Night in the forest

That was unexpected!

The part about elves having more physical strength than humans is okay but what's there to be scared with me. Do really look that scary?

"Do I really look that scary?" I whispered though I was thinking that in my mind. This thing came with a shock that I said it without even realizing it.

"It's not about whether you look scary or not, they would've been scared even if there was someone else in your place. I am the only one who they trust outside their village and it took me a fair amount of time to build that trust," said Mia.

"Even so," I mumbled as I looked at those children.

Sigh! I guess it's better to ignore it. And I've trained myself to be treated as air so it's not a big problem.

***

The sun had gone down and it was night right now. We had chosen a place to a place to set up our camp, this place didn't have many trees and the ground was also clean. I gathered some dry branches and lit a fire using [Fire control]. Magic really comes in handy in situations like this.

Meanwhile, Mia was collecting some large leaves to use as sheets to sleep on. There were some trees here which have big leaves like the ones banana trees have. It wasn't comfortable but at least it was better to sleep on something rather than plain ground.

By the time Mia returned with the leaves, I was done preparing the fire and cleaning up the place. The children were with me and they were quietly watching me the entire time.

Honestly, it was weird; like I was some kind of animal in a zoo.

Mia took the leaves and placed them on the ground making a thin layer between us and the topsoil. She had twelve big leaves and after placing them on the ground, enough area was covered for all of us to sit.

With the campfire in the middle, Mia was sitting on my opposite side and the elven children sitting near her.

Yeah, I was pretty much alone but I'm used to it. And I don't dislike this feeling.

I didn't particularly have anything to do now so I leaned back on a tree that was behind me and started observing them. Due to my mask, they won't be able to tell where am I looking. Pretty genius I know.

After everything was settled, Mia took out some pieces of bread and handed one piece to each child, and kept one for her. The children finished it in almost no time while Mia ate it slowly.

While all this was happening I was sitting quietly near the tree. They don't even feel the need to offer me right? Though it didn't concern me, I was a little disturbed by the faces of those elf children. They were clearly still hungry, probably Mia also knew this but maybe she didn't have anything else left to give them.

"Ah, this is so beyond pity that I can't even watch," I said aloud as I used [Dimensional Magic] and opened the portal to the pocket dimension near myself.

I put my hand in it and one by one pulled out some dishes to eat. There were rice, stew, and some other things as well. When I left the capital city I never knew where I might have to spend the night so I always carried food in this pocket dimension. Time stops inside it so the food remains warm just like it was before.

I kept a bowl of stew for myself and handed over everything else to Mia. She narrowed her eyes and glanced at me.

"I don't want your pity," she said.

"Don't eat if you don't want to, but let the children eat at least," I replied.

"How can I let them eat the food given by someone who doesn't even show his face," said Mia, does this mask really pose a problem.

I mean, what's wrong if I don't want to show my face? Its privacy, damn it!

I didn't respond and took the bowl of stew and began to eat. As I was about to eat it with the wooden spoon I held in my hand, I noticed that Mia was staring at me so hard.

For a moment I didn't understand her intentions but after I while I became clear.

'Well if that's what you're after you'll only get disappointment,' I said inwardly.

"[Dimensional Magic]" I whispered and eat the stew with the spoon.

The spoon went through my mask like it was not even there and reached my mouth. It was one of the benefits of [Dimensional Magic].

A clear look of disappointment could be seen on her face. After that, she didn't say much and ate the food I gave along with the elf children. We finished eating and then tried to sleep.

We were lying in the same positions as to where we were while eating. Mia was facing the other side but probably she was still awake.

"Won't you tell me your reason for doing all this?" I asked her, keeping the loudness of my voice low enough to not wake the children.

"I will when I feel like it," she replied. Though this was not the answer I wanted, at least this was a different answer from before.

"How much more do we have to travel?" I asked.

"We will reach there around tomorrow noon," said Mia.

"Elf village huh," I yawned and went to sleep.

I wonder what kind of place it will be, an elf village is a thing almost all isekai stories I've seen have in them.

Well, I'll know once I get there.

--------------AUTHORS NOTE----------------------

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