Why are my ears itching? I can feel them slowly turning red. Who could be talking about me? I don’t even need to think much about it, four faces come to my mind like lightning.
What could they be saying about me? Probably something bad or strange. I can’t help letting out a small laugh while thinking about them, surely each of them is doing their own thing as usual, but staying in contact with each other.
“What are you thinking about?” At some point Nanly returned to my side again, I was so focused on my thoughts that I didn’t notice when she came back. Nanly brings her eyes close to my face trying to find some clue.
“That doesn’t matter.” I wave my hand to brush away her thoughts. “More importantly, what did the guards tell you? Are they agreeing with our plan?” I speak quickly to change the topic.
She looks a little disappointed that I avoided the subject, but she recovers in a second and her gaze becomes more serious. “Everything went exactly as expected, we can proceed as planned.” I can’t help smiling back once Nanly finishes speaking.
On the way here we realized it would look strange to explain why we were arriving with several women and children inside a wagon meant for cargo. The best option was to notify the guards beforehand to avoid causing a commotion among the citizens, and the only solution we came up with was sending Nanly first, she would use her status to convince the guards.
She managed to convince the guards to follow our plan, it wasn’t difficult considering the difference in status. Now we can enter through a side gate, stay in a corner near the guard station, and plan our next steps.
“All of them are under your care, no matter what they decide I’ll do everything possible to help them.” I tell Nanly while also giving her several coins to cover the expenses for the entire day.
“Where are you going? Are you planning to disappear? Remember you still have to escort me to the territory capital.” Nanly grabs my shoulders and shakes my body from side to side.
“I have a few small personal matters in this village, I’ll return tomorrow early in the morning, I hope by then you’ll have already planned everything.” That seems to calm her a little. “I won’t run away, I promised you and I never break my promises.” Nanly lets out a sigh.
“Don’t worry, that’ll be easy, leave it in my hands.” She raises a thumbs-up. “Now go and come back quickly, when we arrive at the capital I have a surprise for you.” Her words make me slightly suspicious, Nanly pushes my back so I’ll leave.
I move stealthily through the streets until I arrive in front of the enormous house where I stayed a few days ago. I remain standing there for several seconds, thinking about what I should say to the elders, but I don’t have much time to think because one of the children sees me and alerts the others.
The shouting spreads like wildfire, in less than twenty seconds I’m surrounded by several children, all of them pushing me toward the inside of the house. I can’t refuse when I see them this happy, all of them are extremely excited.
Not even two minutes pass before all the elders gather around me. Each of them has different emotions in their eyes, the only thing they all share is relief at seeing me return.
“I made you wait a little.” I speak while approaching them. I already created a mana sphere beforehand so the children won’t be able to hear our conversation. I’m a little surprised to see Marka with them, I thought he would have already left to continue working.
“It doesn’t matter how long, the important thing is that you returned in one piece.” Marcelina approaches and gives me a strong hug.
I can’t help letting out a dry laugh at her comment, it doesn’t matter if all four of my limbs or half my body get amputated, my healing ability is powerful enough for me to recover with time alone.
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“Yes, we’re happy to see you return.” Wedy gives me a few small pats on the shoulder, the old man has a huge smile.
“How did your expedition go? Were you able to locate them?” Malcom quickly changes the subject after everyone greets me.
I look the old man in the eyes, I don’t know why everything feels different, it feels less natural than when I left. Did something happen while I was gone? I look into Marka’s eyes, he has been avoiding my gaze as much as possible.
“Yes, I managed to locate their base…” I begin explaining how I defeated them. I also explain the rescue of the hostages and that I brought all of them to this village until they decide what to do.
Their faces darken at the beginning of the story, Wedy clenches his fists so hard I think his own nails might make him bleed. They calm down when they realize none of them survived and all the hostages are safe and unharmed.
“You aren’t injured anywhere, right? Don’t tell me you have some kind of powerful poison in your body and you’re hiding it. Those damned bastards always fight dirty and never care about using poison.” Marcelina starts looking me up and down.
“They didn’t even have the chance to touch me and poison from people that weak wouldn’t even tickle me.” After being poisoned continuously by Brendu, only the best poison users at ruby rank or higher could truly harm me with poison.
“You sound very confident. You’re stronger than you look, Emago, not just a pretty face.” Portad makes a joke, all of us laugh at his comment except Marka. The boy only lets out a dry laugh while still avoiding my gaze.
“Tomorrow I must return to communicate with them. I want to ask you for a favor… if any of them need to stay for some time before they can leave, could they stay here? Obviously I’ll cover all the lodging and food expenses.” I ask the elders.
That’s a common problem in these villages, the merchants serving as transportation don’t come very often. Some of the women or children will have to wait several days until the merchants arrive at this village.
“You don’t even need to ask that, of course they’re welcome. You don’t need to pay us, you already did so much for us, this is the least we could do for you.” Portad answers me immediately.
All the elders agree with their friend, the most troublesome part was fighting with them so they would accept the payment. They refused in every possible way while I insisted with every argument I knew.
In the end we moved to the large office to speak more calmly and celebrate a little. I had never seen the elders smile as much as when they took the first big sip from their wine bottles.
“Will you leave tomorrow already?” Marcelina asks me.
“Yes, I must accompany Nanly to the capital. The governor and his son must be worried about her, I don’t want to waste any more time.” Their faces look a little downcast. “This is for you, it already has my contact saved.” Before coming here I bought two long-distance communication stones, although they can store fewer contacts, the range of their calls is enormous.
Wedy grabs the stone, looks at it for a few seconds, and stores it inside a desk drawer. “Call me whenever you want, I’ll be happy to hear weekly news and don’t hesitate to ask me for help if you need it, otherwise I’ll personally come verify what’s happening.” I look at each of them seriously one by one.
“Maybe we’ll hide the truth just to see you again.” Portad’s joke makes all of us laugh once more.
“Now let’s talk about what really matters. When did you realize who I am? Did you tell them?” I stare deeply into Marka’s eyes. “You’re hiding it perfectly, but your Imra is betraying you.” Not everyone has enough control to keep their emotions perfectly sealed, tiny sparks still leak out. I only need to add one and one together to get the answer.
They all freeze, not moving a single muscle for several seconds. “I’m Maki Vichag, apparently you already know about my hidden life. It’s nice not having to hide behind a façade anymore, come on, ask me whatever you want, we only have a few hours before I leave.” My words make them react instantly.
Questions rain down like an avalanche, all kinds of them. About my life, my family, my love life, how I arrived here, and many more, even Marka starts bombarding me with questions, his eyes shining as if he were standing before a superstar.
The night passes in an instant while all of us talk together, laughter echoes throughout the room that night and a friendship forms even stronger bonds.
I’m happy to have appeared in this place, but it’s time to continue my journey. I promise myself I’ll return someday. I slip away from the house while everyone is still sleeping, I already said goodbye yesterday while we were drinking and tears wouldn’t stop falling from all the elders, it’s better not to cause that again.
The first rays of sunlight hit my face. “It’s time to head toward the capital.” It’s one more step toward seeing my family again, getting closer and closer.
I don’t know why, but I have a strange feeling, as if something unusual is about to happen. It doesn’t feel like something bad, simply that something unexpected will happen… what a strange feeling.