Land of Mirriam

It was probably some kind of instinct, Simon was walking… following something that even the hunters couldn’t understand.

“Where are we going kid?” Kibas asked.

“There,” The boy just pointed out the direction going north, of course, the hunters were baffled, 'how could the Kaveron go north when the sheep they saw fleeing going east?' the same thing was in the mind of the hunters except Kibas.

“Let’s follow the boy,” it was Kibas's decision, when the old man asked the boy he said he could do it so he probably could.

“It is hunting something,” Simon said as he stopped. He moved again and after running around they crossed the main roads, they could see from afar the silhouette of the carriage with children.

“Is it hunting them?” one of the hunters asked.

“No…” Simon answered and he continued his walk into the left side of the main road, into the forest, they were now going northwest.

<--->

Eastern Frontier Main Road. Heading South.

Jedi was together with the old man, the old man cast a buff on the horse and the horse was running really fast.

“Good horse… keep the pace… I will give you the best carrots later,” the old man was speaking with the horse, and the horse answered with a snort.

“Where are we going?” Jedi asked the old man.

“Little lady… you have to stay in a safe place,” the old man said.

Silence loomed, Jedi was not naive, she immediately understood what was happening, though, with her heavy heart, she forced herself to ask.

“… Am I a burden?” Jedi asked in a sorrowful tone.

“It's not like I’m going to throw you away, I know the guild master of the adventurer’s guild in the Trist Town we will head there,” the old man said, though the wind was breaking his words.

There was silence for a while. It wasn’t the words Jedi wanted to hear. She didn’t want words of consolation… she wanted the truth.

“… Am I a burden?” and the little girl asked again…

This time it was the old man’s words telling the blunt truth “Afraid so,” the old man said coldly.

Then Jedi pinched the old man on his sides.

“Ouch,” the old man said in a downward tone. “It's not your fault… I can’t take care of the 2 of you… and I’m choosing the idiot since I can tell that you can stand on your own feet,” the old man spoke what's on his mind... his real intentions.

“You are damn strong… I will make sure that you will be back in your house after a few days… you have my word,” the old man spoke with a resolute tone.

“I don’t want to come back… being a noble is annoying… I just want to cook… do some new flavors and watch Simon’s face when he gets surprised with my food,-” Jedi said excitedly but with a tinge of sadness. “-I wanna go around with the 2 of you… freedom is amazing,” Jedi added.

Another silence again. The trotting of the hooves of the horse was the only thing filling the silence between them, “I still can’t take you with me… I’m dying,” the old man finally confessed.

There was a sign that the old man had already accepted it, not even a shred of doubt in his voice nor movements… “And what about Simon?” Jedi asked.

The old man twitched, Jedi felt it faintly “I will leave him to someone I trust, the principal of the Hadrian academy is a decent man… but I will train the boy first as long as I can,” the old man said looking into the far road... into the future with a small smirk on his face… there was a lonely feeling inside his heart… but this was the resolve he had made and reached by himself and he had always followed this and seen through it.

“That’s sad… isn’t Simon already a monster? Is he even human?” Jedi asked more, she wanted to know more about the 2 of them.

“He is probably human… with mutated eyes… I don’t really know since him falling in my hands was pure bad luck…” or maybe fate? The old never muttered these words and kept it to himself. The old man felt Jedi's head on his back.

“Hold on to me properly, we will be taking a shortcut,” the old man said.

An hour into their travel they already reached a forked road, obviously it was a donkey path or the main road to choose from. The name of the pass was called the Beryl Pass.

It was home to the Owl Bears. “Here we go,” the old man said and he started to radiate with magic, monsters that lived outside of the dungeons were actually intelligent and they did know not to meddle with someone stronger than them.

It only took about 2 and a half hours to cut through the Beryl Pass and they were already back into the main road, the old man steered the horse into the west, lining themselves into the Trist Valley’s highways. The merchants and the carriage were perturbed by the passing horse that was running at an abnormal speed.

“We are almost there…” the old man said but there was something else on Jedi’s mind.

<--->

Simon was right… the Kaveron was hunting… it was hunting forest deer. Lots of them, cornering and massacring them like the animal they were.

“Simon… take this,” Kibas went to the boy giving him a small whistle.

“That’s a hunter whistle, we will try to limit the hunting grounds of the Kaveron by driving away the animals around,” Kibas said, this was his instant decision.

Kaverons love to eat animals. It would hunt humans for sports though, this was the reason it was wearing its trophies on its neck.

The boy took it and stared at it “What should I do?” Simon asked.

“Keep an eye on the Kaveron and blow the whistle from time to time, try it!” Kibas urged Simon to blow the whistle… it was of a low sound, even when Simon tried blowing it hard it was the same low sound. “Hunter can hear it but monsters don’t,” Kibas said.

Simon nodded and the four hunters started going on their way. “Monsters can’t hear it,” Simon said while he was rubbing his ears. (He didn't hear it)

<--->

The old man and Jedi arrived at the Trist Port Town, showing his adventurer’s registration card to the guards allowed him to enter immediately.

“Platinum 2 slashes?!!” the guards were quite surprised, it was really rare to see a platinum card with 2 slashes.

“Sorry boys I’m in a hurry!!” the old man said not letting them admire the platinum card.

The 2 arrived at the adventurer’s guild. He immediately went to the receptionist to lead them to the guild master’s room.

…

“You flashed the card didn’t you?” the guild master of the adventurer’s guild, it was another old man probably older than than the old man.

“Jimmy… I thought that the last time I saw you would be the last time,” the old man said teasing him a bit.

“Sure… I’m just 20 years older than you, what do I owe the visit?” Jimmy Clatter, another highly decorated adventurer, and probably the only one of the old adventurers alive that could talk down to Alphecca.

“I want to send a message… the Owl Boy,” the old man said.

Jimmy was reading his paperwork using eyeglasses. He finally glanced at the old man as he dropped his work down.

“Neward? Oh… you look like you are doing well… who’s the girl? Your daughter?… tell me its yours…” Jimmy said but after looking at Jedi he immediately noticed her red hair.

There was a bit of pause after asking the question.

“You didn’t kidnapped her didn’t you?” Jimmy said.

“No… and take care of her for awhile… I will be back,” the old man said tapping Jedilyn’s shoulders.

“... You know this is not a daycare center don’t you?” the 2 looked each other in the eyes. “Okay… go on now, I’d do a favor for you,” Jimmy said.

The old man smiled and knelt in front of Jedi. “Stay put and don’t make that face…”

“... Why did you help in the first place?” Jedi suddenly asked still not over it since she knew that the old man was leaving her in the end.

“Cause Simon said that you were hungry… and probably because I’m getting old,” the old man spoke.

“Whoa… Alphecca… you have changed,” the guild master who was seeing the scene was quite surprised. Is the cold, calm, and collected Hero of the Era showing kindness?

“I’m getting old… if you haven’t changed after all these years that means you have stayed stagnant,” it was some kind of boast or some kind of pride pushing from the old man.

“The hell are you saying? I’m already a great-grandfather” Jimmy said smirking, totally looking down at Alphecca. Alphecca totally regretted what he said.

“Also I would like to take the world tree’s bow, as far as I remember it's here right?” the old man added.

“… Are you going to use it?” Jimmy asked, the bow was some kind of a national treasure but its ownership was to the hero of the Era: Alphecca.

“I’m gonna give it to the owl as a reward, he can’t come home without anything,” the old man said.

Jimmy the guild master nodded “Take it down the vault, let me just make a note,” the guild master wrote down a note, signed it, and slam a mark with his official stamp. He handed it to the old man.

“Then I will be leaving,” the old man said and the guild master nodded.

In a few moments, the old man was gone and it was only Jedi and the guild master. “Girl… do you know how to do household jobs?” the guild master asked.

“... Sob… yes…” Jedi answered as she tried to stop her tears.

“Go get yourself busy… you are young, you will get over it,” the guild master said. He went closer to Jedi and patted her head.

“Can I cry for a while?” Jedi asked, her voice trembling as if seeking permission.

“Of course,” the guild master’s empathy was kicking him high… he understood how Alphecca was feeling.

As an old guy, he understood that knowing that you will leave something into the future is the best feeling ever… it seemed that Alphecca would die before him.

<--->

Alphecca came out of the gates again, the guards who saw his card immediately opened the gates, it was not even an hour since he went inside, he went out after buying some of the best carrots that he could find, took his horse and went on. Alphecca could have waited for the hunter he summoned back in the adventurer's guild… but he had to go out of the town…

While traveling back at a slow pace he kept on feeding the horse.

“Oh…” the old man muttered as his hands started shaking… he had been suppressing it for a while now, and now that he was alone he was starting to feel it again. Using its tail, the horse hit the old man’s back urging him to continue feeding it “Sorry… here have some more,”

Hours into the travel he was back to the Beryl Pass. “Sorry… you have to run again,” he said to the horse, the horse just snorted, and he cast his magic into the horse enhancing it.

…

3 hours into the travel they were already on the border of the Marcian Lands… looking for a good spot he guided the horse into an off-road spot and then went off the horse. The horse started biting his hair.

“Just leave me be,” the old man said. The horse; like it understood what the old man said stayed put. The old man didn’t even need to tie the horse to a tree.

The old man sat… his hands were shaking again… pain spreading from his head into his body. He then output his magic to the max then slowly controlled it seeping it down… he was doing the Flow exercise he taught to Simon and Jedi.

Finally, he collapsed down. “Shit” the old man muttered… it would be embarrassing if Simon saw him like this. The horse walked closer to him lying with him… his bag was still with the horse, it hit him and the carrots were scattered in the ground near the horse’s head.

“Are you punishing me or are you sympathizing with me?” the old man asked the horse and the horse while lying with him started eating his fill of the carrots. It lazily lay down just using its head and tongue to reach the carrots.

The warmth of the horse spread to the old man's cold skin… 'Why did it still feel cold when it was summer?' The old man thought and his consciousness faded away. The old man slept, a rest that he really needed.