chapter 267- Found Out?
- A several hours ago.
After waiting for a while, finally, Marzuki and Ulf returned to the ship.
But judging from their expressions, the discussion with the mayor didn't seem to be going smoothly.
The entire crew then stopped their activities and crowded around Marzuki and Ulf to hear the information they had.
"... How?"
Taufik asked when Marzuki had arrived on the ship.
Hearing Tuufik's question, Marzuki shook his head and then answered.
"... Not good, it seems like there is a problem in the Holy Kingdoms, so currently, outsiders are not allowed to go deep inside and can only go as far as this port city, more than that, we have to go through a strict process to be able to enter the main city where the twelve main temples of the Olympian Gods and the temples of the other Major Gods are located"
"So what are we going to do now, Boss?"
A crew member asked Marzuki.
"We have no other choice, some of you go with Ulf, make two groups, one to buy materials to repair the ship, and the other to go buy raw food, etc"
Marzuki's instructions then looked towards Bjorn, who, due to Taufik's secret care, was now able to move his body.
"How are you, Bjorn? Are you able to do any activities yet?"
"Yes, Capt, Somehow my body feels fresher than before, and a little lighter than before, this feeling is really great"
Hearing Bjorn's statement, Marzuki turned his head slightly towards Taufik, he was sure that Taufik must have done something, but seeing Taufik who chose not to tell him, Marzuki just sighed and then looked back at Bjorn.
"Good for you, then, you come with Ulf too, earlier I saw a lot of people causing trouble because they couldn't enter the main city, just in case, go with them"
"Good, that would be good for warming up after lying down all day"
"Don't cause trouble; the guards here are not ordinary guards, so don't get involved in unnecessary trouble; we will only stop here to repair the ship and then sail again; there is not much we can do here... Not only for Bjorn, but also for all of you, Alright, everyone gets back to work, and if you want anything, go talk to Ulf"
With Marzuki's statement, each crew returned to continue their previously delayed activities. Ulf chose several crew members to go with him. Several crew members went to talk to Ulf to buy them 'something'. Some were approved by Ulf and some were not.
After a while, Ulf finished selecting some crew to go with him and had listed the requests from the crew he had agreed to.
"... Capt, I have selected some people, and will be leaving soon"
Ulf reported to Marzuki.
"Okay, you can go now, and remember what I said earlier"
"We will, Capt, then we will leave now"
Ulf said once again, which was then answered with a nod from Marzuki, after that, Ulf, Bjorn, and the others left the ship to carry out their duties.
"... Seeing you guys like this, it looks more like a military group than a group of travelers, impressive"
Taufik said to Marzuki after Ulf, Bjorn and the other crew had left.
"That's only natural, I trained them based on the training I got when I was still-... No, let's not talk about the past... First of all, I thank you for everything you did for Bjorn, thank you"
Said Marzuki who was happy because of Taufik's praise, but stopped before he could finish what he wanted to say and immediately changed the conversation to another topic.
Hearing that, even though Taufik was a little disappointed because Marzuki didn't seem to fully believe him, Taufik still answered Marzuki's question.
"... What are you talking about? I didn't do anything, it was all because of his amazing self-healing"
Hearing Taufik's words, Marzuki only smiled faintly while looking at his crew, then said.
"Whether it's because of Bjorn himself or because of you, I will always be grateful to you and...
Said Marzuki; he saw his busy crew, Aksara, running here and there while pulling Lembuswana with him while laughing. He and Taufik were currently leaning on the left side of the ship's Bow while looking at the setting sun; Marzuki saw the scene; all sounds seemed to be silent, and he continued his words.
... I'm glad you're here, but please give me a little more time"
Said Marzuki while looking at his crew with the same smile still on his face.
"!!?"
Hearing Marzuki's words, Taufik was a little confused, or more like he didn't expect Marzuki to say that for some reason, and then a thought occurred to him, and in surprise, Taufik looked at Marzuki.
"... O-Old man, y-you, don't tell me you already know?"
Marzuki then turned to Taufik with the same smile as before. However, the gaze he gave Taufik was slightly different from before, and the gaze made Taufik momentarily amazed.
"Just like I thought, My intuition is never wrong... You, You also want to do something, right? Let's stay like this until the time comes"
"..."
Hearing Marzuki's words, Taufik was silent for a moment, his lips trembled slightly, but Taufik held himself back, lowered his head, then took a deep breath to calm himself, then looked at Marzuki and said.
"... Yeah~ Whatever old Man, what are you going to do in the meantime?"
"I will engrave these moments in my heart so that I won't forget them later, how about you?"
"Just like what I said before, I will spend my time with Aksa, until the time comes"
"How long?"
"... Two years"
"Can't it be longer?"
"I can't, that is the time limit I gave to the people over there, more than that, I will be 'skinned' by those over there"
"..."
Hearing this, Marzuki was silent for a moment before a chuckle came out of his mouth.
"... It's so like her, How is she?"
"What? I thought you didn't want to talk about the 'past'?"
"Hmm? But we're talking about the 'Future, right?"
"..."
"... Or I'm wrong?"
"*Sigh* You two are the same, always finding a way through words, but she's fine... And she's getting prettier every day, I don't know, maybe she's found another man?"
Said Taufik who then looked at Marzuki, but unlike what he expected, Marzuki looked calm.
"... Are you okay if she finds another guy?"
"Why should I? If she's happy, what can I do?"
"... I'm sorry, I'm just kidding, she is the most loyal woman in the whole world"
"..."
"..."
"*Pfft* I know that too, why do you think I've survived this long? I've survived because I know how she is, do you know what I said to her before I got 'trapped' here?"
"..."
"... I told her, to wait for me to come back and I will definitely come back to her using whatever means I can, that's what I said to her, so I know she will wait, thinking about that, it keeps pushing me to keep trying to find a way home, I had given up, but seeing you here, I'm glad my efforts were not in vain"
"About that, how did you recognize me?"
"At first I found you very similar to her, your mother, but I opposed that thought and thought that it was just a resemblance, but after spending time with you and observing your strange behavior, my intuition grew stronger, and what made me even more certain was Aksa, your mother once showed me a photo of her when she was little, and Aksa had a resemblance to her, your mother's blood flows strongly in the family, I don't know why, even you, in terms of your face you are very similar to her"
"What? I think she looks like my wife. Am I wrong?"
"You're not wrong, what I mean by 'similar' here is Aksa's facial expression, before, when Aksa scolded those people for talking about his mother, it was very similar to your mother, because coincidentally, the photo your mother showed me a long time ago was a photo of her scolding two boys, it was very similar to her, ahaha~"
"... Only that?"
"Well~ That may sound shallow... But your answer earlier confirmed what my gut feeling said, I just said what I felt and your reply confirmed it"
Hearing this, Taufik felt fooled.
'So he just said that on instinct and wasn't completely sure who I was? But my answer confirmed what his instincts felt?'
"*Sigh* I feel like I'm being fooled"
"Ahaha~ Indeed so"
After that, the two of them continued talking to each other, until the sun finally set.
"... What? You other wives are pregnant right now?"
"Yeah~ That's why I can't stay here for long, and two years is the time limit I have here, once I return to the 'Future' then Aksa will spend time in this 'Time Line' without me, so that's why I want to spend as much time with him as I can before returning to the 'future'... This is a situation where I don't have many choices"
"... I... I don't know how should I react to that"
"You don't need to, Old Man, just prepare yourself when the time comes... Alright, I guess it's time"
"Hmm? Where are you going at a time like this?"
Asked Marzuki who was about to leave his place.
Hearing Marzuki's question, Taufik then turned towards Marzuki, and with a faint grin, he said. Continue your journey with empire
"... Where else if not to a place that can ensure that our journey for the next two years will be completely undisturbed"
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