The whole afternoon passed by and when noon arrived, Kirito woke up. He saw clothes at the other end of his bed and started to wonder how he ended up in this room
"I was tied on a donkey how on earth did I end up here? Kirito asked himself
*tummy starts grumbling*
"I may have fed myself from rats, however, that was far from enough," Kirito said
The woman who saved him heard his voice, she assumed he was awake and opened the door to welcome him.
"Greetings traveller, I hope you slept well." she said enthusiastically "I am relieved to see that you are awake, however, this does not mean you are out of danger. You look very skinny, I suggest you get something to eat; I have prepared a meal just for you at the dining table. If you could just follow me..."
Cretus who saw his saviour for the first time admired her beauty and smiled
"Dear lady," he said, "I cannot last another second without knowing the name of the one who saved me,"
" Oh... Where are my manners," she replied my name is Megumi, and I am the owner of this farm."
"My name is Kirito and I would like to thank you for saving me from a situation that was surely certain death if you did not intervene..."
Kalista: "Well then, enough talking, now, how about you put those clothes on and go get something to eat." he replied gently
Megumi led Kirito to the dining table where they both took their dinner.
"Umm, excuse me sir Cretus Please forgive my curiosity, but you do realize I cannot just stay seated while when I found you on that donkey, you were tied up in a pitiful condition," she said respectfully, "If it is not too much to ask, I would like to know how you ended up in such a situation..."
Kirito who already anticipated the fact she would ask that question was not uncomfortable with the topic she raised
"Of course," he replied "I could not expect you to keep silent at one moment, you would always raise the topic. So do not worry, I will explain to you what happened entirely"
Megumi did not miss a word of what he said and at the end of the story, she felt sad for him because going through a series of rough events such as those are hard.
"You must be very mature indeed if what you say is true, you still have the strength to smile and not feel any anger towards your mother's murderer," Megumi told Kirito
"Unfortunately," he responded, "If only what you said is true. I maybe am not showing it, but I hate him from the very deep of my heart and I do seek vengeance, however, that is not my top priority. For now, I just want to live my life to the full extent."
"You are welcome to stay as long as you want. You can use the room you slept in and help me with the chores around the farm." Megumi responded with a smile on her face
"I accept gladly!" Kirito answered
The only problem was, he knew that they would track him down at some point, so he had to leave as soon as possible
---
Meanwhile in the emperor was in his palace on his throne when suddenly a samurai came in and seemed quite stressed.
He approached hesitantly and bowed to the deity and said "My lord, we tied the prisoner named Kirito on the donkey and let him go since yesterday as you said, however, reports have it that they have possession of the donkey, but the prisoner is not on it anymore."
"So you mean you don't know where the prisoner is anymore," the emperor asked
After a few seconds of hesitating the londal said "no my lord..."
After he said those few words, the emperor froze him instantly leaving him in an ice block.
"This shall be your punishment for not fulfilling your duty, Guard!"
*2 samurais walk in*
"I want you to find that prisoner and bring him to me so that I can kill him properly this time." the emperor said, "No one shall live after disrespecting me as he did."
The samurai then walked out of the room and informed every londal who was available that they should start searching for Kirito."
Days passed, weeks passed, and Kirito was still living on the farm with Megumi. However, he knew that it was time for him to leave, especially that he realized the village has been very active these past days.
The day had come for him to leave, so he packed his clothes in a bag, he took his bag and presented himself to Megumi.
"The day has come for me to leave." Kirito said, "I thank you for your hospitality, but understand that I am a wanted man, so I prefer leaving before something bad happens to you."
"I understand and respect your decision, but at least, let me give you some food for the trip... There is more information I would like to share as well," she told Kirito
"What is it?"
"My uncle lives in the city of Toyama, there, he needs help from someone who will help him search a mysterious cave, however, it is reputed to be the domain of a magician. The reason, why no one has, accepted. I would understand if you refuse, but the job offers you 1000 gold coins. This is enough for you to leave the country, find life elsewhere in Japan and start a small business..."
Kirito was considering her offer and was thinking about seeing his uncle. Megumi gave him the address to her uncle's place, and he was off. He mounted a horse and wore a straw hat to not be recognized by one of the samurai owned by nobles.
It took him 3 days, but he eventually reached the city of Toyama, ruled by the emperor Kagami.
'Here I don't have to hide my real identity because this is not Shikadai's territory." he thought while removing his straw hat. He entered the city without harm and started searching for Megumi' uncle.