New Friends!

The next morning, Zed woke up in an alienated place. He got startled. He thought that Madam Rose has captured him again. He was in a haste; he stood up and examined the surroundings… It was an empty room with many 4 beds; the bedsheets were not properly done. His wound was also bandaged properly. It seemed like somebody accompanied him to his room; for the night. He was afraid of getting caught again. He went near the windowsill to sneak out, but when he looked down the window, he realized; he was on the first floor…..

"Gasp..!" (If I jump from here; my bones will shatter. First, I should see if there are guards outside….). He peeked out of the door there were no guards outside. He looked sideways in the corridor and walked downstairs on his tiptoes. He rushed to hide under a table so that no one could see him. It was a wooden table surrounded by wooden chairs. He hid under the table and peeked outside. He observed the surroundings for 15 minutes, but he couldn't find a trace of Madam Rose and her men. A giant man with dark skin came rushing downwards….

"Hey! That kid is gone!" the dark-skinned man shouted to his friends.

"What?! That kid didn't even thank me. I carried him on my back all the way from the forest to here." A man with pale skin exclaimed.

"I think he was trying to escape from someone last night and maybe he thought that they caught him again, so he has escaped." a purple-haired girl replied.

"What? How can you tell that he was trying to escape?" the shortest man in the group asked.

"I mean, a kid would never run in the deep forest, to the point that he fell unconscious. And I've heard that there was an auction house nearby forest where they sell children." She explains.

"Ohhh…. So that's how it was… sadly I didn't get to meet him, he looked like a beauty; while he was asleep." a girl with black hair replied.

"Hey, are you a pedophile??!!" a man with red hairs got startled.

"Eh- NO! What made you think like that?? I'm not into kids!!" the black-haired girl shouted.

"HAHAHAHA...." They all laughed…

The group of merry people was enjoying the breakfast…

-- --

Zed thought to himself… (Are they talking about me? I don't think they are wicked like that Red hen*, but I don't want to take any risks. It's better to leave; as soon as possible. I don't want to get engaged in more trouble. My priority is to set foot in the capital as soon as possible...)

[here, Red hen= Madam Rose]

Zed rushed through the tables on his tiptoes. He was almost at the door, but a hand suddenly came from the back and grabbed his collar and lift him off the ground. Zed turned his head to look who has grabbed him. It was that dark-skinned man who held him. He looked straight into Zed's eyes. Zed got frozen….

He thought he was again in big trouble. He started shaking his body vigorously to loosen his grip but he can't… the grip was much stronger than he expected.

"Hey! Was he the one we picked last night??!!" he called out to his mates.

The black-haired girl's eyes were like a sparkling ocean, her face was filled with joy. She rushed to them… "Ah yes!" She came close to his face.. "wow! His eyes are like emeralds! From today onwards my favorite gem is Emerald!"

"Elan, you can't do that with a child!!" men with red hair exclaimed.

"Hah!... you always bicker me!" She replied.

Zed was confused. He can't catch up with the atmosphere. They all looked harmless, but he was still in defensive mode. They were standing around Zed in a circle. He was scared that the things in the past might repeat themselves… For the confirmation, he asked them,… "A-Are you going to kidnap me?.." he was nervous.

They all stared blankly at his naïve and innocent face and burst out from laughter. "HAHAHAHAHA….."

"HAHAHA… Why would we kidnap you?" asked the stout man.

He recalled his past experience. "I don't know. I also asked myself back then why they kidnapped me and locked me inside a cage…" His downcast eyes were filled with confusion and nervousness.

The black-haired girl grabbed his shoulders and said in a treble voice, "What?! Who did this to you?? Let me beat the s#!* out of them!"

"Ahh!.. I was right! You were running from the kidnappers last night!" the purple-haired girl exclaimed.

"Y-Yes." Surrounded by so many strangers for the first time in his life, he was a bit nervous.

The black-haired girl grasped his hands and looked straight into her eyes. She had a serious look on her face. "No. We won't kidnap you. We were just passing by from the forest at night and we saw you laying on the ground when we were on the way to Asgard city."… she pets and rubbed his head with a bright smile on her face and said "Why would we kidnap such a cutie like you?"

"Really?" Zed asked

"Really!" she replied with a calm smile on her face.

Zed still; remained a little cautious because he doesn't want to repeat the past at the same time he accepted them and thanked them for saving him from the dark forest. Very embarrassed.

*GROWL*

This sound came from Zed's stomach. He was very embarrassed, but at the same time, he was super hungry. They invited him to join them for breakfast. They all sat at a big table made of wood in the left corner of the inn.

Zed gobbled whatever came into his sight. He was eating his food hastily.

"You should not gobble your food. You'll choke if you do." the red-haired guy said.

"Yes, yes. There's plenty of food, so take your time." the black-haired girl added.

While Zed was having his breakfast with them... Suddenly, the black-haired fan of Zed jumped up into the conversation and said….

"Hey! You haven't introduced yourself yet!"

"Ah- My name is Zed Arleen, I'm 14 and I'm a traveler. I used to live in a small village which is far, far away from here."

Zed didn't tell them his true origin because he was afraid that if anyone got the news about the magical cards, they will all try to snatch them from him, and he'll lose his parents forever.

"Woahh… A kid traveling by himself! Your parents would be dead worried about you." He was shocked after listening, that a kid is traveling the world by himself.

Zed felt downcast after hearing about his parents. His parents can no longer worry about him. He was missing them… Tears filled up his eyes and he no longer had a bright smile on his face. He was feeling remorseful… Zed quickly rubbed his eyes and wipe out his tears, his eyes were already a little swollen and red. He gave a fake smile and said, "I wish my parents would be worried for me, but that's not the case anymore…"

The dark-skinned guy punched the pale skin guy's head and whispered, "You dumbass! You asked the wrong question!"

To lighten up the sullen atmosphere black-haired girl threw both of her hands on the table and stood up. She jumped in the conversation and said and said, "Ohh... We haven't introduced ourselves yet. We are from the Black Dragon mercenary group and my name is Elan!" She was worried about Zed that he might get hurt.

Everyone stood up and surrounded him. They all were trying to cheer him up.

She shook her hands with him and said, "I am Claire."

The skinned man pointed his thumb towards him and exclaimed, "And I am Alex."

"My name is Eric!" a pale-skinned guy exclaimed.

While folding his hands, the red-haired guy said, "My name is Jay and our shortie's name is Davy."

"Hey! I'm not a shortie!!" He bickered with Alex. He looked like a kid complaining to his father...

After a long time, Zed had a bright smile on his face he was thrilled after meeting them. He bowed down and greeted them all and said "It was nice meeting you all"

HAHAHAHA… Same here!"

They all sat on the wooden chairs at the table and started chatting… Elan, the fan of Zed, sat next to him.

Claire asked Zed, "So, where are you going next?"

"My next destination is the capital of kingdom Ataraxia, Awel." he replied.

Elan suddenly stood up and said, "Oh! Then you should join us!" she looked at Zed with her sparkling eyes.

Zed hastily turned his head and said, "I don't want to join a mercenary."

Elan got agitated. She turned towards Zed and shook both of her hands sideways and said, "Ah- no, I'm not asking you to join the group, I'm just asking you to go to the capital with us because we are also setting out for the capital tomorrow morning."

Zed felt a bit embarrassed and replied, "I would like to join your group for this journey, but you are already a small group. If I'll join in then you all will be burdened because I don't have any skills to survive. The journey through the jungle is full of survival battles! "

"Eh- We are not a small group. Others are out in the city market to buy some necessities for our next journey." Jay replied.

Alex pointed towards Claire and said, "Yeah! Our boss is Claire!"

"Yes. She is the strongest one in our group!" Davy added.

"Yes, we can protect you without feeling burdened!" Elan reassured him.

Zed replied, "Then it's decided! I'll be joining you all on the journey to Awel."

Elan got cheerful. She kept her right leg on the table and bent towards Zed. She held his hands and said, "Yes! Well, it would be better if you could be a part of our group, our group will outshine other groups with your beauty" Everyone could see how excited she was.

Zed stared at his hands and got flustered. He said, "Ah- N-No."

Claire jumped up in their conversation. She stood up and said, "Okay. It's decided then. Zed, we'll set out tomorrow for Awel early in the morning as the weather is cool in the morning. I think Elan you should now let go, we have to prepare for tomorrow."

Elan turned her head and looked towards Claire. "Tsk- Fine!" She released his hands.

Clarie was walking towards the exit door of the inn. Before exiting, she turned around and said, "Zed, it'll be better if we all stay in the same inn-"

"Okay! I'll move my belongings here." he immediately replied.

Clarie gave a faint smile and stepped out of the door.