Chapter 24: Towards the village
The man stared at his own palms while drowning in his thoughts. The words that the young boy beside him had said a while ago were bothering him.
-You guys look strong.
Wrapping his fingers together, he formed a tight fist and bit his own lips. Surely he had far greater strength than he could expect to have.
'But... That isn't 'my' strength...'
Aliana had used some unique methods to make Jaden stronger. He was someone with a certain principle of his own.
-If it doesn't belong to you, don't take it. And if it does belong to you, don't leave a single penny behind.
Jaden couldn't bring himself to accept that kind of power. Even during the banquet, if he had used his strength, he would've easily gotten those guards killed.
Lenon, in the original novel, had to go through all sorts of ordeals to gain his strength. The characters with too much power from the beginning seemed no fun to Jaden.
"We will be taking a short break here."
John gazed at the green fields of grass expanding as far as he could see. On the other side, there were a lot of trees leading towards a forest. The sun shone brightly above their heads; it was after noon.
Aliana was attracting some attention from everyone on the cart for using a wind magic spell to keep themselves cool from the heat. The young boy and Claire were the most fascinated by the sight of it.
Claire was a mage herself, but she had never seen or heard of such an unusual magic. And more than that, she excelled in alchemy rather than magic.
"Thanks, miss."
Usually, he would need to tolerate the sun's heat throughout the day while travelling. This time, things were different for the better.
Aliana had a countless number of convenient spells for almost every situation. A genius? She was a lot higher than that title.
Staying calm as ever with a smile on her face, Aliana was enjoying the cold breeze. Nodding her head, Aliana's hair moved lightly along with the air; Jaden was staring at her face.
"What is it?"
She never opened her eyes but talked just like that. That made Jaden flinch and look away for a bit before opening his mouth.
"N-nothing."
Though not completely, the thoughts in his mind had vanished for a while. Suddenly, their ride came to a stop.
Stretching his arms up in the air, John let out a sigh. After about three hours, he was getting to rest along with everyone else.
"The village is almost nearby. If we don't reach there by dawn, then we might need to camp outside."
Even though the route looked peaceful and safe during the daytime, there was no telling what kind of beast would show up at night. The route they were taking wasn't used by many people, despite being the shortest one.
The bright light fell upon Jaden's eyes as he got down the carriage with his gaze fixed towards the sky. Using his hand as a cover, he looked at the blue sky with a frown on his eyebrows.
'Ah. I'm hungry.'
Ha hadn't eaten anything since morning, as Aliana had reached his place before he got to have breakfast. Now here he was, putting his hand on his stomach.
As soon as she saw Jaden acting like that, Rudia walked towards him with a basket in her hands. She had already prepared food before they left.
His worries were pointless since he had a reliable person who carried all the stuff they might need. A personal maid was too convenient in such cases.
"Young Lord, here."
The basket contained sandwiches, of which Rudia handed over one to Jaden. There were more than enough sandwiches to feed all the people there.
Taking small bites of the sandwich, Jaden remembered the time he was running around Dragonaria with Aliana. The first thing he ate that day was also a sandwich.
It was Jaden's third day in that world, but he felt like a long time had passed. He glanced at Rudia, who was handing out sandwiches to others.
'This world isn't that bad...'
Unlike most people on earth, Jaden wasn't addicted to modern technology. He barely used any electronic devices for entertainment purposes in his world; he was busy most times with college and part-time jobs.
Thanks to his circumstances, Jaden could adjust to the lifestyle of another world quite early. Aside from going along with the flow, he had no other option.
"Jaden, aren't you joining us?"
Aliana was sitting on a cloth on the floor along with the other two women; they were enjoying the meal together. For Jaden, who had always done things alone, it wasn't something he preferred.
He smiled lightly and walked a bit further from there. Even if he got used to the lifestyle of that world, he wouldn't get used to being around people.
"No, thanks. I'm fine over here."
Sitting on the cart step, Jaden finished eating his sandwich. The soft voices of the people travelling with him were audible to him.
Staring at them, he sighed and laid his upper body inside the cart. He thought that there was no one else inside the carriage, but he was wrong.
"Aren't you going to join them?"
The young boy hadn't gotten down from the cart. He sat still in his place, looking towards Jaden.
Jaden's not joining them wasn't strange. But this boy? Jaden couldn't shake off the feeling he felt every time he saw the boy.
The silence was cold for a while. Jaden was thinking about how he should respond to the boy's question. And again, that boy was a stranger to him.
-----------------
"Speak about yourself."
Jaden's eyebrows frowned as he sat up straight and looked at the boy's face. The heavy atmosphere got lighter because of the tone Jaden spoke in.
He didn't remember seeing the boy eating anything since they departed. He didn't utter a word throughout the trip either. The only time he spoke was when Claire responded to his words.
"Aren't you hungry?"
The boy tilted his head as if he had no idea what Jaden was talking about and smiled. Jaden sighed since that expression of his made it look hopeless to ask him anything further.
Now, both of them were silent, and Jaden was glancing at him. His light brown hair fluttered as a strong wind blew, and he shut his emerald eyes tight.
For some reason, Jaden found him a bit familiar. They had never met before, but his face was almost identical to that of someone he knew.
"I don't get hungry."
The boy said this while he pulled his knees with arms wrapped around them. Maybe Jaden was hallucinating when he found that boy familiar.
Suddenly, the carriage shook lightly as John sat on his seat. Jaden, adjusting his position, sat properly. But something weird had happened again.
Claire was sitting beside him now. He was okay with either Aliana or Rudia sitting beside him, but Claire? Words wouldn't even express it.
"You got a problem with me?"
She noticed how Jaden was looking at her with an awkward expression. It wasn't for Jaden that she chose to sit there, but for the boy beside Jaden. Claire was kind to kids.
Jaden remembered the details of the novel; he was the one who set her character like that. He sighed and got up from his place; now the boy was in the middle of them.
"What are you doing?"
Aliana's smile was as scary as before. Claire didn't sit there on purpose; she just wanted to get along with the kid.
She glanced at Jaden's pale face and could feel colour draining from her face too. Aliana was scary to both of them.
"Nothing!"
Claire's face became beet red as she said it out loud. Aliana was still glaring daggers at her, as if she were going to do something bad to her.
Jaden had no idea what exactly was going on, but he had a feeling that it would be better if he kept his mouth shut. Silently, he wiped off the sweat on his forehead.
Though they had switched places, no one talked throughout the journey to the village. Jaden was sleeping while the cart continued to move forward.
Aliana pulled out a book from her magic storage and began reading it. Rudia was busy looking at the places they went by. As for Claire?
'Just what in the world is that...?'
She had a pale face as she stared at the book in Aliana's hand. The title of that book was something that would make people fear the book itself.
|101 ways of torturing|
'I should never get on her bad side.'
If Jaden were awake, he would've had the same reaction as Claire had. They were a bit similar when it came to such things.
Claire glanced at the boy beside her, who had fallen asleep too. As she looked towards Jaden, the voice within her head spoke.
-[He feels familiar to me for some reason.]
Claire flinched at the sudden appearance of that voice. She hadn't heard anything since they departed for the elven forest.
She let out a sigh of relief while placing her hand on her chest. For a moment, she thought it would be Aliana again.
'What do you mean?'
Claire has been able to hear that voice since she was four years old. When she told her parents about it, they abandoned her, thinking she was cursed.
Yet she only knew about the information that the voice provided her. Anything about the voice? She had no idea.
-[I don't know.]
Claire looked at the air with a blank expression. She had no idea what was what anymore. Aliana and now the voice had both managed to cause Claire to think about stuff she didn't want to.
Claire smiled while feeling exhausted. She felt as if the time she spent at the orphanage was better. After getting adopted by the Belcher family, her life changed drastically.
John was singing all this time. Soon, they would reach the village.
"You guys sure look tired."
John stopped his singing and looked at the people inside the carriage. The sun was still visible in the sky. Luckily, their resting spot was near.
"We will be reaching there soon. Just hang on a bit."
With his singing continuing, John began to speed up the cart. It seemed like he was in a rush to get there as early as possible.
Claire's blonde hair was fluttering as the wind blew fast against the cart. It wasn't even time for the sun to set yet, and John was having the two horses tied to the cart run with all their might.
"Am I rushing it too much?"
John asked loudly as the wind was lowering his voice. He wasn't sure if others sitting on the cart heard him, but he continued speaking.
"I have some urgent work, you see!"
Fwip
He beat the reins against the horses, making them run even faster. Only Claire was paying attention to his words; others were busy with their own stuff.
"We need to speed up!"
Just what was it that made this man travel at such a speed? Claire pulled her robe's hood, trying to stop her hair from waving around with the wind.
Using her unusual magic, Aliana hadn't needed to move a bit. And Rudia was enjoying herself to the fullest. Jaden wasn't the type of person who woke up from his sleep because of something like a strong wind.
Claire was the only one holding her screams inside. She had never travelled at such a speed that she could feel like crying for help.
Soon, the huge wooden walls came into their view. As the sky turned orange, they were almost at the village. The sun was about to set.
"Look over there!"
John rejoiced while smiling brightly. No one knew what work he had there, but it looked quite important from his expressions.
Claire peeked at the village in front of the cart. Claire was feeling relieved since it wouldn't be long until they arrived there.
"That's Darell village!"
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