Nusantara Descend

Chapter 8: Returning



The following day, the younger sibling insisted on waking Arjuna. But, regrettably, he had already left the house. He only left a messily written note.

"Thank you for everything."

The child's eyes were watering as they crumpled the note a little in their tiny hand, his lips pouting.

While the child's tears dripped, Arjuna was well off on his way. He enjoyed the warmth of the sun as he greeted a new day.

Arjuna hummed along with birds chirping, and the occasional breeze refreshed him. The green scenery was serene, a great distraction from the previous days.

Poci, who appeared more like a mascot and was less frightening, was sound asleep when he peered into his spatial bag. Kunti mentioned that he's in power-saving mode.

Kunti, who was bored beyond belief, chose to switch to her power-saving mode. She sat on Arjuna's shoulder after shrinking.

Kunti noticed Arjuna brooding again. "You regretted leaving like that, didn't you?"

Arjuna shook his head. "No."

"You should've at least said it," Kunti leaned, looking up at the sky.

Arjuna shook his head once more. "No, they'll become attached."

Kunti looked at Arjuna. "They? More like you will."

"Shut up," Arjuna shoved his palm into Kunti.

Kunti grabbed Arjuna's hand with her now tiny hands. "Let go!"

They continued their journey to the capital with healing in mind. This time, they took their time taking in the landscape. He greeted everyone he passed by and would occasionally check in on Poci.

He continued humming as he took in the canopy above his head. Then suddenly, a familiar scene. He heard screams, shouting in panic.

Kunti tapped Arjuna's shoulder. "You don't want to play hero?"

"…" Arjuna stood in place, clenching his fists.

Instead of jumping into it, he thought about it for a minute. He recollected the things he did and what he faced. Does he want to do it all over again?

"Help!"

"Help!"

"Help!"

The voice eventually dimmed down. Arjuna clenched everything—his fists, his lips, even his buttocks. He didn't know what to do.

Arjuna ruffled his hair in frustration. "Ahhhh!!"

He made up his mind. He dashed into the bushes and closed his eyes. He needed to lock onto the source of the disturbance. After rustling through the bushes, he found it.

It was a carriage, awkwardly parked along the road. One of its wheels was inside a ditch, with a group covered in black surrounding it.

"Well, at least they don't look menacing," Kunti leaned on Arjuna's neck.

Arjuna got his wand out and cast. "Fortress!"

After sleeping all night, he awoke to find his mana fully recovered. While checking, he noticed something strange. His mana capacity had grown half in size.

The masked men were confused at the sudden erection of a dirt wall. They looked around and noticed Arjuna staring at them from atop a hill.

"You there! Who are you?!" one of the men pointed at Arjuna.

Arjuna pointed at himself, leaning against a tree. "Me? Just a passerby,"

"Wrong place, wrong time, pal!" the man gestured, shooing Arjuna away.

Arjuna jumped down from the small hill. "You don't look like you're in the right place either."

"Oh, yeah?" the man pointed his dagger at Arjuna.

Arjuna, brushing off dust. "It's getting hot, and you're wearing black."

Out of nowhere, the man lunged at him, dagger in hand. Arjuna stepped aside and tapped the man's shoulder with the tip of his wand. He cast a wind spell, knocking the man away.

"It's a wizard!" one of the men shouted from the back.

"You didn't notice the large dirt wall?" Arjuna pointed at the wall.

After confirming the situation, the other masked men hesitated. Arjuna took advantage of their hesitation and swiftly cast "Snare," immobilizing them.

Kunti yawed loudly from Arjuna's shoulder. "This shouldn't take long, will it?"

One of them managed to break through from the snares. He charged at Ajuna from his side, holding two daggers.

He aimed at Arjuna's head, but Arjuna noticed the attack long before. He ducked low and swept the man off his feet. Arjuna sent another burst of wind as the man fell, knocking him back also.

Arjuna approached the two fallen men. While the others remained trapped in the snare spell, he disarmed and restrained them. The conflict woke up Poci.

He groggily emerged from the spatial bag. "What's with the commotion?"

The bag wobbled around, and Poci's head, wrapped in cloth, barely emerged. He blinked his hollow eyes and squinted at the situation.

Poci yawned his rotting mouth. "Should I be awake for this?"

Kunti looked down at Poci. "No, you can go back to sleep."

"Okay," Poci went back inside, continuing his slumber.

Arjuna turned to Kunti. "We should take these men to the authorities."

"Guess so," Kunti laid back down on Arjuna's shoulder.

Arjuna sighed and shook his head as he restrained the final one. He looked up at the wall and let go of the spell.

The passengers and the coachman were baffled at the situation outside the wall. Their face was mixed with awe and appreciation.

Arjuna approached the carriage. "Are you all alright?" He tucked his wand back.

The passengers opened the door to greet their savior. A well-dressed man with wide eyes began shaking Arjuna's hand violently.

"Thank you… so much!" the man teared up.

A little girl emerged from the carriage and hugged Arjuna's leg. "Thank you so much, mister!"

"Haha…" Arjuna stood awkwardly.

"Lily, let him go," a well-dressed woman with pompous hair nagged.

The woman looked tenderly at Arjuna. "Thank you so much, truly."

Lily let go of Arjuna, heading back inside the carriage. After waiting for the guard patrol to take the men, Arjuna helped lift the carriage off the ditch.

The man wiped his sweat using his pocket napkin. "Sorry for asking too much."

"It's no problem, really," Arjuna swipes the dirt off his hand.

Arjuna looked at the sun above. "I should get going."

"Where are you going? Let us take you there," the man insisted.

Arjuna tidied up. "Really? I'm going to the capital."

"We're going there too! Come in, there's plenty of room." the man gestured at Arjuna.

"Thank you so much," Arjuna patted down his clothes and headed inside.


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