Valerian, The Legendary

Valerie smiled faintly as she turned to look at him. The young man reciprocated her smile. He thought for a bit but could not come up with anything. In the end, he scratched the back of his head, and then he suddenly thought of something and asked, “Is it okay if the story is short?”

The girl nodded with sparkling silver eyes, and Valerian said, ‘In a faraway land, a young boy lived with a goddess.’

Valerie asked, “What goddess? Vita?”

Valerian shook his head and said, ‘This goddess was a messenger sent down by Vita.’

Valerie nodded in understanding and asked, “Then.”

‘The boy was weak. He would always get injured as the people would hurt him. So they mistreated him.’, said Valerian.

The girl interrupted him again, “Why did they hurt him? Did he do anything wrong?”

Valerian shook his head and said, ‘He was just different from them. However, the people called him a cursed child. The boy was unfortunate and disliked meeting other people.’

.....

Valerie did not ask anything this time, and the young man continued, ‘The goddess was the only person who cared about him. She alone was enough to love him. She would heal him with magic whenever he would get hurt. Then, one day, the boy was troubled. He had no one to talk to. So the goddess appeared in front of him. He questioned her, “Why do I have no one to talk to? Am I cursed?”

The goddess smiled at him and said, “Look in the sky. Do you see the moon?”

The child nodded to her, and the goddess said, “These moons listen to everyone. So when you feel you have no one to talk to, you can talk to them.”

The boy asked, “They only come out at night.”

The goddess smiled and said, “Yes, so you can tell them all you did in the day.” ....’

Valerian has been using a gentle growling voice, and gradually the tired child closed her eyes and fell asleep. However, as he finished speaking, the girl’s eyelashes fluttered, and Valerian let out some coaxing nasal sounds.

This time, Valerie fell asleep, and Valerian lay down. It would be a lie to say that he was not tired from everything he did during the day. The night faded away from the sunlight, and the young man woke up. He found that the little girl was still sleeping. He did not disturb her at first and went to clean himself up.

Since he used to wake up earlier than the others, he cleaned the eatery and checked the dishes before dealing with the altar room. When he had finished cleaning the room, he offered his prayers. Solaria happened to walk in.

The young man greeted her, and the lady nodded. Then, she said, “You need to teach Valerie how to read and write and give her some small chores that she can do without disrupting the flow of the daily work.”

Valerian nodded and asked, ‘I do not understand what tasks I shall teach her, Your Grace.’

Solaria nodded and said, “You are familiar with making wicks for the candles. Right?”

Valerian took her hint and said, ‘Thank you for your advice, Your Grace. I will wake her up and bring her to offer prayers.’

Solaria smiled and said, “You do not have to rush it. Take it slow.”

Valerian nodded and then went back to his room. He found that Valerie had woken up alone and was in a daze. The young man used beast vocabulary to communicate, ‘What are you thinking about, Valerie?’

The girl looked at him and asked, “What should I call you?”

Her question was simple and sincere. This took Valerian aback. He does not remember dealing with anyone whose eyes had such innocence. He replied, ‘You can call me Big Brother Val.’

This was a common way of addressing people. In the orphanage, many older children who were good with the young ones were addressed like this only. Valerie did not think much and nodded as she said, “Good Morning, big brother Val.”

Valerian smiled and then took her to the bathhouse, where he asked a nun to help the girl clean up. He mentioned to her that the collar chain was a magic artifact and it was necessary for the girl to talk so that they were careful with it.

After a few minutes, Valerie came out all cleaned up and wearing a white frock. The young man took her to the altar room and taught her to pray to Vita. The girl followed his instructions without any fuss.

Then he left in the care of a few older nuns and began to look after his work. At noon, when he was finished dealing with almost everything on his plate. He took the little girl to the workroom. This place was the money-making place of the Temple. The Temple sold the products from here to the people and earned money to keep things going.

The prepared candles and paper bags are here. Valerian told Valerie that everything here was significant and that she must pay attention to his actions and follow through. The young girl nodded, and she followed them quickly too.

Valerian said, ‘To make a wick, you need a thread dripped with resins to make it harden later, or it will be flimsy and soft and burn too quickly.’

Valerie nodded and then asked, “But how?”

She asked as she looked at the material placed on a table. She was holding the edge of the table while standing on her toes. Valerian smiled and found a stool from the side. He then told the girl to stand on it.

Valeria did as told, and she could look at everything with ease. Valerian pointed at a spinning wheel on the side and said, ‘You will spin this wheel, and it will collect thin thread on the side. Like this.’

He told her everything from start to end. Finally, after three failed tries, Valerie successfully made a wick and smiled joyfully. Valerian smiled while looking at her and poked her cute small nose. The two worked together, and the output was nearly doubled instantly. The two worked like this for a couple of hours, and then Valerian took the little girl to wash her hands and then visited the eatery for lunch.

...

On the throne peak, Fortuna was lying on the ground with her eyes closed. However, around her was a faint ripple of mana. Sophos was observing from the side and nodded. Finally, the queen of dragons opened her eyes and asked, “Why do you keep monitoring me? You know I will not walk away from the path I have chosen and bring shame to everyone.”

Sophos nodded and said, “I know. I only stayed so that if you need something, I can help you.”

Fortuna sighed and asked, “Fine, you can correspond with Gale and check on his situation. However, I do not want to know anything, or I will fly away too.”

Sophos nodded and walked away from the place. Fortuna shook her head after she looked at his hurried figure. The dragon was training to increase her speed and power to another level. She wanted to be stronger to face Immortuous Tyrant when the time came. She also wanted to protect Valerian in case he encountered a bigger danger.

Her training was not the same as the other dragons. It was not to improve the skills she had but the power she had. Unfortunately, during her initial days, she had no magical power. That left some scars on her being.

She was weaker than a true royal dragon was. The only thing that helped her get through the trial of ascension was her grit and will. This training would not have been necessary for her if she did not have to save Valerian from falling into the river of time. However, she did not have any regrets.

...

Valerian spent ten days teaching Valerie, and the girl was intelligent enough to pick up all the knowledge like a sponge absorbing water. The young man was also very patient with her. He recalled those days when Diligentia taught him. She never yelled or scolded him. Valerian also taught the girl some basic sign language, and the two would communicate using the signs so that the girl could get some practice.

Solaria noted all this, and the changes she expected to appear in Valerian were evident. The young man was now smiling more and communicating more with the people around him. His heart was gradually melting as he recalled the past of his story, where Diligentia took care of him and gave him warmth.

After a month, the high priestess called for Valerian and Valerie to the altar hall. She was going to discuss something of great importance with them. It was time the story moved on to another chapter.