Akino’s golden irises shook in fear. The little girl’s hopeless expression was the same as someone facing an inescapable death. Leo, who was extremely confused, slowly tried again and took a cautious step closer to her, but she quickly shrank back, as if he was about to harm her.

The boy saw how scared she was and decided to sit down on a nearby crate. “What am I? I don’t quite understand what you mean, Akino,” he said softly, hoping his gentle tone would soothe Akino. “Could you please tell me what you mean?”

His words seemed to work as intended, making her take a deep breath, as if trying to gain control over her emotions. She seemed out of breath and sounded like she was struggling to talk at all. Leo hated her expression. It reminded him of his friends and family when they were killed. That scared face held traumas.

“What are you? Y-you’re d-definitely not human. A-are you a d-demon?”

A demon? What in God’s name did she see for her to act this way? A deep and annoyed sigh escaped Leo’s lips as he leaned back on the crate. He despised that nickname. “You scared me for a minute, Akino. I still don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know what you saw in your sleep, but all of that is just a dream.”

I don’t even want to know what she saw or what I did. The girl’s muscles relaxed and she sat back up. “Y-you’re right. It must’ve been a dream. You wouldn’t do those things, that thing wasn’t you. You would never k-kill people like that. That thing must not be you. I’m sorry.” She walked over and sat down next to Leo on the wooden crate.

“Come on, forget about it and relax. I waited for you to wake up before eating breakfast, so you better change that mood of yours,” Leo said as he gave her a playful push with his shoulder. Akino’s face lit up with a bright smile. “Really? You waited to eat with me?” She grabbed some of the dry bread that was inside one of the crates and came back. “What are we going to do today?” she asked while munching on her breakfast.

“I was planning to just take my time and heal my wounds. They need to be looked after once every few days; otherwise, they might get infections. It will probably take in most of my day,” Leo said. He took the piece of bread Akino handed him and began eating. She looked at the ground and murmured some words in a disappointed tone before sitting down again. She put her head on Leo’s shoulder and closed her eyes slightly.

“You’ll need my help, right? You can’t reach the spots on your back.” Leo nodded at her. “Yeah, it would help a lot if you could do my back, but I won’t force you. There are some ugly wounds there; you might not want to see them.”

Akino lifted her head and looked at him with a shocked and offended expression. “What are you trying to say? That that will be enough for me to watch you suffer? Looking at some wounds?” Surprised by the answer, the twelve-year-old girl gave him, he struggled to find the right words. “Well… no, but you know… I don’t want you to have to do those things. If it wasn’t for this situation, I wouldn’t have even dared to ask you for these kinds of things.”

Akino put her finger in the air as if silencing him and said, “I thought so. Now just shut up and accept it, okay? We’re talking about your health here, not just some unimportant thing.” Leo looked at her with wonder. Is this really a twelve-year-old talking? “Fine,” he muttered, “but I only need your help for the wounds on my back which I’ll do lastly, so you’ll have to wait a few hours.”

The boy finished his monotonous breakfast and unbuttoned his shirt. The new shirt already had some bloodstains on it from wounds that had reopened. Akino looked in shock as she saw his body. Almost every spot of what would normally be human skin was covered in cuts, bruises, burns, or dried blood. “What happened to you? You had those before you saved me, right? You carried me while having all of those? H-how? Why?”

Leo didn’t say a word. He simply didn’t know any way of explaining the wounds to her without telling her what really happened to him. If the truth was heard by someone he couldn’t entrust his life with, like the couple controlling the carriage, he would be hunted down. His tribe had been marked as imperial traitors, meaning they would be hunted down everywhere in the human territory.

Leo decided to just ignore her question and requested her to bring him the wooden barrel filled with water and a wooden bowl. Akino, who was still stunned by his appearance, slowly made her way towards the barrel and dragged it across the floor. In the meantime, Leo grabbed a piece of cloth from his bag and some herbs that looked like they were already at the end of their life. He had saved those that would be necessary to tend to his wounds and burns before selling the rest. Although they weren’t of the best quality anymore, they would still speed up the process and ease the pain.

First, Leo filled the wooden bowl with water before adding some of the herbs’ leaves. He then proceeded by mixing it and drenching the cloth in it. He put the thick mixture on his burns. Although the skin was sensitive and the feeling was stingy, he calmly carried on. Akino kept both of her eyes on him while lost in thought. Once every while, Leo would look up at her to check if she was still zoned out, but nothing changed. The girl’s eyes just kept on staring at a single spot somewhere around Leo’s neck.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The self-made remedy had started its second phase. The first places Leo had applied it began to harden. A black gelatin-like substance formed over the wounds and created a thin layer between the burn and the outside world. Not only would it prevent any filth from getting in, but the herb also made the healing process faster.

The boy took another bowl and created a new solution for his cuts. He applied it with care and silence. Leo finished treating all of the reachable wounds and put down the bowl of medicine. “It’s your turn now. Could you please do my back? Apply the black substance to the burns and the transparent one for cuts and the rest.” Akino, who had still not regained her focus, blinked slowly at Leo.

Then, all of a sudden, she regained her composure and picked up the drenched cloth. “I’m so sorry. I lost my train of thought. It’s a bad habit I have. I’ll start right away.” Carefully, Akino tried to mimic the movements Leo had made and began to apply the remedy to his wounds. The first half of the day passed by without either of the two children knowing. Wound by wound, they cleansed and purified Leo’s body until every bit of filth was removed.

With a deep sigh, Akino laid back on the floor. She looked up at the sail that was covering the carriage, moving up and down. “You helped a lot. Thank you,” Leo said. Akino turned her head and looked at his body. A wide grin appeared around the corners of her mouth. “Don’t worry about it. You did a thousandfold more for me than I just did for you. I wish you could see yourself right now. You look hilarious. Covered in black layers and bandages. Someone would get a heart attack seeing you because they’d think you’re an undead.”

Leo smiled back at her, imagining the picture. Akino looked at him with a delighted look. “Finally, you did it!” she said with shiny eyes. “Did what?” Leo asked, confused. “You smiled! These past days I’ve only seen you make mad or concerned expressions.” The words left a deeper mark on Leo than he had expected.

She’s right, there hasn’t been a single good emotion in my mind ever since we got attacked. I only thought about revenge, survival, and safety. Who knows what would have happened if this kid wasn’t here. If I had failed to save her, I might’ve lost my mind in those thoughts. Maybe this is what grandfather meant when he said: “I would rather die happy than live in a storm of negativity.” People always laughed at grandfather, saying he was getting old and soft. Maybe he just gained more perspective on life. Maybe he realized what he wanted. At least he died peacefully before the attack. I wish all of us had.

“You’re right, Akino. Maybe I should smile more.” The girl laughed out loud, as if there was nothing to worry about. She laughed as if she could forget everything that had happened. Leo thought about whether it was her age or just a different way of thinking. “Can I ask you something, Leo?” she said as her laughter faded in with the horses. “Of course, what is it?”

The girl swallowed before whispering softly, “Do you know what The Exiled are?” She made sure only Leo was able to hear her words. Instantly, the mood darkened a bit by bringing them up. A deep frown appeared on Leo’s face. “The Exiled? I do know about them, but why do you want to know?” Her pupils turned a bit bigger. “Oh, I’m just interested,” she said while putting her long brown hair the way she liked. “Can you tell me about them

?” Leo shrugged his shoulders.

“Sure, but I only know the basics. The Exiled are a group of criminals… Maybe those aren’t the right words. They’re an illegal organization. If I am right, it was founded by a man who was banned from his noble status because he disobeyed the empire’s commands. My father told me he was a formidable warrior and the empire couldn’t kill him because of how useful he was. Filled with hatred for his own country, he organized an organization called The Exiled. It was meant to be a rebellion, but the man was killed by one of his loyal underlings. The man who killed him was filled with malicious intent. He wanted power and influence. Normally, such organizations are instantly exterminated, but the man was smart. He made it so that his actions gave incredible profits to the noble class. Nowadays, when anyone tries to start something against them, they get silenced by the nobles or just disappear. That’s how the nickname our capital has came into existence: ‘Capital of Wealth’. Rumors say they even have direct influence within our kingdom’s council. Our king can’t even do something about them even if he actually wanted, which I highly doubt.”

[The continent of Kruvos is divided into multiple empires. Each empire belongs to a race with a single emperor to represent them. The human empire is divided again into seven different kingdoms which each have a king. This was decided on by the emperor so that humans could still go to war with each other without having to involve his presence and to lessen his burdens.]

Akino didn’t look very happy with the answer and reposed her question: “Yeah, I knew most of that, but what do they do? Why are they called criminals by the people?” Leo thought about it. “From what I have heard, they have three things they are known for. The first is having the biggest slave market in the human empire. Second is hosting spectacular gladiator matches, legally somehow. It’s legal because they force their warriors into giving consent. Some of those gladiators are only a few years older than me. The last thing is selling drugs and organs. Although this is their main income, you’ll find them guilty of almost every crime in the codex of our empire if you look for it.”

The words had silenced the little girl. A flash of fear passed through her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. “I see… that’s quite… extreme,” Akino said. Leo tried to make eye contact with her to see what she was thinking about, but she broke it instantly. “I think I’m going to rest a while,” she said. “You should too. It will speed the recovery process.” Leo nodded and laid down next to her. The sun was still heading downwards, but Akino fell asleep almost instantly. It might’ve been a too hard reality for her. She probably never thought those things were pretty normal in our capital. She’s a noble, after all. It wouldn’t surprise me if her parents just lied to her about almost everything.

Leo twisted around for a while before closing his eyes and going to rest. A sense of fear was chasing him as he laid down. The boy knew the dream would haunt him again, but nothing could be changed. As he fell asleep, the vision took over again, making him re-experience everything all over again.