I rushed to the infirmary. Who knows how long they would let me stay here to say goodbye. And that was just messed up. I killed the Eater. Nothing would be chasing after me. But instead of being grateful, my reward was being exiled.
Fine, it was mostly my fault. If I told them about the System, they wouldn’t do that. But that would open a massive can of worms that I wasn’t interested in opening. Not now. If Marco connected the dots and realized that I killed the supply crew, then people might want me dead, worried that I could start a killing spree.
Despite all that, I had no regrets about killing those bastards. People like that were better rotting than walking around.
As soon as I opened the door, Pops tried to get to his feet, but the pain made him flinch, “Cass! What happened? Are you ok? They told me an Eater was chasing you.”
With a quick glance outside, I made sure no one was following me, or listening in, and closed the door.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry. I missed the rock I threw,” I reached out and gave him a hug.
Cassandra: I killed the Eater. It was a hunter type. But at least I discovered that they can drown.
Pops: So everything is ok?
“The problem is that people don’t believe me when I say the Eater is gone. Marco says he saw the rock hitting it, but it changed targets once a stag ended up brushing its horns against it. Now they are telling me I need to leave the village, especially since they are all setting up abandon this place.”
“What?!” Pops yelled, once more trying to get up, “I’m going to talk with Gareth.”
With a sigh, I stopped my grandfather from leaving the bed, “Pops, they are right. We don’t know if the Eater really gave up or not. Me being with you all is dangerous.”
Cassandra: Marcos seems to be suspicious of me. If we push for me to stay, or tell them about the System, I think they will realize what happened with the supply crew.
Pops: Cass, people trust you.
Cassandra: Do they? And even if they do. The moment they realize I have superpowers, they can be suspicious of me. It would be easy to think I’m a monster in disguise or something. Someone being controlled by the Eaters. Then that can spread to you, Cindy, Peter, the kids. Who’s to say when that will stop? Maybe everyone will start thinking they are all enemies and the entire village will kill each other.
Pop: Cass, you watched too many movies. That’s not the kind of thing that would happen.
Cassandra: Is it not? There are countless stories with a similar premise. And you said it yourself, what makes a good fantasy story, is how real the events feel. Do you really think that there is no way of this happening?
Pops paused, staring at me for a moment, “Maybe. But if you are leaving, I’m coming with you.”
I shook my head, “No, you are not. Pops, you are hurt, and can barely stay on your feet. You need help to get out of here, and I doubt they will let me borrow a cart, much less a horse, when they are about to leave. I… I can’t protect both of us. Not if another one of those things appears.”
Cassandra: Despite everything I said, I never actually killed a tier 1 Eater on my own. The one that almost killed me aside, the first I really fought, died because of one of its own legs. And I had to drown the one I fought against today. If another shows up, or even worse. A tier 2 one… one of us ail likely die.
At the same time, I spoke out loud, “Besides, Cindy, Peter, and the kids need you. We can’t just abandon them. Not after everything.”
“But you are ok abandoning me?” Rakeen looked deep into my eyes.
“Pops… I’m not abandoning you. I’m going on a trip. I’ll give a couple of months of time for the people here to understand that there is not an Eater after me and then come back. Besides, let’s face it. You didn’t want to leave.”
“What are you talking about?” Pops frowned.
“Just to go back to the Hidden Horn village, you stalled for days. And you never enjoyed long trips. I always heard you complaining about walking instead of taking a car or a cart. You are still a scientist. I know you will be miserable if we can’t stop and study the things around us. My intention is to never spend more than a couple of days in a single spot while I travel.”
“Cass… It’s hard to think about you traveling alone,” Pops held my hand tightly.
“I know, but that’s what happened in the old world, right? When kids grew up, they left. Think of this as if I’m going to college.”
Pops chuckled, “Honestly. I’m not sure you going to college would make me less worried. But I see your point. I would drag you down.”
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“That’s not what I-“
He quickly cut me off, “I know. But those are the facts. I could barely keep up with you while we hunted, much less when we had to run. I don’t think you even notice all the times you had to pull back not to leave me behind. So ok. I won’t tell you not to go, or that I’m coming with you. However, the only reason I’m saying this is because of my ankle. Once you come back and I’m better and stronger, you won’t get rid of me that easily.”
I smiled, “That’s a promise. Maybe we can have our own version of a road trip. For now, I’m thinking about heading to the east coast. I always wanted to see the ocean.”
“Do you remember the map?”
“Sort of, and we are in the top corner of Yellowstone National Park, right? If I’m remembering this correctly, by following this road and then turning east, I should be able to get there.”
Pops nodded, “Yeah, we are in Montana. You want to head to Idaho, then either Washington or Oregon.”
“And Oregon is where people took that trail and died of dysentery, isn’t it?”
“Well… yeah, but it was more because of the time than anything. I have no clue how the environment is down there these days.”
“Still, I think I’ll keep it to the forest up north. If I end up seeing a hive in the middle of an open plain, I’m kind of fucked.”
Pops nodded, “Yeah. That’s a good call. Also, be careful of strangers. Don’t eat things that you don’t know. And make sure to drink water and eat properly.”
“I’m not a kid anymore,” I rolled my eyes, trying to break some of the sadness. This wasn’t how I imagined leaving home.
“You are always going to be a kid to me, Cass. My kid.”
I hugged Pops again, this time not because I wanted to say anything through the System. There was too much I wanted to say, too much I wanted to thank him for, but just not enough time.
Someone knocked on the door, and when I opened it, two kids almost jumped into my lap.
“Miss Cass. Are you leaving?” Michael asked, his eyes already watering.
“Why are you going?” Vanessa asked.
“I’m sorry, Cass. I told them to calm down,” Cindy tried to pull them away, but I refused to let them go.
“That’s ok. Thank you for letting me talk to them,” I smiled and turned to the two children, “I have to leave for a little bit. But don’t worry. I’ll be back in a few months. Ok?”
“But what if a monster catches you?” Vanessa asked.
“I’ll let you two in a secret,” I got my face closer to theirs, “I’m the one that monsters are scared of now.”
Both of them looked at me like I was crazy. With a frown, I continued.
“What? You don’t believe me? Does that mean you forgot what happened when I caught you all skipping class?”
The kids went pale and shook their head rapidly. In hindsight, maybe I was a bit too rough on my scolding. But it worked. Even so, telling them to run the ten laps around the village was probably overkill.
“Cassandra?” Gareth’s voice came from beyond the door. Once I looked up, he continued, “I’m sorry, but we can’t wait anymore. You have to go.”
I turned back to the children and gave each of them a big kiss on the cheek, “I’ll be back. I promise.”
Pops nodded and gave me another hug. And Cindy was next, the woman whispering in my ear already aware of the situation, “Please be careful.”
“I will. And make sure to take care of them. Also, slap Peter for me. He might have lost PJ, but he still has part of his family. It’s not fair of him to ignore you like he’s been doing. I know he is not the only one hurting,” I told Cindy.
Stepping toward the door, I paused and looked back at the people inside. My people, “Pops. I think Cindy should be the first.”
He nodded, “I agree. As soon as I can, I’ll talk to her.”
Cindy looked confused, but she didn’t press on the matter, understanding that it wasn’t something we wanted to say now.
Gareth escorted me out, passing a large backpack to me, “Here are some supplies. Food, clothes, soap. I wanted to give you some medicine, but they said there wasn’t enough to spare since we are abandoning some of the plants”
“Thank you. I’ll give this back when I return,” that line made the guard captain frown, and I continued, “Look. I’m going to stay away for a couple of months. But after that, can we agree that if I’m still alive, it means there is no Eater chasing after me?”
He paused for a moment as we crossed the village. Most people were ignoring us, but a few, including Marco, stared at me while I walked. Eventually Gareth spoke, “That seems fair. If anyone complains, I’ll vouch for you.”
“Thank you,” we didn’t say anything until we crossed the broken gate. And finally he stopped.
“Again, I’m sorry for this, Cass. But I have to look out for my people.”
I nodded, but with Pops out of commission, there was still a nagging worry in the back of my mind, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“What would you do if one of your people started to hurt others?”
“Depends on who they hurt. Bandits? Thank them. Another villager? I would make sure that wouldn’t happen again.”
“How? Would you kill them?”
Gareth frowned, “Maybe. Depends on what they did.”
“What about the supply crew? I heard some really nasty stories about them.”
The captain sighed, “I know. About the stories, at least. Those four were assholes, but giving them that job saved us some trouble. Traveling to get supplies is dangerous, and it takes time. That meant we were not risking anyone important, and they wouldn’t cause trouble to the village. And if the stories are real… they never did anything to anyone in the village. As far as I know. For anyone else. I can’t protect everybody.”
I nodded, taking this moment to check one thing with the System.
“Why do you ask?” Gareth tilted his head.
“Thank you for everything, Gareth,” I put out a hand for him to shake. He sighed and took my hand, but as he pulled it back, I held on.
‘System. Ingrain,’ I gave the command to share the System. That way, they would have a better fighting chance. And Pops would still level up faster since I wasn’t about to give Gareth any skills.
The man paused, looking at something between us, “What… What is this?”
“A tool. So you can protect more people. You are free to refuse if you like.”
“What? What does it do?”
“You exiled me, you don’t get questions. Either take it, or leave it. I will not offer this again.”
Gareth paused, likely staling for time. I gave him a few seconds, but eventually started to pull away. But instead of letting go, he held on. 10% of the particles that would take me to the next level left my body and entered his, the System gaining its third human user. Once the process was over, I let go of his hand.
“Good luck on the travel, Gareth. And make sure to protect my people,” I said just before turning around and starting to walk.
It was late, and I still had to find a good place to sleep. But at least my family was safe and well protect. Not to mention, I would travel the world for the first time. What kind of places would I see, and what monsters would I face? Only time would answer those questions, but I had to admit, despite everything, I was really excited about this.