Return to the city

I understood that the girl was right, I wanted to refuse and look for ways to continue the hunt with my magic.

But how long will it be before I find a way to use my magic without the risk of harming my prey? I had no desire to make Keirin wait any longer than necessary.

Putting her hand on the spear and expecting the girl to let go of the spear, instead she looked at me with a serious look and told me to take care of the spear.

Without waiting for an answer, the girl got up and headed towards the bird she called lyomi.

Having taken out the ointment, she began to smear it over the bird's body. I began to smell the ointment and my nose began to itch.

Not paying attention to me, the girl began to tie up the corpse of the bird, folding its wings together and tying its paws, leaving a rope by which to drag the carcass, the girl stood up and glanced at me.

Watching her actions, I doubted that I could tie up the bird's carcass just as quickly. It was clear from her gaze and the way she looked at the spear that she was still considering other possibilities.

- Come on, we need to hide the lomi and let's continue hunting. - Lualia turned to me in a quiet voice, taking the rope in her hand and starting to drag the tied carcass of the bird.

I thought that we would return back to the tree house and only then go hunting, but apparently the girl had other options where to leave the prey.

Having more conveniently grabbed the spear, I followed her, Lualia with confident steps led us in the other direction from the tree house, I wanted to ask where we were going or offer to place the carcass in my storage.

The forest, unlike yesterday, began to look more and more alive, the sounds of different animals reached me.

Trying not to speak loudly, I told the girl what I heard, she listened carefully to my words, sometimes Lualia asked how far the inhabitants of the forest were from us.

Continuing to follow her and looking at the spear, memories of training in the Cray Empire began to appear in me. Lost in my thoughts, I saw that the girl stopped next to one tree.

Stopping next to her, I watched as she began to run her fingers along the tree, looking for something, a strange sound was heard and it was clear that Lualia had a small part of the tree in her hands.

I heard the voice of a girl, she asked me to listen to the forest and tell me if there were any animals or monsters near us, but I didn't hear any animals nearby except those who were far away from us.

Hearing from me that there was no one nearby, Lualia untied the bird's carcass and inserted it into the socket in the tree and, making sure that the prey fit, was heard as the girl covered the carcass with a piece of wood.

Turning around and seeing my blank look, Lualia began to explain that the hunter cannot constantly return to the house to leave the prey and go hunting again.

Therefore, she, like other hunters, has different places where they can leave the prey and then pick it up; places are chosen such that they can eliminate the smell of the prey.

The ointment she applied served to scare off those who smelled prey, and the tree served as a place of safety from possible monsters whose smell would not stop. Listening to her, I better understood that it is much more difficult for mere mortals to hunt than for magicians.

I, like other magicians, had the opportunity to place the loot in storage and we did not need to look for trees where we could hide the loot.

The girl, making sure that the cutout in the tree was completely closed, asked to indicate where the inhabitants of the forest were next to us.

Seeing where I was pointing, the girl thoughtfully looked at the direction in which my hand was pointing, shaking her head, she asked me to go first.

It was clear in her voice that something was bothering her, but apparently she had no desire to discuss her experiences.

Over the remaining days, we hunted various monsters and animals that lived in the forest, because of the volume of our prey we had to take with us, I placed some in my storage under the surprised look of the girl.

The animals and monsters that lived turned out to be more extensive than the professor at the academy told me.

I would like to tell him when I return what unusual species I saw here, understanding that if I tell him he will have questions about why I needed to go deep into the forest.

Perhaps when I have the opportunity to share with him my knowledge about the monsters and animals that live in this forest, but not now.

During the whole day, I only managed to eat once when we were resting, when the girl saw me cooking, she became interested in the smell and asked if she could have it too?

Having chuckled at her question, I prepared a portion for her too, watching as she ate with caution, I could only shake my head.

For her, many of my actions were incomprehensible; were all mortals so far from the convenience of magicians?

Trying to remember how the servants lived in the Kray Empire, I could not remember what was available to them.

Heading back to the tree house, we had to return to the places where we left the carcasses of the animals we had killed, there were a lot of such places, some were in the tree and some, to my surprise, were underground.

When we returned to the tree house it was already dark, Lualia also climbed the tree and lowered the ladder with ropes and descended back to the ground.

Due to the large volume of our prey, we had to lift the carcasses up the tree, I was afraid that the animals nearby could smell the corpses, but apparently the ointment that the girl applied still scared off the inhabitants of the forest.

Having tightened the last carcass, it was noticeable how tired the girl was, unlike her, I did not feel tired, except for the muscles that sometimes hurt and the fingers from the spear I used.

Helping the girl drag the carcasses into the house and sitting down opposite the permafrost, I watched as the girl stuffed the prey and said something.

I tried not to listen to what she said; today I managed to understand her better.

- Tomorrow we are returning to the city of Riqua, thanks to you we were able to fill the permafrost very quickly. - The thoughtful voice of Lualia was heard as she looked into the permafrost.

Surprised by her words, I looked at her back, expecting that it seemed to me what I heard. Without hearing my reaction, the girl turned in my direction and seeing my surprise, the girl repeated about returning back to the city.

I was wondering if the permafrost was filled or if there was another reason; when I asked her, instead of answering, she asked me to come to her.

Slowly rising and approaching it, I began to feel the colder emanating from the permafrost. Finding myself next to her, and looking down, I saw a large container that was completely filled with the carcasses that we obtained today.

Now I understood why Lualia said that we were returning to the city. The girl, without waiting for an answer from me, closed the permafrost and headed to the place where she slept.

Thanks to the fact that we ate today, I didn't feel hungry, watching as the girl lay down and fell asleep almost immediately.

After watching her and making sure that she was sleeping, moving carefully, I left the house and called the wyvern, I again felt a pain in my head and then the wyvern appeared.

She hovered over the tree and looked at me, waiting for orders, as I didn't want to believe Lualia that they would let me into the city, I wanted to be sure that if they refused, I could make them change their decision.

Because of the girl's fatigue, I doubted that she would hear the flapping of the wyvern's wings, but I didn't want to risk it and ordered the wyvern to rise into the sky and gave the order to fly after us tomorrow.

Looking into the sky where a small dot was visible that was moving away, I returned back to the house, glancing at Lualia who was also sleeping. I had no desire to sleep and sat down on the floor, I went into my consciousness, I had a desire to better try to understand my magic.

I didn't know how much time I spent in my consciousness, but when I felt someone touch me, I quickly opened my eyes.

Standing in front of me was Lualia, who looked at me with alarm; her sleepy face showed that she had recently woken up.

- You scared me with your black eyes looking at the floor Riqua. - The girl said in a sleepy voice, looking intently at me.

Not understanding what the girl meant, I asked her what she meant? Listening to her explanation of how she woke up and seeing me sitting looking in her direction with black eyes, she tried to call me, but I didn't react at all.

Having overcome her fears, the girl, observing my behavior, came up to me and touched me and then I came to my senses.

Have my eyes changed again? I didn't remember Keirin talking about this, I was wondering if it was due to the fact that I summoned a wyvern or something else.

Seeing how the girl was still nervous, I tried to explain to her what I was doing; her look of incomprehension showed that it was difficult for her to understand.

It was noticeable that morning had already come, the girl looked at me warily for some time, but after making sure that my eyes had not changed, she began to relax.

Having made sure that everything was fine with me, Lualia began to get ready, taking out the carcasses and lubricating them with ointment and then tying them together, a small pile of tied carcasses appeared in front of my eyes.

The smell of the ointment began to itch my nose, trying to restrain the desire to scratch my nose, I saw how the girl took out a strange device from the bottom of the permafrost and put it in one of the bundles.

Looking at me, the girl asked if I was ready to go to the city with her; serious notes were felt in her voice.

Confirming my consent and getting up from the floor, I felt like my body had gone numb during the night of sitting, after warming up, I asked her about our future plans.

Hearing my readiness, the girl began to explain that we would return ahead of time and that we would need to pick up all these bundles.

After asking her permission, I placed several bundles of carcasses in storage and only four remained. It was clear from the girl's gaze that she still had difficulty understanding where I had placed the carcasses; glancing at the remaining bundles, Lualia dragged them to the exit.

Lowering the bundles reminded me of lifting carcasses, only now they were tied and we were lowering them down.

They were heavy, I was afraid that we might drop them. It was not clear from the girl's behavior that she was going through.

Having followed the carcasses down, Lualia raised the ladder again and, throwing two ropes from the bundles over her shoulder, I followed the girl who was also dragging two bundles.

We were heading back to the city I needed to get to, I hoped that I would not have to fight my way through this city.

Walking through the forest, I could hear the forest living its own life, I felt like the ropes were rubbing my shoulders and my arms.

But why didn't I want to dump this load or try to put it in storage. I experienced strange feelings while we were dragging the ligaments through, is it possible that the girl is experiencing the same feelings now and I wanted to ask.

I could see that, unlike me, it was harder for her to drag the bundles, and having decided the question of when we would end up in the city.

On the way through the forest, some animals or monsters could be heard smelling the carcasses and sometimes trying to get closer.

The spear that was kept in the vault, since neither Lualia nor I was able to pick it up, I suggested placing it in the vault for a while and returning it to her in the city.

The inhabitants of the forest did not try to attack, perhaps they were waiting for us to stop, I only had fears for the girl, unlike me, she did not have magic and the only weapon was the blade she wielded.

Gradually, the trees began to thin out and we left the forest; in the distance we could see a wall towards which we were approaching.

After leaving the forest, Lualia stopped and explained that she needed to take a break; she did not want to stop in the forest at the risk of being attacked by animals or monsters.

It was clear that it was difficult for her to drag the bundles; after resting, we again took up the bundles and walked towards the gate.

Gradually, the walls became higher and higher until those who guarded the walls noticed us, screams were heard, glancing at Lualia, it was noticeable that she was frowning.

I heard surprise and wariness in the screams; those standing on the walls, I think they recognized the girl, but they most likely had suspicions about me.

Glancing at the walls, I noticed that there were more people watching us. The wyvern, which was in the air a little further from the city, was ready to intervene if the city residents decided to attack me.

Approaching the gate, the girl lowered the bundles and made some strange knocks on the gate and, moving a little away from them, raised her head up.