The group dined on the meals provided by the town chief, well everyone except Jeffrey, he just sat there, staring at his portion of food. It consisted of hard bread, dry vegetables, and some beef. The quality of the food was low, even lower than the yield of the frontier farms that lived around the old village. The beef and vegetables were stewed together and the bread added as an accompaniment to the stew.
The chief excused himself from the table and quietly ordered one of his sons to check Jeffrey's room as well as telling two of his subordinates to keep a watch on Jeffrey's actions.
Afterwards, he returned and bonded with the scout leader Karl.
…
After dinner was over, everyone returned back to their rooms. On the table, one portion of food was left untouched, having already grown cold. The son that checked Jeffrey's room found nothing in there, Jeffrey had made sure to pack everything back into his rucksack when he went to the dinner table.
Jeffrey being an outdoors kid all his life, walked toward the front door for some fresh air. However, he was blocked by the town chief.
"Where d'you think you're going?" he spoke accusing, as he glared at the figure in front of him.
"Outside," came a simple reply.
"You, aren't going anywhere," the 'you' was heavily emphasised.
"Why?"
"Because I said so," the chief was not taking no for an answer.
Jeffrey had never heard such horse shite before.
Did this guy have a god complex or something? He had heard that the upper class were all high and mighty, but Jeffrey had never met upperclassmen before. Perhaps this was what they were like?
No matter, the best thing to do in this situation would just be to ignore him.
Thus, ignoring the chief, Jeffrey strode forward only for the chief to call his sons and servants over and have them all block Jeffrey in the hallway.
"Where do you think you're going huh?"
Jeffrey had never met such arrogant pricks before, and dealing with them seemed annoying, thus walking back the way he came, he located an open window, before he promptly and swiftly vaulted out of it.
The chief and company were alarmed and scrambled to chase after Jeffrey.
However, even when they searched in the vicinity outside and checked with some of the townsfolk, there was no trace of Jeffrey.
Hearing the clamour, Karl left his room and checked the situation with the chief,
"Tch, that black bastard with you escaped and is probably out hiding somewhere,"
"What?" There were many inconsistencies with what the Mave the chief just said. First off, what did Jeffrey escape from? And secondly, why was Jeffrey even hiding? He wasn't a wanted criminal or anything, right?
"As I said, that bastard ran away, though we tried to stop him, but it was no use, he was just too strong and managed to get away," it was phrased as if the chief had fought against a strong foe valiantly and lost.
"So why did he leave?"
"I have no idea, scout leader, but if I had to guess, he probably left to commit some heinous crimes, I knew he was deranged ever since I saw him," the chief tried really hard to curry favour with Karl.
…
As the two spoke inside, on the roof of the chief's house. Jeffrey laid back with his hands behind his head, sleeping underneath the blanket of stars.
It only felt natural for Jeffrey to sleep beneath the stars, it made him feel at ease. The little white chick also crawled out of Jeffrey's pocket and snuggled against his neck. The night breeze was soft and cool.
It was a peaceful and serene sight.