Maklin waited until Ritzy and Gerhart had both eaten their fill and had some time to embrace the fact that they were alive and well before clearing his throat to get their attention.
"Ahem."
Ritzy and Gerhart looked at Maklin.
"It's still a while until we get to Chitron, officially, and a while before you two, well, get on your way. But since I need to make arrangements for your travels, it would be nice to know where you're going. So, where are you going after passing through Chitron?"
Maklin patiently looked between Gerhart and Ritzy. It didn't seem like either of them was the natural leader or decision-maker, so he was curious what they would do. He was also curious from a professional point of view about their goals. After all, his captain had tasked him with keeping watch over the two suspicious kids.
Ritzy and Gerhart exchanged a glance before looking at Maklin. Ritzy spoke.
"Can we have a moment to discuss? Alone."
Maklin hesitated since they could be scheming against Chitron by doing that. But then again, if they were spies and ones good enough to fool his captain, they would probably already have plans for what to do in a situation like this.
"Sure."
Maklin got up and went for a walk to let Ritzy and Gerhart talk things out.
Ritzy and Gerhart looked at each other while sitting crosslegged and facing one another. Mognog rested in Ritzy's lap next to one of the cleaner pieces of bone from the animal Maklin hunted.
"What's your plan, Ritzy?"
"Hmm."
Ritzy briefly sank into deep thought and put his chin on his hand, whose elbow rested on Mognog.
"I'm not sure. What about you, Gerhart?"
Gerhart sighed deeply. That was the question he had been dreading and mulling over lately in the few moments of free time he had. His plan, before Ritzy torched the town and killed Lenny, had been to become an official Ranger and move out of town with Talia and Ritzy.
But Talia was dead, and the town was naught but ashes. He had his official Ranger Badge, thanks to Ritzy. Gerhart clutched it while thinking and feeling.
Talia was dead because of Ritzy.
Ritzy hadn't killed Talia personally. But Gerhart knew in his heart that it was Ritzy's actions that led to Talia's death. The stunt with Michmond got Talia in a sticky situation with Michmond's guards, which got her injured and weak, which made her incapable of running, which let Lenny catch up to them, which led to Lenny killing her. Setting the town on fire could have prevented that if Lenny had died, but it hadn't. It had only turned Lenny into a vengeful ghoul of a man, dead set on killing them.
Ritzy had gotten a third of their trio of childhood friend orphans killed. They were the only three in a town of hundreds that understood each other, and they were down to two because of the third.
Ritzy seemed sure it was possible to bring Talia back, either through resurrection or through necromancy. Gerhart had relented and agreed to do something along those lines because he couldn't be bothered to argue against it when they were running for their lives. He had tried, but there was no winning against Ritzy in stubbornness.
Now, Gerhart just wanted to honor Talia's memory and live a life opposite the one they had already lived. Of course, he wanted Talia back so much it was painful. But she wasn't coming back. And it was all Ritzy's fault.
Gerhart wasn't sure he could let it go just like that, at least not at the moment.
However, there was one other thing.
If Gerhart had been stronger, he could have prevented Talia's death.
If Gerhart had been stronger, Michmond's guards wouldn't have been able to apprehend him like that for something he didn't do. They couldn't have done it even if he was guilty. Talia wouldn't have needed to save him and get hurt in the process. He could have killed or stopped Lenny before he killed Talia.
He wasn't sure what he wanted or how to get there, but Gerhart was sure about one thing.
He needed to be strong to prevent anything similar from happening again.
"I'm going to get stronger."
"Oho. Nice attitude, Gerhart. You sound almost like a real warrior. So, where are we going?"
"..."
"Gerhart?"
"We are not going anywhere."
Gerhart spoke while putting heavy emphasis on the 'we.'
"I think we should split up, Ritzy."
"What? Why?"
Ritzy was confused. Ritzy, Gerhart, and Talia had been thick as thieves almost ever since the director brought Ritzy to the orphanage. Now, Talia was dead, and Gerhart wanted to leave.
"Wait, split up? You mean just until we're through Chitron to increase our chances of survival, right? And then we'll meet up on the other side, right?"
Gerhart shook his head. Ritzy's raw voice was beginning to realize what was going on, and it cut into Gerhart. However much Gerhart resented Ritzy for getting Talia killed, he loved him just as much. All their years, fights, games, and time together wouldn't leave Gerhart just because Talia was dead.
"No. I mean, we should go our separate ways."
"Why?!"
Ritzy cried out, feelings of confusion and loss clawing their way into his voice.
"Ritzy."
"Why do you want to leave me?! When we are the only ones we have in this world! We have no one else, Gerhart!"
Gerhart sighed. He would have to be blunt, painfully so, to get Ritzy to accept his decision.
"I resent you, Ritzy. I blame you for Talia's death."
"..."
Ritzy slumped back down while looking at the ground. He was like a punctured ball as Gerhart's words deflated him.
Although it wasn't part of his plan, Ritzy couldn't deny the fact that Talia had died because of him. His guilt was eating him up inside, only barely held at bay by his stubborn belief that he could bring Talia back to life.
"...okay."
Gerhart gritted his teeth in resolve. He knew he had to do this, both for his and Ritzy's sake. But it hurt. He remained silent.
"I am going to Drychness."
As the Dark One's empire, it was relatively obvious what Ritzy was going to do in Drychness. He was going to try and fulfill his life-long ambition of becoming the greatest necromancer. What place could be better for that than the country of necromancers, Drychness?
But Ritzy had also talked about trying to figure out the quirkiness of his necromancy and getting Talia back. Both were things he could find help with in Drychness.
Gerhart felt slightly relieved that Ritzy had a goal to snow in on to help him process the events of the last week.
Eventually, Maklin finished his walk and returned to the campfire.
"You guys settled on a destination."
"Kind of."
"I'm going to Drychness Empire."
Maklin looked between Ritzy and Gerhart. Going to Drychness was understandable, considering Ritzy was a necromancer. But the mood was off. Maklin could almost taste the tension in the air.
"Okay…—"
"Ritzy is. I am not. I felt that I needed to clarify that."
"Ah."
Maklin realized. The atmosphere was strange because these two, who seemed to be best friends, were going their separate ways. A farewell like that was rarely void of emotion.
"Alright. Do you know where you're going, Gerhart?"
Gerhart shook his head.
"No. You don't happen to know what the best way for me to grow stronger would be? I was thinking of becoming a proper Ranger."
Maklin nodded. Since he carried a bow, although basic, Maklin had already guessed that Gerhart was something along those lines.
"A Ranger, huh. If you like wilderness, heading south could work out for you. Since the smaller countries and states are too busy fighting to develop infrastructure and cultivate the land, the wilderness is pretty far-reaching. It's good experience for any Ranger to have. There are also a couple of organizations that hire Rangers to forage for materials in the deeper jungles, so there's money as well."
"I see."
It was mostly superficial information, but it was still helpful to Gerhart, who didn't know a lot about the world. It at least gave him a direction to move in. And once he was south of Chitron, he could just start figuring things out as he went.
The world was dangerous, especially for weaklings like Gerhart and Ritzy. That was why Gerhart had to brave those dangers to become stronger.
"Thank you."
"Don't mind it."
Maklin gave Ritzy and his undead summons, Mognog and the two Deathbeds, a glance.
"Ritzy to the Immortal Empire Drychness, and I'll arrange transport to the Iagos Principality for you, Gerhart."
"Yep."
"Sounds good."
"Great. But first, we need to get to Mirrae and report to the commander before I can send you off like a pair of chicks."
Maklin smiled and patted Ritzy's and Gerhart's shoulders as they packed up and started walking toward Mirrae, the closest town to Banta forest on the Chitron Kingdom's side of the border.