The dark sky without any trace of the moon could be seen, that was a quiet night. The sound of laughter couldn't be heard anymore.
The remains of the campfire were only ashes and charcoal, producing a distinctive sll in the nose, the sound of the waves hitting the rocks could be heard from a distance, adding to the beauty of the silence of the night.
It was as if the sound of laughter that had previously filled the night was just a dream, in harmony with the silence that had struck, that night, like before but with a different atmosphere, and once again, the ones who were still awake were Taufik, Marzuki, and Ulf.
Taufik and Marzuki, who seed unable to sleep, sat side by side without saying a word, and Ulf, who seed to refuse to sleep so that he could be with his captain a little longer before they parted, sat facing the two of them.
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In the silence of the night with only the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks and the breathing of the crew to be heard, Ulf began the conversation.
"... The future you talk about, like a beautiful place to live in for , If only I could live long enough to see that ti"
"... You can if you want"
Taufik answered briefly. Hearing that, Ulf snorted lightly before speaking.
"If I want? What am I? I'm not like those long-eared beings who can live up to hundreds of years, for , it's just another dream that will remain a dream"
"... But I can keep you alive for hundreds of years even beyond the lifespan of the elves, I can do it, I have the power to do it, if you want I can grant it"
Hearing Taufik's words, Ulf imdiately fell silent, he did not doubt Taufik's words at all, because, during the almost two years they had been together, which was quite a short ti, Taufik had shown him abilities that exceeded human common sense, so if Taufik said he could, then it was likely that he could do it.
Ulf wanted to answer yes but thought about his life so far, even though at the beginning of his life he lived in a miserable state, with his tribe constantly seeking war, both of his parents died in one of the invasions carried out by his tribe, since then Ulf lived alone without any support, at that ti he was used to not eating for days, a piece of stale bread thrown away by soone was an incomparable luxury for him at that ti, he was still very young at that ti, and he had to be dragged into the current of war.
If he had not t Marzuki, who had beco the right-hand man of the Ragnar tribe leader, perhaps Ulf would have been a corpse in one of those battles. Ulf looked at Marzuki, seeing him now, Marzuki had not changed much even though the incident had been decades ago.
Currently, if Ulf is seen standing with Marzuki at this ti, they would be called the sa age, but in fact, Ulf's age is half Marzuki's age.
All of that was a story of the past, but Ulf's life so far had been a valuable experience for him, but no one knew what would happen in the future, and as much as possible Ulf wanted to leave the world with his current mories, therefore, with a sigh that contained a lot of aning behind it, Ulf said.
"... That is a very tempting offer, but no, thank you, I will just live like this. Besides, with the level of aura I have, I can at least live for another hundred years; that is enough... That is long enough for "
"... That's unexpected, I thought you'll accept it Immaditaly"
Marzuki said, with a fake shocked expression.
"*Tch* Is that what you think of , Capt?"
"Well~ It still feels like yesterday to when I watched a child recklessly enter the battlefield with nothing but a broken weapon in his hand, I never thought that such a handso child would grow up to be an unkempt uncle like you are now, what a waste"
"... That's the story of the past, I'm different right now... I've learned my lesson... "
Ulf said, feeling a little embarrassed by what Marzuki said, then fell silent for a mont before he continued.
"... But thanks to you Capt, that I still can keep standing like this... Also, if it weren't for you, the tribe's policy of requiring children over the age of ten to participate in combat would probably still be in place today, all because of you, Capt. Thank you"
"What are you talking about? I didn't do that for any special reason; I just did it because I thought that as a non-native of this era, that practice was wrong... Do you know how heated the argunt was between and Ragnar that day, because of that? The elders and Ragnar himself rejected my suggestion because our fighting strength would decrease, in the end, that cunning man (Ragnar) forced to do all those tiring tasks... Teaching children to fight is sothing very tiring, especially all of Ragnar's sons; they are very difficult to educate... *Sigh* back then, I should have taught them a little common sense, otherwise, their fate would not have ended like that"
"You can't do anything about it, Capt, it's their choice"
"You're right, If only I had told them the truth behind their father's death... those leeches *Sigh* maybe that was one of the reasons I left the tribe back then, but all of that was no use, the rice had beco porridge, there was nothing that could be done about it"
"... Ragnar's son, I had a chance to et them when I first ca to this tiline"
Said Taufik, who joined the conversation between Ulf and Marzuki.
"You did?"
"Yeah, that ti, they...
And just like that, until the sun rose, the three of them, Ulf and Marzuki, talked about the past while Taufik just listened and only occasionally joined in the conversation.
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With the sun slowly rising from the horizon, one by one the crew began to wake up.
So of the crew who had woken up early had prepared the food that would be their last breakfast together because after this was over, the crew would go to their respective destinations, whether in groups, pairs, or alone.
So have already packed their belongings.
"Papa, Papa, Are we going to see Mama now?"
Asked Aksara who was sitting next to Taufik.
"Yeah, just wait a little bit more, let's finish the breakfast first"
"Okay... Are we going with Grandpa?"
"... Yes, we're going with Grandpa"
"Really?!"
Taufik then nodded his head at Aksara's question, and suddenly Aksara looked very happy, but Taufik, who saw this, looked sad.
With his arms around Aksara's shoulders, Taufik spoke in a slightly sad tone.
"... Aksa, you know that I love you, right? I love you with all my heart, heard out... In the future, I will no longer be on your side for a long, long ti... At that ti, You will faced with many hardships, and there are many obstacles that you have to go through; you can face them alone, but rember, when you are in trouble, look back; there will be many people who are ready to help you... Sotis, being weak is not wrong, asking for help is not a sign of weakness, and relying on others is not sothing uncool... And also rember to protect your mother, listen to what she says and don't argue because she will always be the one who will be on your side even if the whole world turns away from you... You don't have to make everyone like you but don't make the people around you hate you and turn away from you... Papa feels bad to burden you with this heavy responsibility when you are still this young, but if Papa is no longer by your side, you will be the one who will take Papa's place as a King, are you able to do it?"
Said Taufik at length, while occasionally patting Aksara's upper arm. While Aksara could only listen to his father finish speaking, and without realizing it, Taufik's words were also heard by those around, including Marzuki, who was sitting not far from the two of them.
"... Where are you going, Papa? Do you really have to go?"
"Yeah, It's a must, Papa will go to so distant place... Far, far, far from here, Papa will back to where Papa should be"
"..."
Seeing Aksara silent, Taufik smiled faintly, then asked again.
"... Why? Do you think you can't do it?"
"No, but, will we et again?"
"Of course we will"
Hearing Taufik's answer, Aksara then pondered for a mont before finally speaking with strong conviction evident in his gaze, a gaze that was slightly inappropriate for a child his age.
"... Don't worry, Papa, I can do it, no, I will do it, As you often say, a man is not judged by his words but by his actions, so don't worry, I will do it"
Hearing that, Taufik and Marzuki fell silent while looking at Aksara with a slightly shocked look before laughter ca out of their mouths.
While stroking Aksara's hair, Taufik said.
"... You are not yet a man, my son, you still have a long way to go before you can beco a real man... But, I like what you say, and I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way"
Said Taufik while looking at Marzuki, and then followed by Aksara.
Seeing the gazes of his son and grandson, Marzuki could only avert his gaze, pretending not to see their gazes and looking as if he was waiting for breakfast to be finished.
#A/N- "NEXT!!! "
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