"Where will you go after this?"
"North," Evan replied, handing his horse over to the stable hand at the inn. He watched as Ezra only gave a slight nod, seemingly not expecting anything. "Do you have anything else to say?"
She shook her head. "I guess that's all. It was a good day." A small smile appeared on her lips as she waved goodbye, still munching on the biscuit she had claimed was for her brother.
For a moment, Evan watched her go, following her with his eyes until her figure disappeared around the corner. He sighed. What a strange girl, he thought, strange but intriguing. He wasn't sure what it was, but Evan had felt drawn to Ezra from the very first time they met. He became even more interested when she shyly returned his stolen knife as a gesture of thanks.
After standing lost in thought in front of the inn for a while, Evan decided to head inside and get some rest.
***
"Thank you."
"No, it's us who should thank you, sir."
Evan smiled. "Your service was excellent, I appreciate it."
The man smiled back, bowing several times in gratitude.
Evan made his way to the stable to fetch his white horse, slipping a few bronze coins to the stable hand who greeted him warmly. As he led the horse out through the courtyard, he was greeted by the sight of a young girl—one who, to be honest, took him by surprise.
Her eyes were red, with dark circles underneath, her long hair a mess, uncombed. Her clothes were crumpled, filthy, just like the day before. She staggered toward Evan.
"I almost missed you," Ezra muttered, then plopped down on the thick grass by the roadside. "Can you wait for a moment?"
"What do you mean?" Evan eyed her suspiciously. "And why are you out here so early in the morning?"
The girl was indeed Ezra. She still looked sleepy, but her breathing was labored, likely from running to catch up with him.
It was still very early, too early. The sun hadn't yet risen. Evan was half surprised and half bewildered to find a skilled thief like Ezra awake at this hour.
"I came specifically to catch up with you."
"Catch up with me?" Evan raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
Ezra was still trying to catch her breath, thumping her chest hard in the hope that it would help. But instead of improving, it only made her throat feel constricted, and she began coughing.
"I want to come along," she finally managed to say.
Evan blinked, staring in disbelief.
"Come along?" he repeated. "For what?"
"To come along!" Ezra snapped. She got up and brushed the dirt off her slightly dirty pants. "You're headed north, right? Well, I can be your guide. It just so happens I'm heading home to my village, and it's up north."
Once again, Evan was caught off guard—not by her words, but by his own feelings of sudden delight. He had a traveling companion.
"Well, what do you think? Interested?" Ezra gave him a wide grin. "It's not a bad thing, right?"
"It's not necessarily a good thing either. I'll be traveling with a thief," Evan remarked, leading his horse northward.
"Haha, but you're still allowing it."
***
Though he had never voiced it, Evan had one concern. First, he remembered Ezra's words from yesterday: outside the city or village walls, it's nothing but wild nature. As the top graduate of the Blesiya Academy, no obstacle, no matter how dangerous, frightened him. However, he worried about Ezra. She was just a small girl, who appeared weak, with only the ability to run fast and her "light fingers" as her strengths.
Second, and perhaps a greater concern than the first, he was traveling with a thief! And worse, he had once been a victim of that very thief.
However, Ezra turned out to be a pleasant travel companion. She was friendly, talkative, and good at bringing up topics to break the awkwardness between them. At times, her quick wit and mischievous behavior provided Evan with amusement, especially when he began doubting whether he would succeed in his quest this time.
Two days passed without them noticing, and they had traveled quite far from the City of Olivia. One night, when Evan moved away from where Ezra was sleeping to study his torn map, he suddenly recalled something the leader of the caravan had said when they traveled to Olivia together: the tale of the six-legged gecko.
"Hm... that's just a myth." He looked around. "The proof is, after two days of traveling away from Olivia, I haven't seen any creature as strange as that. The most ferocious animal we've encountered is a wildcat."
Evan began to dismiss the story and opened his map.
From here, the journey would only take a few more hours. According to his calculations, they should reach the marked hole by tomorrow noon. His excitement surged, mingling with growing anxiety.
He was eager because, if the library records were accurate, the location of the Philosopher's Stone was just within reach. But he was also worried that the records might be wrong and that there would be no Philosopher's Stone—or worse, that the Philosopher's Stone didn't even exist. The thought terrified him. Where else would he search for a cure for his mother?
A tap on his shoulder broke through his long reverie.
"What are you doing up in the middle of the night?" Ezra asked, her voice thick with sleep, eyes half-closed. She yawned, rubbing her eyes. "I'm hungry. Can I have more of your bread?"
Turns out, it was just about the bread. Evan thought.
"Help yourself. You don't need my permission if you want some."
Ezra nodded and wandered off, leaving him alone again.
Evan sank back into his thoughts, gazing at the stars in the night sky. It was like a black canvas sprinkled with glowing specks, so beautiful.
"The Philosopher's Stone, magic, Ancient Beings—do they really exist?"
That night, Evan made a decision. If he could find the Philosopher's Stone, he would believe in all of it.
The next morning, he had to endure his hunger until he managed to catch a wild deer that had wandered by. Ezra, with her usual nonchalance, remarked, "Didn't you say last night I could take it without your permission?"
"That wasn't an invitation for you to finish it all!"
A thief is always a thief.