Arty just nodded. But Erend could see a tremor in her hand holding the small bucket.
Arty pressed her lips together. As if trying to suppress her feelings so they don't come out.
Erend walked closer to his sister. The smile was still on his face.
"You are okay?" Erend asked while placing his hand on Arty's head. "It's alright, now."
Arty took a deep breath. It was as if she was relieved to see Erend here.
"Come on in," Arty said.
Erend nodded and the two of them entered their shoddy house.
Inside there the smell of cooking had come and reached Erend's nose.
"Mom, Erend is home!" Arty shouted as she walked into her room.
Footsteps sounded hurried. Then the figure of a woman appeared from the kitchen. Her warm smile greeted Erend.
The woman's eyes filled with tears when she saw the return of her eldest son.
Erend smiled at his mother. The woman already looked older than before. The white hair on her mother's head was more visible, dominating her dark hair which had almost disappeared.
Erend didn't know when his eyes started to shed tears. As soon as he realized that, Erend immediately rubbed it roughly.
Then they hugged each other. Releasing all kinds of emotions and longing that have been held back.
One of the things that made him able to survive this long was his family.
The memory of the time when he had to hear that his family was in danger, and couldn't do anything about it came back. He could only wait and wait.
Until finally he can do something to save his family from afar.
The loneliness, longing, and fear that he had been feeling spilled over into his mother's arms.
Erend allowed himself to burst into tears. Even the sound of his cries echoed in the plywood walls that make up their house.
Arty suddenly came out of her room and ran towards them.
She wrapped her arms around Erend and their mother. And finally, the three of them cried while hugging together.
A few minutes went on like that. After that, Erend and Arty waited for dinner while talking.
While their mother prepares the food. Arty wants to help her cooking as usual. But her mother said that she should talk to her big brother while there was still a chance.
Arty did not express a refusal. She actually wanted to talk to her big brother after so long.
So here is Arty now. Talking with Erend on the chair on the front porch of their house.
While gazing at the sights of equally rickety houses, dirty puddles, and small children playing.
"So how was your school?" Erend asked in a tone that was still a bit awkward.
Arty and several other children her age attend one of the high schools provided by the government.
The school is located in district five in Ascar city.
There, the children from the Slum and the children from the city area attended school together.
Even though the government provided the school for them to share. But of course discrimination by children from the city to children from Slums still occurs.
"I just beat up a kid from the city area yesterday," Arty replied in an even tone.
Erend snorted then chuckled. "You can't do it. It's abuse."
Arty turned and looked at Erend. "What? Don't you remember I learned all that from you?"
Erend also beat up a kid from the city area when he was in high school. It's all because of the same problem, bullying, and humiliation.
Erend who at that time still didn't know how to hold back unleashed the beast inside him and left the boy battered.
But Erend knew that was not a good deed. Even so, he wouldn't be able to scold Arty for that.
It was because Erend knew how things going on there.
"Where exactly were you hiding back then?" Arty asked.
"You probably won't believe this. But I'm hiding in the palace of the Elves," Erend said with a proud smile.
Arty turned around with a surprised expression. "Elf Palace?!"
"Yeah," Erend nodded. "Who would have thought that the enemy who declares war on us would become our refuge from the nation we protect?"
Erend let out a small laugh. A laugh filled with sadness and irony.
Arty looked at her brother with a sad look. She knew Erend had been through a lot.
She lived hard since childhood, then was forced to join the war and died on the battlefield.
Then as if that weren't enough, her brother and his friends had to be framed by some military jerk.
Arty's molars hardened. Erend noticed the sign of his sister being consumed by anger.
"Never mind, I don't want to talk about that," Erend said. "Let's just talk about your life. What happened at school besides you beating that kid up?"
Arty snorted. She was starting to soften.
"Well, there is this boy," Arty said.
Then she glanced at Erend to see his reaction. As she had expected, Erend glared at her.
"What? do you have a boyfriend now?" Erend asked in a sharp tone.
"Ahahaha!" Arty laughed. "Don't worry. I don't have a boyfriend. I was just kidding."
It was obvious that Erend was relieved to hear that. After that, they continued to talk about many things.
After a long time of not talking to each other, it was clear that they would have many things to talk about.
The conversation between the brothers and sisters went on for quite a while.
Until finally the sun went down and the sky turned dark. They went inside and eat a warm dinner together.
Erend could momentarily forget all about his exhaustion here.
He looked at the smiling faces of his family. If only their father was here too, then this dinner would be even more perfect.
But suddenly Erend's mind remembered Aurdis. How are things going with her?
'Wait, why am I suddenly thinking of her? Did something happen to Audis?'
Erend suddenly immediately felt anxious. The last time he left Aurdis, the palace wasn't doing well.
'What is Aurdis doing now?'