Chapter 412: Aether and Missing Leg (2/2)
”Ah, yes, of course. I'll tell the rest of the village that you need some rest,” Regal hurriedly nodded as he rushed out to tell the villages. Dacey prepared a bed for him, and Arthur slept the moment he laid down.
***
”Mama, is he asleep?”
”Aether!” Dacey shouted in a stern and low voice. ”Get away from there lest you wake him up!”
'But I'm already awake,' Arthur's consciousness returned, and he opened his eyes to find Regal's son staring at him. Since he woke up so suddenly and rose, Aether jumped back in shock.
”Ah, I'm so sorry, mister!”
”My Lord, please forgive him!” Dacey hurried over and slapped her kid's head before bowing together with him. It seems she was busy cooking lunch and didn't have time to keep an eye on her son.
”There's no need to scold him,” Arthur laughed as he suddenly remembered his mother. ”I've slept for too long, anyway,” he looked at the window and saw that it was day again. As he tried to use his mana, he realized that the 18-hours cooldown was over.
”Mister,” Aether raised his head and stared at Arthur's arm with a hint of curiosity. ”How did you lose your arm?”
This time, Dacey didn't scold him but her face crumbled into sadness. Aether was relating to Arthur because both of them had missing limbs, and it seems she couldn't bear to scold him.
”A bad person hurt me,” Arthur smiled as he touched the base of his shoulder, where his arm used to be.
”Did you also refuse to listen to your parents?” Aether suddenly pouted as he looked at his leg. Arthur was amused by the question, as that might be the reason for all of his hardships.
After all, he obtained the legacy by going into a dungeon, which his mother strongly forbade him from doing. If he just listened, he would have been nothing more than an indebted and unemployed young man.
”That's right,” Arthur nodded. ”I didn't listen, and I lost a lot of things because of it. Aether suddenly sniffed as he nodded, and it seemed he was thinking of his hardships. He sat next to Arthur as his mother returned to her work, only stealing glances at them.
”The other kids call me Pirate for having a wooden leg,” Aether said as he swung the shabby prostatic limb. ”But if I take it off, I won't be able to play anymore. Mister, isn't it hard to stay like that?”
”I know a pirate,” Arthur said as he took out some dyes and fruits from his subspace. These dyes were the ones they used in their Hidden Gems Auction. ”I know the coolest pirate out there.”
His spiritual energy infused into the dyes and extracted the colors from the fruits to paint a picture. Then, Arthur told Aether the story of the pirate he just met, Eleven. But, of course, he changed the story a bit to make the pirate lose his leg.
”After losing his leg, the pirate decided that if he couldn't swim or walk, then he needed to fly. So they began training to create their wings, and they eventually succeeded. Then, he flew around the world with his wings, and he became the greatest pirate out there.”
”Mama says it's bad to be a pirate!” Aether was looking at the moving picture in front of him with such excitement that it was contagious.
”There are good pirates too, but most of them are bad. However, you need to remember. If the pirate didn't lose his leg, he would have never learned how to fly. Sometimes, we lose things to get better ones.”
”Can I have wings too?” Aether jumped in front of him and asked. Arthur simply smiled and used his spiritual energy on the kid, and he began to float. ”Woah! Mama, look at me! I'm flying!”
”I can help you fly today, but you will need to learn how to fly,” Arthur said with a smile. ”But of course, you need to keep listening to your parents.”
”I understand, Mister!” Aether bobbed his head as he landed on the ground. Arthur smiled and rubbed his head before the kid got embarrassed and ran outside.
”Thank you,” Dacey placed the food on the table as she thanked him. ”I couldn't change how he feels because he would always see that I have two legs instead of one. But you understand his pain, and he understands yours. So, thank you.”