The group struggled to move through the crowded space, hoping to reach their destination amidst the hustle and bustle. Behind them followed the little girl, trying to keep up with them.
'I can't let them think of me as a bother...'
She could feel the heat making her vision blur with every passing moment. Suddenly, her wrist was being held in someone's hand.
"Don't fall behind, Melanie."
Claire soon lifted the girl up in her arms. She had noticed the sweat on her pale face. When they were busy looking at items in the antique shop, Melanie was standing outside the store.
Seeing Claire's face up close, Melanie smiled with relief. She still remembered the time she was saved by the three. If not for Claire's taking her in as her disciple, there was no telling where she would've ended up.
"Here. Drink some water."
Rudia handed a bottle made up of leather to Melanie. If one had to say, these two were the people who barely said a word throughout the journey. The only thing they did was listen to Claire and Ricky's conversations at that time.
Gulp
Melanie didn't take a moment to drink all the water contained in the bottle. Claire let out a light giggle while glancing at the little girl.
They tried to keep up their speed so that they didn't end up straying further from Jaden and Aliana. The voice in her mind was speaking to her from time to time.
-[Where do you think she is going now?]
Claire shrugged her shoulders with a worried expression on her face. She had no idea where they were headed.
Melanie looked at Claire's face closely while lying in her arms. Her face went red as she spoke in a low voice, as if whispering.
"T-thank you for carrying me."
Claire didn't mind holding Melanie since she was too light for her age. Maybe she was starved for the longest time while being held by the heretics as a captive.
"You are most welcome."
Claire sounded cheerful, unlike a while ago. Since they bid farewell to Ricky and John, Claire was in low spirits.
Melanie hadn't known them for a long time, but she was a natural at observing and figuring out people's behaviour. She felt a bit of relief seeing that Claire wasn't upset anymore.
Claire's gaze fell upon Jaden and Aliana, who had stopped in their steps. Her eyebrows frowned while she tried to check what made the two stop.
'Ohh... not again...'
Her face turned pale as her right eye twitched on seeing the store in front of the two. It was a café that was in her field of view. Claire had only bad memories when visiting such places with Aliana in the villages they came through to the Agustus Kingdom.
"It will be fine."
Seeing Claire's expression, Melanie was worried. She placed her hand on Claire's hand, which was holding her right shoulder while speaking.
"Melanie will protect her master!"
The self-assured smile she had on her lips made Claire forget her worries for a moment. She smiled gently at the small girl in her arms.
Even though she was about 14 years old, the malnutrition had done a great deal on her body. She seemed to be someone of even younger age.
"It's fine."
Claire put her down on the ground. She patted her head just before holding her hand and walking into the café. Rudia followed them inside the small building.
Her gaze kept shifting from one thing to another. The interior was decorated so nicely that it looked soothing to the eyes. Melanie was left in awe for a while.
"What do you want to eat?"
That broke Melanie's astonishment, making her flinch. Claire asked her while letting her sit on a chair.
"I'm not really hungr-"
Grrrrr
The rumbling sounds that her stomach made were more than enough to make her face have a flushed expression of embarrassment. Melanie shut her eyes tight as Claire put a hand on her head.
"It's ok. I'll get you something delicious."
Claire said this before heading to the counter. Aliana and Jaden were also standing there. Claire moved closer, trying to see what they were both up to.
She wasn't really sure if what she was doing was fine or not. She could feel saliva going down her throat because of nervousness.
"It's bad manners to eavesdrop on the conversation two people are having."
Aliana knew what Claire was trying to do even without looking at her. Claire gritted her teeth while glaring at Jaden's face.
He smiled lightly at her, which made her feel twice as furious about it. He wasn't the only one getting pissed by Aliana's actions.
Aliana used to hide a lot of stuff from them as if it were nothing important or worth knowing. Jaden knew it was useless to ask her anything by now, but Claire was just acting as if she were clueless each time.
What Jaden had done all this time was bottle up his anger so that he wouldn't get into an argument with Aliana. She had answers to his questions, after all.
The person at the counter handed them the food they had ordered before Claire had taken any action. Seeing the two walk away with their meals, Claire managed to settle her anger.
"Can I have two sausages and a plate of pasta, please?"
Claire smiled brightly while placing her order. The two sausages were for herself and Rudia. They preferred to eat less food during the day since that made them feel sluggish and sleepy.
Thinking that pasta would be better to make a kid's stomach full, she ordered it for Melanie. This was her pre-planned diet for the lunch of the three people.
"Sure. Give us a moment—ONE PLATE PASTA AND TWO SAUSAGES!"
The lady on the counter yelled loudly while peeking inside the window embedded in the door behind her. Claire was startled a bit by her sudden raise of voice.
She let out a sigh while inspecting the store. There weren't many people eating there, despite it being noon. Her curiosity led her to ask the lady on the counter a question.
"Say... why is there almost no one here today?"
The lady looked around for a bit before bending forward. She whispered in Claire's ear as softly as she could.
"Less people have been visiting the kingdom recently."
Her expression grew tense and grim as she continued. Claire gulped down her saliva, listening to her words.
"All because of the emperor and the elven forest."
----------------
"The emperor of the Agustus Kingdom?"
Jaden asked Aliana while stuffing his mouth with sausages using a fork. Claire had intervened when they were discussing something important a while ago, but now she wasn't near them.
"That's right. That man has lost a screw or two finally, it seems."
Aliana had caught on to what was going on throughout the kingdom while having a talk with the owner of the antique shop. According to what she heard, getting past the border near the elven forest seemed impossible at the moment.
"You speak as if you know him."
Jaden had no idea what kind of life Aliana had lived before he came there. He couldn't help but be unsure about whatever he suspected.
Aliana chewed on the meat, which made her not answer Jaden's words instantly. Unlike Jaden, who talked with food in his mouth, Aliana had good table manners.
A chill ran down Jaden's spine. Aliana was smiling at him. It had been quite a while since that had happened.
"We've met a few times before."
Jaden was trying to finish his food so that he could run away. His instincts were screaming that they were about to get involved in a mess again.
Thud
Seeing Jaden swallow his food quickly while drinking water on top of it, Aliana stabbed the fork into the table. The wood cracked as the fork embedded itself into it.
"Don't even think of it."
Tinkkk
The fork in Jaden's hand slipped, falling off the table. He was smiling with a pale face, but internally, he was crying for help.
"Y-yes!"
He was a bit angry but still managed to hold himself back from flipping the table. Letting out a sigh, he spoke.
"So what exactly is going on here in this place?"
He had no way out of it, apparently. Even though the soul contract had been overwritten a few days ago, his questions were still left unanswered.
If he couldn't run away from it, rather than pathetically waiting for everything to happen on its own, he decided to face it. Aliana began narrating the situation to him.
"Basically, the emperor has gone mad. He is trying to expand his kingdom by devouring the elven forest."
It was a situation where, aside from casualties of army personnel, there would be no other loss on the side of the emperor. But what about the sides of the elves?
"If he goes to an all-out war with the elven forest, they are bound to lose."
Jaden tilted his head in confusion. It was obvious that there was no way that elves would lose. If it were that easy, they would've perished by now.
Usually, the elven forest would've won the battle taking place within their own territory, the forest. But now that's not the case. Something bad was happening on their side.
"They will lose."
Aliana laid it out firmly. Her eyes, full of confidence, stated that she wasn't lying. And if she had said so, then it meant it would definitely happen.
Jaden gulped down saliva while thinking of a question to ask her. Even if they were to lose, there would surely be a reason behind it.
"Why do you think so?"
Aliana paused for a while. She began playing with her hair while fidgeting with her finger. She was acting as if she had no idea.
Maybe she didn't know about it for real. Jaden was about to put forward another question when someone else spoke.
"Hey, hey. You heard about that?"
Claire had approached them as soon as she placed the meal she had ordered on the table where Rudia and Melanie were waiting. Jaden could feel his heart beating fast at her sudden appearance.
Claire leaned towards the table. Her voice was so low that even Jaden barely managed to hear it.
"We are going to the elven forest, right?"
She whispered with a tense expression on her face. It seemed like something grave had happened.
Fweee fwee fweee
Suddenly, Aliana was whistling while looking around the café. Jaden smiled while letting out a sigh. He expected Aliana to answer, but maybe she wasn't in a mood to answer Claire's question. And so he nodded, agreeing in her stead.
"It seems their treasure was stolen. The news had spread throughout Agustus."
Jaden's smile died out as soon as he heard that. He looked at Aliana, who was acting clueless. He felt as if his soul was about to ascend the mortal world.
The person in front of him was currently possessing quite a few national treasure-like items. And amongst them was something even more precious than the whole elven forest itself.
"What was it called again? Tears of the Goddess?"
Jaden's mind went blank, and he could feel his body go numb. The treasure Claire just mentioned was something he had seen himself a few weeks ago.
After this, as Claire continued to speak, Jaden couldn't hear a word she said. A certain person had said that they had borrowed the item being talked about.
'Aren't we doomed at this point?'
Jaden had no hope or expression visible on his face. He stared at Aliana while trying to bottle up a variety of emotions.
He had been feeling frustrated, angry, and annoyed for a while. But still, he managed to control his anger. His piercing gaze had itself fixed on Aliana.
Soon, his eyes shifted towards Claire. Seeing her clueless face and carefree smile, he wiped the single drop of water in his left eye as he thought to himself.
'How do I tell her the culprit is among us right now?'