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***Silvester***

I was soon dressed and ready, and we didn’t waste any more time to hit the road.

“I have to say,” began Zeph after a while, “That I am surprised to see you alive. I wonder how you managed to survive those wounds. Did you have someone to assist you outside the arena?”

Right, I should have died. It was normal to think that. I had a perforated lung, an arm that was broken and bleeding in various places, and who knows what amount of internal injuries.

“Well, I have my secrets,” I told him smugly.

I wasn’t going to share that with a suspicious stranger just because he paid me well. And he wasn’t one who shared much of his secrets too, so why should I?

“I see… I suppose you won’t share why you look so different, then? I really couldn’t recognize you at first.”

I just gave him a smile; I could play the mysterious guy part too. Hahaha, serves you right.

Then I noticed Freya giving me a sullen look.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing…” she said, looking back down.

“Oh, come on, I told you to be more confident… Hey! Now that I think about it, you threw a rock at me!” I had totally forgotten. “It’s nice to know that you have some guts, but you shouldn’t throw rocks at people!”

Especially at me! It was just a small pebble, but it’s a matter of respect.

“But you threw one at me this morning,” she complained, pointing at her forehead. There was a red bump there.

“Look, girl, I’m an adult. There is still wisdom you can not comprehend at your age. Just trust me,” I bullshitted.

She talked back! I was proud of her. I will pick a smaller rock next time.

She still had to learn some respect, though.

“I don’t think there’s much wisdom in throwing a rock at a girl’s head,” said some unwanted bystander.

“No one asked you,” I said, annoyed. He was my employer, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t talk back at him. “And you’re just a few years older than her, so you too can’t understand my wisdom.”

He frowned. “Shameless.”

I just ignored him and turned back to Freya.

“So why were you looking at me like that? Out with it,” I said, trying to change the topic.

She looked at Zeph and murmured, “He knew I was a girl.”

Okay. Maybe I need to learn to keep my mouth shut.

“He recognized me too, you didn't,” I said, relieved to have a reasonable justification.

What can you say now?

“To be frank, I recognized you because I saw that girl and because no one would call me by that name here.” The guy interjected again.

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I glared at him. Can’t he just mind his own business?

I looked back at Freya a few moments later.

“I only thought you were a boy because you worked in the arena. You really resemble more a girl, it’s just that I thought you were a feminine boy.” They weren’t uncommon among slaves, as I’ve seen.

Probably a noble’s fetish, I thought, disgusted.

“Okay,” she said, without adding anything else.

Is she still angry? I thought, doubtful. Well, she’ll forget about it soon.

After that, I wasn’t in the mood to talk anymore, and we just walked in silence.

We were walking at a slow pace because of Freya. I thought Zeph would have complained, but he kept his mouth shut this time.

We soon exited the forest.

As the afternoon advanced, I couldn’t help but ask, “Do you know if there’s a place to rest we can reach before dark, or should we find a spot to camp for the night?”

“There’s a village down on the road. We should reach it in time,” he answered immediately.

Nice.

“Have you been there before?”

“No. I’m just following a map,” he said, taking me by surprise.

“Is it reliable?” I asked doubtfully. If I wasn’t wrong, they couldn’t be sold and only nobles and the military had them. He was a noble, but he wasn’t of this kingdom, so I was feeling a bit skeptical.

“It should be,” he answered, curtly.

Now would be an appropriate moment to share a few more words you know, I thought, a bit fed up by his short replies.

His map was indeed reliable, though, since we reached the village just before sunset.

Freya was dragging her feet for the last few kilometers, but she hadn’t complained once, which pleased me. I expected it, since she must have led a hard life as a slave, but it was nice to see it confirmed.

As we passed by the first houses, I asked Zeph, “So, are we going to the inn right away?”

He looked at me and Freya. “Yes. We’ll book a room for the night and, after that, we’ll go find you a few clothes and supplies for the journey. Then we’ll return to dine.”

We found the inn on the main road and Zeph booked a room for three, then we crossed the almost empty streets searching for places that sold necessities for travelers. He paid for everything, saying that since he was the employer, it was his duty to pay for travel expenses.

I didn’t think it was normal to buy clothes for your employees, but I had no idea, and compared to what he was paying us it was chump change, so I just glossed over it.

When we made it back to the inn we had three new bags, new clothes for Freya and me, plus a spare one in the bag for all three, a tent, cooking utensils, and a few other things. I was feeling quite excited to own a bag and clothes of my own. Buying something felt different from just stealing from dead bodies, even if I wasn’t the one paying — and they were new.

I enjoyed the dinner a bit too much, maybe, since I ate and drank a lot. The food I ate the last month was plentiful, but like always it was mostly disgusting, so I exaggerated a bit.

It was also my first time drinking beer. It felt bitter, it was cold, and it was amazing.

“How do they keep it so cold?” I said to no one in particular, not even caring if I had a response.

“A Skill, or an enchantment, I suppose. I never bothered to find out,” said Zeph.

Well ok.

I felt woozy at the end of the dinner, and my stomach felt like it was exploding.

I had the impression that Freya too enjoyed her dinner, and she also ate an adequate amount, though not as much as I thought she should. She was almost falling asleep on the table now, though.

Well, she didn’t sleep well the previous night, and the walk should have been tough for her.

I, instead, was feeling quite energetic despite being a bit drunk. Everything felt quite exciting for me.

I looked around, at the almost empty tables. I would have liked to see when it was full — it was desolate now.

Well, I’ll just train with mana before going to bed.

I would have liked to move my body more, but for this day I opted to enjoy my room at the inn, so I followed the other two to our private room. We booked just one, said Zeph, because it would be suspicious otherwise.

The room was more spacious than I thought and had three beds in a row. We then put our things down and cleaned ourselves with a washcloth we found in the room.

I thought that Freya would just go to sleep right away, but she didn’t move.

“Don’t you want to sleep?” I asked.

“Can I?” she asked back, drowsily.

“Yes, just go lie down,” I answered with a sigh.

I hope she’ll start acting on her own soon. It’s uncomfortable to always tell her what to do, I thought as I saw her pass out as soon as she touched the bed.

I was about to go do my training when Zeph stopped me.

“We need to talk about a few things,” he said when he sat on his bed.

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