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"Hey kid, don't take this the wrong way, but why are you always angry?" asks the old orc as we walk in the light of dawn.
We've been walking all night with the intention of getting as far away from the village as possible.
"I'm not angry," I say, suppressing a yawn and not giving the comment much thought, "It's just that I still can't get used to the idea of you joining me. That and lack of sleep, I guess. But trust me, you wouldn't want to see me angry."
"Aha... You're pretty brave, aren't you?" he says, and seeing my face, he hurries to say, "Don't get me wrong, I know you're strong. Much stronger than me. But there are times when strength alone is not enough. And that's why, if you're smart, you'll realize that you need me and that you can't go through life with that attitude hoping that people won't get annoyed with you."
"Oh?" I say, grumpy at the smugness of this old orc, "And what could I possibly need an orc who can't shut up for? No offense, old orc, but we've only known each other for a few hours. Don't pretend to know what I need and what I don't need. Besides, people don't usually get mad at me. It's this shitty continent with its customs..."
"Ahh, so you come from another land." he says, clapping his hands in glee as he interrupts me, whereupon I get annoyed for a moment for revealing that information.
But then I realize that it doesn't matter.
'It's not like it's a secret, anyway… Ha… Anyway, I need to get away from this chattering orc as soon as we get to the next town.'
"Splendid... I knew you were special, though I didn't know how much. But that makes you need me twice as much as I initially thought," continues the orc, who doesn't seem to have noticed my intentions in the slightest.
"What do you mean?" I ask, suddenly feeling a twinge of wariness through my bond with Azur, who apparently wants me to tell the orc that I agree with him, lest the orc suspect that I plan to leave him.
All this time, my companion has been extremely quiet, but it seems that the orc's comment justifies Azur trying to communicate with me. "If it's about the clothes, don't think it's so important. I might as well get them in some other way."
'I'm not going to indulge you just because you've decided to show up now. If you want to communicate with me, fine, but I'm not going to accept you just showing up to give orders' I think, focusing on communicating this message to Azur.
In response, I get a very loud buzzing sound that gives me a stab of pain in the back of my head.
The feeling makes me put my hand to the back of my neck, after which I go back to feel just glimpses of my companion's consciousness.
'But now I know he's listening and watching, no matter how much he pretends to ignore me.'
"Ahh, but it's not just that. If you are a foreigner, my wonderful companionship can serve you in many, many other ways." says the old orc, who doesn't seem to have noticed anything strange in my behavior "For example, I'm sure you don't know many things about our culture. Things that, if you want to use my idea of camouflage and pass yourself off as an orc, you need to know. I can help you with that. I can also act as a mediator for you, since you probably don't know the values of the most basic things... But most importantly, if I travel with you, you can enjoy my fabulous presence. I'm very good at telling stories, singing, and... I'm pretty good at music too."
"Hmt" I say, nodding and clicking my tongue, but I prefer to keep quiet because I know the orc is right.
'He has a point… At least in some of the things he said.... it's also true that meeting him has helped me confirm which direction the capital is in.... Haa...'
"Good, that's the way I like it. And now, how about stopping for a rest? We've been walking for many hours already... I think it would do my mount good to stop for a while. And you're on foot, so I guess you must be even more tired, judging by the yawn you stifled a moment ago." he says, dismounting and starting to take things out of his mount's saddlebags.
'This old orc is too perceptive.... And it's still a mystery to me why he wants to accompany me, though I can't ask him directly either because he'll probably answer me with some stupidity... If I don't find out clearly what his intentions are, I may have to get rid of him before we reach the next village.'
"I thought YOU were the one accompanying ME, but I still didn't give my approval to stop. What gives you the right to decide for me?" I ask, irritated that he seems so convinced that I'm going to listen to him and stop to rest just because he wants it.
"That's true. I don't have any rights to decide, but you need sleep too, don't you?" He says, looking at me with a doubtful look, "We've been walking for more than 11 hours without a break. The logical thing to do would have been to stop much earlier, at least for drinking and eating. But, since you have no intention of showing any weakness in front of me, I assumed that if I didn't decide to stop on my own, we would never stop. Which obviously doesn't make sense."
At the mention of the word 'eat' my stomach emits a loud grumble, and I suddenly realize that I haven't eaten anything since before I arrived at the village where I met the old orc.
'It's true that we've been walking for too long.... I suppose I unconsciously ignore sleep and the need for food in my apprehension to reach the next village and free myself from this noisy companion. But he is right. We need to stop for sleep and food.'
"You're right." I say, yawning and pulling out some firewood, a small pot, and some ingredients from my inventory.
I still don't know how I'm going to solve the sleeping problem, as I don't feel at all comfortable sleeping next to this orc.
He doesn't seem to be very strong physically, but he's too smart, and that's why I think it would be a bad idea to let my guard down while being near him.
'I should prepare myself something to eat while I decide what to do.'
"Back to the subject you asked me about earlier, we'll reach the next town probably tomorrow night." he says, sitting down on the ground and leaning his back against the side of his wolf, who has laid down to rest as soon as the old orc dismounted "I know you told me that your goal is to go to the capital, but we're going to have to detour a bit east of the direct path to get the things needed for your disguise."
"Don't call it like that! It makes me feel weird about the idea of buying those clothes," I say, miscutting some ingredients when I get a shiver due to the thought of walking around dressed like some kind of freak.
"Alright..." says the orc, smirking. "Call it whatever you want. When we get to the town, you'll pose as my slave so I can buy you whatever you want without making a mess like the one at the tavern."
"Yes... I guess there's no other way," I say, a little irritated at the idea of having to call someone 'master', even if it's a deception.
"There isn't. Once we get out of town, it'll take a little over a week to get to the capital..." he says, and keeps quiet for a few moments before continuing "You still haven't told me what you intend to do there, but this is as good a time as any. How about you tell me?"
"Later..." I say evasively, "I've only known you for a day. Don't expect me to tell you my plans in detail."
"Yeah, I'm sure you've got it all carefully planned..." he says mockingly.
"Look, you'd better get on with your eating and let me cook in peace," I say as I throw the chopped ingredients into the pot and light the fire with my magic.
All this time, while I was preparing my food and talking to him, Kaelion has been eating his own food, which seems to be composed of some kind of hard-looking biscuits.
As he eats, every now and then he tosses some biscuits to his wolf, who chews them with very little enthusiasm.
'I think I'll try adding some wine to the food to see how it goes.... After all, I have to use the alcoholic beverages I take from the tavern in some way. But, before I decide which one I should add to the meal, it would be good to try a little of each to get a better idea of which one I should add...'
...
"Shit, kid. I think you've had enough to drink for tonight. You should go get some sleep," Kaelion says, looking at me with concern.
"Y-you have no right to tell me what to dooo." I say, irritated that everyone is constantly telling me I have to do this or that, and lowering my voice I add "Besides, I can't g-go to sleep. The old orc might take advannntage *hic* ov it to hurrrt me. Sooo that'ss why I need to keep drinnking to stay awwake."
"What? Why did you think alcohol would do the trick to keep you awake? Haa... Don't worry, I'll see that nothing happens to you," says Kaelion, and I don't know why but his smile inspires confidence in me "Don't worry about the old orc. I won't let him do anything to you".
"Thannnk youuu Kaeeelionnn, you'rre a gud friend" I say, after which I take out the sleeping bag and get ready to rest.