A Drop of Moonlight

Chapter 14: Encounter

If the night was hard with a younger child traveling with you, then moving along with the said child is a much harder affair.

Harold, for a feral child whose ferocity is hidden beneath the behaved persona he is displaying at the moment, he sure knows how to manipulate things into his favor. If the object of his manipulation was not Rufus or Denise, they had long been playing the child's tune. A talent that Denise was worried about having been born in the house of Degrande. After all, he is a magic user whose potential authority and power is unparalleled given his position.

"Human children really are menaces even if they are young." Said Rufus as Harold held his robe tightly. "So young yet too greedy."

"Hey!" Denise was offended on behalf of humanity in itself. "Not all children are like this. This one is just one of the few exceptions among children. Most children are ignorant and a little foolish if I say so myself."

"You're one of those foolish ones." Rufus said, not missing a beat.

Now that made Denise blush up a storm in her face. Her brother had always lamented that she is too stupid and naive compared to him. Though their mother lovingly call her innocent, Denise knows that she is what her brother has described her as. With the number of incidents she had been subjected to growing up, she is not ignorant of the troubles she caused.

The child who was silently listening to their exchange gave her a look of contempt hearing that she is not refuting Rufus' statement. Denise felt quite complicated being directed by such a gaze, but she is honest in nature. She will not deny or defend something true about herself.

Maybe the closest to lying for her was withholding some information. Not saying the entire truth while not breaking her creed. It was her pride and she'll try to live as honestly as possible.

Upon reaching the road that Denise had seen, they decided to walk along the path. Though it will be a long journey before they get to a village or city by walking, there is simply no way for them to get decent transportation right now. There is an option to tame some beast for transport, but that takes a lot of work and unnecessary attention when they get to the populous side of the country.

With great physical fitness, Rufus and Denise have no problem walking great distances. Denise used to gather mountain herbs or hunt games back home, so walking a lot is fine with her. Rufus on the other hand is an elf who is in tune with nature, walking is a pleasure of his and something he does a lot.

Harold on the other hand was a different story. He is young. Younger than Denise who was only thirteen years old. While he never stated his age, his structure and height indicates that he is at least 6 or 7 years old.

His body is yet to be made for rigorous activities. In just a couple hours of walking, he is visibly tired and is sweating a lot. His pace has also slowed down. And any moment, his figure looks like it is about to collapse.

Sighing and not wanting to delay their journey as much as possible, Denise wordlessly carried the child on her back. She has the mind to carry him by her arms, but that would take a lot out of her. So just as when the child was about to collapse in exhaustion, she was quick to maneuver him to her back.

There were protests from the child as age had expected. But Denise is not taking a no this time around. Tightening her hold on the child's legs on her waist, she made sure that no matter how much he moves around he will not fall down.

Harold was restless and in his defiance, he grabbed a fistful of Denise's hair. Denise felt her scalp tingling in pain. She kind of regrets doing this, but she is anything but stubborn. So she is going through the whole thing even if she will end up with a bald head upon reaching a human settlement.

Rufus who had groomed Denise's hair earlier was not too pleased with his hard work gone with the wind. He glared at the child before stopping upon seeing a similar glare on the girl who was doing all the hard work. With her so determined, there was very little he could do about his handy work turning into a useless effort.

This state continued on until the third day of walking almost blindly, they finally encountered a group of carriages.

The carriages were not like that caravan they had been with. They were of higher quality and the people that were either in the carriages or the accompanying horses looked too militarized to be for civilian use. Not to mention Denise could sense bloodlust in them despite hiding them quite well.

Denise's hold on Harold tightened as the child had become well-behaved. Rufus took a step forward to shield them from prying eyes. But this move was proven to be useless.

One of the people among that group has noticed them.