"Say, why is this dude coming with us?"
Pointing at Claus with a finger, face screaming her reluctance, Doris looked at Ian, demanding an answer.
"He'll be useful."
A brisk and uninterested answer that didn't explain anything at all.
"Why? In what? Where are we even going after this?"
The group had just left the elf village and were on their way out of the jungle. Having rejoiced about finally departing this hellish village and feeling liberation, the group couldn't be more disappointed at seeing the elf join them again. Just when would this suffering finally end?
"You should be honored, human-"
"Don't start."
The unusually cold and hoarse voice of the bluehead acted like an ultimate order, quitting down the slight commotion. Sensing that something wasn't right, they huddled together and exchanged glances in silence.
Have they offended this dude or something? Scary!
Not even glancing at the bunch of children murmuring among themselves, Ian took out a map from his bag.
"Show us the shortest way out. We got to exit at this point of the jungle."
Claus narrowed his eyes upon looking at where Ian was pointing at the map.
"Why there? Exiting from this location would be faster."
"We've left our horses there. Got to take them back."
"Y-yes?"
At the man's baffled gasp, Ian shrugged his shoulders.
"But you said you guys don't do such acts of human abuse-"
"I lied."
"...."
"We can't travel without horses."
"....."
Not just Claus, but also the others wore baffled expressions. As if that was not enough, Ian glanced at Raven and causally 'Ordered' him as if it was only natural.
"Look out to see if you find anything to hunt. We don't have much food left."
"Yes, my lord."
"Gasp!"
As if seeing the most horrifying person in the entirety of the world, Claus took several steps back, distancing himself from the evil human. Standing not too far away from him, the rest of the group also gaped.
They were going to eat meat? Finally? Meat? After all these days and in front of an elf? For real?
"Get used to it."
Glancing at Claus one last time, Ian turned around and walked away from him.
Still frozen on his spot and drowned in pure horror, Claus stared at the back of the cloaked man, unable to comprehend the situation.
'Did he... Trick me all this while into thinking that he was a nice human?'
It was all an act? Those words... Those benevolent smiles... They were all fake!
Claus slammed his forehead.
'I fell for a human once again!'
But how dare this man make a fool of him? Claus was an elf! He was the protector of this land! There was no way he would allow them to do whatever they wanted...
"...."
"...."
His eyes locked with a black-haired youth's.
Then they shifted back to the bluehead. His mind whirled back to a recent memory, where he was being stared at with a pair of deep blue pupils, eyes that seemed to know everything about him and so deep as if holding boundless knowledge within.
How did he know of things that no one else should know? What if he was aware of even more? Though he didn't have a dark or embarrassing past, just thinking that someone might be aware of his life was frightening enough.
'...Why am I even traveling with these dudes? What if they kill me and eat me as well?'
They wouldn't be that evil, right? Claus could only pray to Evergreen for her benevolence.
Once his thoughts reached this point, he was reminded of what Amelia told him not long ago.
'A prophet, an oracle, an apostle, or whatever of that sort!' 'He's freaking dangerous.'
"....."
Claus took a deep breath. His fingers clenched to two fists.
"I... Understand."
Despite it being hard to admit, he was deeply scared of this human.
"I won't bother you guys..."
And also grateful to the one who'd saved his home. Even if they desired to hurt this jungle... nothing of this place would've been left if not for that bluehead.
He couldn't do much against these people.
-...Master, you are a scumbag...
-Yeah? It's for his own good.
He should learn not to trust humans so easily. Being fooled once or twice isn't enough to teach him, someone who'd lived a secluded life among a peace-seeking race, a proper lesson, so he had to be the one teaching him things little by little.
Ian couldn't let that man die in this round.
"....." "....." "....."
Gasping and gaping at the unfolding conversations were the three members of the group who didn't know what were they supposed to do or how to react. After seeing that the situation calmed down in a rather unpredictable way, and realizing the fact that they could finally travel like decent human beings, they couldn't help but cheer among themselves, congratulating each other from the depths of their hearts.
After a few moments of hesitation, it was Alaric who finally dared to approach Ian. He appeared somewhat different since purifying the World Tree yesterday, so the group tried not to bother him much.
"Um, Ahem. So... about that notebook we found... I read the rest of it. There wasn't much inside, just the same as what we read together, but there were a few new names that I didn't know."
As he took out the notebook and handed it to Ian, Alaric noticed how the hair that popped out from under the hood seemed a bit lighter than before. He didn't point that out, instead, flipped the pages of the notebook until he reached the parts he'd previously marked.
"Look, here she says something about a guy named Asher, I guess? I had to read it to the end to finally understand that this Asher guy was that previously mentioned Ashley's twin. And this dude Evan has a sister named Ellie? I don't even know who these people are. Do you know anyone named Asher? From how she recounts her days, it seems they are a group of adventurers. Ah, also, there is this stuff I don't understand. I guess they are written in an ancient language of sorts. Would you take a look? ...Ian? Aren't you listening?"
Only after talking for a few minutes straight did he realize how unfocused the bluehead's eyes were. He paused his reports and nudged Ian's side. Feeling the push, Ian shifted his gaze to the side at the nobleman and the notebook he was holding.
"...."
Was he talking about something?
No. Never mind whatever he was saying.
"I thought about what you asked that day."
"Hm?"
"About living in a novel..."
"!?"
Having his head dropped down, Ian didn't notice how Alaric almost jumped up at those words. Not minding the nobleman's horrified reactions, Ian continued to mumble.
"To live in a novel..."
He didn't know how that idea crossed this nobleman's mind or why would he ask him such a question, but the peculiar thing about it was that the somewhat childish topic strangely lingered in his mind for a long time, forcing him to contemplate it for a while.
To live in a novel.
To be a character of a story, he probably meant, if Ian wasn't understanding it wrong.
What would it be like to be a character?
Ian was never fond of novels. As a kid, he didn't have the time or permission to dwell in such useless activities such as reading children's stories. And as he grew up as a slave, he wasn't allowed to even flip the cover of a book in the count's mansion.
Still, it wasn't like he never read through such stories. Even if he wasn't given the liberty to spend his childhood enjoying childish stories, he was still a little boy with his own curiosities. There was no way the little prince wouldn't seek the storybooks in his library, those with flashy covers and attractive drawings all over them. So he sneaked one or two of them inside his room to try them out.
And they were odd. Truly bizarre. They made him fall into deep contemplation. Why did every main character in children's stories either have a loving family or get to find one? If not that, there was this always loyal friend they went on adventures with. And if not that, they'd achieve their goals and wishes. Most of them revolved around such topics, making him uncertain if they were just the author's imagination or were possible in real life as well. He even tried the novels written for teenagers, but aside from their childish and magical nature turning into much more rational ones, the basics of the story never changed. Could such things be logical? Did such relationships really exist?
The little prince hid the books under his bed for days, not wanting to return them to the library until he got his answers.
One curious day, he finally got a glimpse of what those stories probably retold. The little prince watched the scene from behind the bushes, silent and unmoving, carefully recording every bit of it to his memories; a gleeful expression on the king's face he'd never seen before, the warmth of a mother he thought only existed in the stories, and the lovely giggles of the tiny newborn.
It was such a strange thing to witness.
Peculiar, completely out of the scope of his imagination.
Watching those three from afar, the thought crossed his mind. Maybe those books weren't all lies after all.
"Say, Kieran, do you have a younger brother?"
"I am the younger one. Got an older sister."
"How is your relationship?"
"Shitty."
"Uh..."
"She beats me up like crap every day and calls it training."
"Uh... What about your parents?"
"What about them?"
"Um...", how truly embarrassing to ask such a question."Uh... W-what do you do for your parents to, un, like, smile at you?"
"....Should I do anything specific for that?"
"...."
Maybe he was the strange one?
Why, though?
Had he done anything wrong? Maybe offended them by a mistake? Maybe he was a bad boy just like his mother said.
'I don't think the stories are real after all.'
Maybe for the others, but not for him. If it was like that, he couldn't accept them. They were so truly filled with lies.
The childish conclusion lingered with him for a long while. He didn't know which one of his regressions was that he felt so bored that he went back to reading novels again.
He read so many of them. Maybe continue this hobby for a few more rounds as well.
And this time too, he noticed how unacceptable they were.
Not because of how the main character always seemed to achieve or have what he desired, but for another reason. Something that only he could understand.
"I think that would be nice."
As those words left his lips, he heard the man beside him gasp.
"...Why?"
To be a character in some story.
"They all have an ending."
How enviable.