The way back

Upon leaving the underground pathway, Ian found himself standing in a completely unfamiliar location. It wasn't where they'd entered the shrine, nor anywhere close to it. Unlike the heavily forested location before, there were only a few trees visible around them right now, and most of the area had plain grass and some bushes. Ian watched as a few rabbits jolted up upon his approach and ran away from the nearby bush as if he'd stepped at their house, while a frown crept up his face.

"How did we come this far?"

The center of the jungle where the shrine was located crept with wild animals and venomous snakes, making it too dangerous for creatures such as rabbits to get close to.

-Master, I guess we are almost at the end of the jungle.

"I also guessed so."

Upon lifting his head and glancing at the sky, he could tell that the position of the stars was slightly different from when he looked at them before entering the shrine. It wasn't a big difference, but enough for him to understand his approximate location.

"We are on the other side of the jungle."

Ian could tell, but couldn't understand why.

-The tunnel wasn't too long though, how did we walk so far away?

Ian shrugged at the child's remark.

"There must've been some kind of measurements installed within the pathway as a means to keep away harmful individuals, or probably a secret method for the higher-ups to run away at the time of need. We must've stumbled upon it without noticing."

Lior hummed in understanding and circled around Ian's feet.

-What should we do now? Where are we going?

Ian picked up the excited child before walking towards the direction where the trees kept decreasing in number. As he walked further away from the center of the jungle, a few lights came into his view from the other side. They were fixed in one place and burned at a steady speed. Anyone could tell that there was a village nearby. Ian gradually increased his speed.

'We must go back to the camp as soon as possible.'

Despite his desire, Ian walked in the opposing direction of the camp. It has already been a few hours since he left the camp. By now, Ranger at least must've noticed his absence and informed the knights, sending a few of them to search for him in the jungle. They might even think that Ian had run away. 

'How am I going to explain to them how I, a weak, injured, and illiterate slave, survived a night in the jungle and found my way out?'

Even if they accepted his words, a few people would be suspicious of him for sure.

'But it can be explained if I say I followed the safe route and circled the jungle to reach the other end.'

The safe route didn't pass through the heart of the wilderness but went around it. It takes longer to pass that route but it's safe as it doesn't go near any dangerous locations. If he tried, Ian could convince the others that he'd stumbled upon the safe route while wandering around and taken it, but went in the wrong direction as he couldn't locate himself through the stars, and ended up at the other side of the jungle. After spending the night, he walked back the route and came back to his group.

The convoy would change their course midway and shift to another route to move towards The Empire so Ian had to hurry back before they left.

It was past midnight when a stranger arrived at the village. Most of the villagers were long asleep and only their dogs were roaming around the houses. Upon sensing the stranger's presence, they all barked and growled, threatening the potential danger and alarming their owners.

The awakened villagers grabbed their tools as weapons and ran out to confront the possible wild beast, only to find a feeble youth stumbling to them. The boy seemed to be in his early twenties. Wearing a loose white shirt and plain pants, he looked nothing special at first glance, but his blue hair and striking navy eyes caught their attention soon. The thin boy had a pale face and messy hair, cut in an uneven way and dirty with dust. His clothes were torn and few blood stains could be recognized on his shirt.

"Ah, who are you?"

A middle-aged woman put down her knitting needles which were held like knives and cautiously approached the boy. The youth flinched upon the call and clenched his fists.

"I-I got lost in the jungle..." he verily seized the armed men up, biting his lip, and lowered his wandering gaze to the ground. "I ran here as soon as I saw light from the distance. There were... there were a lot of wild beasts roaming around. I got lucky I managed to run away."

The words were uttered through trembling lips, at a fast speed. The youngster stumbled while grabbing his flank and grimaced as if in pain.

"Hey, are you injured? Let me take a look?"

"No, no! I'm fine! Cough!"

The villagers gradually lowered their farming tools. A young man approached the middle-aged woman and stood beside her.

"Aunt, let me examine him."

"I-I don't need it! I'm fine!" The blue-haired boy waved his hands and shook his head. "I'm sorry for disturbing you all. I'll leave this place early in the morning so can I stay here this night? I'll sleep anywhere you allow me to."

"Uhh? Of course, of course, young one!"

"Eh? Aunt, you are really allowing him to stay?"

"Eye! Why not?"

"What if he's a thief?"

"Do we have anything valuable for a thief?"

"Well, no..."

"Hey, sis, I can allow him to stay at my place as well if you don't feel safe."

"Shoo shoo go away, you silly woman. That boy isn't safe sleeping under the same roof as your daughter."

"Shut that dirty trap, old fat bag!"

The villagers began conversing among themselves while guiding the blue-haired youth to a small house. They welcomed him with food and soft pillows and gave him a comfortable spot to sleep. The youth thanked them multiple times while being showered by the hospitality of the villagers.

Pat pat pat

-Maaaster~ maaaster~ time to wake up, time to wake upppp~

Two soft paws repeatedly tapped his cheek.

-Waky waky~ waaaaakyyyyy masterrr~

"Uhhh...."

Ian pushed the child's face away from his ear and cracked his eyes open. He'd go immediately back to sleep if it wasn't for the continuous singing of a certain wolf pup.

"Huh?"

He suddenly sat up straight in a flash.

"What time is it? What time-"

Ian didn't need to check the clock to know the time. The location of the sun said enough.

"I overslept!"

The sleepiness disappeared like a lie as Ian jumped to his feet and rushed out of the room without even clothing properly. He intended to move out as soon as the sun rose, but now it was almost noon!

Having slight palpation from the initial shock, Ian surveyed the soundings while walking down the steps. The children were playing outside, cheering and shouting excitedly. Lior shouted back at them, but no one heard his voice besides Ian.

'I won't make it on time...'

He could use his power to increase his speed, but even if he did, it wasn't guaranteed that he'd reach the others before they changed their course. His whole plan got ruined because of a few more hours of sleep.

'Can I join them at a later time? Maybe make it seem like I got lost and searched everywhere to find them again and finally united with them after a week of traveling alone?'

He began wracking his brain in search of a possible excuse to make and a way to go back to companions before it was too late. He had no intention of parting ways with Alaric for now. He wanted to observe him for a little longer before deciding on what to do.

'Should I go through the eastern river to cut the way short? I can do that but they might find it suspicious...'

Pat pat

Lior patted Ian's feet and rubbed his face to the man's pants as if consulting him. The blue-haired man snapped out of his thoughts and looked down. His eyes narrowed to a line.

"Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

-Uh?

The child's ears slumped down.

-I overslept as well. I'm sorry...

"Sight, it's fine." Just like the child's, Ian's voice wasn't spoken out loud but transferred to Lior's mind directly. No one beside him could see the wolf pup, so it would make him seem crazy if he suddenly spoke into the air.

Ian heaved a sigh and bent his back to secretly pick up the child when his whole body froze upon hearing a voice.

"Eh? Sir Ian?"

A familiar voice, belonging to a woman, came from behind his back, making all the hair in his body rise up in an instant.

"....."

"Hey, look! Isn't it him? It's the same messy blue hair!"

"...."

"...."

Silence descended in the area. Ian barely shifted his stiff body to the side and glanced at the woman who sounded too excited early in the morning, no, probably noon.

"Uh... Miss Eleen..."

The corners of the young man's lips curled up in a dry and slow motion, forming an unsightly smile. The woman standing below the balcony didn't seem to mind the hideous expression of the servant as she waved one hand while pulling a black-clothes man close with the other.

"H-Hi!"

Ian unintentionally spat out a dry greeting. The other man didn't answer. He only stared at Ian through narrowed eyes with a vein popping up in his forehead.

'Aaaahhh!!! What is this mister Raven doing here????'

. . . . . .

"So you got lost in the jungle and found yourself here after taking the safe route?"

"Yes."

"Ah!"

Eleen covered her mouth with a hand, gasping in surprise. Ian had just explained the situation to her, but of course, not the real situation but the fake story he made up.

"Last night, right! I heard that there was a commotion in the camp last night, but I didn't pay it much attention. It was only early in the morning that I learned of your absence. Your master was quite worried about you, so he requested the knights to search all around the camp and even a bit of the jungle. Prior to him, that old butler has done the same, so the knights went deeper in the jungle this time. He insisted on staying there until you were found but he had no choice but to give up as he was delaying the other young master as well and their schedule was tight."

Eleen explained while seizing Ian's scratched body up and down.

"We parted ways early in the morning. Our client is staying in the nearby city, waiting for our information. We thought we'd buy some bread and food from the village when we found you here. To think that we bid farewell to each other only to meet here again, isn't it such a coincidence?"

"....Yeah..."

Ian gave a half-hearted answer without raising his head nor looking anywhere but Eleen's eyes. He thought he'd have a heart attack if he accidentally glanced at dear Mister Raven. His heart was already racing uncontrollably. Fortunately for him, dear Mister Raven hadn't spoken even a single word since they met, or else Ian would've long run away from this place.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"I wanted to go back to them early in the morning before they departed, but I overslept and it's too late now," Ian answered with all honesty.

"Hmmm, right. You can't catch up to them even if you ride a horse." She poked Ian's injured flank, tilted her head, and spoke again, "So you want to go back to the group, right? Why don't we help you out?"

"Pardon?"

At the mention of 'we', all hairs on Ian's back stood at their end. He secretly peeked at the black-haired swordsman and bit down on his lips.

"I mean, we have nothing else to do after meeting up with our client and completing the mission. We can take you to the convoy on our way, right, Raven?"

"....."

The black-haired young man didn't respond.

"He agrees!" Eleen rejoiced.

"He didn't say anything!"

"That's an agreeable silence!"

'What the hell is an agreeable silence? And why does this woman want to help me? Is it because she thinks I'm this dude's friend? Come on! I might get murdered if you leave me alone with this man for a single second!'

"I'll trouble you then if there is no problem with you."

Despite feeling the approach of death, Ian didn't oppose the idea or turn down the offer. On one hand, he wanted to go back to Alaric as soon as possible, and having people help him was a good thing. These two were trusted by his group, so Ian's appearance after such a long time wouldn't be suspicious either if he was accompanied, or rather, 'saved' by them.

On the other hand, he thought that he couldn't keep running away from this person forever, and if he did, he'll regret it in the future. His curiosity over this man's identity would drive Ian crazy. He had to use this chance to find out more about him even if he had to take a risk.

"Alright! It's settled then!"

The woman grinned excitedly, clapping her hands, and pushed Ian towards the two horses tied to a tree at the end of the alley.

"Pick up anything you need and wait for us there. I'll buy some food and be back soon."

"Sure, thanks."

He didn't have anything to pick, so he went straight to the horses. There was a sack at one of the horses' back. It was the bag holding the last surviving bandit. For a second, Ian felt bad for the man from the depth of his heart.

'Eww, why is his horse black as well? Isn't he too dramatic?'

Ian scowled and turned around to lean on the tree,

"Eek!"

But his heart almost jumped out of his chest upon seeing a black-clothed man almost sticking to his back.

"What? Why are you following me?"

'And don't stare at me like that please!'

Ian took several steps back.

"Are you scared?" The man spoke for the first time, giving Ian another shock.

"No! No? Why would I?"

He held a hand over his chest, trembling with a palpating heart, and shifted his gaze away.

'Seriously, why am I so scared? I've literally experienced any kind of horror humankind can ever see!'

Despite all of his experiences, this dude here gave him an unrealistic amount of fright.

"Yeah," a smile, vicious and unsightly, formed on the youth's face. "We'll be traveling together, so don't be."

"...."

'I... I regret my description...'

A slight pat on his feet shifted Ian's attention elsewhere.

-Master, who is he?

Ian wished he had an answer to Lior's question.

-I don't know. Do you remember him?

His response wasn't spoken, but directly transferred to the child's head.

-No. I've never seen this person before.

Even Lior had no recollections of him. Ian thought it natural, as the person seemed to be someone from his childhood, and Lior didn't exist back then. As the man stepped aside and jumped on his horse, Ian subconsciously raised a hand to cover his blue hair.

Eleen came back after some time while holding small bags of meat and bread. As per Ian's request, he shared a horse with the woman, so that he could avoid getting any closer to Raven. They traveled without delay, only stopping once to eat lunch. By the time the sun was about to set, they arrived at a fairly large city.

Despite having talked for hours while traveling, Eleen didn't seem to feel tired at all.

"Our client is a very rich merchant. His goods were stolen by some bandits not long ago. He asked mercenaries to help him find the thieves and locate their hideout. I guess he is also moving to the empire."

The emperor's birthday was near and a lot of nobles from all over the continent would be at the capital of the empire, so it was indeed a good time for business. The man must be really unlucky to have his goods stolen at such a time, Ian thought.

"Do you want to come with us, or are you waiting outside?" Eleen asked after entering a luxurious inn.

"I'll stay at the yard."

"Alright!"

The woman entered the inn and the swordsman followed behind while dragging the sack with him. He sent Ian a last death glare before disappearing from sight.

"Phew!"

Ian plopped down under a tree, heaving a sigh. It has only been half a day but it felt like a month. He was so exhausted, not from the ride but from the stress.

-That man is scary...

Lior curled its body beside Ian, stuck to his body.

-Yeah

'Even after spending a day with him, I still can't remember...'

Black hair wasn't an uncommon thing on this continent. Black, blonde, and brown were seen a lot and were common hair colors. As a result, there were quite a lot of individuals with black hair in Ian's memories, child or adult. It wasn't easy to guess the man's identity using his foggy memories.

'I guess I'll follow them around more. I'll try to have more conversations with him-... Hmm?'

His thoughts were cut-off halfway through.

-Master...

-Yeah, I know.

It was because he was sensing a familiar power from not too far away.

'Aether? It's weak...'

Ian sat up and looked around. There weren't many people in the garden as it was gradually getting dark, however, he could recognize a figure not too far away.

"Yeah, load all of them. Careful not to damage anything!"

There stood a young woman, probably in her twenties, with dark-brown hair reaching her waist. The pair of braids on either side of her head made her look more refined and elegant, and her high-quality dress screamed her rich status.

Weak Aether was cruising in the young girl's body.