บท 68: Departure

The next morning, Arthas immediately prepared his belongings, the people who were partying till the end were now up and sober.

Arthas didn't see anyone up and assumed that they were still asleep in their houses, but paid no heed as he was minding his person and he swiftly prepared his things.

He called out Maria and the other dinosaurs who chose to stay outside to sleep, observe the surroundings, and keep guard if anything were to happen.

The baby rexes that just woke up were walking unsteadily and went towards Arthas, he asked some villagers to get him some food for the small rexes.

They happily obliged and quickly came back, after they were done eating Arthas looked for Moltar and found him inside the hall alone, the torches lighting the dim room.

With an ambiance of a soft and calming atmosphere that tranquilized the soul from problems.

He sat down on the roundtable where they used to eat together and caught up when he woke up.

"Are you going now Arthas?" Moltar asked in a calm voice.

"In a while I will, just here to ask for permission to leave and say my goodbyes. And to talk about that other thing before I go."

Arthas pulled up a chair and sat in front of him, Moltar gladly accepted Arthas.

"Arthas it has been a long struggle for us and for you, we thank you for everything that you have done…It is truly something we cannot repay you" Moltar looked at him with sooting eyes.

The sunlight joined in with the conversation as they peeked through the holes in whatever they could hear.

"Don't mention it, don't be so uptight old man, we've been through worse and besides I will come back here someday so I hope you will take me in again before you do." Arthas smiled at him as he lightly tapped his fingers on the table.

"Hohoho, that is for sure a thing that we would do for you Arthas. By the way, what do you need this for?"

Moltar grabbed a bunch of papers from a backpack beside his chair. There were letters that seemed familiar to Arthas, he was now sure that it was English.

"Shuna completed all of it? That's great, let's do this first before our goodbyes. Tell me what's inside." Arthas face turned serious in that moment, his hands were both on the table.

His hands formed a bridge as he interlocked his fingers in front of him, indicating the seriousness of these papers.

"She told me it was about what you have said about categorizing the people in the villages and sorting them out." Moltar gave him the papers.

Looking through each one of them, Arthas saw a roughly organized description of their skills and strengths.

Some were good at hunting, harvesting, building, and labor, and some had some elementary basic knowledge about magic which surprised him.

'This is amazing, Arthas thought as he skimmed through the documents with his hand on his chin covering his mouth a habit of staying focused.

'Though it is a bit crude I can accept that, what amazes me is that she was able to do it in a short period of time, it even has some personal information about them', Arthas silently skimmed through while Moltar was watching.

It took him a while to go through everything and confirm that it was really what he was looking for.

And the results were…

"This is more than what I have expected, she has outdone herself…" Arthas complimented the task that was done with descriptive and informative detail.

"She would be happy to hear that from you Arthas, that reminds me she also gave extra papers saying that you might what to do about this or at least you have a plan in mind."

Grabbing more out of his weary leather backpack was another set of papers that were not too thin and not too thick.

Arthas was interested as he didn't ask Shuna for this and it was done out of her own initiative, inside made him think more about Shuna and her capabilities.

"This is fascinating…" Arthas mumbled as he looked through the paper with meticulous silence, "These are the children that are now being orphaned? How was she able to do that at the same time?"

"I heard that she was able to do that by some negotiations and some help with children" Moltar responded in a tone that even he questioned.

'Child Labor!!! I have to tell her to not overdo it with children…., Arthas thought as he considered deeply about what Moltar told him.

"So what are those documents about?" Moltar asked curiously slightly peeking at the papers.

"Children that lost their parents, home, and family to the monster, being orphaned and looks like them under her care, no wonder there has been an increase of kids around her…some even tried to confess, tsk, kids"

Arthas placed down the paper and lifted his head high on the ceiling while thinking, 'Although I have thought of this before, I think there was one thing that felt right.'

"So do you have anything for these children?"

"I do, but let's get to that later. Moltar I want you to listen to this carefully and remember it in a well-detailed manner." Arthas looked Moltar straight into his eyes.

"I am listening. What is it?" Moltar returned the determined gaze.

"With the help of the Mayward, I want you to establish a small marketing branch inside the city, which would be under the group I have created, United Dinosaur Foundation, what we would be selling would be labor, protection, resources, and food."

"Don't they already have those readily available to them? What's the use of that?" Moltar looked puzzled.

"The war has cost them a lot, with me robbing a lot from them, which I still think was a dumb move from Mayward, we are going to use it for our advantage, they lack labor from the tired soldiers, much more keeping the citizens safe."

Arthas continued to speak about Moltar regarding his plan.

"Once that is easily established I want you to place the products that we would be selling and spread the word about it, find a trade route or the road that would be taken in a much more efficient manner, cooperate and operate under the organization that I have created"

"I understand, so the purpose of categorizing the villagers was to see who would be suitable for the respective jobs." Moltar caught on to Arthas's plan. "So technically a mercenary group? But for a more wide range of duties."

"Don't worry too much about it, you have the advantage and have power that could possibly rival the city. I trust you."

Silence took over for a while Moltar was in deep thought and Arthas was planning his next action while casually sleeping.

"What do you think we should do about those orphans?" Moltar broke the silence.

Arthas slowly opened his eyes at his question and sat straight.

"I want them to live as they want, let them decide I have no control over their lives and you don't we just have to make sure they are safe and educate them."

"That is true…but why did Shuna give you those papers thinking what to do about them."

"I don't know…at least not right now." Arthas's answer was vague.

Seeing that Arthas was hesitant to answer Moltar ended the conversation with a smile.

"Take care Arthas, everyone has been grateful for your help."

"Yeah, let's talk to each other once we, thank you as well for taking care of me."

Arthas offered a handshake that Moltar firmly accepted. The day was young as the sun was shining bright as they went outside.

The villagers looked at Arthas and smiled whenever they passed by each other. Moltar brought Arthas in front of the village gate where the dinosaurs were ready to move out.

Strapped along the bodies of Nemesis and Morpehus were crates of food that were enhanced to preserve what was inside, clothes, and other materials in another crate.

It was a beautiful sight of a rex carrying around crates in its back. The small rexes were already on top of Morpheus as Nemesis's flames were scaring the baby rexes, and so was Morpheus.

Maria decided that it was better for her to walk and that she could catch up to them if ever they were to run/

With that Arthas decided that he would ride Morpheus with them for safety reasons, and Nemesis would be the one carrying all the heavy crates and resources.

Though Arthas was afraid that he would burn the crates and ask Nemesis to keep the flames to a minimum which he readily agreed.

The villagers came towards the gate as they waved Arthas goodbye, and Moltar with a satisfied face. Children running around saying and waving goodbye to the dinosaurs.

Arthas then thought of the first time he came to this village, despair was eating the faces but now it has filled with joy and smiles.

With a wave of his hands, they all departed from the village.