The Greed of Kronos

The Ominous Forest

Fifty: The Ominous Forest

He never knew about it because he also did not have the chance to ask. How cool was it to have the same genus surrounding you? When Yohan still resided in their village, the population was not pure Lycans. There were humans that created a bond to the Lycans. Hence, the thought of having a considerable population of the same genus was an exciting and intriguing thing to Yohan.

Ajax, on the other hand, bobbed his head as he looked at Ajax and replied simply. “Yes.”

With that being said, Astian stared at Ajax with sparkling eyes and replied with a beaming face. “That’s awesome!”

Yohan also showed off the same reaction as he looked at Astian and then at Ajax as he replied with a proud tone of voice. “Right? It is so awesome! Did you guys know that the story I told you was from the master’s mouth himself?”

The two of them seemed to be excited about the particular topic that Ajax and Kronos could not get into at. What the hell was there to be excited for? Nevertheless, they did not spoil the mood because it would make them the bad guy who does not consider other people’s feelings.

Thus, Kronos silently got back to brushing Astian’s hair as he let the latter get excited and all. “You met Lord Dio again?”

Kronos long knew that Astian had a childish child in him. Especially when they were at the beach. But it seems like he still could not get used to him being cute every time. He would act childish.

“Yes! He would sometimes visit us in our room.” Yohan replied with enthusiasm.

The same goes for the big guy. Kronos remembered Yohan being shy and talking to others while stuttering. But look at him talking excitedly with Astian as if he was talking to a long-time friend that he did not see for a long time.

More importantly, Kronos almost forgot the part where he heard that the Lord Gio, the grandfather of Ajax, visits the dormitory? It’s trespassing if the visit is not an official one. How could Lord Gio not leave any traces of him staying? Moreover, how could Sir Samael just let it slide? Was this so-called Lord Gio that powerful? And what would be the reason for his visit?

Having too many questions in mind, Kronos shifted his gaze towards Ajax as he stared at him intently. On the other hand, Ajax seemed to know what the stares are for that he shrugged and replied. “He misses me.”

With that being said, Astian and Yohan looked at Ajax for a moment before laughing nonchalantly.

As soon as they laughed like there was no tomorrow, Kronos wanted to ask why. But then, the carriage suddenly stopped as Ajax looked outside and announced their arrival. “We’re here.”

Hearing this, Yohan opened the door, and they started to get out of the carriage. As soon as they stepped foot outside, Kronos saw a nearby village that seemed to be an abandoned one, given that there were no people walking by and outside the house. Hence, Kronos came up to the conclusion that it was probably the village that would casually ask for herbs inside the forest. But after Lord Dio rejected everyone except his wife, they seemed to give up and traveled far away to find a land abundant with herbs. Though that was all speculation, that was what really happened.

After staring at the village for a while, Kronos then looked at the forest in front of them.

Even before he could react, Asisi laughed nervously beside him and mumbled. “Wow, the forest is very ominous at some point.”

It was very ominous at some point. The forest was emitting a black aura while the wind was chilly than usual. The plants outside the forest were dead, and a sound of a crow could be heard nearby. With the scenery, Kronos suddenly remembered when he had a mission to kill a crazy scientist that was hiding at a haunted house. He never forgot the moment when he cursed so many times because of how creepy the house was. Nevertheless, he succeeded in the mission and got nightmares about the crazy scientist for a week.

Just thinking about it made Kronos shiver that he instead focused on listening to Sir Samael announcing something. “Let’s go to the center and greet the owner of the forest. We need to get permission first.”

Sir Samael seemed unfazed with the eerie feeling that the forest was omitting. Even Yohan was smiling while Ajax was sleeping on his back. Quite some tough guys.

“Yes, Papa!” The others replied as he merely followed their march.

As soon as they entered the forest, Kronos could tell why Sir Samael was not budging when the forest was ominous looking. Because the more profound they were marching, the eerie feeling was slowly fading. The ominous aura seemed to be artificially made to scare travelers.

It would be given that Ajax was aware of it because he’s the grandson. Also, Yohan, because he’s proclaimed to be a disciple, calling Lord Dio his master seemed so. However, for Sir Samael to know, did he also have a relationship with Lord Dio or my epitropi that they would have had connections with Sir Samael?

One way to find out, to knock at the door of the lovely and well-maintained cabin in the middle of the forest. The cabin was surrounded by wild flowers and grasses. Some small trees were also on the side of the other.

They stepped on a way of pebbles upon going to the door of the said cabin. Simply put, the cabin looked like a house of a fairy.

“Lord Dio. We are from the Patrician Academy.” Sir Samael knocked on the door with the others either beside him or behind him.

As for Kronos, he pulled Astian away from the back and stepped on some wild grasses beside the window to see the face of this great Lord Dio.

However, when the door creaked open, it was not the man-built figure that Kronos was expecting.

It was instead a fairy befitting to take care of the cabin. She looked at Sir Samael at first and then beamed when she recognized him immediately. “Oh my, you all are already here? Welcome to the forest.”

With that being said, Sir Samael dipped his head and replied in a tone of respect. “Greetings, Lady. Can we greet the Lord too?”

“My, my, of course. How could I possibly decline the teacher of my grandson?” The lady chuckled softly.

The reply of the lady made the other to get confused as they looked at each other as if looking for the grandson that the lady was talking about. “Huh? Grandson?”

To fill in the students who seemed to know nothing, Sir Samael cleared his throat as he officially introduced the lady to everyone. “This is Lady Carmilla. She is Lord Dio’s wife as well as the grandmother of Ajax.”

Hearing this, everyone except the four who knew was agape as they replied in unison. "What?!"

The loud tone of their voices seemed to wake Ajax up from his slumber, as he was on Yohan’s back, that Ajax slowly peeled his eyes open and stared at Lady Carmilla for a short moment. The others, on the other hand, stared at Ajax with disbelief.

Shortly after that, Ajax got down on Yohan’s back as he walked towards Lady Carmilla and clung onto her. “Nana.”

And by doing so, everyone flinched at the revelation and was even jealous when Lady Carmilla looked at Ajax dearly and embraced him with warmth. “Oh dear, my Ajax is really here. Do you know that I personally came and visited your grandpa today because I heard that you will be coming?”

At some point, Kronos suddenly missed his tear-jerker father and scheming mother, who would always shower him with unconditional love. He may act indifferent towards his parents because he was not used to being loved. Kronos was doing everything within his power to protect and make them feel proud. And when Kronos received a reply towards the letter he sent when Astian stopped him, he thought that they were very happy that Kronos would stay in the Exi.

That was why being in the Exi class was not that bad after all. He should seriously take Astian out one day as a thank you for stopping him with his rash decision.