Trouble Comes

“Mmm…”

In the middle of the Kurgat forest, Kei was seated atop a log in front of a campfire that he had started. Beside him on the floor lay the girl whom he had saved earlier on top of his robe. Resting his head against his palm, Kei looked over to his side and observed the girl. Long silver braided hair, a tall and slender figure, coupled with a small and cute face, he wondered if she was a part of nobility. As Kei was roasting some meat on the fire, the girl slowly regained her consciousness.

When she came to, she noticed the fire in front of her and that she had a tarp blanketing her. When she slowly sat up, she rubbed her eyes in confusion as she slowly remembered what had happened.

“Eh? What’s going on here?” She spoke in a low, confused tone.

“Looks like you’re finally awake. You’ve been out for quite a while.”

“You are…!”

When she finally realised what had happened, she bounced up to her feet with her face slightly flushed. Moving her hands around her body as if inspecting whether anything was done to her.

“Calm down, I didn’t do anything. If I did, I would’ve left you alone a long time ago.”

“Umm… thank you for saving me earlier…”

“It’s nothing to be thanking me for. Everyone needs help in this world. What’s wrong with giving it?” Kei said whilst still maintaining his expressionless face.

Upon hearing that, the girl wondered whether he was mocking her or was he serious. Reading his expression gave her no answers as there was none being worn.

“A-anyways… Thank you again for saving me. I really thought it was over for me… eheheh…”

“It’s fine, really… What were you doing in this part of the forest anyway? This is not the pathway to Babel.”

“Umm… It’s a long story… Basically, I was on my way to Babel when the Frostwolf appeared…”

“And you got chased all the way here.”

“That’s the gist of it… eheheh.”

The part of the forest that they were in was actually a deeper part of the forest, way off from the path that people usually took to go to Babel. However, Kei knew of a quicker way to get to the kingdom through that part of the forest.

“What about your blessing? If you’re travelling alone, then shouldn’t you at least be able to fight?”

“Well… the thing is… I don’t really have any blessings yet… eheheh…” The girl looked downcast as she said that.

“But… shouldn’t a person your age have a blessing by now?”

“It’s another long story… Anyways, I believe I’ve not introduced myself. My name is Celena.”

“Mmm… I’m Kei, nice to meet you… hmm?!”

As soon as they were finished with their introductions, Kei heard heavy footsteps. By the sound of it, it appeared to be human footsteps. Kei managed to deduce the number of people to be about ten.

“Lady Celena! Where are you?!”

“Please answer us, Lady Celena!”

Upon hearing those shouts, a feeling of unease coursed through Kei. It was as if his instincts were telling him that he would be in trouble if he stayed. Just as he turned around and was about to leave, a few men in guard’s clothing appeared from the bushes. Judging from their attire, Kei instantly recognised them to be from the Kingdom of Babel.

“Lady Celena! We finally found you! When we realised you were missing from the carriage, we instantly went to look for you.”

“Haah… How did you manage to actually find me?” Celena looked disappointed as she asked that question.

“Please don’t say that, Milady. Master Eric would have our heads if anything ever happened to you…?! You, who are you?! And what is your business with our Lady?!”

When the guard who looked to be the leader of the group noticed Kei at the corner of the forest clearing quietly and slowly walking away, he immediately drew his sword and had the whole guard unit on high alert. The guard had wondered what he was doing there and why he was suspiciously trying to walk away. After all, the person in question was not exactly dressed in a non-suspicious manner. Due to letting Celena sleep on his cloak when he laid it on the ground, his attire was exposed for all to see. Attached to his back were 6 short blades positioned in a circular pattern to allow him the flexibility when drawing his weapon in any position. On top of that, a long, red two-handed sword without its sheathe in an unusual scout carry position.

When he raised the question, Kei stopped moving and turned around. Just as he did that, he found himself tackled to the ground by 3 guards as the lead guard slowly walked over with his hands behind his back.

“We are not allowed to have any suspicious individuals that may bring harm to Lady Celena to be anywhere near her.”

“Please stop this! This man actually —“ As Celena tried to intervene, she was cut short by the lead guard.

“Please refrain yourself from any further involvement, Lady Celena. We will bring him in for interrogation, and find out the truth.”

“I—“

“Please come. We were supposed to arrive at the capital today, so we are far behind schedule. Please get into the carriage.”

“O-okay…”

Seeing as she wouldn’t be able to get any word in edgewise, Celena gave up on trying to reason with the guard. Throughout the remaining 3 days of his intended journey to Babel, Kei had shackles on his hands and legs to ensure he wouldn’t be able to run away. All 7 of his blades had been confiscated by the guards. His face was still completely aloof and expressionless as if he had suspected this would happen.

As Celena was sitting in the carriage being dragged by horses, Kei was chained to the back of the carriage and had to walk on foot to follow behind the carriage. Celena felt troubled watching her savior being dragged by the guards who were pushing and kicking him to walk faster. Kei on the other hand, didn’t really feel too troubled by it since he was planning to travel by foot to Babel anyway. As the third night fell, Kei looked up at the night sky with slight relief that this journey will finally end soon. Since he was captured, he had been given just one bread per day and was not given any water.

“Haah… What a way to treat someone who saved your kingdom so many times…” Kei muttered under his breath.

“Oy! Shut up and get to sleep, criminal.”

‘So they’ve already painted me as a criminal huh?’ Kei thought to himself.

When everyone else fell asleep, Kei was about to go to sleep as well before he heard some footsteps approaching him. Looking up, a familiar figure stepped into the light. It seemed that Celena had snuck out of her carriage to visit him with some food and water.

“Here, it’s not much but please have some.”

“Why should I trust you? You’re the reason I’m in shackles in the first place.”

“About that… I’m really sorry! I didn’t think it would go this far… But please, at least have some food and water!”

“No thank you. At this point, I get the feeling I might be poisoned if I eat anything you people gave me.”

“Do you mean…?!”

Although the soldiers gave him some stale bread to eat, Kei hasn’t actually eaten any of the food given to him since his capture. He was being extremely cautious with the situation he was in, seeing as how unreasonable the guards were when they captured him without even hearing any explanation from either side.

“That means you haven’t eaten for 3 whole days?! You have to at least eat something. Your body can’t keep up like this.”

“No thank you. If my reward for saving a life was to be treated like this, then I might as well have just left you to that Frostwolf in the first place.” Kei said as he turned around to have his back face Celena.

“That’s…”.

“If you’ve got nothing left to say, please leave me alone.”

“…okay…”

As Celena walked away, Kei proceeded to lean on the tree that he was chained to. Looking up at the night sky again, Kei did nothing but sigh. He understood from his heart that Celena was not a bad person, but he just couldn’t bring himself to be friendly with her, lest she be suspected of being brainwashed by her guards. As Kei was about to head to sleep, a small voice within him started to speak.

‘Are you sure you want to spare them like this?’ A female voice spoke.

‘Mmm… No point in trying to anger them further.’ Kei closed his eyes and responded.

‘Why not just slaughter them? Would make it a quick process.’

‘Haah… One look at their uniforms and you can tell they’re from Babel. I don’t want to make an entire country my enemy.’

‘Hmm… Suit yourself.’

In the kingdom of Babel, the guards hold a high position of authority within the kingdom. Anyone who tries to murder a guard would be punishable by execution. Looking at their uniforms, Kei had instantly deduced that they were from Babel and that he should refrain from any conflict.