The Last Elementis's

TLE 32'S

Neither Gerald nor Camelia understood why Nory ran away when she heard Alaric's name mentioned. As the one who heard firsthand how the man who called himself the murderer confessed and saw how Nory behaved, worry filled Gerald's chest again. Could Alaric be the culprit? He killed all Malfoy's family, and Nory saw him?

"He's starving. He stole because he needed to."

Camelia spoke to Gerald who was also looking at Nory. The boy was eating a plate of steamed bread.

"He lives alone here?" camelia asked herself more. He then turned around to assess the house they occupied. The shack, that one word was the most appropriate to describe how stature they stood in.

At that moment, Nory ran away from them. Luckily, Gerald and Camelia were still in pursuit. After following where the boy had gone, they ended up in this reot house. Of course it is very inhabitable, but it is still better than being abandoned in the snow. With that miserable state, Nory did not manage to rebel any longer. Gerald and Camelia managed to persuade him with a plate of steamed bread.

No one knew if the child was still thinking of running away after the stomach filled up. So Gerald ignored Camelia and immediately approached the boy. Seeing how Nory was eating, Gerald was immediately filled. He unconsciously held the child's head.

The thing he had not expected, a familiar sensation suddenly came, it was radiating from his hand. A moment later, Gerald's vision began to fog and as the fog gradually disappeared, he saw Nory walking after a man.

"Uncle Alaric where's mom?"

Alaric stopped and lowered his head to hold the boy's hand.

"From now on Uncle will take care of you. You don't have to ask your mother anymore."

"But Uncle I want mom."

"Nory—"

"Is it true that mom is dead? People say that."

Looking at Nory who was looking down, anxiety and sadness filled Alaric's chest. As if Gerald could also feel it, the emotional pressure made his head throb. The next second he could not hear the conversation anymore. Nory's fading face was replaced by someone else's then he heard someone call his name.

"Gerald?"

The flickering of Camelia's hand that was waving in front of her face attracted Gerald's entire consciousness. The woman and Nory looked at him with the same gaze.

"Why are you daydreaming? You see anything again?"

Gerald was usually a lick but this time he did not answer because his center of consciousness was still processing other things. Sweat fills the surface of the temples. He felt he had just slept and dreamed, but he knew this was a different situation. Unknowingly he grabbed Camelia's arm.

Gerald said, "Alaric and this kid have a relationship."

Camelia's eyebrows pucker. "Relationship?"

Camelia still wanted to ask, but the electric shock sensation suddenly propagated from the point where Gerald touched her. The surroundings slowly darkened and a heavier weight hit his shoulders as Gerald's head leaned there.

"I'm looking for Nory to uncover what she's been through with Alaric and the Malfoy family. Maybe with your help I can see all their stories...."

At first Camelia did not understand Gerald's words. However, as the darkness in his eyes turned into a bright light, it instantly disappeared presenting another scene. That brief change gave Gerald a full understanding of what he referred to as 'seeing all the stories'. Because now...Camelia saw it too.

...••••••...

That night the rain brought unbearable cold in Albama. Alaric was sitting in a bar, five bottles of wine were already empty when the last sip he poured into his mouth.

"Master! Give me two more bottles!" Alaric had already staggered while trying to call the barmaid.

A man across from who saw him shook his head. "Hey! You're that drunk! You want to drink to death?"

Alaric's consciousness was already on the verge, but hearing that high voice his heated chest could not bear. Alaric stood up and pointed in all directions. "Who said that?! How dare he take care of me! Did I eat with your money?!"

His unstable move almost hit someone at another table. He was pushed to the point of crashing into the table, the bottle and glass on top of it fell scattered on the floor.

"Seek your stupid move!"

Seeing the mess the bar owner ordered his servant to take care of it. The moment the maid helped Alaric stand up, the two previous men who were feeling disturbed immediately made a sound.

"With his weak body he dares to drink here? Dismiss him!"

In the servant's papacy Alaric continued to fumble.

"He lied to me. Why didn't my wife come back! I've brought a woman for him but why isn't that enough!"

Return my wife! A liar! He lied to me!"

Plaque!

The barkeeper landed a slap into Alaric's face because he couldn't stand it.

Even so Alaric still could not stay still even on the floor down there he still crawled and continued to scream. "How can I atone for my sins! That woman will sue me?! How do I atone for my sins?!"

The screams filled the entire room. The bar owner who was worried about the comfort of his customers could not stand it and immediately approached them.

"Quick get him out. Take whatever's in his pocket. He drank a lot but did not intend to pay!" This time the owner of the bar is inflamed.

"There's nothing in his pocket."

Hearing the servant's words, the bar owner's emotions overflowed. "Quick throw him out before I strangle his neck!"

The long, rainy night had become Alaric's home. It was just placed near the garbage disposal. Based on the moist muddy soil, he slept with half his body almost submerged in rainwater. Alaric's consciousness occasionally appeared, his tears in tandem with raindrops that also flushed his face. He did not know that this cry was offered to his wife whom he longed for or to another woman who made him bear a great sin.

The foul aroma that entered his nostrils made Alaric's consciousness return. Soaking in the mud overnight made his body almost unrecognizable. His back was covered with dirt and footprints. The raindrops were no longer visible, but the man was reluctant to leave. He moved only slightly to straighten his back. A mound of land that mountains he made as a backrest. Fused like that with these scum, it was no different from them.

Alaric is fully conscious. The tumult in his stomach he ignored. The day was getting hotter, even the soil stuck to his skin had dried up, the man remained unmoved. He stared blankly one way ahead. Sometimes he would laugh and then the next sound of stuffing would be heard.

Alaric had already lost the will to live. He was at the point where he was unable to do anything even to break the pulse in his hand. The people who came to take turns throwing garbage also did not care about it. Alaric also did not bother to dodge. In one day, anyone could no longer see that there was a male figure behind the pile.

The dark twilight came again. Alaric was still there no matter even the storm would exist once. Only when the night had swept through the entire city did the heavy rain return to the Albama. Alaric's gaze covered in rotten vegetables finally shifted, half of his body finally visible.

When the rain left only a trace of light, Alaric's nearly deaf hearing now found the sounds of footprints. It was there that the man heard a conversation that made his gaze want to shift a little.

"So that woman was really kidnapped? I heard from the neighbors around the woman that she had lost her sanity. It's likely that he traveled too far to forget his way home."

"Yes, at first it was what the Troas said. The woman, named Nelina, was initially thought to have left the house of her own free will, but some days it's been said that she was kidnapped by someone and murdered."

"Who would do that to an unmarried woman? I heard she had a daughter."

Alaric's tears are back. Why did it sound like they were telling themselves directly in front of him? The guilt that almost died out with his numb body now felt slashed back. No one knows better than himself how the poor woman ended up.

Regret doesn't change anything. The words kept echoing in his head. Sure oes. It's too late to regret. That's what Alaric thought. However, through that conversation, a trace of hope pulled him back from this gloomy darkness.

A kid?

Alaric is desperate for his life. Only until these two passersby mentioned something about the child did Alaric's dead concern finally slowly grow. He moved his stiff body, trying to hear the passing chatter that was almost away. His knees and palms were forced to crawl.

"really. The poor boy. Now he has to stay alone."

"You know him?"

"I used to come to Troas to drop off stuff. I met that girl once. What's his name? Ah that ... Nory."

Alaric's movements suddenly stopped. Her dry lips slowly began to open. His voice was very hoarse as he said,

"Nory?"