next day the lady came again as she has been doing from past few days to give her all the meals which Irie can't be thankful enough for her kindness.
"everything is okay Irie?" Miss Rose asks politely, she is a young lady who has been very kind to her, Irie knows that it's out of pity but can't help it.
"yes, I am good please don't worry about me"
"how can I not worry when you are living alone like this" she touches Irie head softly
"but I am doing just fine I can live on my own"
"still you are not alone okay" she bend down to Irie to meet her in eye.
"I know" Irie try to give her best smile she could have.
then she left once she took the utensils she had given last night.
Irie goes to her wardrobe took out her grandmother's cloth materials which she had used to make herself clothes, she choose a sea green colour and there is nothing Irie can't do.
she took perfect measurements because now she is going to make herself an outfit.
~what you doing Irie
"planning" Irie chuckle
~plannig what?
"our runaway" Irie keeps her hand busey but still answering Ryu's every question because she knows he is always very curious
~huh? we are running some where?
"yes Ryu we are running away from here and we are gona go find the author of that book and ask him about the missing pages and if we are lucky enough he may help us out to find a way to summon you so that you could..." she pause midway because she never thought about what's after that
~i could what?
"give me a break, we will see about that.." *tok..tok*
someone nocks at the door.
"it must be Mr. Dean"
Irie opens the door and she is not wrong it is indeed Mr. Dean
"how you doing Irie"
"I am good, please come in."
Irie make him take a seat so that they could have a conversation.
"ah! were you alone?"
"yes, why?" Irie tilt her head
"no.. nothing I thought I just heard someone talking that's why"
"ha ha I was talking to myself" a cold sweat drop from Irie's forehead
"anyways I got all you asked me about"
Irie just nod her head to tell him to proceed
"Jack hardwood he is an western writer he is very popular for his sense of culture and history writing and also writing biography for many people he is quite popular in western states, well not much about him is available publicly"
"um..where could we find him?" Irie asks nervously not wanting him to ask back why she wants to know that.
"you could find him in kingdom of swans he is officially from there so he might be living there who knows" Mr. Dean shrug
"okay thank you for your help Mr. Dean I am very grateful" Irie stands and bow down to him
"hey kid! what you planning huh?" he asked out of nowhere making Irie flinch
for now she didn't answered being quite is the only answer she has now and Mr. Dean is good enough to not meddle in someone's else life.
"fine! I won't ask but just be careful okay don't trust people easily not everyone is a good person like me" Mr. Dean stands and walk out of the room then he leaves but before "one more thing, if you are thinking of going out of this kingdom I am telling you, you can't without permission" then he finally leaves.
that left Irie thinking if she can't go out casually then does she really have to escape? because she doesn't want to get involved in any kind of official work or anything, it's not like anybody will notice if she went missing right?
not thinking any further she goes on completing her outfit she has been dreaming for quite some time that how she wants to look like. a one piece full length which is tight at waist with a belt which has pockets and holders that can hold anything and below the waist the clothe is divided from to sides so that can moving will be easy and kimono hands, with long air pants and boots. she also prepared sheath for her two big buster swords which she can keep on her back.
with this she is prepared to leave for her purpose in life she wish to go on a quest to see what is actually mean to live and die for someone, for Ryu because he is the only one left with him and she wish to grant him his freedom. Irie doesn't want Ryu as a means of power because as much as she has seen him he is a very pure soul.
that night after doing her dinner and cleaning the house she prepares her luggage, Irie is quite diligent no matter what she do, well that's how she was thought.
"we have enough money to buy a house haha grandma was very clever, I don't know how she managed to save this much amount" Irie laughs in disbelief as she opened a small chest she found under her grandmother's bed which contains approx 100 silver coins.
~it seems we are rich! Irie
Ryu joins in as they are both drooling over the silver coins
"yah! Ryu we are hehe" Irie wipes her drool
~where are we heading to?
"to the empire of swans but first we have to get out of here without being caught" Irie gets serious all of a sudden
~no matter what you do, I am always with you Irie.
"like you have another option" Irie laughs
it's hard to understand her mood sometimes.
Irie cleans everything properly then leave a note on table near the dishes Miss Rose brought telling her that she is going somewhere and she is fine and not to worry and she also left five silver coins for her not wanting to keep any debt with anyone.
then she puts on her attire with a huge bag on her back which is her luggage but after putting the swords on her back first.
with that she is ready to be off for what she has decided till now
"this is it" she walks inside her grandmother room and take a wide look inside and mesmerize the home for one last time, the place where she has grown up and spent most of her childhood with lots of memories good and bad.
"huh!...so long but I can't stay, I will fullfill my duties well grandma please rest assured" she bows down on her knees in front of her grandmother's photo.
Once she has done all of it she walks out, the moon is full and really bright giving her a clear view from top of the roof. she can see the palace top afar from the dense forest and to the other side clear forest it's quite good that at least they didn't build a wall all around the empire.
"let's keep going"
~yes
Irie flash like a wind gust run through the trees towards the east she has already seen the map of this area and knows quite well about the directions because her grandmother used to take her to different places for training.
"we are close to the borders"
~it will a piece of cake for us
"not quite yet Ryu"
~huh? why do we expect something?
"the border areas are guarded by the soldiers and they will be on high alert specially at night, so I think it's gonna be quite difficult to sneak through"
Irie finally spotted someone walking towards her so she stops and hide behind the leaves.
"man do you hear that, today our general is out on a night stroll today" one of the men spoke up and since it is very quite Irie can hear them too
"really! well that's not new but still I wish I could see him isn't he very cool?" other one can't control his excitement to meet their general.
"yaya in your dreams there's no way he will walk here in this area he have his standards"
"well I guess you are right"
those men walk by gossiping
"heh! look at them slacking off, but good for me" Irie smiled and moved on quietly as possible.
~we are not far enough are we, once we are out of here no one will ask where are we from right?
"yah! and we will be one our own"
they were few minutes away from their freedom, Irie is in high alert as the end of border come closer. Irie wished they will make it just fine but suddenly she stopped on her track because she heard something strange or more like something coming towards her.
~irie why you stopped
Irie looked on right side, there comes a big sword and cross few inches from her face she saw her own reflection on it and it strike right on the wood stopping in front of her face. Irie saw a face in reflection so she turned around.
the luck is not on her side because it's none other than ' The General Arthur' he smirk and asks
"going somewhere?"