Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Xenon rolled several times in his bed as he slowly began to wake up. He had felt well rested after a long day at the mansion. He pushed himself out of bed. He looked out the window and found out that the sun was barely rising.

He glanced down out of the window and saw Maia leaving the inn. Where was she going at this time of day? Even though Maia can be seen as an early riser, she rarely went out anywhere without them. Especially when everyone was still asleep.

With curiosity getting better of him, he rushed to the exit and ran down the open street until he caught up with Maia, who was thankfully walking slowly.

"I didn't expect you to be waking up this early.", Maia said, turning to face him, "Why are you following me?"

"Well, It's weird to see you go out without Daiki on your side. I guess I was curious?"

"...I just want to do some jogging.", she explained, "Care to join me?"

"Yeah sure."

Maia wordlessly led Xenon to an open field and started to warm up. He copied her actions and then they jogged around the field. After a few minutes of jogging, they sat down for a bit.

............Silence.............

Xenon sighed, "So Kinoshita...there is something that been bothering me since we first met..."

"Hm?"

"Why did you save me?"

"Huh? Since when did I do that...?"

"Why did you save me from the knights and then heal my injuries back then? It's not like I wasn't grateful or anything but it got me curious."

She look away, didn't expect him to ask this question. She sighed silently, "...Because...."

Xenon stared at her intensely, "Because.....?"

"..."

"..."

"...I don't know."

Xenon faceplamed, "...Are you kidding me right now?"

Maia shrugged, "Do I look like I'm joking?"

"...No..."

She went quiet, thinking about his question. He's right. Why did she saved him? She remembers that she said it's none of her business yet when she saw Xenon bleeding, she just immediately helped treating his injuries without questions.

Xenon...it reminds her of someone...but who...?

"...Anyway, let's get going. They should be awake right about now.", Maia stood up and swept off dust before leaving. Xenon quickly stood up and yelled, "Wait! You didn't give me the answer! Hey wait up!"

They walked to the inn in silence. Nope.

Xenon kept bugging Maia why she saved him from the knights. Maia just ignored him and walked faster. By the time they reached the inn, it was late in the morning and as she predicted, Daiki and Kazuhiko were already gathered to eat some breakfast. They looked up when they saw Xenon and Maia entered the kitchen.

"Ah Nii-san, Kinoshita-san...good morning.", Kazuhiko greeted as he took a bit of his eggs, "Today we have eggs and toasts."

Maia sat down heavily at the table and sighed.

"I saved you two a plate.", Daiki said as he put a plate full of eggs and toasts in front of them, "Where were you two all morning?"

"Jogging.", Maia answered as she drank some orange juice.

"Together?", Kazuhiko sounded surprised at the news, "It's the end of the world..."

"Oh shut up. I was just happened to see her walking out of the inn alone.", Xenon said as he took bite of eggs, "...Kinoshita. You didn't--"

"Fukumoto.", Maia cut him off, "... It's too early to demand some answers. Give me a break."

"Oh come on! You can't be serious!"

"...I'm serious."

"No you're not!"

"Yes I am."

"...No!"

"...Yes."

Xenon pouted as he finally gave up and eat his share. Daiki tilted his head, "Did something happen?"

"Oh, I just ask Kinoshita why she saved me."

Maia sighed as she openly ignored them. Daiki chuckled nervously, "I...don't know the whole story but obviously Mai-chan look annoyed...", he then look at Maia, "We should look at the map after we finish eating so we can decide where to go next."

"Alright."

The boys started to chat among themselves while Maia just listened to them. After they're done eating, they checked their map, "Hmm...where should we go next?"

"Our main destination is Estoark so the shortest route is...", Maia look at the map carefully.

"Where should we go next?", Kazuhiko asked as he look at the map.

"...There is a nearby village called Niska, just near to the Living Dead Route.", Xenon said, pointing at the map,"But...this town and route..."

"Oh my...I don't want to go there! It's scary!", Daiki shuddered as he thought of that particular town. Maia and Kazuhiko look at each other confusingly, "...What's wrong with that?"

"...Niska is a town filled with assassins.", Xenon explained, "It's a wonder why they have a town like that but it's real."

"Oh that Niska...", Maia finally remembered from the book she read, "I remember now. From what I read, Niska was created to encourage assassins to kill and...."

"...Mai-chan?", Daiki raised an eyebrow when Maia suddenly stopped explaining, "What's wrong? You went quiet all of the sudden..."

"Ah it's nothing.", Maia waved off his worries, "Anyway, are you sure that's the shortest route to Estoark? We obviously don't want to go there."

"...I'm sure it will be fine. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.", Xenon said, "Besides, if we go to different routes, we might miss the entry."

"...I guess we have no choice.", Kazuhiko spoke up after a bit of silence, "We can't afford to miss it!"

"It's decided then."

They went to their own room to pack their things and meet up in front of the inn. The innkeeper spotted them, "Oh, are you guys leaving already?"

"Oh, yes. We have to go to Estoark to join a competition.", Daiki told the innkeeper, "Thank you for everything."

"Oh, I should be the one who should be thanking you guys.", the innkeeper chuckled.

"We have to get going. Goodbye!"

"Bye! Be careful with the Knights!"

"Eh!? How did you--", Daiki heard that but before he could ask, he got dragged away by Xenon. They walked through the town, looking for a route that would lead to Niska.

Suddenly they heard Daiki's name was being shouted, "Ozawa-san!"

"Huh?", they turned around to see Mana's family were chasing after them, "Oh, Mana-san..."

"...Are you guys leaving already?", Yumi asked. Daiki smiled a bit and nodded, "Y-yes...we had to get going."

"Aww...I was hoping you guys could stay a bit longer so we can give you guys a tour..."

"Yumi...you can't force them to stay...", Mana then smiled, "...I heard you guys are planning to go to Estoark. You need to be careful when going there. I heard the monsters there are quite aggressive lately."

"The monsters are getting aggressive...?", Xenon muttered.

"Yeah...they have a hard time keeping the monsters out of the Estoark Barrier..."

"I see...we'll keep that in mind.", Xenon look at his friends, "Anyway, we probably should get going."

"Right.", Kazuhiko nodded.

"Oh, before you go...", Yumi took something out from her bag and went to Daiki, "Here. You should take this."

She hold Daiki's hand and placed a small bag on his palm, "You may need it. It contains some potions that will recover your health, poison and blind ailment status."

"Oh my...thank you so much everyone.", Daiki bowed to show his gratitude.

"Oh no. It's the least we can do after what you guys did for us. Now you guys should get going...be careful out there."

After saying goodbye to Mana's family, they finally left the independent town. While the boys are talking with each other, Maia only focused on her thoughts.

"...I wonder why. I always walk away without helping strangers yet...I helped him. Maybe...something about him makes me want to help without thinking..."

She shook her head and look ahead. She rather not think about it. She saved him and that's it. No need to think hard. And she didn't regret saving him since he actually look nicer than she imagined him to be. Maybe...he want to befriend her?

To be continued!

Bonus!

Kazuhiko: Oh yeah, you guys seems to be getting along now.

Xenon: Huh? Oh... yeah. I guess we did.

Kazuhiko: She's the first girl that you can talk to normally huh?

Xenon: Y-yeah...

Daiki: Eh? You mean...you never talk to a girl before Xenon-kun?

Xenon: No...I never really bothered to talk to girls.

Kazuhiko: Even though you're popular with ladies...

Xenon: Shut up... it's not like I want to be popular.

Daiki: (Well...he does look cool...)