Chapter 338: The Guardian Soldiers

The soldiers were busy with their tasks.

An archer walked to the dead bandit's body to pluck out the two arrows he had shot. A few of them walked back to retrieve the bodies of the other 6 bandits. And the remaining was resting on the rocks and grass when one of the female soldiers cried out-

"Miss Aleria, we have an elf here."

There was not a single soldier who's brows did not frown. The words that fell in their ears were that difficult to believe.

Except for those who already had an assigned task, all others ran to the soldier who cried out loud. When the saw that the boy among the chained ones was indeed an elf, inaudible murmurs began to rise.

"Soldiers, stand back!"

A thunderous shout caused the soldiers to retreat. It was the recognition of the voice that made them fall back, not the sudden shout. The retreated soldiers formed a line on either side and a figure walked towards the child cowering in fear.

The blond hair was dancing in the air as the wind blew gently. The armour-clad physique graciously walked to the elf boy with silent steps.

Looking up, a faintly smiling face was revealed to the boy's eyes. It had a peculiar charisma that made him be entranced by the beauty of the face.

Miss Aleria was the leader of the quick response squad consisting of 25 members. Due to her talent and skill, she was able to secure the position of squad leader at an early age.

The skin complexion of all the humans on the planet Utopia ranged from a slightly lighter to a slightly darker shade of milk-chocolate colour. So basically, all humans were the same.

This, the boy learnt after observing the common complexion of all soldiers and the chained women and children, and the squad leader. It was a subconscious assumption and it turned out to be correct.

Miss Aleria was a relatively fair woman. Due to her dedication to the military, she stayed single and unmarried even at the age of 27. She was known to turn down even the proposals from nobles and officials since they were after her beauty. Her tall and petite physique was attractive to men, but her position as a squad leader made them wary of her.

She lowered her head to look at the naked boy and tilted her head to look at the peculiar ears. When she raised her hand to touch them, the body became scared and cringed.

The lady's subconscious act to quench her curiosity placed her in an awkward position. Thus, she quickly retracted her hands and wore a serious countenance. Yet a smile was visible on her lips.

"Do you have a name?"

The concerned query was simple yet the boy did not answer it. He simply stared into her eyes with a mixed expression of fear and caution.

It took him a while, but he finally answered-

"I, I don't know...who I am."

The fluency of the words was apt for his age of 12. The soldiers also deduced that the boy is around 13 or 14 from his height as Miss Aleria asked him to stand up.

The sense of nakedness was innate to all mainstream races of the Utopia. Thus, the boy tried to cover his nakedness with his hands.

Observing this, a soldier stepped forward to use a sheet piece of fabric to cover his nakedness. The boy quickly took it from the soldier's hand and wrapped it around him.

"How did the bandits caught him?"

Miss Aleria could not help but notice the lack of wounds or any sort of marks on the pristine body of the elf. This hinted to her that the elf has a different origin from the rest of the chained people.

The question she mumbled to herself was heard by a woman who answered as the soldiers broke their shackles.

"The bandits got him front here. He was hiding over there."

As she spoke, she pointed at the cluster of vines that were cut in half. Miss Aleria followed her indication and nodded as she comprehended the reason.

The women and children were free from the chains by the time a few seconds later. They rushed to hug their dear and near ones while tears flowed down their cheeks again.

The boy alone stood there with a blanket wrapped around him. As he saw them expressing their affections, he turned around to not view the event.

Miss Aleria had walked back to her soldiers and were discussing something seriously. The tension in the air and their facial expressions conveyed to the boy that their topic of discussion was the real deal.

Unbeknownst to him, they were talking about the elf boy.

As he witnessed, Miss Aleria nodded at the soldiers as they dispersed the meeting. The squad leader walked to the boy while the others went in other directions.

She came walking to him and stood before him and asked-

"Do you have a name?"

To which the boy shook his head in reply.

"Do you know where you lived?"

Again, the answer was the same.

"How did you got here?"

The squad leader probed one after the other. This went on while the soldiers used bandages and medicines to treat the wounds of the injured.

After every query, the answer was a non-verbal 'No'. The boy did not utter anything and this placed Miss Aleria in a difficult situation.

The questionnaire continued for about 6 minutes. Then the sound of horses and carriages were introduced to the atmosphere.

Miss Aleria looked over her shoulder to find that few of the soldiers had brought their transportations with them. Following them, about 10 soldiers emerged from the woods from the opposite direction.

*shaking their heads*

The soldiers who came from their woods shook their heads helplessly. Miss Aleria nodded at them and turned back to the boy.

"The forest is dangerous. You might get injured if you stay here.

Would you like to come with us, to the town?"