He finally stopped crying when Bree gave her a piece of bread, and he devoured it in seconds.
"Gale, could you prepare dinner now? We're staying for the night here."
"I'm on it."
The kid was full of dirt. I took a small towel and water from the carriage and wiped him. He looked around 10, but his body was already solid.
I sat beside him and started to ask him questions.
"What's your name?"
"Aden."
"Where's your family?"
He pointed at the house where the smoke came from.
"Mother, Father, and my little sister."
I stood up and went to see the inside of the house. When I opened the door, I saw the place was a total mess. I found stale vegetables and dried meat near the boiling pot of water. I looked at the ladder that led to the attic; I think that's where Aden came from when he jumped me. I climbed up and found several hunting tools—perhaps Aden's from a family of hunters. Still, that doesn't explain how he could move like that.
I looked around but found no one. Then, I noticed a door barricaded from the outside with furniture, and streaks of blood were on the floor toward it.
I whiffed a foul odor, and it kept getting stronger as I walked closer to the barricaded door. Then, someone banged on it from the other side. There was movement, and it was snarling.
I finally understood what it was. I removed the barricade, opened the door, and dealt with the people inside. It wasn't pleasant. I had to put down his whole family that was locked up inside that room.
I then called Arthur for help digging graves in the backyard and buried their corpses there.
We went back to where everyone was and patted Aden on the head.
"You did a good job surviving, kid."
Ness approached and asked Aden.
"Do you have relatives in other cities we can take you to?"
Aden shook his head.
"Let's take him with us!" Bree said.
It was the logical choice. Once we get to Barta, we could find an orphanage to take him in.
Blanc returned a few hours later, and it looked like he couldn't find any other survivors in the city. I gave it food and water before sending Blanc back to 'Storage.'
We started clearing out a portion of Aden's house and made it our home for the night. Bree always stuck with Aden like a caring older sister and even helped him with his food during dinner.
"Careful, it's hot," she told Aden.
"Did you have siblings, Bree?" Ness asked.
"No, but I wished I had one."
"I think you'd be a good big sister."
"You think so?" Bree asked with a smile.
We finished our dinner and turned in for the night. I volunteered to keep watch, sitting beside the window to see the outside.
In truth, I couldn't get myself to sleep. I couldn't shake the guilt, even though they were already undead.
We left for Barta early the following morning, bringing Aden with us. Before he got up the carriage, he bid farewell to his family's grave.
I decided to take some shut-eye while we were on the road.
Ness woke me up, which was unusual. I opened my eyes and saw their faces with worried expressions.
"Egil, there's trouble," said Ness.
I got up and peered outside to see what the problem was. Several mounted soldiers and about a hundred footmen donning the Apton Empire's colors were patrolling the road toward Barta and blocking our way.
I stepped out and slowly approached the soldiers to discuss with them.
"What seems to be the problem, sir?" I asked one of them who looked like the one in charge.
"You, did your group come from Douro?"
"Yes, we spent the night there."
"And what exactly did your group do in the city? I doubt you went there for sightseeing," the officer asked.
"We're making our way to Barta from Brogue; we passed through Douro because it was the shortest route."
"How's the undead situation inside?"
"We did find a family that turned undead in the house where we stayed, but that was it."
"So you admit to going into houses and looting whatever valuables you can find."
"What? I told you we just went to a single house to spend the night, and that was it!"
"Still denying, eh? Men, check their carriage."
I looked back at the carriage and signaled to let them inspect the carriage.
"Sir, two women and just some supplies for the road."
"Fine, you may go."
I felt relieved that the misunderstanding had been cleared up. I was about to thank him and go about our way, but he continued.
"In exchange, leave the women behind."
The soldiers cheered when the officer demanded Ness and Bree. He waved at the soldiers in the carriage, and they began to remove the women forcefully.
"Arthur!" I shouted from where I was standing.
The soldiers trying to take them flew several meters away from the carriage, and Arthur emerged from inside.
The soldiers in front started pointing their weapons at me, and the officer gave orders.
"Kill the men and secure the women. Go!"
Arthur and Gale rushed to my side and prepared themselves for a fight.
"Don't leave any survivors," I told them.
Gale grinned and transformed into his battle form, and Arthur took out his longsword.
The soldiers charged at us with an intent to kill, and we responded accordingly.
Arthur dealt with the riders easily, using his longsword to cut the horses' legs and make the mounted soldiers fall from their backs.
Gale deflected the arrows coming his way with his kite shield while taking down soldiers in front of him with his lance.
I took out my blades and darted to where most of the enemies were, cutting down every soldier I came close to.
It wasn't a fight but a massacre and lasted only a few minutes. We thought we had already dealt with everyone but spotted a survivor running toward Barta. Using the gift Korys bestowed on my weapons, I threw one of my shortswords at him and teleported to where it was to catch up and deal with him.
I was like the protagonist's father in a famous manga where he could teleport wherever his weapon was.
Suddenly, a faint glow enveloped my body. I instinctively knew that the goddess Akrys' blessing had leveled up.
I finally earned the second skill of the 'Conquest' branch, 'Elemental Access.' I wanted to test it immediately, but some bodies needed to be dealt with immediately, so I returned to where they were.
I threw my weapon back in the carriage's direction and teleported there—such a convenient skill.
"New skill?" Gale asked.
"A gift from Korys," I replied.
"I know I should be surprised, but seeing you pull out new tricks every time, I can't be surprised anymore. Anything goes with you, does it?"
I checked on Bree and Ness, who were visibly shaken. Aden didn't understand what was happening, but it was better for him.
"Calm down, it's alright now," I told them with a smile.
They shrieked at the sight of my face, and I got confused. Gale approached me and said, "You look like a madman who bathed in your victim's blood. Get washed, I'll handle this."
Later on, we painstakingly piled the bodies away from the road and burned them, hoping that nobody would find and identify them.
Once we were done, we continued our travel and stopped before sunset to set up camp.
We sat around the fire and talked about what happened earlier.
"Just how low are these Aptonian soldiers to even go as far as harassing a single carriage," said Gale.
"I guess it was good that we came across them and not some innocent travelers," Arthur remarked.
Bree was still clearly disturbed but was distracting herself by taking care of Aden.
"We'll deal with more of them once we get to Barta," I said.
"What exactly do you mean when you said we'll deal with more of them?" asked Gale.
"I'm taking down the Lord Mayor of Barta."
They were shocked upon hearing my declaration. I knew we all gathered as a group with similar goals, but if anyone had a change of heart, I wouldn't force them to continue with me.
"So, it's finally time, eh?" said Gale, with a grin on his face.
Arthur dropped to one knee as he said:
"Your will is my command, my lord."
"No need to be so theatrical about it, buddy," Gale jokingly said.
"I want to help too!" Bree eagerly said.
"Me too," said Aden. We thought he just wanted to be part of the conversation, so we all agreed and laughed at how adorable he was.
"Okay, little man, go help your uncles, alright?" said Gale as he leaned down on little Aden.
"Mhm," he answered.
"So, you accept the title of uncle now, Gale?" Ness snickered as she asked.
"Well, only Bree and little Aden can call me that, got it?"
"Got it, uncle," said Ness while she was trying her hardest not to laugh.