Volume 1. Chapter 21. Awakened in a Changed World

The next day, they decided to return to Norf City. Making a small farewell in front of the city gate. Even King Ligt, Neii, and Lina were there.

"Mother and younger siblings will be waiting here... so make time to visit home, okay?"

Julian asked her three adopted sons to visit home, even if only once a month.

"Of course Mom, we will bring Cindy, Una, and Elia."

Julian smiled, hearing Cini's words.

"It seems like you are quite close to them."

King Ligt said, noticing the closeness of Julian's family to Cini and Rii.

"Although I myself have not digested it until now, but... to me they are like people who are waiting for our return, and that makes me happy."

"Then King Ligt... can I entrust this little family to you?"

Vail asked who wanted to ensure Julian's family would get strong protection.

"I will, after all they are my people too."

King Ligt accepted Vail's request to guard Julian's family members.

"Me...!?"

Zein replied, asking to be given earrings like Julian and Clara. Rii lowered his body to look at Zein properly.

"For Zein, I gives a magic sword."

"Magic sword?"

Zein was confused by Rii's words, as he wanted to give him a magic sword.

"Keep your eyes on this, okay..."

Rii asked Zein to watch closely as he summoned a sword from the void, surprising him.

"I want it...!"

Zein was so excited to get the cool sword.

"Show me your right hand."

Zein extended his right hand to Rii, and at that moment, Rii transformed the sword into energy, which was then infused into his hand.

"Okay... now try doing what I did before."

Rii said, asking Zein to appear with a magic sword as he did.

Zein's face was serious, clapping both hands to create a gap in the storage magic.

They were shocked to see that Zein could do it.

"How can he bring out a sword from the void?"

Lina was shocked to see it and realized that Zein could be a hero in the future.

"It's not from the void, but what Rii and Zein did was space magic."

"But, in our eyes he seemed to bring out the sword from the void even though it was only a wooden sword."

Neii said, telling the conclusion he had found.

"Why is mine different?"

Zein was confused to see his wooden sword, which looked short like a dagger.

"That means Zein has to study harder, like the name of this sword. After you become a knight, the magic will change the wooden sword into a hero's sword."

Rii's words excited Zein to study swordsmanship to see his magic sword's original form.

"Then, I will enroll Zein in the Knight Academy."

King Ligt replied, which made Julian happy because his son's future was known.

"Rii, Cini, it's time for us to leave."

Vail said to his two friends.

"Zein, strive to become a noble warrior and protect mother."

"Leave it to me, big brother. I promise not to disappoint you."

Zein was so happy with Rii's words.

"Then everyone, see you again."

Julian and the others waved their hands as a sign of their farewell, except for Lina and Neii.

Feeling far enough from sight, the three intended to cast flying magic. But the spell they cast did not work as it should.

At the same time, when Una and Cindy were carrying out a request to collect forest mushrooms. The Demist in the pocket suddenly made a heartbeat sound.

"Una, that sound came from the small bag on your waist."

"From my bag?"

Una was curious, took the Demist from her pocket and saw the item blinking following the heartbeat sound.

"What's going on?"

Una asked confusedly, seeing the Demist blinking and making a sound like a heartbeat.

Besides, Vail and his two friends realized a barrier was blocking their magic.

"Why is there a barrier in this place?"

Cini was confused after realizing that the barrier was blocking his power.

"Can't use magic?"

Confused, they heard a woman's voice from behind a tree.

"Who are you?"

Cini replied after the mysterious woman came out from behind a tree on the side of the road.

The mysterious woman wore a black gown, like a dark bridal goddess. Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, and her eyes sparkled as if they were carved from emeralds.

"Didn't your demon king friend tell you who I am?"

The mysterious woman said, stepping closer to the three heroes.

"The demon king friend—Are you the ancestor of the demon king they said?!"

Rii's words made the woman smile happily. They realized that the woman in front of her was the ancestor of the demon king.

"What do you want, ancestor!?"

Cini said with overflowing emotions.

"What do I want?"

"Of course war, right now I have sent demon troops to Norf city and the Gerna kingdom."

Hearing the ancestor's words made Vail, Rii, and Cini angry, forcing them to demand the ancestor remove the barrier blocking their power.

"Remove this barrier quickly!"

Cini replied who ran to attack the ancestor, but his efforts were in vain. The ancestors easily threw them to the ground.

The ancestor's power made them start to lose consciousness.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. My stupid sister asked me to keep you here until the war ends."

In his blurred vision, Vail saw a woman in green clothes approaching him and standing before his eyes.

"Who… are you?"

Vail said weakly as if his body had lost a lot of strength.

"Be patient, we will be together soon… Azheot."

After saying that, the goddess of love wiped the eyes of the mortal and closed them.

Surprisingly, the goddess of love and the ancestor of the demon king disappeared, leaving them locked in a barrier made by the goddess of love to protect them from war.

Unknowingly, the barrier made them sleep for years. And in the tenth year, the barrier disappeared and made them wake up.

"Why did this place turn into a forest?"

Rii was confused by the path to Norf City, turning into a forest filled with tall trees.

"Maybe the ancestors threw us into the forest when we were unconscious."

Cini said, giving his opinion.

"Whatever it is, we should return to Norf City immediately, before the demon army the ancestors mentioned arrives."

When Vail's two friends agreed to his words, they immediately ran as far as possible and tried to cast flying magic.

They arrived in the afternoon, but Norf City had undergone major changes.

"Are we really going to Norf City?"

Cini wanted to make sure that their destination was Norf City.

"We should follow the right direction if we look at the special forest."

Said Vail.

"What changes in the city in another world so quickly, haven't we only been gone for ten days?"

Rii said in confusion.

"Whatever it is, we should go in and tell the guild master."

They agreed with Vail again.

They got lost in the city of Norf and didn't know the way to the guild. Even the inn where they were staying had turned into a city park.

"Did we take the wrong path?"

"How could we get lost in the city we once called home?."

Rii said, denying Cini's words, but they did get lost in the city.

In the middle of the journey, they started to get hungry. Now, they changed their destination by looking for a place to eat and found a restaurant with many visitors.

"Since when has there been a restaurant in the city of Norf? Moreover, this place seems famous."

Cini said, even more confused.

"Look, there are empty chairs and tables."

Vail replied.

After they had arrived and sat down in the chosen place, a waitress came to their table and gave them a piece of paper they couldn't read.

"I can't read it, how about you guys?"

Cini said in a low voice, and the waiter was quite troubled by it.

"Have you decided on your order, sir?"

The waiter asked and made them awkward.

"Give us the best menu in this restaurant."

Vail said, making the waiter even more troubled.

"Got it, please wait."

The waiter left and entered the restaurant to tell their order to the service desk.

At the same time, a woman came down the stairs accompanied by a man.

"Thank you for the hard work, Miss Owner. I hope your trip is going well."

The man named Oda said.

The woman standing beside him was Clara, who had become even more beautiful after ten years. She now controlled all the restaurants her late mother had left behind.

"You're welcome, Mr. Oda, from now on I entrust the restaurant in this city to you."

Clara told him that she asked Oda to manage her restaurant in Norf City.

"If there is anything you want to ask, please send a letter to me in the Gerna Kingdom."

"I will remember that well, Miss Owner."

Oda escorted Clara to the horse-drawn carriage, but when she was about to get on. Clara heard a familiar voice and saw three people who looked like her missing adopted brothers.

"Miss…"

Oda stopped speaking, seeing Clara cry as she stared at the three young men waiting for their food.

She did not expect to meet her adopted brothers after ten years of being declared missing.