“What the hell were you thinking?!” Patir shouts. After an hour or so, my rough handling of the cart had not only ruined it, as the axle broke and it crashed. I tried to keep it under control but Yasia banged her head pretty hard against the cart as it crashed. It bled pretty gruesomely. I am so fucking ashamed.

“Don’t… Yian got us a long way… And he fixed the damage too.” Yasia tries to defend me, but it really was terrible. Even if I could use my healing magic to fix up the gash, it must have been horrible. I thought it was all fun and games for a moment and something horrible nearly happened.

“No, he is right, it was incredibly stupid.” I deserve to feel ashamed right now. Kassa is silent.

“How the hell are you acting like a kid right now if you are older than 800 years? I knew you weren’t the sharpest knife around, but to think one could actually be this stupid!” It stings. It hurts much more since it is very true.

“Heck, even the way you are reacting to my scolding is childish!? Does your gift prevent you from maturing too?”

Kassa is chuckling. It is probably funny to see the man who scolded and punished her so much over the years get the same treatment.

“I have no excuse. I am ashamed to my core.” I say, in hopes of it letting up, but Patir continues.

“Don’t just be ashamed! Reflect on it and change your behavior in the future. If you have done any of that for your life, there is no way you wouldn’t be a sagely figure by now!” We are currently trekking, as we have done for an hour or so. I am carrying Yasia, since the healing magic took it out of her.

“Hey! Is that a road?” Kassa says, pointing in the distance. It is difficult to make out, since it is a flat surface far away, but as we get closer, it is indeed a road.

“Right. We should follow it eastward, that’s less likely to lead to some dead-end village.” Patir says.

“We’re going to the city?” I am confused. “I thought we wanted to end up in a village and continue our lives as before.”

“Of course we’re going to the city? With you around, do you have any idea of how rich we can become? If you’re rich in a village, you may be getting access to a few luxuries, but be rich in the city, and you get access to all of them!”

“I also want to go to the city. I have never been in one before, after all.” Kassa adds.

“I am fine with wherever, as long as I get to be with Yian.” Yasia also drops in. Seems we are going to the city, but first Patir stops.

“Kassa, I have something for you.” He puts down his large backpack and fishes up a hooded robe. “Here, take this and cover yourself.”

“Huh? Why?” I ask. Patir looks disappointedly at me. “So that people don’t know that she’s a Silvester, of course.”

“But, didn’t you say free Silvesters would be normal in the republic.” Patir heaves a deep sigh.

“No, I didn’t, but it seems you understood it as such. I said I heard a RUMOR that Silvestri were SET FREE. That doesn’t mean they would have the same status as any other human. They could not be allowed into the cities, or heck, even limited to a designated Silvestri area. And again, it was a rumor. Only a COMPLETE IDIOT would think of rumor as fact.” I took heavy damage from the emphasized words that were clearly directed at me, and by the looks of it, Kassa did too.

The rest of the day, we march along the road, but night falls before any settlement is in sight.

“Well, we are definitely in the outskirts, since we didn’t see a single traveler” Patir adds. If I think about, I have also always encountered other travelers when travelling between cities. The only time I didn’t was when the traffic was between a small village like the frontier village, and the city.

After we have eaten Yasia’s cooking, which she insisted on doing, Patir isn’t happy. “There’s not even enough for a full breakfast tomorrow.” He laments over the scraps left of our food supply.

I had become so accustomed to eating the past years, it completely slipped my mind not to, and I feel guilty from eating away at the supplies, as I participated in dinner both yesterday and today.

“Cheer up, Yian!” Patir says as he pats my shoulder. “If we spot any dungeons or travelers, who won’t share, you are our meal ticket!” He laughs a little. I imagine having to steal away from others and feel a little uncomfortable that Patir laughs about the fact.

“And if we don’t?” Patir’s smile shrinks to a straight line. “Then I hope the city is not too far away.”

“I have an idea.” I say “We’re on a straight road now, so I won’t get lost. I could run ahead and get supplies and return.” Patir scratches his bearded cheek a little.

“How fast would you make it if, say, we were a week away?” Patir asks. The way of putting distance in time makes it an awkward sentence, but I reply as of my experience.

“At the latest, 2 days.” Patir’s regains his smile. “All right, then head ahead and if you spot a dungeon or a city or even travelers, come back with food and preferably also water as soon as you can.” I nod. It feels good to be of use after I put them through so much trouble.

“Then, Patir, Kassa, Yasia, see ya!” I shout as I start running.