Kyran sat crossed-legged and leaned back while he studied the girl’s reaction.
However, he did not find any pretense from the girl’s answer and her expression. It was as if she already knew the truth and accepted it. Yet, she did not want to lose hope that she could survive her predicament. Her hope might have even come from Kyran’s sudden appearance.
Kyran contemplated how to proceed.
He only wanted to help the girl by taking her to a nearby town. But after hearing the girl’s story, he could not shake off the feeling that there was a bigger reason why her uncle wanted her dead. And that reason might be related to how she could see arrays even when she could not see.
He had to tread carefully when dealing with this girl, or he might end up getting the short end of the stick. What if the girl was actually a very dangerous person?
…
Okay, that might be unlikely. Who could top the Dark Sage’s successor in terms of danger level? At least within Ylfaen’s standard.
‘I’m overthinking again,’ Kyran thought with a sigh.
Anyway, if the girl was just an ordinary person with a disability, Kyran unknowingly taking her back to her hometown would mean wasting his goodwill. It was clear that she was unwanted in that place.
But if he took her to a different town, would anyone take her in? With her disability, they would definitely feel she was a burden. Even an orphanage might not accept her.
Kyran was starting to regret his impulsive decision. He was beginning to think that killing her might even be considered an act of mercy.
‘Should I just kill her?’ He thought while looking at her.
Then he saw the food she gave her and could not help but smile dryly.
‘If I did, is this considered her last supper?’
While Kyran was lost in his thoughts, the girl remained silent and only listened intently to her surroundings.
She did not know why the man did not follow up on her reply. If not for the even breathing she could hear near her, she might even think he left again.
After pondering for a moment, Kyran suddenly thought of Byron.
‘That’s right, I can leave her to him,’ he thought while looking at the girl thoughtfully. ‘But… if I did, it means I have to take her under my wing. Do I really want that?’
Kyran was presented with another dilemma.
The girl clearly had secrets, and so did he. If he took her in, he would drag her into his business and vice versa.
Was he not making his situation more complicated? Besides, he could not even use this girl. Even if she could see arrays, Kyran did not find that extraordinary. Except for the fact she was blind.
‘What the hell, Kyran. Your getting sidetracked,’ he scolded himself.
Maybe he should just let Byron deal with her. Like, adopt her, or something. Then Kyran would be able to keep his distance and slowly fade in the background.
‘Let Byron adopt her, huh.’
Byron’s goofy grin flashed in Kyran’s mind, and he almost cringed.
‘Someone might get suspicious if he suddenly adopted a girl out of nowhere. Besides, I am not sure of his own situation. He may even have his own family.’
Scratching his head, Kyran heaved a sigh before crossing his arms across his chest.
‘Should I leave her with Stella?’
He rejected the idea even before he could consider it.
He did not want to be indebted to Stella. And for some reason, he could imagine her looking at him accusingly if he brought this girl along.
‘Let’s just kill her,’ Kyran thought again.
The moment he thought this, his father’s words flashed in his mind: “If you decide to do something, you have to see it through the end. Give it your all and don’t take the easy way out.”
‘And the easy way out is killing her. Right. I get it,’ Kyran thought dejectedly.
Why did he have to be such a filial son? More importantly, why did he have to have a soft spot for small kids? Was this what people call having ‘maternal extinct’.
….
‘I’m a man! Damn it!’ Kyran had an urge to flip something after this thought crossed his mind.
Even after much thinking, Kyran failed to come up with a solution. So instead, he looked at the girl and asked, “What do you want to do?”
Since he could not make a decision, then he would ask her. He might receive a flash of inspiration after hearing her answer.
The girl moved her head to the right.
‘What I want to do..?’ She repeated the man’s question in her head.
She initially wanted to answer, ‘go home.’ But she knew she was no longer welcome there.
Who knew what her uncle and his family would do again to get rid of her.
If she answered she wanted to leave this place, where would she go?
The man gave her so much kindness, and she did not want to impose by asking him to take her to a nearby town. Besides, even if he did take her to a town, the question remains: where would she go?
Kyran silently observed the girl’s expression. It was amazing how he could easily read her thoughts just by looking at her.
Seeing that the girl was also having trouble answering his question, Kyran heaved a sigh.
If this continued, they would end up here for days.
Kyran looked around the small space.
The truth, he thought of leaving the girl here and returning once he completed his tasks with the Conclave. However, seeing the scratched walls and the girl’s pitiful state, he knew she would be dead before he returned. That dense shadow around her was proof. Her chances of surviving might improve if she left this place, though.
Kyran turned his attention to the girl and decided to help her answer his question by narrowing down her ‘options’.
“Do you want to live? Yes or no.”
Hearing the man’s question, the girl came to a sudden realization.
The man was right. Her destination did not matter. First, she had to leave this place.
“Yes. I want to leave this place,” the girl answered with conviction.
…
Black lines appeared on Kyran’s head.
Well, her answer was not exactly wrong.
Kyran could not even complain that she misheard him because live and leave did sound the same.
Not bothering to correct the misunderstanding, Kyran simply replied, “Okay. Eat first, then we’ll get you cleaned so I can tend to your wounds. After that, take a nap. I’ll wake you up when its time to leave.”
“Hm,” the girl replied with a nod of her head.
But then she realized something and flushed.
“C-Clean up?”
“Yes. You stink.”
The girl’s face turned darker.
“You’re no better,” she retorted in a small voice.
Kyran raised both his brows in surprise.
He already sensed her unrelenting spirit but did not realize it was the same with her attitude. Was this proof she really had warmed up to him? So soon?
“True, that’s why we need to clean up. Besides, your wounds might get infected if you don’t clean up before tending on it.” Kyran replied indifferently.
The girl looked uneasy, and she said in a small voice, “I… I d-don’t have any spare c-clothes.”
“I do.” Kyran told her, brushing off her concern.
Without waiting for the girl to reply, he took her empty bowl before standing up and going over the pot for a refill.
First, she needed to fill up. She was too skinny; it felt like she would faint in over ten steps.
Kyran had not decided what to do with her once they left the valley, but for now, he would take her along.
He planned to warp his way to the west, but if something happened that prevented him from doing that, the two of them would need to walk for long-distance.
If she slowed him down, he would leave her somewhere he deemed ‘safe’ and would come back for her. After that, he would take her to Byron and let him handle the rest.
=====================
A man in a black hooded coat stood on top of the tallest building in the Bearch City’s market district, the Central Square.
The cold night wind blew around him, causing his coat to flutter.
This man was the leader of the Special Ops, and he was waiting for his two companions.
Another figure in a black hooded coat approached him from the dark.
“I found something,” a woman’s voice sounded from under the hood.
“Ho? What did you find?” The leader asked.
“Early this day, there has been an anomaly in the Misty Forest.”
“Misty Forest, huh?”
“I’m not sure if it is related to our target but because of his identity, then…”
The man remained still.
Because of the hood hiding his face, his expression was unknown, and his thoughts were concealed well.
“Maybe,” the man replied after a long pause.
Another figure appeared and approached the two.
The figure whistled before saying, “You two are always on time!”
The woman looked at him but did not say anything. However, the sudden rise in temperature around them confirmed that the woman was not pleased.
“Don’t be like that,” the newly arrived man said. “I did my job properly.”
“And? What did you find?”
“Nothing.”
“You-!”
“Come on. If I find news about him here then it means the Mercenary Hall is messing with us, right?”
“What?”
The leader chuckled and said, “I see. Good work.”
“But-.”
The woman was about to protest, but their leader raised his hand and silenced her.
“If our target is spotted inside the city, it means the mercenaries are not doing a good job in ‘hunting’ him down.” He said. “This also proved that our target is confident in his abilities to survive in the wild, thus, he did not try to sneak in to the city.”
The woman did not reply and instead crossed her arms across her chest in annoyance.
“Correct~,” the other man agreed. “How about you, leader? Did you find anything?”
“Just an unusual number of hunters gathering at Tarrin.”
“Tarrin?” The woman asked in confusion.
“It doesn’t matter. My instinct tells me this information might be worth looking into.”
The two fell silent. They did not question their leader because his instincts were proven and tested.
The woman suddenly thought of something and said, “Tarrin is close to the Misty Forest.”
“That’s right.”
After a short moment of silence, the leader added, “Let’s go have a look.”