Privacy security

Privacy security is a very important matter. Its meaning is as simple as the words suggest, and the rules are also easy to understand. Invading others' privacy isn't only unethical, but it can also cause complicated circumstances; such as the current situation. 

"...."

-Meow...

"...."

While the others were preparing the tents for the night, two men and one invisible Aether Creature stood side by side in silence. The atmosphere among the three had been like that since a while ago. Ian didn't know what to say and Alaric didn't know what to do, so the two just walked awkwardly the whole time.

'I was too careless.'

Ian pinched the center of his eyebrows. 

How could he forget about this abnormal nobleman? He was so focused on other matters that he completely ignored the fact that Alaric could hear Lior and their communication. 

Ian had infinite time on his hands. He was used to the easy way of solving any problem; taking his life and going back in time. He gradually got accustomed to this laid-back and carefree lifestyle. There weren't many things that needed his immediate attention and nothing that couldn't be solved by regressing, except for regressing itself. Seemed like this habit was rooted deep down in his character, as he'd so casually discarded such an important matter as well.

'I'm really not used to this.'

Lior told him to give everything one more try, and he too wanted to see if these unexpected changes could help him finally set free of his regressions, but considering the whole thing now, he felt exhausted all of a sudden. 

'Urrhhh I'm too old for this. Can't I just travel around with these guys and chill?'

How nice would it be if he could just skip the process and reach the results? 

"...Um I... I'm really sorry..."

Snapping Ian out of his thoughts was a low voice. Alaric bent his back, peeking at Ian's face. 

"I was going to tell you that I could hear your voices as soon as the two of you began conversing, but you found out before I could say anything. It wasn't intentional, I swear. And I won't misunderstand what you said, because I actually didn't understand it at all. I won't tell anyone. It's a promise. I'm sorry, sorry, really sorry!"

He blurted out everything in one go, running out of breath once he was done. Alaric then peeked at Ian, gulping his saliva.

"...Please don't be upset..."

"...."

The bluehead was dumbstruck by the sudden wave of apologies. It took him a second to come back to his senses.

"I'm not upset."

Ian straightened his back and corrected his posture. 

"And what you heard wasn't anything meaningful anyway; so you can do whatever you want."

What if he heard Ian talking about seeing someone's death numerous times? What could he conclude with such a meaningless sentence? Ian didn't reveal anything nor were his words enough for others to form a theory or make a guess.

Even if Ian directly approached Alaric and told him the whole story about his regressions, Alaric wouldn't believe a thing; just as no one else did in Ian's many previous attempts. He'd only be viewed as a maniac and cast aside. 

The important thing was that he didn't reveal anything important from now on.

'We'd better find a way to communicate without this brat hearing our words.'

He had to try some methods with Lior and see if anything worked out. There should be a way to filter this dude out of their conversation. Ian couldn't imagine a future where he couldn't even talk to Lior with peace of mind. 

"...I'm sorry."

"Okay."

"Really didn't mean to."

"Okay."

"Please don't be mad."

"Okay."

Finally shaking Alaric off, Ian arrived at the tents, where the atmosphere also felt strange. The group sat in a circle, awkwardly looking at the newcomer. Claus was carefully unwrapping a package he took out from his bag. Underneath all the wrappings was a gray piece of something, seeming and smelling suspicious. Claus grinned before eagerly taking a bite of that something.

Seeing the weird looks the others were giving him, the elf paused while chewing and sent the humans a glance.

"It's food... Don't you have any?"

No response. 

"...Do you want some?"

'Some of what? That tree root lookalike thing?'

'That thing looks poisonous...'

Doris and Eleen exchanged glances first before looking at Aralick and then at Raven. The man kept staring at Ian's back. Seeing him nod his head, Raven took, nodded his head at the others. His fingers ran down the sheath of his sword as he did.

The three held back their tears and lowered their heads.

They were starving.

'Why are we forced into this?'

At first, Doris thought she was the only one who didn't know what was going on, but then she realized that no one understood the situation except for Ian. This was even more confusing.

Ian wasn't a problem. The actual problem was Raven who kept unreasonably following his words and threatening the others to do so. And traveling with a new guy wasn't an issue either, the problem was that this person was an elf and too sensitive about nature. They couldn't hunt, couldn't gather herbs, couldn't start a fire, and couldn't use their stored food in front of Claus cause they were all related to nature. What was there left to eat?

Just then, Ian strode over and plopped down beside Claus.

"Is that an elven food? I've never seen such a thing."

"Yes. It's a very special food."

"Is that so? Could you please share some with us? We lost a huge portion of our food supply on the way here when passing a river so..."

"But I also don't have many... Whatever."

Claus helplessly nodded and handed each a small packed suspicious-looking snack. Neither the elf's expression resembled one who was willing to share his food nor the humans seemed pleased by this favor. 

"To think a lowly servant like me could share a meal with an elf..." Under everyone's distorted faces, Ian gleefully peeled the wrappers until the piece of strange-looking snack came out. "By the way, it came to me as a question. What are these things made of? Elves won't eat animal meat or vegetables if I'm not mistaken."

Hearing those words, the group took another glance at the thing in their palms. None had taken a bite of it yet, but their faces contorted to even grimmer and more disgusted expressions. 

The elf, on the other hand, glanced at Ian with glimmering pupils. 

"We do eat fruits and some particular herbs, but these are made from a special kind of plant bestowed on us since the first elf generation." 

Seeing questions written all over Ian's face, Claus eagerly continued to explain, "It's said that these plants were specially created by The Evergreen for the elf race. The Evergreen granted this gift to us, who weren't willing to consume the same food as the humans."

"Evergreen? Who is she?"

Despite his curious tone, the slave had a stoic expression on his face as he took a bite of the loaf of bread.

"Evergreen Goddess is, of course, our God and Savior. She's the symbol of nature, the protector of the earth, and the blessed of The World Tree."

"I see," the slave raised his eyebrows. "This is my first time hearing about her."

Claus never changes no matter how many lifetimes they meet. He always enjoyed bragging about their race and traditions.

"We plant and harvest it close to The World Tree every month and bake it in various ways. This is just a simply baked blend bread as it's more suitable to take to journeys, but we have various meals in different flavors."

This line was targeted at the four people who were staring at the bread with suspicious eyes. Their behavior was truly disrespectful. Claus found the need to brief them more.

"Since the first-generation elves received the gift, this has always been our race's main dish. I doubt many humans ever got the chance to try this food out, so you lot are lucky."

Were they that fortunate? The group had doubts. They craved meat, not some strange-colored dry bread.

"...Guys, are you sure we won't turn into an elf upon consuming this?"

"What do you mean, human??? You think I would lower myself so much as to poison you?"

"No, not that, but look, this is kind of..."

"You should pray day and night for a chance to experience the life of an elf, ignorant human!"

"Argh, this man! He- Wait, Raven, you're actually eating it?"

Raven's eyes were focused on Ian, who was soundlessly mounching on the bread. 

"I trust in my lord."

"What the..."

"Who is your lord?"

"But isn't Ian a servant?"

"I guess they had a bet of some sort."

The humans and the elf engaged in conversation, sometimes quarreling and sometimes chitchatting while warily eating their dinner. Sitting a little bit far from the youthful atmosphere, Ian held a tiny piece of bread in his palm, offering it for the wolf pup to try. 

-It doesn't have a taste at all...

Lior robbed his head against his master's palm. 

-So your senses are still weak.

-Mhm... 

Lior's body didn't function exactly like an animal. Some of his senses were way weaker compared to humans and beasts; such as taste and touch. It took Ian a long while to realize this fact and link it to the child's unique nature of having an Aether form rather than a material body.

'I thought this too might undergo changes...'

There were so many changes in this round that Ian was starting to doubt everything. 

'Changes...'

The word repeated itself in his mind. Ian's eyelids twitched up. His gaze snapped back to the elf. 

'The Evergreen... The World Tree...'

Something didn't seem right. The phrases he'd always heard about now sounded a bit strange. 

'The Evergreen Goddess... The World Tree, a tree that has the essence of the world to it...'

The familiar phrases dug out some names he had come across not too long ago.

'The Tree of Life... The Goddess of Harvest...'

A flash lit in the regressor's sapphire-like pupils. As if a fog clearing up, suddenly the questions in his mind began sorting out themselves to a rather obvious outline.

'Nature?'