Maklin sighed. Carrying brats wasn't part of his duties. But when he thought of his real duties and how tough it would have been to run through the forest enveloped in constant rain, he realized that he might have lucked out with his babysitting duty.
And while he was still vigilant toward Ritzy and Gerhart since they came from the enemy kingdom, he couldn't help but think of the kids in the village when he saw them.
Maklin went over to Gerhart, the much bigger of the two, and slung him over his shoulders before picking Ritzy, who weighed alarmingly little, and carrying him in his arms. The boys had worked hard. Maklin could pick that much up without his military scout training. They deserved some rest.
The hill wasn't that much drier since the air was still damp, and it was exposed to the winds caused by the change in air pressure and weather caused by the endless rain clouds. But it was enough, and the hill wouldn't flood from the streams of water trickling out of the forest. The breeze would also help blow away the dampness and dry their clothes and equipment while they slept.
However, Ritzy and Gerhart would have to rest on the ground while Maklin set up camp, which wasn't something he could do anything about. Well, it wasn't the first time they slept on wet soil, and they were sleeping like the dead, so it didn't bother them that much, especially when they woke up inside a dry tent without being stuck inside soaking clothes.
Gerhart was the first to wake up, and he did so without fully resting and recovering from the fatigue. But it was because he was too tired to do that in a single round of sleeping.
He was inside a simple, green tent, cramped thanks to Ritzy. It was barely more than a water-proof sheet to protect its inhabitants from the outside world. But it was more than what Gerhart and Ritzy had ever had access to in their escape from Shiria.
It was cozy, alarmingly so, especially to Gerhart, who had grown accustomed to the absolute discomfort of his wet clothes that were nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, he still had his underwear.
Gerhart scanned the insides of the tent that he could barely sit up in without making a move.
He kind of remembered what had happened before he fell asleep. He remembered the important parts, such as he and Ritzy encountering a scout troop belonging to the neighboring enemy country's military. That wasn't necessarily good, even if it wasn't people Baron Michmond had sent.
He looked around warily, but he quickly realized that he wasn't bound, cuffed, or restrained. He could also hear the faint sound of rain not far away. After what they had just gone through, Gerhart didn't think he would ever forget what it sounded like.
That meant they weren't far away.
Eventually, he caught sight of Mognog clutched tightly in Ritzy's bony hands. Fortunately, Mognog was half faced toward his direction so Gerhart could catch his eyes.
"Psst."
Mognog's green flames flickered and moved in Gerhart's direction. He would have raised an eyebrow in question if he had one. But he didn't, so Mognog could only look at Gerhart. For some reason, he had a feeling that Ritzy would have been able to sense that he wanted to raise an eyebrow.
"What are you sneaking around for?"
"Shh!"
Gerhart hurriedly held up a finger to his mouth and shushed Mognog. They were inside a tent, but it definitely wasn't soundproof, considering he could hear the rain in the distance. If they were surrounded by enemies, revealing that he was awake and Mognog's existence would only make it more difficult to escape.
"Ah."
Mognog could tell what Gerhart was worried about from his shifty eyes and worried expression.
"Don't worry. You're safe. Both of you."
Mognog spoke with reassurance. It wasn't quite enough to soothe Gerhart's heart.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Take it easy. You can even go back to sleep if you want."
Gerhart rested his head against the mat and closed his eyes for a moment as bone-deep relief sank into his body. The tension he had maintained all through their trek through the forest faded away like snow in spring.
He wanted to continue sleeping since he could sense his body was still broken by fatigue. But his eyes remained to stay closed. Although he was no longer as worried, he was still restless.
With a sigh, Gerhart got up and left the tent to find Maklin sitting around a campfire next to their dry clothes, warmed by the fire.
Maklin looked up, unsurprised by Gerhart showing up since he had heard him.
"Good morning, Gerhart. Well, good afternoon, maybe."
Maklin greeted Gerhart with a smile.
"Afternoon?"
Gerhart looked around and located the sun on the other side of a couple of clouds.
"How long did I sleep?"
"Two days."
"Two days?!"
"Yeah. I bet you're hungry."
Maklin nodded in the direction of the campfire and revealed what his body had previously hidden from Gerhart's view. Maklin had caught an animal and lined up its meat around the campfire to grill it. Gerhart also saw a couple of cleaned skewers that Maklin had already eaten.
While it seemed Maklin had eaten a lot, there was still much meat left.
"Then, if you don't mind."
Gerhart approached the campfire with a starry-eyed expression, drool dripping down his chin. Even if Maklin had minded, Gerhart was unstoppable.
He and Ritzy had eaten nothing but that goblin bread and fruits and berries for the entirety of their journey through the forest. He craved food.
But before he could grab a skewer, Maklin did it first. He picked up one with a couple of bite-sized morsels of meat and handed it to Gerhart.
"Here."
Gerhart was stunned and looked at Maklin in confusion. There were several buckets of meat around the campfire, and he was supposed to be satisfied with less than enough to fill his mouth?
Maklin noticed Gerhart's confusion, and before Gerhart could say anything, he explained,
"I can see you've starved for a couple of days."
Maklin pointed at Gerhart's pointy ribs. Any notion of getting dressed had disappeared when Gerhart saw the food.
"Your stomach won't be able to handle it if you eat too much meat at once. Just take it slow and warm your stomach up before feasting, alright? I am not going to take the meat away from you. But if you eat too much now, you'll either throw it up at once or cramp your insides and die."
"...Alright."
Gerhart reluctantly agreed to do as Maklin said and sucked on the meat until he could feel the pangs of hunger return to his numb stomach, after which he began nibbling on the meat. He could feel himself getting full after eating the morsels on the skewers, so he laid down and looked at the sky while waiting for his stomach to rest.
Gerhart talked a little with Maklin while they waited.
"Good morning, guys!"
And after a while, Ritzy woke up. He left the tent with a cheerful greeting while carrying Mognog with one hand like an apple.
"Good morning, Ritzy."
"Hey."
Maklin gave Ritzy a proper greeting while Gerhart lazily waved without even looking up.
"Oh! Is that…?!"
Ritzy got an excited expression on his face that really showed off his childishness. Maklin and Gerhart naturally assumed he had gotten sight of the food and were about to warn him about what Maklin had warned Gerahart.
"Wait a little—"
"Hey—"
"Bones!"
However, Ritzy hadn't caught sight of the meat around the campfire, or, if he had, it wasn't as important as the other discovery. He had noticed the remains of the plains deer that Maklin had yet to get rid of.
"You don't need these, right, young man?"
Ritzy spoke while taking it for granted that Maklin hadn't saved the bones for a specific purpose as he was already picking them up and admiring them despite the blood and flesh still on them.
"Uh… No, go ahead and take them."
Maklin remembered that Ritzy was a necromancer. But he hadn't expected Ritzy to go so crazy about a couple of bones from a weak deer.
"But, uh, what are you going to do with them?"
Curious, Maklin asked.
"Necromancy!"
Ritzy answered without looking since he was enamored with the bones, inspecting them for any damage.
Maklin cleared his throat.
"Yeah, I kind of guessed that. But I meant more specifically."
"Oh."
Ritzy shrugged.
"Bone chalk, maybe."
Ritzy stopped talking as he tilted his head.
"Hmm. Maybe I'll save up enough bones to do something special."
Ritzy spoke with a devious grin while absentmindedly caressing the bone.
Maklin was nervous, but he was still curious.
"Like what…?"
Ritzy looked at Maklin out of the corner of his eye. His gaze was as sharp as a knife until he realized that he was supposed to be a non-threat to ensure that he and Gerhart didn't get thrown in prison for belonging to the enemy country.
"Oh, uh… Um. I've always wanted to have, uh… something to ride, maybe?"
Maklin could tell that wasn't what Ritzy had been thinking about, but it didn't matter. If Ritzy didn't want to tell him, Maklin couldn't make him. Also, it might be for the best if he didn't know the details since they would split up as soon as Maklin had arranged transport across or out of the country for them.
"Okay… Anyway. You hungry, Ritzy?"
"Yep. Hungry for power."