Unsealing Emptiness

On the one hand, he should obviously deal with this teenager, but on the other, he remembered that Rufus had especially informed him not to cause any troubles for him.

“Ahem! Sir Rufus personally ordered the presence of this young man here. So if anyone has any issues with that, I would personally report to him.” Clive said after straightening his back.

His words left all those men speechless. Surprised, they looked at each other, expecting someone to take the lead. As if they all had suddenly come to a tacit understanding, they focused on Brud, who had started this topic.

Being the target of their expected stares, Brud didn’t know what he was supposed to do. And as expected, he just sat back on his seat. The other men looking at him followed his example and just sat back, acting as if nothing had happened.

Although all of them looked perfectly fine from the outside, they were boiling with anger from the inside, especially after looking at Blaze’s smug smile.

“Moreover, I can assure you that this young man here isn’t as weak as you may be thinking,” Clive added after a while.

.....

‘Oh, that Rufus guy has told him more than I expected.’ Ozul squinted his eyes at Clive.

“The meeting is over. You guys can leave now. However, keep this in your mind; I don’t want any fights in this group.”- Clive announced with a threatening voice.

His words hadn’t faded in the background before he turned around and walked away towards his own tent. His subordinates followed after him.

Ozul also stood up from his seat, turned around, and headed back to the camp that Raven had set up for him.

When Clara saw that he was going away, she hurriedly shouted;

“Wait-”

However, Venessa didn’t let her finish her words and pulled her back.

“It isn’t the time for that. Can’t you see Young Miss? You are going to disturb that man’s sleep. Do you want to do that?”- Venessa persuaded while dragging her back to the wooden cabin.

Though Hanry just stopped outside the door. He sat down on the ground, closing his eyes as he started meditating.

The other mercenary group leaders also scattered away, most of them joining their men in the night watch.

Raven and Blaze had also followed Ozul back to the tent. Blaze didn’t enter inside and instead jumped on the roof of their carriage parked near the camp.

Though he also sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, Blaze still had all of his attention on his surroundings as he couldn’t relax in the middle of the forest.

Unlike Blaze, Raven entered the tent with Ozul. The camp was practically empty, with only a few comfortable clothes laid on the ground so that someone could sleep on the rough surface.

However, Ozul did not mind that. He had slept on a table for six years straight before; what was some rough surface compared to that?

“Oh, you want to sleep too?” Ozul asked when he noticed Raven behind him.

“No. I forgot to buy a cushion, so I am here to give you a lap pillow.” Raven said with a straight face, not letting any emotions to show.

“Okay...”- Ozul shrugged, he wasn’t complaining either way.

After all this time of receiving the lap pillows, even though he wasn’t as infatuated with them as he was before, Ozul still liked the lap pillows.

“Hurry up. Come here!” Raven sat down, bending both of her legs as she patted her lap with enthusiasm.

Ozul laid down and put his head on her lap before closing his eyes. Raven began to move her hands through his black hair, occasionally playing with them.

A comfortable silence followed after that as Raven played with his hair while Ozul slept peacefully.

“Can I ask something?”- After what felt like an hour or two, Raven asked with a soft voice. Her tone was completely different from what she had before.

“Yes?” Ozul replied without opening his eyes. He enjoyed it when Raven passed her hands through his hair.

Raven had no problem asking the question while he was supposedly asleep because she had learned some things after being together with him for more than ten years now.

She knew that Ozul’s sleeping was not normal either. What he considered sleeping would actually be known as just closing the eyes.

It meant that whenever Ozul slept, he wouldn’t be unconscious. He would be fully aware of his surroundings, but he chose to ignore everything else and focus solely on the darkness all around him.

Hence, whenever you would call him while he is supposedly sleeping, Ozul would be able to answer instantly.

Despite not actually being able to rest, Ozul slept because he wanted comfort. And he feels the most comfortable in the darker surroundings.

Raven was sure that Ozul wouldn’t mind talking now that he was lying comfortably in silence and saw only the darkness after closing his eyes.

“Why are we even here? Shouldn’t we be looking for your arms now that you had your leg back?”

Silence followed after she had finished her words, but it wasn’t anything uncomfortable. Raven understood that Ozul was just taking his sweet time.

“What I mean is, don’t we already know that the Emperor has one of your arms? Then why are we on this random mission?” Raven added a little while later when she thought that Ozul might have forgotten to reply at all.

“See Raven; I want to be complete again, too. But that’s not my final goal... I want to know more about myself than anything else.” His soft voice brought a sense of warmth in Raven’s heart.

“This is a big world. And because of that, I alone can’t search for clues. I need men... So many of them that I will have eyes all over the continent. Only then will I have a chance of finding any clues about myself.”

Ozul explained what he was trying to accomplish. Raven understood what he was trying to say. If Ozul were to start a full out war with Emperor for his arm, it would be difficult for him to gather men willing to work for him.

Since he couldn’t get his arms back right away, he could only bid his time. No matter much power he had individually, it didn’t matter when it came to searching the entire continent.

“But even if that was the case, we didn’t have to accept this mission, right?”- Raven didn’t like it that they had to work together with others.

Most likely, those mercenaries would again start pointing at them when they realize that Raven used Darkness Element.

Although it wasn’t a problem in itself, she knew they were going to start looking for trouble with her. And that would be annoying to deal with.

“I know what you are thinking, but bear with it. The Emperor has plans for me, and I am curious as to what they are. After all, he still underestimates me...”- Ozul explained with an amused tone.

For some reason, Ozul had started to enjoy everything a little bit more than he did before obtaining his leg. It felt like he had a little bit of more emotions than he had before.

In any case, Raven was not complaining about this new Ozul-not when he laughed more.

“Also, you guys need to improve faster. Training in a peaceful atmosphere is slowing down your progress. Maybe some time without me would also help...”- Ozul added after a little while.

It was true since there were almost no dangers for Raven and Blaze, their minds did not experience the pressure that was required to boost their talents.

The Silverbird Kingdom was relatively safer than other places on the continent. But real opportunities lie in dangers. So Ozul wanted to put some necessary pressure on them for their growth.

“I am going to work harder and become strong enough in the future to stand beside you proudly.”- Raven muttered with the fire of determination burning in her eyes.

After her declaration, Ozul didn’t reply and just enjoyed the head pats. The camp regained its silence, which the duo both enjoyed.

However, the delight of Raven was short lived when Jinx appeared in the tent out of nowhere! With graceful steps, she approached Ozul and curled herself into a furball, snuggling closer to him.

Though Raven had his head on her lap, she couldn’t help but be jealous of Jinx.

‘Just you wait! In the future, it would only be me cuddling with him!’- Raven glared at Jinx, her sharp gaze conveyed her feelings to Jinx, who just looked at her with an apathetic face before closing her eyes.

When Raven saw this, she felt angry and stupid at the same time. Angry that Jinx had ignored her, and stupid because she was competing with a cat that she had just guessed to be female.

‘No! I am sure of it, this cat must be a female!’ Raven convinced herself.

However, a few minutes later, she forgot about Jinx and just focused on the sleeping beauty in front of her.