***

It took Iltier a few seconds to recover from the shock of seeing an arm in the path she was taking in Veralda Forest towards Taba Siguas. The rest of the body was inexistent or it was being covered by the bushes in the road and she wished with all her might for the later.

In a defensive stance she reached for a sword -by reflex- that was not there. Still painting by the fright, she looked at her side were her hand had reached and sighed heavily.

"Shit... I didn’t receive my sword yet."

She looked around her, but besides the arm, there was no one in sight.

She looked back at the arm in the ground, and it didn’t look like it was just an arm. Mana approached Iltier and pushed her head to the side of the arm while neighing.

“What? Can’t I even startle anymore?”

“Nneighhhh”

“How can this be my fault? ...What are you doing?.. What WHAT URHG WHY ARE YOU SPITTING YOUR DINNER ON ME?”

“Pruuurr”

"Alright, alright, I'll do it."

As part of the survival training provided by the Silvain family, Iltier learned first aid, and she was somewhat relieved that it came in handy.

She pushed through the bushes, and as the arm hinted, it was just a kid. Dirty clothes, skinny. It reminded her of the children she came into contact with during her Imperial Journey. That time, however, she ignored them, thinking it would be best for her to return to the castle and work harder for them.

Iltier sighed at the sight of the small body on the ground. How could she dare to ignore them?

So weak.

She was just like that when she was little, small and fragile, but she had protection; they didn't.

She put two fingers on the kid’s neck. “Heart’s beating.” She then placed her hand near their nose. “He’s breathing.”

Iltier frowned at the sight of the kid on the ground. She didn’t have vast knowledge in first aid, but the more she thought about it, the less it looked like they were fainted or unable to remain conscious.

“Looks like he’s... sleeping?”

“Nneighhhh”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Iltier shaked the supposedly sleeping frame “Hey, you alright?” to which an arm grabbed her and she was having a hard time deciding if she should look to the kid’s face with now pale oppened eyes, or if she should look at the arm grabbing her.

“...Waate...”

Water? Does he wants wat-

GRooOoOWLl “Urgh, Food...”

“Pffftt, well, I guess this is where we’re spending the night, Mana.”

“Nneighhhh”

***

That night, the only thing a bonfire would be needed for was to cook food. One of Mardrake’s moons was so bright it looked more like a spotlight. Even the weather was warm enough to sleep without cover. This was, by far, one of the best conditions to sleep in a forest, leaving aside, obviously, bugs and whatnot.

While making the bonfire with the help of the kid, Iltier couldn't help but stare at him. The child had the appearance of a 10-year-old at most and was so skinny that she decided to pay special attention to the foods she would make that night.

When it was only her and Mana, she would just roast fishes, mushrooms, eat fruits, and maybe some vegetables. But now, with that hungry bottle cap, she made a vegetable soup, roasted as many fishes as she caught, prepared saraza juice, and she even crafted an elaborate dessert with what she found in Veralda in the few hours she had to gather ingredients. It was a feast few would find in a forest, well, to be fair, few would find a person in Veralda.

The kid accompanied Iltier while she was gathering ingredients for their meal, and she understood immediately why he was so skinny. Even the most common fruit was unknown to the child; he was afraid of getting poisoned and didn’t eat much of what was easy to gather. As if that wasn't enough, the child was terrible at fishing or hunting.

A kid, alone in a dense forest, without the skills to gather food was a disastrous situation no matter how you looked at it.

As soon as Iltier was done preparing the soup, the kid took a bowl and finished without even noticing. He then took a roasted fish from the bonfire and started to chew.

“So, what’s your name?”

Still chewing the juicy meat, he responded without paying much attention to manners, his stomach was in high priority for that moment and he was savoring the delightful taste.

“Viv.”

“Viv?”

Looking forward for the next bite, the kid quickly swallowed what was in his mouth, now talking properly.

“Liv.”

“Ah. Liv, Are you lost?”

“No.” He started chewing again. The taste was so delicious he was having a hard time chatting.

“Do you live here?”

The kid just shook his head in response while still chewing.

Iltier offered another fish and Liv took it without hesitation.

“So, what are you doing here?”

“I... run away from home.”

Ah yes, the talking type, just like my fathers and brothers. If I ask something she will start talk about herself to no end, right? This way I can eat while she talks.

“And you, what are you doing here?”

Iltier was surprised by the sudden question, the child appeared to be the type who had no interest in talking, much less about her in that matter.

Because someone plotted against my life? I had to kill my friends who were unjustly accused of the attack. I killed myself because I couldn't live with the guilt, then I met a deity. I went back 6 years in time and decided to create an information network to find out who plotted my death and I asked Kal, and he referred me to a famous organization from Viscerda so I stole his horse and am now on my way to meet the owner of that organization???

As if anyone would believe this. What am I? A fantasy book writer? ...Oh.

“I, uh, am..writing a book, and places like these inspires me?”

“What kind of book?”

Can you please let me ask you why you run away from home???

“Mhmm, I'm in doubt about a part of this book actually, so I'm looking for inspiration. But tell me, why did you run away from home?”

The kid frowned with a fish’s tail on his mouth. For the first time since he began to eat in that night, he stopped. A heavy sigh followed as he looked down.

“Because I can’t do anything.”

“How so?”

“I can’t go out, I can’t compete, I can’t duel, I can’t even do things indoors.”

“Your family doesn't like you?”

“I feel like they love me.”

“Are you sick?”

“No.”

Nothing seemed to make much sense in what the child was talking about. If he was not sick or being hated, why they were restricting him? Because he was a child? Iltier was getting more and more confused at his words.

“And then you just run away?”

The kid, as Iltier instructed before they started to eat, threw the fish carcass into the fire and took another. He nodded to her question.

"And now you're here starving."

“I'm still getting used to hunting. They wouldn't let me hunt either so I don't have much experience.”

“Well, that makes a lot of sense. Don’t you have any friends?”

“Ahaha, friends? What is a friend? Is edible?”

“Ah. They didn't let you have friends."

“Yup.”

"How many days have you been here, by the way?”

“A couple of weeks.”

“Weeks? What did you eat?”

Iltier was in front of a brave kid who did survive in the wild even though he didn’t know what or how to. It could be bravery or stupidity, mind you, but courage at least. Suddenly, she saw a face so tired that was worthy of pity.

“Fish, and some animals?”

“But you’re terrible at fishing and hunting???”

“Ah, yeah, but I guess I’m really lucky? Every time I sleep by the river, a fish appears in the morning.”

“...Ah, I get it. And please don’t sleep by the river.”

“...get what.”

“Nothing.”

“Tell me.”

“Sigh. Someone is feeding you. Probably from your family.”

“...Ah.” indifferent to the news about his family the kid started chewing on the fish again adding some mushrooms to his mouth as he was not having enough of it.

“So, what about your book?”

“...”