"Hiiih—!" the old man squealed in surprise. "E-Er... what're ye... what're ye doin' 'ere, my good man?" he clasped his hands together and had a docile smile, a stark contrast to his aggressive behavior towards Kairo just now."There are no tolls for this area," the lone man that appeared behind Kairo uttered coldly. His eyes were unmoving and it was as if he was looking down on the old man, and not merely because of his short stature."Y-Yes there is! That's why I'm 'ere! Heheh... the kingdom is just ahead, so—""These lands may belong to the kingdom but the kingdom only does tolls for merchants at the walls," the lone man said in a matter-of-factly tone."But the kingdom—" before the old man could even begin his petty rambling, the lone man walked up to the booth structure and lifted it effortlessly with one hand as if he was holding a mere stick. Kairo observed in awe."Do you sincerely think that the kingdom would supply its collectors with such a measly closet without security?" he said as he released the booth from his iron grasp.The lone man made it look so easy. When the booth dropped, the dirt beneath it sank with a heavy thud.The old man was visibly red in the face. At first, he was embarrassed about being caught, which turned into anger. He then looked as though he was about to do something.But before he was able to move, he was surprised when the lone man tossed a single gold coin at him. "Go back home and get a real job. Stop preying on kids, you damn geezer.""Oi, don't make it sound like I was doin' sum'ing worse!" the old man's defeat was written in his face, but he seemed to be satisfied with the gold coin, and so he called his horse which was pulling a cart, which Kairo didn't notice before because it was stationed out of sight, and painstakingly placed his fake booth on it.The old man looked as though he was using all of his strength with both of his arms just to carry the booth."I gave you something this time, but the next time I witness you commit this act again, I'll be taking something instead," the lone man lifted his ashen cloak just enough to brandish the sheathed sword at his hip. The old man could only make an irritated noise as he waddled off, but it seemed like he got the message."Thank you, mister!" Kairo told the lone man. Though, Kairo still kept his distance from the mysterious traveller, just in case."What's your name, kid?""Kairo, sir.""Kairo, huh? I'm Grisia. You on your way to the kingdom?" Grisia asked nonchalantly."Yes, sir..." Grisia saw Kairo look down at his feet. Grisia turned his head in the direction Kairo came from.After a moment, he suggested, "Would you like to accompany me until we reach the kingdom?" Grisia's yellow, stern stare didn't look any different, but Kairo felt that it was kind and warm compared to how he looked at the old man earlier. "Oh! Y-Yes sir!" Kairo smiled brightly.Kairo went up to the sign to read it. The wooden road signage had multiple arrow-shaped plates that pointed to a direction, with the names of those places engraved on them. Kairo remembered there being fewer plates the last time he saw this signage from years ago. It seemed that time naturally brought change to places.Among the various other names of places, Kairo saw a familiar one. "Jamais Kingdom. Yep, that's the place," Kairo confirmed, nodding to himself with Grisia beside him, also reading the sign.Once the old man had put the booth on his cart, he rode off on his horse in the same direction of the kingdom that Kairo was heading to.Kairo and Grisia did not have a ride, therefore, the old man went far ahead of them until he and his cart were no longer within sight.Kairo walked beside Grisia, matching his speed.He thought that it would be dangerous for him to walk in front of Grisia, mainly because he didn't want a stranger to be behind him. But he also thought Grisia might feel the same way if Kairo were to walk behind him.It looked to be that Grisia paid no heed to it though. It did not seem to be the case that this Grisia fellow was ignorant, Kairo surmised that it must be because this stranger was confident in his own strength, or simply knew that Kairo was nothing to be wary of. They had been walking for quite a while. By the rate that they were going, they should reach the kingdom walls as per Kairo's original plan.Kairo wanted to make some small talk. Now that he finally had some company, he didn't need to wait until he got inside the kingdom to socialize!"Uhh, sir?""Yes?""What you said to the old man... is it true? About the tolls?""Yes.""How do you know about that? Do you live in the kingdom? Or is it just common knowledge for people around here?""I am a travelling adventurer. I frequent this kingdom because I have a residence here, but I mainly travel around to other locations that have guilds where I can take up quests. Different kingdoms have their own ways of supporting themselves, but I am well aware of how this one runs.""An adventurer, huh..."Along the way, Grisia decided to hunt for animals in a grove they came across. Exploring the grove, they spotted a large wild boar scrounging for nuts beneath a tree. Grisia gestured to Kairo to stay down and lie low.They started to whisper to each other in order to avoid revealing their presence to the boar."Do you know how to hunt?" Grisia asked Kairo."Err, I've only caught some small animals enough for myself.""Then I'll handle this one," Kairo nodded to Grisia's suggestion. "Give me a rock," Grisia said softly without taking his eyes off of the boar, only reaching his opened hand out to Kairo's direction.Kairo looked for one around them and found three of varying sizes."Do you need a hand-sized one, a pebble, or something in between?" Kairo asked."The latter," Grisia replied.Kairo handed him the rock. Grisia lightly tossed the rock that Kairo gave him up in the air to get a feel of its weight. He continued to have his sights locked on the boar.After a few moments, he swiftly threw the rock at the oblivious boar, hitting it through the head, and without even a squeal, its lifeless body fell to its side from the force of the impact and hit the floor.It was nearly instantaneous that neither the boar nor Kairo had the time to react at all. Seeing the boar get shot in the head with a mere rock in a flash, Kairo didn't like that familiar scene one bit.He looked at Grisia and Grisia looked back at him without a change in his expression, as if it was a casual happenstance."You're quite strong," Kairo commented, trying to play off his anxiety. He was reminded of the tragedy that happened that day."I have my secrets," Grisia said, approaching his successful hunt.Kairo simply stood around, usually he would cook the small animals he caught over a campfire, but he wasn't sure of what to do with a large boar.Grisia noticed Kairo's anxiety and told him, "It's nearly sunset. It would be wise if we set up camp in this grove early as I feel winter will come upon us soon. It'll be less chilly with all these trees around. I'll prepare this boar by draining its blood. You set up camp. I'll help you when I'm done cutting this boy up.""Alright, I'm on it!" Kairo replied enthusiastically, appreciating Grisia's thoughtfulness."For nighttime, I'll sleep first. Wake me up when you're sleepy or I'll switch with you myself when I feel like I've slept enough," Kairo audibly nodded to Grisia's idea as he headed off to find stones and firewood for the campfire.As Kairo was gathering materials and placing them down by the campsite, he observed Grisia hang the large boar upside down with a rope tied to a sturdy tree branch. Blood dripped down from a cut that Grisia made.Once they've set up their camp and the fire was started by Kairo, Grisia took it upon himself to cook the boar. Kairo was not sure what Grisia did, but this meat tasted slightly better, or maybe it was simply because it had been a while since he last ate boar meat, or any cooking besides his own."Grisia, this meat tastes better than any meat I've eaten that I could remember! It feels a bit more tender than what I'm used to as well!" Kairo exclaimed cheerfully."I don't mean to toot my own horn but... the better the hunter, the higher the quality of meat.""Why?""I'm no cook, so I can't enhance the food too much in terms of cooking. But I know that as a hunter, when an animal is stressed, their flesh gets affected. A clean stealth kill before an animal's instincts kicks in avoids causing stress to the animal. That's when the meat is at its prime state, or so I've heard and experienced.""Interesting..." Kairo never thought about it before. He pondered to himself, "I guess there's more to food than I realized. More than what I was taught at my village..."Kairo's expression turned sour.Silence swarmed their camp.Grisia turned to his cooked meat and said, "You're an impressionable young boy. It's a good quality to be curious, but an even better quality to listen. You can save my words for when you need to remember them."Grisia then continued eating as Kairo's face slightly brightened with a pained smile. "Thanks."The icy night befell them.Grisia slept first. It seemed that Kairo could trust Grisia to watch over him in his sleep if Grisia trusted him to do the same.And so, Kairo went to watch their surroundings.It was a silent night, save for the natural ambience of nocturnal creatures roaming about. Luckily, nothing much happened in his turn. Once Kairo was sleepy, it was Grisia's turn to keep watch.The area around the campfire was warm. Kairo was just at the right distance from the crackling fire, not too hot nor too cold. This made his eyes grow heavy as he slowly started to doze off.It had been a while since he slept this late and was allowed to be unconcerned about his surroundings, he thought as he yawned into a relieved sleep.