Chapter 28

Following Little White, Renya made great haste in order to reach the place where Little White found the person. After a while, they arrived in front of what appears to be a collapsed and bloody figure. Behind where the figure laid was a long and bloody trail.

Looking at it now, Renya felt a bit nauseous but he quickly regained his composure as he began to inspect the bloody figure.

Turning the figure over-

“A girl?!”(Renya)

After turning the figure over, Renya discovered that the figure was actually a blood soaked young girl. The girl had short black hair and her face had multiple wounds here and there. She was dressed in an old and ragged light brown cloak that had multiple tear marks which revealed even more wounds.

Shocked as to how a young girl such as this could receive such injuries, and how she ended up in this desolate desert in the first place made Renya freeze on the spot for a brief moment before he immediately calmed down as he began to address her injuries.

Grabbing a handful of varied potions from his inventory, Renya immediately began pouring its contents down the girl’s mouth.   

After he finished emptying the potions, the wounds of the girl began to slowly heal. Seeing this, Renya could not help buy heave a sigh of relief.

“Now then, what am I supposed to do with you…”(Renya)

Feeling lost on what to do with the girl, he waited for her to regain consciousness.

But to his surprise, the girl woke up a few seconds after alter when her injuries were just about to completely heal.

But as she did, her eyes opened widely, revealing a pair of bright blue eyes. The girl then leapt backwards whilst  giving Renya a fierce glare.

“Who are you?!”(???)

Seeing her act like this, Renya became surprised at first but he immediately suppressed it as he replied in a joking manner.

“That’s pretty rude you know? Aren’t we supposed to introduce ourselves first before asking that question?”(Renya)

Hearing his reply, the girl retracted her glare as she looked down instead. A few moments later, she glanced back up at Renya before muttering.

“.. na… la….”(???)

She muttered in a whisper, making it hard to hear even for Renya.

“Hmm?”(Renya)

“Nabila…”(Nabila)

She replied in a much clearer manner, causing Renya to walk closer before crouching down to look at her at eye-level.

“Nabila, is it? That’s a good name, mine’s Renya.”(Renya)

“…Renya.”(Nabila)

She echoed, causing Renya to chuckle a bit.

“So, what are you doing in this oh so wonderful desert?”(Renya)

“Somewhere to be…. need to hurry….”(Nabila)

Not minding her strange speech pattern, Renya replied.

“Hurry? Hurry where?”(Renya)

“Stranger… can’t tell….”(Nabila)

She said as she took a step away from Renya.

“Fair enough.”(Renya)

Seeing her act like this, Renya said as he stood up.

“Where do you plan on going now?”(Renya)

“Secret… can’t tell…..”(Nabila)

After saying this, she turned around and began walking away from Renya. But after a seconds, she immediately stopped and walked back to where Renya was at.

“Don’t know… where to go… lost…..”(Nabila)

Nabila said as she wore a somewhat depressed expression.

“I can help you with that.”(Renya)

Renya then walked towards Nabila which made her take a step back, but seeing his rather expressionless face, she calmed down. He then pulled out the map given to him by Amitiel from his [Inventory] before handing it over to Nabila.

“Here. ”(Renya)

“…Map?”(Nabila)

“Yeah, you’ll need it.”(Renya)

He said as he urged her to take it.

“Don’t need….”(Nabila)

She replied as she shoved the map back.

“Then aren’t you lost?”(Renya)

“Not lost…”(Nabila)

“But didn’t you say that you were a while ago?”(Renya)

“Follow you… for now…”(Nabila)

“Suit yourself.”(Renya)

Shrugging his shoulders, he took a good look at the map in his hands before glancing at the sun. He then looked at Little White who was on the ground, she understood what his glance meant as she flew towards him before landing on his shoulder.

The two of them, with their new found companion, continued on their way to [Ferron City].

-•••••-

[A Few Days Later]

The three of them draw closer to [Ferron City]. During these days, Renya became used to Nabila’s silent and expressionless company. She would always be following closely behind him, even asking for some food on multiple occasions to which Renya generously gave. It came to point where she’d regularly join Renya’s and Little White’s meals.

Throughout the entire trip, Renya did not stop to rest other than to drink or eat. Which made him shocked since Nabila was able to follow him just fine. Deciding not to ask her questions, the two got along just fine. Renya also decided not to use inspect on her, feeling that it was rude to do so without permission.

But judging from the Aura she was emanating, Renya deducted that she was no different from an average human which made him baffled at first, but he quickly dismissed the thought as he decided not to delve in any further.

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“So, what do you plan on doing once we arrive at [Ferron City].”(Renya)

“Don’t know..”(Nabila)

“Eh? You don’t know?”(Renya)

Hearing her Reply, Renya turned around and gave her a glance. She then looked back at him before giving him a weak nod.

Heaving a sigh, he stopped in his tracks as he turned around and faced Nabila.

“You know, I may be able to help.”(Renya)

Hearing his words, Nabila’s usually stiff expression softened a bit.

“You cannot help… too dangerous…”(Nabila)

Giving out a small chuckle, Renya replied.

“Really? How dangerous?”(Renya)

“You’ll die… immediately…”(Nabila)

Silence, Renya became silent for a brief moment before answering back.

“Is that so? Well, we’ll never know until we try.”(Renya)

Hearing his response, she didn’t say another word, only giving a weak nod.

“Mhm…”(Nabila)

With that, the three continued on their way.

The next day, the three of them finally caught sight of the [Ferron City].

Even from a far, the city was gave out an oppressive feeling of being an impenetrable fortress. It was surrounded in by a tall white wall and its tall and towering buildings were dyed white. The buildings themselves looked as if they were built to withstand the strong winds as they barely had and corners, giving its buildings a unique look.

Glancing back at Nabila, Renya realized that they will look extremely suspicious if she were to enter the city dressed in the ragged robe. Opening his [Inventory], he quickly scanned through his items as he searched for a set of clothes.

Not a moment after, he pulled out a clean white robe that had magic runes etched to its edges before handing it over to Nabila.

However, Nabila didn’t respond as she blankly stared at Renya before muttering the words.

“[Inventory]….”(Nabila)

Pretending not to hear her words, Renya asked with a worried look.

“Is there something wrong?”(Renya)

“N-nothing…”(Nabila)

Nabila replied as she replaced her robe with the one he gave. While she was changing, Renya turned the other way as he pondered.

“(She knows something… Something about us perhaps…)”(Renya)

“Done…”(Nabila)

Turning around, Nabila’s appearance had completely changed, her previously rugged look had turned into elegance. Although her face was a bit dirty, she was elegant nonetheless. Grabbing the clean part of his mantle, he walked closer to Nabila as he wiped the dirt off her face making her struggle away but failed to do so nonetheless.

“There, now then, let’s say we head into the city?”(Renya)

Feeling a bit defeated, she reluctantly nodded. As she did, the three of them headed towards the city. As they approached the gate a guard that’s heavily armored stopped them.

“Halt, you must show valid identification to be allowed entrance into the city.”(Guard)

Feeling that his [Hunter’s Guild] card would only allow him and little white to enter and not Nabila, he pulled out the badge Diana gave him instead.

Seeing the badge, the guard immediately replied

“Apologies for not recognizing you sir! Quickly! Open the gates!”(Guard)

He gave a deep bowed as he apologized

“It’s fine.”(Renya)

After the gates opened, Renya, together with Nabila walked inside. But before they could proceed any further, he asked the guard from before for directions. Given a map instead, Renya thanks the guard before heading on their way.

Inside the city, the road was paved with dark red brick like stones that had no parth-ticular pattern, what so ever. The roads were several meters wide and a pillar was erected in the sidewalk at an interval. The buildings weren’t densely packed like the ones in [Oswald City], but they had a space in between allowing the wind to freely flow in between them.

While walking along the street, Renya asked Nabila.

“Where do you want to go first?”(Renya)

“Hungry…”(Nabila)

“Really? We just ate a while ago though? Bleh, you know what? I’m getting sick of rations anyways.”(Renya)

With that, the three of them entered a nearby restaurant. Entering the restaurant, its interior was mostly made of stone, looking over a few of the tables, Renya discovered that the utensils used are made of metal.

As they walked inside, they headed for an empty table in a corner and waited for a waiter to come over. While they waited, Renya asked the question again.

“Where do you want to go first after this?”(Renya)

“I’ll know… when the time comes…..”(Nabila)

“Eh? Really? How?”(Renya)

He said enthusiastically which caught her by surprise.

“When I see-….. Can’t tell…..”(Nabila)

As she was about to finish her words, she stopped.

With Renya disappointed, the two of them remained silent until a waiter came along and took their orders.

As usual, Renya had two portions of a meal, one for him and one for Little White while Nabila had an even heavier meal than what Renya picked. The two of them were silent throughout the meal, apart from the clattering of utensils, it was complete silence in the corner.

A few minutes later, the finished eating. After paying for the meals, Renya and Nabila headed out into the streets.

Author Note: Yo, it's been another long delay, again.  My weekends have been getting busy these days, and it took some effort for me to write this, sorry for the delay of chapters, life's been in the way. Good news though, in a few more weeks, my schedule should loosen up. Allowing me to write more chapters! Hopefully....

Again, please do point out the mistakes you see!