23 Chapter23: Relaxing Time

After a while of walking, we decided to rest below the shades of a giant tree just beside the long cobblestone road.

The heat of the sun is not that hot and it actually feels refreshing to the skin. The sky is blue and there are only a few clouds visible to the horizon. The wind feels great and refreshingly cold as it blows softly into my face; I can also see Alice's silver hair being blown by the wind.

We walked for almost 4 hours now but I don't feel any tired at all, but Alice was a different matter. I carried her on top of my shoulder after just two hours of walking because I want to be considerate to her.

[ Alice, do we still have anything to eat? ] I asked Alice who's just laying beside me who's also lying underneath the shade of the tree.

We have already eaten launch but we immediately trained after we did. Even though I don't feel tired at all, I still feel like I need to relax and rest a little.

[ We still have the sandwiches Bretta-chan made for us. She said that we should eat it immediately after leaving the city so we can taste it at its best. ] replied Alice.

[ ... you should have said that earlier Alice... poor Bretta... anyway, let's just eat it now. ]

too bad we wouldn't now be able to taste it at its best as Bretta-chan has said.

Alice took out a small bento in her bag and. opened it.

[ here, onii-san. ] Alice handed me one sandwich from the bento, she also took one for herself then she put the bento on the ground.

it seems that Alice is already used being together with me now. At first, she will always ask me before doing anything and sometimes she will get confused and will complain about how well I was treating her. It only has been three days but I feel like Alice is already close to me like she always been with me for a longer time.

Alice also has been calling me onii-san since the first day we met. I just hope she changes it to something that sounds more familiar, like Yuki onii-chan or even just onii-chan.

[ by the way onii-san... you were not originally from Citrine City, right? I heard that you want to travel to different countries... if you leave Citrine City... I will not be useful to you anymore... but you will also take me with you, right, onii-san? ]

[ not being useful anymore...? Is that about your knowledge about all the monsters near Citrine? ]

[ ... yes... ]

[ why are you still worrying about that? I already said that I will take care of you when we first met, right? also, you won't be useless because I'm teaching you how to hunt now too. okay? ] I said as I patted her small head.

[ ... ye-yes! then I will train more Onii-san! ] Alice said with a serious expression.

[ yes, yes, let's do our best. ]

[ Un! ]

The sun is now at it's highest in the sky, which indicates that it's already noon. Living here for three days I noticed that the day and night here also flows the same as in my previous world. I actually can tell the time just by looking at the position of the sun and the moon in the sky, which my father also, again taught me how to.

after a while of relaxing, we finally ate all the sandwiches Bretta-chan made.

[ whoo! that was delicious! I guess Bretta-chan got her mother's talent. ]

[ yesh! it was really delicious. ] Alice said while she still eating some inside her mouth.

[ well, do you want to continue now...? or let's rest first? because we ate too many of Bretta-chan's sandwiches that it became hard to move... ]

[ I think we should rest a little more first onii-san... If we continue walking our stomachs might explode... ] Alice said as she lays on the ground looking at the sky.

[ I agree... ] I laid my body on the ground and then I closed my eyes.

[ it feels really relaxing... ] the wind blowing to us feels really cold yet really refreshing, the heat of the sun is also complimenting the coldness of the wind and the leaves falling on the tree helps provide the relaxing mood.

I want to sleep...

(XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX)

[ hey! ]

I heard a male voice calling me.

[ hey! ]

I woke up.

[ Hhaaahhh... did I fell asleep? ] I wipe my eyes and looked at my surroundings. Beside me was Alice who's still sleeping, and in front of me is a guy wearing a helmet and leather armor with some Iron plating in it.

[ are you okay? ] The guy asked me.

he's looking at me suspiciously and he's also taking glances on Alice.

[ ... yes, I'm fine... umm... who are you? ] I asked.

[ no, I should be the one asking you that. Who is this little girl with you? and what country are you from? you look suspicious. did you kidnapped this little girl?! ] uwaahh... did he just mistook me for a kidnapper?!

[ no, no! I'm just an adventurer! Alice here is my companion. we're just traveling to a nearby village and we decided to rest a little after the long walk. ] I explained to him in details but he somehow still looking at me suspiciously.

[ hmm... did you came from Citrine City? show me your adventurer card... ]

[ umm... here. ] I'm lucky I did not forget to bring it with me.

[ yea... it says here that you're really from Citrine. Okay then, I'm an escort of a noble lady who's coming to visit Citrine City. She said she saw someone suspicious and ordered me to look at what was it. We thought it was some kind of monster at first but it turns out just to be a human boy. ] The guy explained as he pointed at what seems to be some kind of carriage with four horse pulling it. The base of the carriage itself is covered in gold and other pretty looking decorations.

[ just who is the person you're escorting? and I must say, your explanation of your situation earlier was very specific... ] He even said that they mistook me for a monster...

[ well, that was what it is. I will tell my lady that you're not a bad guy. You're also lucky that I'm the one they sent here to investigate, one of my companions might have had killed you immediately the second he sees your... mysterious...? ugly...? stupid...? face. ] he's kinda struggling to choose one from those three.

well, I guess I'm lucky I was not caught off guard by one of his companions? I wonder how many of them are there. I can't see properly because this guy talking with me blocked my vision when I tried to look at them.

[ well, I'm going to leave now. I will tell them that there's nothing wrong, so just keep doing what you're doing. ]

[ but I'm not doing anything. ]

[ sleeping. ] He said as he turned his back at me, walked away, and then waved.

[ ohh... ] I was a little dumbfounded and my head was confused about what he said because I thought that sleeping is not an action.

just a second later, he's now far away from us, he got on top of one of the horses besides those ones who are pulling the Carriage, then the Carriage's horses started running and they were now far away to the road's horizon.

[ I wonder who the noble inside is... ]

[ huh? onii-san? did I fell asleep? ] Asked Alice who just woke up.

I decided to just forget what happened and not tell Alice because it was unnecessary.

[ yes, how about we go now? we rested quiet enough now don't you think? ]

[ yes. ]

Then we continued moving and I was thankful that guy woke me up before the sun sets or we wouldn't be able to arrive at the village before it does.