Azalea casually walked through the forest, looking around curiously. She looked more like a little child who had gone for a walk to the neighborhood park, rather than a forest where the threat of demons was as big as being attacked by a beast. What no one who saw her would realize that she was looking at the colorful manifestation of magical energy they called 'current'. Long ago, this current was called 'aether'. Only those who had awakened could see it and control it to use magic.
Currently, there were different colors floating around her, like the green that came from the plants, golden from the sunrays, orange from the small animals, the shimmering white that represented air, and many others. All of these colors were faint, meaning the magical energy was quite weak.
Azalea suddenly paused. From a distance, she could hear faint growls. If those villagers were here, they would immeditly recognize it as the sound of those demons. She took a step forward, but suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.
Caught off guard, Azalea's eyes slightly narrowed, and between the fingers of her free hand, a flicker of purple appeared. That was until her eyes were met with dark ones.
Suddenly held against a tree with her lips covered by a hand, she blinked at the man in confusion. She had not heard him approach her. This has never happened before. She has gotten really weak. Even the other day, when she was dealing with those demons, she had felt that way. She had even lost consciousness afterwards.
Initially, she had excused it on her being asleep for centuries. Her body had been lying inactive and needed time to get back to its normal functioning. Now, she was realizing that it was her previous injuries that had left a great mark and were not yet healed properly.
Looking down at those gray eyes that were staring at him, all the words died in Sylas' throat.
Forget it. He was clearly thinking too much.
"You shouldn't be here, little one," he said in a low voice, lowering his hand from her mouth.
Azalea, who was suddenly called little: "..."
Sylas saw the look of disbelief on her face, and the corner of his lips twitched. He looked away from her and instead turned his focus to the distance, from where he could hear the growls coming.
He raised his hand and fidgeted with the silver bracelet on his wrist before removing a small piece and putting it in his ear.
"Change of plans. The villagers need to leave in five minutes. Also, send a team to my location."
Azalea, who could clearly tell he was not talking to her, looked at the bracelet with interest. She knew it was a communication device similar to mobile phones. She had seen the villagers use it. The one this man was wearing was similar, but his was thinner and had a sleek design.
Sylas, who saw the look of admiration on her face, did not think much of it. After, the one he used was the latest model and cost a fortune. Yet what worried him was the fact that this girl did not seem to have a sense of danger at all. Not only was she walking around the forest all alone, even after knowing there were demons nearby, but she also did not look panicked or afraid. How had she survived until now? She clearly needed constant supervision.
Once the team he had asked for arrived, Sylas personally sent the 'little girl' back to the village. In fact, he even led her inside the hovercraft and put on her seatbelts, fearing that she might sneak away.
Azalea, who was experiencing all of this for the first time, sat there obediently and let him do whatever he wanted. After waking up in a world that had drastically changed from what she remembered it to be, she needed a guide to learn everything. It didn't matter if it was the overly talkative little boy who thought he knew everything about the world from the comics he had read, or this general whom people avoided like a plague.
Seeing her innocent eyes blinking at him, Sylus stared at her face for a moment longer. His gaze flickered to her white hair, and he could help but wonder how it felt to touch it. They looked quite soft to the eyes.
Realizing his thoughts had derailed towards a weird direction, he immeditly looked away and cleared his throat. If Azalea was not busy looking around, she might have noticed the faint pink on his ears.
"Don't wander off by yourself and listen to what adults tell you,"
Azalea wanted to tell him that she was also an adult and that not all adults could be trusted, but then she remembered that she was now registered as a seventeen-year-old girl. If she told someone the truth, would that be considered her committing fraud? How does the law deal with fraud nowadays?
Sylas, who could clearly see her mind had wandered off, gave a soft sigh. As expected, she could not be left unsupervised.
"Alright, it's time for you to leave. Try not to cause trouble. I will come find you later," he told her and turned around. Then, he paused and looked at the woman in a military uniform standing nearby.
"Keep an eye on that girl," he commanded before leaving.
Sarah, who was suddenly assigned an important task, looked at the white hair girl in amazement. In her mind, several thoughts were running around. After all, this was the first time their general had shown interest in the opposite gender. But wasn't she just a little girl?
General sure had a weird taste. She could not help but wonder if she should tell the general to stop before it was too late or warn the girl to avoid the general because he had impure thoughts about her. In the end, she realized the first would lead her dead and the second would end up scaring the girl. Their general did not have a good reputation in the first place. In the end, it was all up to her to silently protect herself.
If Sylas knew what was going on in her mind, he would have sent her for a drill to get her mind cleared up. He was clearly looking after a child.
Azalea: I am your ancestor!