Zayden arrived at Elwis half an hour after he left Teira.
His journey was slightly slowed down as there were many people using the warp portals, so he had to wait until it was his turn to use the portal.
After he reached Elwis, a town near the border, Zayden was greeted by the festive atmosphere of the town.
Even though it was just a small town, the people’s morning activities were bustling along the roads like those of a big city.
The town’s location near the border made it a strategic point for people traveling in and out of the Vermion Empire.
‘Come to think of it, this is the first morning I’ve had since I left the abyss.’ Zayden thought.
After his mind calmed down from all the things that had happened since last night, he finally began to pay attention to the small details.
He couldn’t help but feel strange.
Throughout his time in the subspace, he was always seeing the same scenery.
The sight of countless stars that always made him feel so small and insignificant, but also showed his master’s grandeur.
Although the sight was beautiful and magnificent, he slowly began to miss the sight of the sun illuminating the world, giving warmth to all beings.
With the sight in the subspace never changing and him not knowing the passage of time, he slowly forgot the concept of time.
His daily activities were filled with training and cultivating, which made his life become much more monotonous.
He also started to lose his sense of direction with him always standing in the middle of space.
There were no other things that he thought about other than his training and his family.
Without realizing it, he had already spent fifty years inside it, but only five years had passed outside.
Now he walked in the outside world, seeing the sunlight again and regaining his sense of time.
Moving his body for reasons other than training or something that had to do with training.
And seeing the people’s activities.
He just felt that what happened in the subspace was like a long dream, and he had finally woken up.
As Zayden walked through the streets, intending to leave the town and continue his journey to the border wall, he suddenly remembered something.
‘How could I almost forget?
This town is the place where Gerald’s home is.’
Zayden slowed down his steps.
Gerald was one of the people closest to him in the battalion that he led.
Gerald could be said to be his right-hand man in the battalion, even more so than the traitorous vice commander, Ervan.
Maybe because both of them came from much lower backgrounds than the other members, he had become much closer to Gerald.
‘I wonder what he is doing right now?’
Zayden wanted to take a look at Gerald’s condition.
He did not know if Gerald believed the news of his betrayal, but if it was the Gerald he knew, then Gerald would most likely not believe it.
But then he thought of another possibility, which made him hesitate to take a step toward Gerald’s home.
‘But what if he is actually also on the same page as those who betrayed me?’ Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Zayden’s steps stopped.
He couldn’t help but suddenly feel angry just imagining that another person he thought could be trusted had also betrayed him.
Although Gerald was not near the abyss when he was stabbed by Devron, that didn’t mean Gerald was not on the same page as Devron.
Since the betrayal, he did not know who he could trust anymore.
Once again, he felt so stupid for considering all those betrayers as his brothers or friends.
But deep in Zayden’s heart, he hoped that what he had imagined was nothing more than a false suspicion and that Gerald was not involved with that group of betrayers.
After a few seconds of hesitation, he decided to take a look at Gerald.
He wanted to satisfy his curiosity and erase one of the doubts in his heart.
“Let’s just take a look at him for now. As for knowing whether he is involved with Devron or not, let’s leave it for the future. Mira is still the priority.”
Zayden then walked toward the east of the town, where there were clusters of houses.
These houses were occupied by some commoner families.
Gerald’s family lived in one of the houses.
In the past, Zayden had visited Gerald’s home a few times, so he knew where Gerald’s home was.
After walking for more than fifteen minutes, he finally reached one of the houses.
The houses were surrounded by fences, and he could see the front garden of the house.
Zayden did not think of just entering it.
He first decided to observe the house from the outside.
He looked at some of the stalls that sold various things across the street and decided to approach one of them.
The one he approached was selling various antiques or artifacts.
A middle-aged man was sitting there while shouting toward each passerby to attract their attention and get them to buy his goods.
Zayden remembered that this man was already selling his goods here the last time he visited Gerald’s home.
The seller looked at Zayden as he approached and showed his best smile.
“Gentleman here, do you want to buy antiques or artifacts? I guarantee that the quality of my goods is excellent. You will not be disappointed buying from me.”
Zayden did not answer the man and instead asked him a question while taking out a gold coin.
“Have you always been selling in this place for the past five years? If yes, I want to ask you a few things.”
The man who saw the gold coin widened his eyes, and his expression brightened.
He quickly nodded his head.
“I have already been selling here for more than twenty years, sir. If you have any questions, I will answer them as best as I know.”
He answered in the most sincere tone, and his expression looked like he wanted to hug Zayden’s feet tightly.
“I want to ask about one of the family members who lives in this house.” Zayden pointed at Gerald’s home.
“Do you know the current condition of the man who lives in this house? The one named Gerald Reinsten?”
Hearing the question, the man raised his eyebrows before narrowing his eyes.
“If I may ask, what is your relationship with Sir Gerald?”
“I’m one of his friends. I just came out of seclusion after five years of cultivation, so I don’t know everything that happened to Gerald over the past five years. However, before visiting him, I heard some rumors regarding the knight order that he became a member of. So I want to know about his condition before I visit him.”
Zayden answered with whatever lie he could come up with.
The seller also did not find anything wrong with Zayden’s reason and just nodded in understanding.
“I see.”
But then Zayden saw the seller release a sigh.
“Well, unfortunately, Sir Gerald already passed away five years ago—”
Hearing this point, Zayden’s heart skipped a beat.
“It was said that Sir Gerald was killed by his own commander, the one who betrayed this empire, Sir Zayden. You must already know about this, but Sir Zayden betrayed our empire when he got his hands on the Heavenly Sword.”
The seller once again sighed.
“To this day, I can’t believe that Sir Zayden betrayed us. To think that in the past, I put my hope in him to become a powerhouse of the empire, to lead the next generation of the empire to glory.”
There was disappointment in his voice.
“I just feel stupid.” He then looked at Zayden.
“Anyway, Sir Gerald was then given a medal of bravery and sacrifice for his service to the empire. And his little sister also joined the troops of the imperial family.”
Zayden did not say anything.
His face was calm.
But in his heart, fury once again rose.
‘I see, so that’s how the imperial family treated Gerald.
To think that they also targeted one of my trusted people.’
He understood what kind of trick the imperial family had played in Gerald’s death.
He still remembered the last battle when he took the Heavenly Sword.
At that battle, before he broke the talisman, he was sure that Gerald was still alive, as he could hear Gerald’s last shout before he escaped using the talisman.
If somehow Gerald had died in that battle or at any time after he was thrown into the abyss, he might have thought that he had been killed by the enemy.
But for the imperial family to put the blame for Gerald’s death on him, it was most likely because of one thing.
‘There is a big possibility that they killed Gerald and put the blame on me to further tarnish my reputation.
If that is the case, then I can already imagine that they have already killed other people and also put the blame on me.’
Zayden clenched his fist.