Ronald's Suspicions

Raven quickly put on his clothes after the run-in with the girl. He was tempted to follow her tracks immediately but decided against it. She would probably run off to tell someone that she had seen a boy bathing in the river and then they would return and run into him.

'I can follow her tracks later. For now, it's best I hide.'

With those thoughts, Raven wasted no time in making himself scarce. And just as he had predicted, the girl returned shortly after with an older man.

"Looks like he's long gone." The older man with black hair and dark brown eyes said, patting the girl's head. "Nothing to worry about, Xena."

"O-okay. Can you stay with me as I wash? I'm a bit scared." The young girl, Xena, asked hesitantly.

"Sure thing." The older man grinned and sat down while Xena rushed to the river to wash the clothes she had come to wash earlier. It was still quite early in the day, just before none, so the air was fresh and sweet.

Xena got down to washing while the older man kept his senses sharp. His name was Ronald and he was an adventurer from a nearby town called Maybrook. He had been born in a small town that no longer existed. It had been destroyed in the Hundred Year War and he had been a wanderer ever since. Lately, he hung around the village that Xena was from. It was a nameless little place that was of little value, but Ronald liked it just that way. He was looking for some peaceful days.

As far as he could remember, the sudden news of a village being wiped out overnight and the further discovery of Dark Magic being at play was the most exciting thing that had happened around here in the past ten years.

'Oh, there was also the incident of that one village disappearing suddenly, right? Was it eight, seven years ago?' He thought to himself.

It did not take a genius to know that something was probably up in the White Empire. The hidden undercurrents were beginning to surge up and it would soon take the White Empire by storm.

'I guess my quiet days are over, huh?' Roland said as he flicked a small rock away from his body.

Eventually, Xena finished washing and the two of them left the river. Ronald cast a glance back to the area. Xena had told him that she had never seen that boy in the village before. Could he be related to the recent happenings?

Ronald shook his head and led Xena back to the village. He would keep his guard up for anything out of place.

.

.

Soon, night fell and Raven returned to the river. He looked around but was unable to find any tracks left by the girl from earlier.

'Strange... The timeframe was too little for the tracks to fade away so quickly.' He thought to himself as he looked around.

Snap!

Behind him, a twig snapped and he jumped into a forward roll to give himself some distance from whoever had snuck up behind him.

"Oho? Your reflexes are quite sharp." A deep, gruff voice rang out.

Raven turned around but did not use any magic yet. If he was lucky, he could deceive the person without needing to reveal his true identity.

"Who are you?" Raven asked, his blue eyes sharp in the darkness. One thing his Dark Magic gave him was natural night vision.

"That's what I should be asking you. You're not from around here. I have never seen you in the village before." The man stepped forward. It was Ronald. He held a mace in his hand, ready for anything.

"..." Raven had no words to use to defend himself so Ronald continued speaking.

"Look, I know something fishy has been going on. And my intuition tells me you have something to do with it. That said, my intuition does not tell me that you're a bad person." Ronald leaned forward as he spoke. "How about this. You come with me and tell me your story. I promise not to tell anyone." He extended his hand.

"..." Raven stared, shocked at the man who held a hand out toward him. He would have never thought a random stranger would be so amicable. But then again, this could be a ploy. The man had easily deduced that Raven was suspicious and he had hit the nail on its head when he mentioned that he suspected Raven was behind the recent happenings.

Of course, Raven was not in the dark about the spread of news concerning the village he had burnt to the ground. He had overheard a few travelers speaking about it as he spied on them.

Whoosh!

Without wasting a moment, Raven turned around and took off, leaving Ronald standing there in shock. Raven's body vanished between the dark bushes and Ronald lost track of him.

"...I was not expecting that." Ronald nodded his head as he lips formed a smile. "Seems this kid is going to be interesting."

Raven's actions were a hint that Ronald's words earlier had been right. The boy was indeed involved in what had happened lately. However, even Ronald failed to guess that the one responsible for it all was Raven himself. He only thought that Raven was linked to the one responsible.

With those thoughts in his head, he turned around and raised his mace, resting it against his shoulder, then set off to return to the village. He was sure that Xena was worrying about him.