entered the Flying Cabin

Dad nodded in agreement. "Although it sounds excessive, but I think that 'something' also holds clues about the black hole that appeared in the city."

Father sighed, we dissolved in each other's minds while our Flying Cabin darted between the raindrops.

After all, the disappearance of the town's residents was a mystery, but those footprints and puddles of disembodied blood still left questions of their own.

Inwardly, I wished for the safety of the citizens of Iria, even though it seemed impossible.

With this, we headed back to our residence in the Human Kingdom with the possibility of not being able to sleep well for the next few days, my head was so full with just this half-day incident, I want to go home and rest.