Yue used her wind magic to hurl the imperial soldiers' corpses into the ravine, all that remained from the carnage were a few pools of blood. Meanwhile Ivan went ahead and explained the situation to Cam.
"...I see. That is indeed very unfortunate. Well, Paracelsus-dono, I want to thank you for doing your best to aid us. As per our deal we shall lead you through the sea of trees. Now let us make haste, night will soon be upon us."
Cam informed the tribe of the details, Ivan watched from afar as most members showed saddened expressions, others directly broke out into bawling. While there was always hope that some day they'll maybe meet them again, the same couldn't be said for the elderly who were surely slaughtered.
In any case this whole situation put a sour taste in his mouth. Though he should be celebrating what could be called the end of his escort mission he couldn't help but feel he could've done more for the tribe that places family above all else. He looked down as he noticed Yue who showed a worried expression.
Hoping his smile would dissuade her worries, Ivan moved to the group to aid with their travels. Cam separated the tribe into two groups, one group who were to walk the way there and the other who shall stay in the horse drawn carriages. Those able to walk volunteered for outside duty while the women, children, elderly, and injured took seats in the carriages.
Ivan smiled fondly as he admired how unified the group was, not a single member complaining or fighting with each other. As such it was a swift process. Ivan sat in the driver's seat of the lead carriage along with Yue and Shea. Yue was going to be beside him without saying but Shea on the other hand was in charge of guiding him to the woods.
And with a whip of the reins their little caravan began moving at a slow pace. But Ivan didn't mind that at all, in fact he wanted to destress by taking in the serene atmosphere around them. He sighed as he closed his eyes for a minute, which was fine seeing as how they were on a straight path and he had both Yue and Shea there to redirect him.
Yue let him have his peaceful moment as she snuggled up closer to him. She had no idea what was going through his mind. While she'd like to boastly claim that she knew him the best in the world, she didn't dare claim to understand how someone like him who comes from a different world felt by killing for the first time.
For now she could only support him from the side as she allowed time to do all the work. She just wanted to make sure he knew that no matter what happened she'll always be on his side.
Shea watched on from the sidelines as the two comforted each other, feeling a little lonely. At first she wanted to ask if he was okay with killing his own kind, but deciding it would be too rude of a question she stopped herself. But as of now she got her answer. In her heart she did feel a sort of guilt.
'If I didn't get caught. If my family and I didn't have to run. Paracelsus wouldn't have had to kill anyone… He wouldn't be feeling the way he does now.' She thought to herself as an overwhelming sense of guilt bombarded her. For the first time she met people who were irregular like her and here they are cleaning up her messes.
Her guilt turned to surprise as she felt a warm hand encompass the top of her head. She looked startled before making eye contact with the figure. And though she couldn't see the expression behind that helmet she captured his intentions perfectly. Her drooped rabbit ears pointed back up as she held the hand, flashing a dazzling smile of her own.
'Paracelsus is a great guy!' She thought in her head. As far as she could tell his message to her was that his actions were his burden alone, and that she shouldn't feel any responsibility for them..
It was a gesture of kindness that shocked her, but deciding to not let his efforts go to waste she held back the tears that were about to burst from her eyes and showed him the strongest smile she could muster.
"HAHAHA!" Ivan burst out laughing, finding this little gathering of sad saps to be quite entertaining. But more than that he was glad Shea took into consideration his acts for the group, his opinion of her skyrocketing as the guilt she showed in his place was enough to make him sympathize with her. His mood lightened as he looked forward to the coming times.
"Um, Paracelsus-san, Yue-san, could you two please tell me more about yourselves?" Shea spoke up timidly, not bothering to remove the hand on her head.
"Hm~? What is there to know, Yue and I are just on a grand adventure!"
"No, I know that, but I want to know more. Like how did you end up in that abyss or whatever, or why you guys are on a journey, or what you have been doing until now."
"Well… put simply I'm just an alchemist who was in over his head at the time. I sought to hone my skills as I took on the challenge of the Orcus Labyrinth alone. Next thing you know, I'm deep within it with no chance of going back the way I came, it wasn't until I was about to lose my mind that I met Yue."
Ivan locked eyes with Yue as he left the decision to tell the truth up to her. This was her story to tell after all, and if she felt Shea was trustworthy enough to confide in then so be it. In fact he'd be happy if she had someone she could call a friend.
Yue turned away from Ivan's stare as she decided to recount her tale all the way from the beginning. From the moment she was betrayed to the time Ivan rescued her, and finally the moment they fought the Hydra on the 200th floor.
"Uweeeeh…Hic…That's terrible. You poor thing. Yue-san… compared to what you suffered, I've practically been blessed… Uweeeh, I can't believe I was so pathetic." Shea burst into tears right about the same time Yue finished her story. Loathing herself as she felt guilty for thinking she had it tough.
She wiped away the tears in her eyes before declaring: "I've decided! Allow me to accompany you on your journey! Let's overcome the trials ahead together, and achieve your dream!"
"Refused." Ivan curtly refused her self invitation to the group as he paid attention to the road.
"Wha–!?" Shea responded in shock as she believed they had a good moment going on there, and now she's being told that they want nothing to do with her.
"Oh, don't take this the wrong way, it's not like I abhor the idea of you joining us in our adventures. It's just that your intentions slightly tick me off. You plan on making sure your family is safe then jumping onto us so you wouldn't trouble them anymore, right?"
"....."
"Well, I'm sorry but I will not accept such a thing. Shea, though you may think otherwise, you were gifted with amazing abilities that I'm sure could put you at the top of Verbergen. You always wondered what you could do for your family that sacrificed one thing after another for you. How about changing the way things work? So that if any other children like you were born they wouldn't have to deal with the discrimination you're dealing with now."
Ivan made no move to turn to Shea's direction as he made these statements. Right now as the daughter of the chieftain he felt she already held a responsibility to protect her family. Conquering all the dungeons in the world? Helping him achieve his dream? Forget all that, such pointless promises shouldn't be said by someone who has yet to make a move for herself.
Long story short, he found it offensive that she would abandon her family thinking that's what would be best for them. To him, if she didn't like the way things were for them then she should lead them to a greater status.
"I-I'm….." Shea fumbled with her words as she held her head down. She exited the conversation as she felt she needed some time to think about things. For she who had always sought to change the future, has she really done all she can to change it?
Ivan only observed from the sidelines before nodding in satisfaction. He really thought it'd be best for all parties if she carefully considered his words. For Yue and Ivan who were on the run, for the Haulia tribe that needs a leader, and Shea herself who wants to do everything she can to avoid a bad future.
Yue avoided saying anything regarding this matter, though as the princess of a nation she did hold a few opinions. It's just that she felt it'd be better for Shea to come to her own decisions before anything. As the matter of leading others is not one should do on a whim, if one was to succeed they'd need to dedicate their all to it.
And with this, the group continued their travel to the sea of trees. But this time the leading cart was a lot more silent than it once was.
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A few hours later, the group arrived at the entrance to the Haltina Woods. From the outside it looked like a completely normal forest, but once they stepped inside they were instantly surrounded by a dense fog.
"Now then, Paracelsus-dono, Yue-dono. Please stick close to us once we're inside. You'll be traveling in the center of our group, but it's possible you might get separated, so be careful. Also, you just want us to guide you to the center, where the Grand Tree is, right?"
"Mhm, we believe the grand tree will lead us to the entrance of the next labyrinth."
The Grand Tree Cam had referred to was a massive tree that sat in the deepest reaches of the forest. The beastmen called it the Sacred Tree Uralt, and the area around it was considered holy. Ivan believed that such a landmark would surely lead him and Yue to their target.
Cam nodded and gave a signal to the rest of his clan, at which they all began crowding around Ivan and Yue.
"Could you two please erase your presence as much as possible? There's a chance we'll run into people from Verbergen or some other outlying settlements. Since we're all wanted, we'd just rather avoid being found by someone."
Yue used her innate talents she cultivated in the abyss to hide. Meanwhile, Ivan only stood still as sweat dripped down his chin. Never in his time in the labyrinth did he practice any stealth maneuvers. Hide his presence? Not very easy for someone who's main way of attacking is running up on people and blowing open their defenses.
He turned at Yue, hoping she had some magic that'd hide even the bit of his presence. She only tilted her head as a catalog of spells appeared in her mind. Using some minor wind magic, the best she could do in this situation is lighten his footsteps.
Ivan looked on over at Cam, who only wryly smiled back at Ivan. But now that their preparations were made it was finally time to begin their expedition.
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Do rascal bunnies dream of character development? No? Alright. Maaa~ I've come to warm up to Shea's character after rereading the second volume. She sure has it rough huh... In any case it'd be pretty sad to just abandon her so why not change things up.
PS: Due to recent developments I wanna make sure you guys are all staying safe, the world is a dangerous place right now. One disaster after another has struck, but its important to take care of yourself. If you can, talk to a loved one. If you don't have any loved ones, talk to a friend. And if you don't have any friends, you're welcome to talk to me.
Anyways, thanks again to you all for reading. The support really does mean a lot to me as this is basically my dream. Have a great day/night, and keep those love ones tight! Know that somewhere someone cares for ya.
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