3.3 Mylne Town: Tears

On a rather sunny afternoon, Mylne’s windmill was in sight before we could see the rest of the village. It stood high on a hill after all—one not tall enough for us to call it a mountain.

“We made it,” she noted. “I reckon we could bargain for a place to stay until we head elsewhere.”

We really are feathers in the wind, huh…

“We’ve got no other choice, I suppose. Staying put for too long is never a good idea, but where will we head next?”

She seemed to be deep in thought for a second, but then said, “I think we should focus on how we will spend our time here first.”

“You’re right… For our next step, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

“Hm?”

I assumed her confusion stemmed from a language barrier… well we speak the same language as the East though, but perhaps she wasn’t familiar with the saying. “I meant that we’ll deal with our future plans when the time comes. First, like you said, we have to focus on getting a place to sleep.”

“Hm, I understand now.”

Once we made it through the trees blocking the view of the village, we walked through a wooden gate in which the town’s name “Mylne” was carved.

It was quiet, not because the people weren’t saying or doing anything, but because there were no people in sight.

Until someone suddenly started running towards us. It was a young boy with a pot on his head and wearing worn out tablecloth as a cape. Behind him ran quite a bit of cats.

“Intrudes! Intrudes! Me feline warrio’s, charge!”

Hikari got low to the ground and spread her arms wide. The cats that the little boy sent our way jumped onto her, not in a hostile way, but rather sharing one big hug.

“N-no! Me warrio’s! Gimme back me pals!”

I walked up to him and squatted down. Lowering my eyes to his level makes me appear a lot less intimidating. “We’re no intruders, you know,” I smiled, hoping that would calm him down.

A frail young lady walked out of the nearest house. She wore a dress that looked about as worn out as the boy’s cape, yet her blonde hair was long and neatly kept.

“Dennis! Leave the poor people alone!” She yelled as she rushed over. She must be his older sister. The way he shrieked upon hearing her voice was rather cute. “Now, apologise for being rude.”

The boy took the pot off his head in a gentlemanly manner and apologised. As he walked towards his sister, the cats followed along.

“Argh ‘m sorry mum… I’ll go home ‘gain.”

Mum… that’s his mother?! She hardly looked a day older than me… and the boy appeared to be at least five years old.

She bowed down in apology, “I’m terribly sorry, my son always tries acting like a hero…” She seemed to supress her accent, which makes sense since she followed up with, “You two seem to come from far away, or am I mistaken?”

I nodded. “I’m from Eldiron and she hails from the East.”

Her expression didn’t change much as she pinched her cheek and stretched it out a bit. She let go, still staring at the two of us, but then pinched it again.

“Eh-eeeeh?” This time she showed us a reaction falling more in line with my expectations, even exceeding them you could say. “T-the Prestige… in our small Mylne…!” A pause followed as she blinked at the two of us. “What are you doing all the way out here… if you don’t mind me asking?”

I thought of a way to phrase things without lying, but also not scaring this poor lady. “Uh, I fled the capital and she’s accompanying me,” I pointed the palm of my hand at Hikari.

“Oh, I see. You’re on the run” She nodded. “…Are you a criminal?”

I struck a thinking pose as I stared at the greyish sky. Am I a criminal? The lady held her two hands in front of her and took a teensy step backwards.

“He is not a criminal,” Hikari clarified, to which the lady sighed in relief. “We are simply looking for a place to stay where none of the army’s brigades will find us any time soon.”

“So you guys are criminals?!”

I thought she was my guardian angel, but she’s making it worse!

“We’re not criminals… The thing is…” I didn’t know whether I should say the entire truth, because she would surely be doubting my every word…

…But here goes nothing. “The thing is, the kingdom’s science directorate…” for a second, I didn’t find the words. “…They’re murderers,” my voice cracked. “They’re murderers,” I repeated. “Innocent… So many innocent people have been killed in their pursuit of immortality. I, I was—” My vision got blurry, “—next in line, I’m sure.” My voice faded out.

“No need to cry,” she said as she took a step forward.

Cry…? Oh.

She tightly clenched me in her arms. She is a mother after all…

As she gently stroked through the strands of my hair, she said, “That must have been so rough for you…”

The awkwardness of being pressed against her vanished at the sound of those words. A single tear filled with the imagery of my memories slid its way down the side of my nose. I recalled the cold basement, the chains attached to my limbs, the stench of death surrounding me every time I got woken up from a slumber…

I didn’t want to be seen crying, so I didn’t pull away. I didn’t want the shakiness of my voice to be heard, so I didn’t say another word. I simple let the tears flow out of my eyes.