The man changed his path and walked towards them who were off the travelling path. 'Damn it, I don't have any weapons.' Kazi scanned around quickly to see if there was anything he could use as a weapon, but there was nothing. The man also didn't seem to have any weapon on him, his waist was empty and there was no sign of any extra provision being on except for his clothes that also couldn't have been able to keep much hidden.
'A dagger?' Kazi thought. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to tell if the other party had one.
The man wore a normal white trouser that didn't seem to be made of anything special, though the design was catchy and not just plain or simple. It was tight at the waist, flared towards the knees and came together at the ankles. Anyone could tell that the material was thick was the trouser was able to hold its form decently. For his shirt, he had on a deep coloured baggy blue shirt that was tucked into the trouser. The shirt had several large buttons lined in the middle from the neck to the solar plexus, nothing special, it was a common style. The sleeves were long coming up to his wrists. As for his shoes, he had on a pair made from a thin flexible material and hard soles.
'Everything on him looks normal, like a normal guy would wear, but still...' It could all be a disguise.
"Excuse me, my name is Lon Gear. I am travelling to Atar. May we accompany one another in the journey?" He asked respectfully after greeting with a little bow, which Valera returned. It was a customary way of greeting in this world.
Normally, to show respect, the men would bow, while the females would kneel, though not completely. In this case however, Valera was older than the man, so she didn't need to. Moreover, he was in a position where he was asking of a favour.
"It's no problem. When travelling like we are, it is good to stick together. I am Valera, and this is my son Kazi." The man's bowed slightly again before turning to Kazi with a warm smile.
"Very well. Allow me to take my donkey for a drink before we set off." Valera gave a nod, and the man left to do what he said.
He looked to be around his late thirties at the least. Kazi still had no means of feeling another's ora, so he couldn't tell if the man was a sutori or not.
'Worst case scenario, he is a rogue.' The thought didn't fester though, and Kazi left it. Though he felt as though he had been seen through, it was better if the man was not a crazy rogue at least, Kazi had learnt that they were never good news.
Rogues were those who had abandoned their land and acted alone. It was quite simple though. The way it was, there wasn't much reason for a sutori to leave his clan and his land to become a rogue. This meant that most rogue sutori had to have had some kind of negative reason or motivation that caused them to become a rogue.
For the time being, Kazi looked around until he spotted a suitable rock, more like a stone, that had sharp edges that would injure anyone who bruised their skin against it. He hid it in the inner part of his shirt before sitting on the donkey. When they man's donkey had finished drinking from the little river that could almost be considered a stream, they set off.
That night, they made camp, it was easier on Valera because now she had someone to alternate shifts with to keep watch at night. The watch was thorough, since wild beasts rarely showed up in these forest parts close to the walking path. Keeping watch here was only in the case that anything did show up, then if they were lucky enough, they could escape with the donkey.
The next day they departed early so that may reach their destination early. Valera was quite good at creating and holding conversations, so Kazi didn't even need to do much to acquire information from the man. Even though it wasn't very useful information like whether he was a sutori or not, it still helped to know something.
From his discussions, he was an average villager that was coming to Atar to seek greener pastures.
'He is undoubtedly lazy and not ambitious.' Kazi had already concluded on this after hearing that the man had actually left Mint Village that was literally a mini centre of commerce to find opportunities in Atar. Atar was a big and prosperous town too, but wouldn't it be easier in a smaller place like Mint?
As things happen, just when Kazi was beginning to relax a bit, they ran into another suspicious character.