The Supremacy of Peculiar Dolls

Chapter 3: The Introduction to Those Humans

Not only the twins knew how to catch fish, they were also taught how to light up a fire from a few pieces of tree barks and twigs. Yeomso was amazed at their determination despite their small bodies and lack of experience. A normal five-year-old kids at The Capricorn Valley would not think of such matter, let alone studying. Did Human teach their children at this age? Or was there an inhuman Human among them?

            Hiroki skewered the fish with a long branch, while Kouki preserved the flame. Hiroki spiked the other branch end into the ground close to the fire so that it would not get charred quickly. Yeomso was only sitting down in silence and watching the twins keeping themselves busy with their food.

            Hiroki handed Yeomso a bunch of round fruits of various colour, dangling from a branch they plucked in the woods. The dull skinned fruit was too bizarre to Yeomso – He never saw such fruit in The Dimension before. He was about to bite the fruit when Kouki abruptly hampered him.

            “Mister, you need to peel this fruit first,” Kouki picked the fruit from Yeomso and pressed it with both of his palms. The fruit was squeezed and eventually its skin split into two. He peeled the skin, exposing the inner side of the fruit. “We call this dokong.”

            “Dokong?” Yeomso raised an eyebrow. “Is it tasty?”

            “It is,” Kouki naturally picked another dokong and repeated the peeling process. He ate the inner part of the dokong without hesitation. “You must try it. It’s ripe.”

            Yeomso could not reject Kouki’s enthusiasm, therefore he preferred to follow the new knowledge Kouki has taught him. Kouki and Hiroki seemed enthralled to show him what they have learnt. One thing for sure – They were indeed clever boys. Probably they could befriend with Yagi one day.

            Even at this moment, Yeomso could not help but to think of Yagi and his wife at The Capricorn Valley. His visit to The Earth was a top secret, and he departed even without their awareness. It was to avoid them from restraining his judgment to finally have the chance to vanish. He was not being ruthless to his family – He had the urge to disappear mysteriously so that he could disperse the hatred of his entire clan together with his identity. He has requested The Angels to appoint Yagi as the next King of Capricorn Valley.

            Thinking thoroughly, he wondered if any of The Dimensionals could find him on The Earth. Basically, The Angels, The Zodiacs, and The Deity were informed of his journey there. In fact, even The Chief could have figured out the mission. However, he unconsciously had the instinct to ditch the mission and moved by his own accord.

            “Mister Yeomso, you’re frowning.”

            Realizing the adult was fantasizing, Kouki and Hiroki patted his lap. Their glittering eyes met Yeomso’s, asking for reason. Yeomso blinked in agitation and averted from them. His flushed face lured the attention of the twins.

            “Are you sick, Mister?” Hiroki simply caressed Yeomso’s cheek. “You’re quite warm, but I don’t think you’re having a fever.”

            “Fever?” Yeomso did not budge when Hiroki tugged his robe, as if he was telling Yeomso to wear thinner clothes without the robe. “I don’t, obviously.”

            “But you’re not listening to us,” Kouki was seen holding the skewered fish, “The fish is cooked completely. Let’s eat.”

            “Are you thinking of something, Mister?” Hiroki literally ignored Kouki and checked on Yeomso. “You can take off your cloth and eat comfortably with us.”

            Somehow, Hiroki fell into silence once he looked into the inner side of the robe. He remembered Yeomso kept the file from the hut in it, but he could not see it anywhere. There was no pocket to be observed, and there was practically unbounded darkness layering the inner robe. He gradually shifted to the absurdly composed Yeomso, his eyes demanding a clarification but his mouth was retained from speaking it out.

            “Hiroki, let’s eat.”

            Discerning he has been ignoring Kouki, Hiroki fidgeted and moved away from Yeomso’s lap. Yeomso still stared earnestly at him, questioning himself why Hiroki seemed so stunned. Hiroki grabbed Kouki’s arm and dragged him further from Yeomso. They were whispering among themselves upon an unknown issue Yeomso could not predict because he could not hear them. Minutes of discussing, they returned to Yeomso.

            “Mister Yeomso is a good man. I trust him,” Kouki said, believably to Hiroki, but he was facing towards Yeomso. Yeomso hid behind him.

            They sat in a small circle and ate their food – The twins shared a fish, while Yeomso consumed the fruits they picked from the woods. His mind was considering the parameters to get out of The Forest of Eve, however he could not really scheme an escape plan since The Earth was not his turf. If only he could depend on the twins, they could get out of the forest.

            “Say,” Yeomso just remembered something, “How did you guys end up in the hut? I mean, did your Father bring you into the woods?”

            Both Kouki and Hiroki nodded. Their puffy cheeks shook from chewing.

            “Could you recall the path to the hut from the outside?”

            “If we could, we wouldn’t reach this river, Mister.”

            “Yes, we’ve already gotten out of the woods, Mister.”

            Kouki and Hiroki were indeed right. If they could remember the route well, they would lead him out instead of going deeper into The Forest of Eve. Based on their countenance, they seemed to not recognise how The Forest of Eve looked like through their journey, let alone becoming his guides.

            “But I remembered there was a small town somewhere.”

            Instantly, Yeomso concentrated his attention to the munching Hiroki. Kouki took another bite and chewed deliciously.

            “Small town? Where was it?”

            “Hmm, maybe before coming into the forest,” Hiroki aimlessly flailed his arm. “We were forbidden to appear before the crowd, so while transporting us, Father stored us in a carriage. So we couldn’t see the outside. But I heard rackets while passing by it.”

            Storing small kids in a carriage? The more these twins divulged about their deceased Father, the more Yeomso’s curiosity rose. From how the Father asked him to take care of his sons, he guess the Father was kind hearted by nature. Was his assumption wrong since day one? Even by watching the twins, he could say there was something concealed in them. Whatever it was, Yeomso believed it would help him to lay his hand on Hebi. He believed Hebi must be the perpetrator behind these mystery.

            “Do you remember how long the journey took from the small town to the hut? Can you estimate the duration?” Yeomso carefully inquired to avoid being too suspicious.

            Kouki and Hiroki exchanged glances. They both pointed out their fingers, calculating the time taken as requested by Yeomso. Yeomso waited patiently to the result since it would come from two little Humans. It might be incorrect, leading to false answer, yet it might be the truth.

            “Probably around 20 minutes,” Kouki showed two fingers, “A horse pulled our carriage. So it may take longer time if we walk.”

            Hiroki at his side nodded agreeing. Yeomso felt utterly disappointed because he did not realize that matter earlier. If only he thought of it before they began walking away from the hut, they could have gone to other direction. They basically wandered to the opposite direction from the exit of The Forest of Eve, judging from the thickness of the trees.

            “Mister,” Kouki called the fallen apart Yeomso, “We have found a river, so we could find the small town too,” he directed their view to one course, “If we followed to where the river flowed to, we could find even a village.”

            Find a village? “How does a river relate to a village?” Yeomso cupped his mouth, unsure whether to gape or shut. Kouki and Hiroki seemed to know many thing of their age.

            “Some village use water from the river to create a large water reservoir. It is to provide the villagers electricity by hydrokinetic force. Or in simpler example, villagers could use the river as the main water source. We need clean water to drink, right?”

            Yeomso blinked in mixed feeling between confusion and awe. The information Kouki revealed to him was alien, but he could say it should be troublesome to be understood by a five years old kid. Hiroki nodded again agreeing.

            Are they related to Hebi, or worse, are they Hebis? From the incident during his arrival at The Angels’ Valley last time, plus the divulgence The Angels have disclosed to him, anything could happen. Hebi possessed someone else’s inexhaustible power, therefore he could do anything – Even to create his clones.

            Should I distance myself from these twins? But their Father has entrusted them to him. All these weird Humans could perceive him without problem. The issue was how?

            “What- How do you know all those?”

            Instead of indulged into unnecessary cautiousness, Yeomso chose to take it easy. There was no way these twins were Hebis. Hebi recognised him, thus he must have killed Yeomso ever since The Capricorn entered the hut.

            “We studied about this with Uncle Valentin. He is a villager, working as a farmer. He likes to brag about his knowledge in natural energy,” Hiroki told excitedly.

            These kids did learn adulthood at such age! Was Human always this advanced?

            “Since you’re a vegetarian, Mister, I think you could befriend him,” Kouki added naively. “What’s his full name again? I’ve forgotten already.”

            Yeomso pulled out the file from his inner robe. Kouki and Hiroki saw him fishing it out effortlessly while there was literally nothing in it – Not even a pocket. He opened the file and handed to the twins the photo of the ten Humans.

            “Which one is Valentin?” he earnestly asked.

            Kouki looked closely to the photo, but it took less than three seconds for Hiroki to figure out which man was the said Valentin.

            “This one! He’s Uncle Valentin. I think his name is something like Boar. Valentin Boar.”

            “It’s not Boar. It’s Valentin Bauer,” Kouki laughed at Hiroki’s misspeaking. “Yes, I just remembered his name. He is Valentin Bauer, a farmer. He has a vast farm where he works at all by himself.”

            Yeomso drew the photo closer to his eyes. He tried memorizing the image of the one was said as Valentin Bauer. “Could you remember the others’ names too?”

            “I think so,” Kouki cuddled Hiroki around the neck, “Help me to recall, Hiroki.”

            “All right, all right,” Hiroki sighed and analysed the same photo. “I know their faces but I just remember a few names. The most left one is Uncle Karl Schwarz. Next to him is Uncle Sobong… Sobong Yong Saeng, if I’m not mistaken. The one he was hugging on the neck is our Father, Kai Stewart. Then…” Hiroki scratched his chin, “This is Uncle Enrique Rubio, Uncle Zhou Haoran, Uncle Valentin, Uncle Fadeyka, Uncle Mishka, Uncle Bushida, and Uncle Gushiken.”

            Yeomso frowned listening to the names. Even the pronunciation sounded difficult. Kouki rolled his eyes at Hiroki.

            “You’re taking short cuts, Hiroki,” Kouki took the picture and it was his turn to introduce those men to Yeomso. “The most left one is Uncle Karl Schwarz. The picture doesn’t show it properly, but his hair is black, smooth and shiny. It has become his trademark. Then, beside him is Uncle Sobong Yong Saeng. Uncle Sobong is quite tall. I think he is, like, the tallest among them all. Then, this is our Father. His name is Kai Stewart. He has been taking care of us ever since our Mother passed away. I never thought he, too, left us this soon.”

            An uneasy sensation overwhelmed Yeomso as Kouki incidentally voiced out his hearty confession. They were just small kids – The death of that Kai Stewart might have devastated them. Yeomso swept Kouki and Hiroki into his embrace. He lifted them onto his laps, so that they could sit comfortably while revealing about those Humans in the photo. Hiroki turned gloomy, but Kouki remained expressionless.

            “Beside Father is Uncle Enrique Rubio. Like Uncle Karl, his hair colour is distinct too. You won’t get confused since he is the only red haired among these people. Then, this is Uncle Zhou Haoran. He has long smooth hair, dark brown in colour. He is quite strict, insisting on mannerism and life goal. Next to him is Uncle Valentin Bauer, the farmer we’ve told you earlier. His trademark, I think, is his large body stature.”

            Hiroki patted on Yeomso’s buffy forearm. “Just like you, Mister!”

            Kouki purposely glared at Hiroki to scare him, but the little brother did not seem to be bothered. He continued, “As for Uncle Fadeyka Volkov and Uncle Mishka Solovyov, they look similar. But in personality, they contrast each other. Uncle Fadeyka has sharper eyes than Uncle Mishka, but Uncle Mishka is keener than Uncle Fadeyka.”

            Noticing the small kid stopped in the middle way, Yeomso peeped at Kouki’s face. He did not change his expression yet, but he stared at the last two people the longest. Hiroki shifted to Kouki in bewilderment as well because his big brother suddenly hesitated in his explanation.

            “Uncle Bushida Tadao and Uncle Gushiken Toshiro,” Kouki was more to murmuring, “We know the least about them. Or I must say, we basically know only their names and how they look like. That’s all.”

            The countenance of those who named Bushida Tadao and Gushiken Toshiro were not good. They gave off negative vibes through their, kind of, cold stare. Yeomso gulped in contemplation as his eyes met with theirs whereas they were not even there – Only the photo proved their sensation, yet it was vague.