When Drake and the others saw Althea outside the Southwest gate alone—in full gear, no less—they were taken back.
What was this beautiful woman who had just given birth doing outside the walls?
Fufi, on the other hand, was just happy and running around her in excitement.
Adventure! Adventure!!
Althea chuckled and patted the good boy's head as she sensed his thoughts. "Wanna come with me?"
Fufi's smiling head bobbed, telling her of his approval. It just made her laugh.
Not far, the team of guards couldn't help but watch the beautiful scenery that she made for a while.
Drake was the first to approach the woman, blushing a bit. He still hadn't overcome his fear of beautiful women, but thanks to the patient perseverance of his many suitors, he was getting better.
"Ms. Althea! Where are you going?"
"Exploring for some plants," She said with a smile. Drake turned to the deep forest beyond and frowned.
"You can just tell us and we—"
"Nono, I need to do it myself. You probably don't know this but I have appraisal skills. if it were others, they may just die of poison."
"But—"
"This is an order from a village elder."
Drake stared at her in conflict, before sighing. "Well, then at least let a few of us escort you." He said, looking back at his team who naturally had no complaints.
Drake nodded in approval before turning to Althea with a smile. "After all, what kind of guard team are we if we can't even protect an Elder."
…
In the end, fifteen people were tasked to accompany her, while the rest kept the guard duty in their area. This included Drake, Fufi, and the Hugo uncle-and-nephew duo.
"I'm surprised you actually entered the guards' team." She said and the duo gave a shy smile.
"We had wanted to form our own force at first and be our own boss, but…"
The handsome Hugo chuckled and finished the sentences for his nephew. "The territory charmed us."
Indeed. The territory was so good. How could they not love it?
And also… how could they say they were also heavily inspired by the beautiful image of a lone pregnant woman defending a gate by herself?
After all, such a good territory was guarded so tightly by so many people who had only stayed there for a few days—and this was including a pregnant woman…
Inexplicably, they wanted to join them, too.
With a good atmosphere, the small group headed in a specific direction. The guards looked curiously at the compass in her hand.
One of the guards was a little older and looked nostalgic.
"It's been a while since I've seen an old compass." He said, using that old man's tone of his. "My father used to take me to the mountains near our village.
"Then you must be rich to have a forest near your home." Another one said. Half of their Terran planet was dead due to the overuse of the previous generations.
Unlike before, in their generation, 'living near the forest' actually meant a luxury trip.
The man rolled his eyes. "I'm telling a story here, alright?"
The friend laughed. "Alright, continue."
Similar conversations echoed around the group. Obviously, even when they were guards and trained, Drake and Rowan adopted a relatively lighthearted handling where the soldiers could freely chat as they wanted.
Of course, this was in the condition that they remained vigilant at all times. They could chat, but their attention and senses must always be directed outwards.
This half-listening attitude also caused some tangents in the conversations which was also amusing to listen to.
For example, a guard would ask his friend what he ate for breakfast and in response, the friend would answer he woke up early to exercise. There was also a case where someone was singing, but someone sincerely thought there was a monster croaking.
It was quite funny.
Anyway, as they walked, Althea occasionally taught them which plants would be useful to them, as well as their emergency handling, while gathering some for her own use.
For example, she taught them which herb could hasten blood clotting. For example, which plants would be filling when eaten even with the most basic preparation methods.
And, for example, she also taught them which plants were poisonous. In the same vein, she taught them which partner plant was needed as an antidote.
Of course, all this knowledge was all basic and couldn't be compared to the professionals handling them, but the knowledge could definitely save lives.
The guards knew this and they listened thoroughly, admiring this beautiful woman even more in their hearts.
They watched as she found a particularly interesting plant and asked them to rest.
Hugo looked at her smiling face filled with passion. It was obviously a topic she liked very much.
"An admirable genius." He said could not help adding to himself. "Her husband… is a lucky man."
"He is," Drake answered beside him, surprising both Hugo and Helios.
"You know him?"
"We were soldiers together," Drake said but didn't elaborate. Hugo wanted to ask more until they heard a small flop nearby them.
To their surprise, it was made by the woman as she took out a machine from her space.
"This is my portable lab, Tori." She said with a happy face, taking some specimens and tinkering with it. There was also a notebook and pen on hand ready to record the changes.
She was very eager and like a little girl, very much unlike the goddess of war in his first impression.
Hugo, in particular, found it extremely cute.
Drake also smiled, though for a very different reason.
Years ago, more than once, he remembered Garan's monologue about occasionally feeling jealous of a 'Tori'.
Their indifferent captain, when a little drunk, droned on about how his wife sometimes only had Tori in her eyes, how Tori took all her time…
He had always thought it was a pet or something.
Only now did he know what it was.
He shook his head in amusement at the memory, before regaining his serious face and ordered the soldiers to set up a temporary camp for lunch.
Hence, while Althea did her experiments, the soldiers set up a campfire for a barbeque. Using the special barbeque sauce from her Gaea grocery store, of course.
As they prepared the meal, their stomachs started growling. Sadly, until after they ate the beautiful elder was still immersed with her notes.
"Should we tell her?" One soldier asked.
"Wouldn't that be very rude?" Another soldier added worriedly.
Drake, on the other hand, had heard about Althea's bouts. If they didn't disturb her now, they might as well prepare for dinner.
However, before he could say anything. Althea had already straightened her back and ran to them, raising an elongated tubelike leaf in front of his face.
"We have it now!" She exclaimed, bright like a child. "Salt!!"