Chapter 7

After cleaning up, the traveler proceeded on his journey to White Stone City. As for which direction he would take, the horse, Walker, took care of it. Perhaps he knew that his owner was hopeless when it comes to the direction so even when the traveler tells him to go right, he would go left.

His master was always wrong with directions. The horse thought that his owner's strange ability to always pick the wrong direction wasn't that bad. At least one would know that the direction Cassius picked is always the wrong one which would mean that the other option is the right way.

"Walker, why won't you listen to me? It says on the map that we have to go left!"

The horse ignored his words and turned right instead. The traveler was unhappy but after a few minutes, a carriage came into their view.

Upon seeing the carriage, the horse huffed proudly as if to say, "See? I was right!"

When he saw the carriage, the traveler had given up on the thought of scolding his horse. He was a gentleman, he told himself, and a gentleman accepts his wrongs.

The horse walked a bit faster and when they could clearly see the carriage, the traveler saw a few people standing outside. The carriage wasn't moving and it seemed like they were having some trouble.

As they approached, the people around the carriage became wary. They grabbed their weapons and were very cautious of the traveler. Cassius couldn't find a reason why they acted that way. He doesn't look like a bad guy, the traveler said to himself.

With Chimera following behind, the people became even more suspicious of the traveler. They seemed to panic for a bit but still stood near the carriage as if they were protecting it.

However, when Cassius got near, he simply passed by, ignoring the people. He didn't want to get involved in their trouble, unless they had money, of course.

When he was almost a meter away, a young girl jumped out of the carriage. She wore a luxurious green dress despite being in an old carriage.

She said in a loud voice, "Mister, you have a beast following you so you must have experience when it comes to animals." The traveler chose to stop after hearing her words. "If it's possible, could you look at our horses? No matter what we do, they don't want to go any further."

The traveler was silent for a while before he responded, "I don't work for free, lady."

"That's expected." She said, "I don't have alvas currently, we were robbed by bandits but I still have jewelry left. Will that do?"

The young girl extended her right hand. There were rings in both her pointer and middle finger. The two rings had three red stones each. The traveler assumed that those were rubies.

"I don't usually do this but," She took her rings off and presented them to the traveler, "I desperately need help. My father is inside the carriage, injured. He needs treatment immediately but the horses aren't moving."

"If these two rings are not sufficient enough for your service, I will give you more after we arrive in White Stone City which I assume is your destination as well." 

The traveler smiled, "I understand that you need help but I'm merely a stranger. You asked me to simply check the horses, what if I lie? By checking them, can you get out of this situation?"

"By having someone check them, I would know what's wrong!"

"Still, your request should be more specific, especially if you're paying someone. If I tell you what's wrong, how can you be sure that you will be able to fix it?" The traveler jumped off of his horse, "Instead, don't tell me to check, ask me to fix what's wrong with them. That's how you should negotiate but of course, the payment should be high enough as well."

"So are you saying that the jewelry is not enough? Maybe you should have said that instead of insulting me!"

The traveler was confused, "Sorry if you found it offensive, I didn't mean to sound insulting. I apologize for not being considerate."

The traveler approached the carriage and the horses. There were six brown horses, two for the carriage and four more for the men which were probably knights.

The traveler touched the horses by the carriage, they seemed normal but they refuse to move. The knights around were still cautious, they didn't say anything but their actions alone could tell what they were thinking.

When the traveler touched the horses, they responded in a friendly and excited manner. Soon, the traveler spoke, "They don't want to move further because they feel threatened by what's ahead."

"Were you really robbed by bandits or was it a lie?" The traveler touched the horses gently, "I can convince them to move but everything that happens afterward does not have anything to do with me."

"That's fine," The young girl seemed satisfied, "Thank you for your service but surely you wouldn't mind if we follow behind you, right?"

The traveler couldn't respond immediately. What she said was true and it's not like he could tell them to stop, he did not own the place. He suddenly felt a bit of regret, he shouldn't have helped them. If they were to follow behind, he thought that he would end up in some kind of trouble.

As he thought about it, the traveler smiled viciously inside while he kept a poker face on the outside. If there was trouble ahead and these people would need his help, doesn't that mean he could ask for more rewards?

"I won't mind." He said with a smile and before he left, the young girl gave him the two rings. The traveler didn't hesitate to take them, they were his reward after all. After he did, he went straight back to his horse and proceeded with his journey.

He heard some cheering sounds behind him and when he looked back, he saw the knights cheering because the horses were finally moving.

The traveler didn't say anything and continued on with his journey. He assumed that it would take two more days to reach his destination as White Stone City isn't very far away from White Rose village.

† Mundivagant †

When the sun was setting, the traveler decided to stop. He did the usual, unloading a bunch of his stuff and then setting up his tent and a small bonfire. He didn't befriend any edible animals today so he had to ask Chimera to hunt. The horses with the lady were edible but he couldn't eat them without the owner's permission.

Before nighttime, Chimera came back while carrying a dead wild boar. The traveler didn't know where he kept finding them but every time Chimera comes back after hunting, he always has a wild boar in his mouth.

The traveler only took one of the legs of the boar as it was big enough to make him full while he gave the rest to Chimera, it was its hunt after all. The traveler roasted the boar and added some spices before eating it.

As he was eating, he saw that the carriage had also stopped nearby. He was confused because he heard from the young girl that her father was injured and needed immediate treatment yet here she was, ordering some knights around to get her some food.

The traveler started to have doubts. Maybe she lied about her injured father just as she lied about getting robbed by bandits. The traveler didn't know the whole truth but according to the horses, there were no bandits who attacked them.

He also started to think that having no alvas was a lie as well. If she was robbed, which she wasn't, why did she still have the rings with her?

The traveler hated liars. She was easily offended, a bit naive, and based on what he was seeing now, she was also demanding. The traveler hated all those qualities but he couldn't openly say it.

After he was done eating, he cleaned up the place, packed some of his stuff so he could leave early in the morning. When he was done, he sat down near the small bonfire with his back facing the carriage.

The traveler took his journal out, it was time to write down the details of his journey. As he was writing, he felt someone approaching. When he turned to look, it was the young girl. Looking at her up close, the traveler assumed that she wasn't an adult yet, perhaps her age is even below sixteen.

"I'm just curious, are you a wielder?" Asked the girl, "My name's Amelie, I'm a wielder too. I can wield fire, cool right? What about you? Is it communicating with animals?"

The traveler didn't answer her as he was trying to recall something. In the Inn, the knights were talking about wielders, and they talked about a noble as well. Someone who could wield fire so when she mentioned that she could, the traveler thought that they might have been talking about this girl.

Seeing that the traveler didn't respond to her at all, the girl felt a little awkward. "So?? Can you talk to animals?"

"Yes," The traveler said.

"So that's you're power? Not bad."

"No, it isn't."

"No? If it's not your power then how can you communicate with animals?" She asked but the traveler had already turned his back away.

"It's almost ten, a young girl such as yourself shouldn't stay up too late. I'm going to bed as well so please excuse me," He said, closing his journal, taking out the fire from the bonfire, and going to his tent.

His response might have been a bit rude as he didn't give her a proper answer but he didn't wish to say anything about his ability. He himself wasn't sure of what kind of power he had acquired and he wasn't fully aware of its capabilities.

Therefore it was important for him to hide it still and maybe disclose it later on when he is entirely aware of what it can do and how far it can reach. And if she were to ask about it again, he thought that he would just come up with an excuse or refuse to answer her as he didn't want to say that he also doesn't know his power.

The traveler didn't go to bed immediately, he was thinking of a way to test his ability once more. He asked himself if he could choose the memory he would like to alter. The traveler felt that it should be possible to achieve.

The traveler took his journal out again and began to scribble something on a single page. After that, he put it back in his bag as he didn't want to forget where he placed it later on.

And with that, he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Like the usual, his consciousness was brought into a blurry world. This time, he tried to close his eyes and imagine the memory that would appear.

He opened his eyes and when he did, he saw himself scribbling down something on his journal. He succeeded. The traveler didn't think that it would be that easy.

The memory began to alter and in that version, he drew a snowy mountain. In that scene, it was snowing and the full moon shone brightly while the sky contained the colors of blue, purple, and indigo.

That was the only thing he thought he needed to do for the night so this time, he tried to take his consciousness back. However, he failed to do so. In the next moments, memories from his past that he couldn't remember appeared and were altered to how he wanted them to be.

As he watched those memories, the traveler keep feeling strange. They were odd because he didn't seem to be the person in those memories. Despite having the same looks, they were different, very different.