Roy pushed open the wooden doors of the outpost and his eyes widened.
"What the hell are you doing, Velgrim? Didn't you hear my orders? Why is everyone still here?" Roy asked the skinny man, who's name seemed to be Velgrim.
"Sir, I was going to put up the assignment, but it seems it's no longer necessary," Velgrim replied with a smile.
"What are you talking about?"
"She came back! Raya's alive!" Velgrim said, delight apparent in his voice.
"What!" Roy said incredulously.
Roy was stunned. If Raya was alive, then why had she disappeared?
"Where is she?" Roy asked, wanting to see Raya for himself, as he could not believe Velgrim's words.
Velgrim wore a complicated expression as he spoke, "She um- left, sir…"
Roy's face seemed to turn red with anger as he shouted, "You idiots! Why the hell did you let her go? Especially after she was just declared missing?"
Roy's shout had attracted the attention of all his subordinates inside the outpost, who then turned his way to listen. It was rare that there cool-headed captain became incensed.
Velgrim quickly spoke to quell his captain's displeasure, "She was in perfect health, sir. In fact, she'd simply gotten lost and was led back thanks to the aid of a traveler. No need to worry, sir."
Roy was pacified by Velgrim's explanation. He'd wanted to make sure that Raya was unharmed, and if possible, imprison or execute the one's responsible for her disappearance using the information she carried. Though her safety was far more important; In his opinion, it was his second most important task, behind only the search for the wise beast.
"That's good then, but I still would have liked to see her for myself; I am her captain after all," Roy spoke, then he remembered something Velgrim said, "Wait? You said someone helped her?"
"Yes, sir. It was just some wandering traveler," Velgrim replied.
"Just some traveler, huh?"
'I guess it's plausible. Travelers have been known to venture through Greenleaf Forest. That's why so many women get kidnapped by goblins,' Roy thought.
"Though he sure knows how to kick some ass, haha," Velgrim muttered to himself.
Roy didn't miss Velgrim's self-musing.
"What did you say?" Roy asked.
"Oh, yeah! That wanderer guy got into a fight with Ross and Benjamin and knocked them both out with a single blow each. It was really incredible to witness," Velgrim said, reminiscing about the way Zulu defeated the two guards with ease.
Roy's eyes squinted with interest and he cupped his chin with one hand when he heard about the traveler's fighting abilities.
'This just got a lot more intriguing. Some traveler that can beat two Tier 1 guards in a fight just happened to stumble across Raya in the middle of Greenleaf Forest?' Roy thought.
Roy spoke, "Tell me more about this traveler."
Velgrim was confused about why his captain wanted to know more about some random passerby, but he complied and said, "To be honest, sir, we know nothing about him. He had his face covered with a hood and he didn't speak the whole time he was here, so we don't even know what he sounds like. All we know is that he's slightly taller than Benjamin and scrawny as all hell but as strong as an ox."
"And you didn't think that was suspicious?!" Roy said, raising his voice again.
Velgrim quickly spoke, "Uh- yes, sir. But he helped Raya, so we were afraid to ask…"
Roy could only sigh at that answer. He was angry about it, but he also understood where his men were coming from; Getting on Raya's bad side was akin to career suicide.
"So what did they fight about anyway?" Roy asked, pinching the brim of his nose.
"Ross and Benjamin were jealous that he was with Raya," Velgrim explained.
"Haa, those idiots. Tell the headmaster to reduce their rations by half for a week, and warn them that I'll starve them if they keep causing trouble," Roy said while shaking his head in disapproval.
"Yes, sir."
"More importantly, where did Raya go?" Roy asked.
"Apparently she wanted to repay her debt to the traveler by leading him to a nearby town. At least that's what the headmaster said," Velgrim replied.
"Is that so?"
Roy fell into thought.
'Strange. Very strange indeed. A traveler strong enough to defeat two guards and explore Greenleaf Forest unharmed is unable to locate the closest town? And why would he want to go to some small town anyway? Why not Valewaren City? If he's a wandering merchant, than that would be his best destination to make a profit; Yet, that's not what he's doing. Does he have family there? Then why doesn't he know the direction? Furthermore, why was he so desperate to hide his identity? It just doesn't add up. I need to meet this person for myself to clear my suspicions.'
"What town?" Roy asked.
"Noelenwood, sir."
--------------------------------
'Should I ask her about it?' Raya thought, 'No. I owe her too much to begin interrogating her as though she were a criminal. Once I've helped her reach the town, I'll casually bring it up.'
Zulu and Raya had resumed their journey come sunrise.
Zulu had never actually gone to bed the entirety of the night; He didn't want to return to his fox form while sleeping and risk Raya discovering his secret. Thus, he explored more of the forest, never straying too far from Raya's position to avoid getting lost. He even managed to find and kill a Rank 1 horned deer, but that was all. Everything else he came across consisted of only normal non-magical animals.
Zulu used that freedom to return to his fox form; A form in which he'd grown to prefer. Once the sun began to emerge from the horizon, he activated [Corporeal Illusion] and woke Raya. His mana had been topped off and he was ready to go.
At his point, they were less than six hours from the town, so they'd arrive sometime in the afternoon. Zulu would have to come up with one more excuse to ditch Raya.
After three hours of walking, Raya and Zulu arrived at the woodland edge. What laid beyond was a wide prairie filled with tall grass that swayed as one in the rolling winds. The dirt path they'd been traveling on had long vanished. Now they could only rely on natural formations for direction.
Leaving the cover of the oak trees' leaves, Zulu and Raya were exposed to the full intensity of the sun's rays.
'This could be a problem,' Zulu thought, 'I'll have to return to my fox form at least one more time to refill my mana, and I can't exactly do that without cover. This is gonna get dicey, but I have a few ideas.'
"Okay, nearly there," Raya said, "Now we just need to find the river and follow it away from the forest; It'll lead us directly to Noelenwood."
Zulu and Raya began their march into the field of grass that extended far over the horizon. Walking through the prairie, the grass reached up to the middle of their thighs. One could only imagine the type of dangerous critters that concealed themselves within the lush grassland.
After over forty minutes of trudging through the dense field of grass, Zulu and Raya could hear the sound of rushing water. Of course, Zulu had long heard the sound of a river long before Raya did, but he didn't say anything to avoid suspicion.
Approaching the source of the noise, Zulu and Raya saw a river of deep navy blue that split the prairie into two halves. The river was a little over twenty meters wide while its depth was impossible to discern due to its opaque quality. The river's surface was smooth and undisturbed, flowing freely into the distance. Countless yellow and white flowers decorated the river's edges.
'Now's my chance,' Zulu thought.
Raya had long informed Zulu of her plan to reach Noelenwood, so when thinking of a way to slip away while inside the prairie, naturally, the river came to mind.
'I have less than ten minutes before [Corporeal Illusion] dispels. I hope this works,' Zulu thought.
"Hey Raya, can I see some of that liquid fire mana?" Zulu asked.
"Sure, but why?" Raya asked, puzzled by the sudden request.
"While we're near the water, I want to test something with my magic."
"Oh? How so?"
"I was curious to see if liquid fire mana could amplify the effects of my fire magic."
"I see! That does sound like a good idea. I've never thought about mixing magic and liquid mana… What would happen anyway?" Raya pondered to herself, "Right, here you go."
Raya willingly passed a bottle of liquid fire mana to Zulu, curious about the result as well.
Zulu was genuinely interested in finding out about the results of his experiment, but in the end, it was just a scheme he devised to escape Raya's presence.
Zulu pulled the cork from the grass vial and poured a small amount of the red liquid onto the palm of his hand. The liquid mana was warm to the touch and had the consistency of honey. It pooled in the middle of his palm before ceasing movement.
Zulu handed the vial back to Raya and turned towards the water.
"Step back a little," Zulu said.
"Right," Raya said, backing up a couple meters.
Zulu neared the edge of the river, walking among the yellow and white flowers. Once his feet were only a foot from the water, he paused and raised his arm, keeping his palm facing towards the sky so the liquid mana would not slip off.
Zulu's mana was near depletion, so casting a single fireball would surely empty it, deactivating the [Corporeal Illusion] spell as a result. He had to be swift in his actions, or Raya would see through his illusion.
Zulu cast [Fireball] and a ball of scorching red flame formed an inch above his hand. The liquid fire mana was triggered by the intense heat burning at such close proximity, erupting into a remarkable flame of its own. The still-growing fireball absorbed some of the liquid mana's fire, rapidly enhancing its size and temperature. The liquid mana had empowered the fireball spell; However, it did not come without a cost.
Zulu watched with calm eyes as the palm of his hand was scorched black under the intense foreign flame, sending waves of pain throughout his hand. As the liquid fire mana did not originate from his body, it still harmed him. He had predicted this outcome; Yet, it was exactly what he wanted.
"AAAHHH!" Zulu let out a pained scream as he lurched forward over his arm as though he were cradling it to subdue the agony.
"Zulu?!" Raya cried out, worried that something had gone horribly wrong.
Zulu released the fireball and it crashed into the water directly in front of him. The spell exploded as it came into contact with the river's surface, disrupting its tranquility and launching a wave of aqua into the air.
Zulu pretended to lose his balance under the mass of water crashing on top of his head. He fell forward and splashed into the river, sinking to its depths under the shocked expression of Raya.
"Zulu!" Raya shouted, running to the edge of the river.
However, Zulu had long vanished into the river's murky blue water. Raya could only watch in astonishment, utterly perplexed by the events that had so quickly transpired.
Raya began running along the river's edge, shouting Zulu's name while watching the water to see if he would resurface. Soon she disappeared into the distance, convinced that he'd been carried away by the river.
A few seconds after Raya left, a drenched pale girl crawled out of the river and crawled into the tall grass. This was, of course, Zulu, who then immediately transformed back into his fox state, leaving his human clothes hanging loosely from his body.
Looking at his paw, Zulu noticed that it was horribly burned; The wound had carried over from his human form. He only sighed at that sight before falling into thought.
'All according to plan. Now I just got to wait a bit, then I can go find Raya,' Zulu thought, 'Wait, do I even still need her?'
The soaked orange fox rested in the prairie grass, basking under the sun and letting his fur dry. However, as he did so, his mind was dealing with a serious dilemma.
'Thinking about this logically, I don't need Raya anymore; I can just follow the river until I reach the town. That said, what if I'm unable to enter the town? Her being a guard should make it somewhat easy. Also, why do I feel as though there's more to her than just a simple guard? I feel like killing her would lead to some dire repercussions further down the line; Kinda ominous really. I'll take it as a sign of fate. I won't eat her… yet.'
After two hours passed, Zulu reactivated [Corporeal Illusion], redressed, and ran along the river's edge for twenty minutes before he spotted Raya. She was sitting on the ground with her knees to her chest while two streams of tears slipped down her face. A faint sobbing could be heard.
"Raya?" Zulu asked.
Raya's head turned towards the familiar voice. When her gaze landed on Zulu, her eye's widened in surprise, followed quickly by joy.
"Zulu!"
Raya popped up and rushed up to Zulu, watching him intently with soft eyes for a short second before noticing his hand.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Raya asked as she grabbed Zulu's charred hand.
"Ouch."
"Oh! Sorry!" Raya said with an earnest expression, "I'm glad you're okay. I thought you had died, you know? Please don't do something so reckless again."
'What are you, my mom?' Zulu thought, though, he only formed a smile.
"Sorry. The experiment was a failure. I'll make sure to be more careful next time," Zulu said.
"I noticed!" Raya said with a sigh, "Wait here a second, I'll wrap your hand."
Raya removed a small kit from her bag which contained a roll of bandage. She carefully wrapped Zulu's hand as to avoid hurting him again.
"There, all set," Raya said.
"Thank you," Zulu said with a nod.
"Alright, let's keep going. Farther from the river this time!"
Zulu couldn't help but laugh at that remark; It seemed Raya would not trust him near large bodies of water from now on.
As Zulu and Raya resumed their trip along the river, Raya began to speak, "So how'd you get out anyway? Why didn't you get swept downstream?"
Zulu quickly thought of a lie before replying, "After I fell in, I struggled underwater for awhile as I had been entangled in some algae at the bottom. When I eventually returned to the surface, you were nowhere to be found. I fought with the current for a little bit as I slowly made my way back to land. After I finally got out, I fell unconscious from having had inhaled too much water. When I eventually woke up, I came looking for you."
Raya didn't entirely believe Zulu's story, and she still had her doubts, yet she didn't say anything. She genuinely thought of Zulu as a friend and did not want to question his sincerity over something so unimportant.
Like that, Raya and Zulu followed the river.