Chapter E4: The Poisoned Child

(Effinshia's POV)

*chirp *chirp

Birds... what does it mean to truly be free? To float in the air with nobody to stop you? To fly freely to wherever your heart's content? Or is true freedom only obtainable by breaking what nature expects you to do? Does that mean for a bird to truly be free it mustn't fly? Or is the choice that the bird chooses that makes it free? To fly or not to fly?

*Munch *Om *Nom *Nom

What about the birds who can't fly? Those deprived of choice in their lives? What freedom could be obtained if it cannot choose to do the things it wishes to do? Does it simply let nature devour it, or does it fight back? That is freedom too right? To fight back against your oppressors? Does this mean that nature is simply an oppressive force? Does actively destroying nature means we are free? That we exist for other purposes than to follow nature's orders?

*Munch *Om *Nom *Nom

When I try to kill and they fight back... does it mean they have freedom till the very end? Or does it mean that they never had any freedom because they are expected to fight back? That their fates are already sealed the moment I choose to swing my sword?

... I pondered as I looked at the piece of bird wing in my hands and the other bird meat cooking at the campfire in front of me.

*Munch *Om *Nom *Nom

This bird is actually pretty good. I'm genuinely surprised.

*Munch *Om *Nom *Nom

I voraciously finished the meat I'm currently holding and threw the bones on the ground. I then eyed the other, still, cooking bird meat. Their dead delicious eyes stared into my soul.

Maybe I'm just thinking too hard about it. After all, I am a free woman. I can eat whatever I want!

It's been about two weeks since I started following the general direction of the trail. It rained a total of four times during this period and I got attacked by monsters on a daily basis for the first week before they stop bothering me entirely once they noticed I'm not easy prey. It was the third day when it rained for the first time. Any trace I could hope to find was washed out at that point. Not like they were any to be found anyway.

Even still, I continued to head west. I suspected disasters will happen along the path, so I kept my eyes and ears peeled. I was very thorough about it too. I searched through every tree, every branch, every rock. Anything to find any trace. Unfortunately, nothing was found. The unknown figure I was chasing had either disappeared into thin air or he was hiding in the forest or in one of the villages or town nearby. It was a waste of time to check every single village and town in this forest. Time that I could be using to stop future tragedies such as the one that happened in A'bell.

And yet, I did exactly that. It's not like I have any other lead. So, I scouted every town and village that I could possibly find in this huge forest. I walked from town to town and from village to village, taking my sweet time to inspect every place for any trace of the unknown figure. I also helped a few along the way. It was one of the villages that taught me how to cook that delicious bird that I ate earlier.

Yummy.

And thus, after 2 weeks of hard work, I arrived at the town only known as Cezza. It's located on top of an elevated hill, a midsize town that I estimated to have a population of around seven thousand people. It's a neighbour to a large city up north of this town and is a middle ground for trading between villages and towns nearby in this forest. As proof of its importance, there was even a decently sized Adventurer's Guild house here.

For the first time in two weeks, I've hit the jackpot.

From the moment I stepped into the town, I could immediately tell that something was off. How there was a drastic lack of children running around, and how there was a big portion of the townspeople that had this downhearted look on them. The people walking in the streets have no sense of urgency, they were just either really relaxed or they were lethargic. The biggest tell, however, was what was in front of me right now.

A line of patients waiting outside the town's clinic. Is there some sort of plague or disease spreading in town?

Hmm?

My eyes spied an old house in the distance, near the outskirts of town. Surrounded by patches of land that looks to be abandoned, wild grass grew without care. It looked to be an abandoned farm.

That's weird. If the farm is abandoned, then where do the villagers get their food from? I looked back to the clinic and the long line of people.

Could there be... A case of severe food poisoning occurring all over the city? That would explain things. They import food from a dubious source and are now facing a food poisoning case.

But still, a house in the middle of an abandoned field does sound a bit suspicious.

I quickly made my way there without any distractions.

I stopped after a nice brisk stroll along the roads leading to the house, making sure to take in the beautiful sights along the way. The place is not bad, it was a pretty beautiful town with an excellent view, bar the rampant food poisoning cases of course.

I faced the house and inspect it thoroughly.

What exists in front of me was a nice looking cottage house. The kind you see when going for a nice long vacation in the woods. A very modest and cosy looking dwelling. Too cosy, if you ask me. For a bunch of farmers to make a house this nice sounds improbable. It sticks out like a sore thumb in the wild grassy farm fields that surrounds it.

However, that's just the outside of it. A closer inspection and you could see that it is worn down and many parts of the house had seen little use. Dust and cobwebs accumulating on the unused part of the house. The only part of the house that didn't have dust piled up was the stairs that lead to the door into the house and even that looks like it's about to be replaced with new dust. I'd deduced that the house either had very few people living in it or possibly abandoned very recently.

Or perhaps... the place was recently used as a hideout. A hideout for a mastermind perhaps? Like the one that totalled A'bell? Cezza is of considerable distance from A'bell but even so, for a person who can levitate and fly, it's plausible that this town was used as a staging area for the invasion on A'bell.

Or maybe I'm overthinking it? I guess I won't know for sure unless I investigate the house further.

I'm not the type that likes to barge into houses uninvited, but I just couldn't shake off the feeling of suspicion. That something is amiss.

*plough

I overheard the sound of tilling near the back of the house. Wondering what it is, I walk quietly around the house to find the source of the noise. The ploughing noise grew stronger as I approached the back of the house, a garden fence prevents me from going further. The fence surrounds a small plot of farmable area which has a couple of produce in the middle of growing. One can see corns and... actually that's all one can see growing in this garden. In the said garden was a boy with blue hair holding a hoe weakly, trying his best to till the small plot of land in front of him. A young boy that is around the age of 10.

So there was somebody living in this house after all.

The boy continued to tender to the garden without noticing me. He swung the hoe with a cute 'hyahh' only for it to not make a single dent on the ground below. He wasn't strong enough to do the job. Looking frustrated, he struggled to raise the hoe to once again till the ground beneath him. This time, the ground broke at least.

But...

Corn Boy here was clearly not suited for farming, nor did he look like he knows a thing a two about swinging a hoe down. I stared at his arms that were struggling to hold the hoe. At how thin it was. Without a doubt, the boy hadn't been eating well. He's borderline to malnourished. I analysed the other corn stalks growing in the garden around the boy. It was clear as day that it wasn't the boy who grew these. But, if it's not him, then who did?

*plop

All of a sudden, the boy in front of me collapsed to the ground. The sound of the hoe dropping on the ground was heard.

What the?!

I quickly ran over to him in a panic, jumping over the shoddily built fence. I reached for his body before turning his body upwards to face me. He was unconscious, but more importantly.

It's hot!

The boy's body temperature was out of this world!

With haste, I picked up the boy in a bridal style, his body awfully light for a child of his age. I eyed the backdoor to the house which was wide open and rushed inside.

"Is somebody here!? The boy collapsed! Anybody!" No response from the house other than my own voice that echoed off the walls.

I scrambled in the house, trying to find someone or something to help the boy. The kitchen, the living room, the bedrooms upstairs and even the toilets. Nothing. The house had no one in it— only the dust that floats around, having disturbed from their rest when I barged into the house.

Tsk.

No other choices, I lay the boy down onto a bed in one of the rooms—his breathing erratic. I touched his forehead with my hands before comparing the temperature to my own forehead. As I suspected, the boy had fallen ill with a terrible fever. I put my finger over his wrist to feel his pulse. His heart rate was slow, but at least it was stable. I scoured the room for any pieces of cloth and hurried to the bathroom, seeking water. I dampen the cloth with cold water and lay it over the boy's forehead. I then wiped off the dirt off his neck and his arms with another wet cloth. After that, I took off his clothes carefully and proceeded to wipe off the sweat on his body. I avoided taking off his pants of course.

As I finished up, the boy’s breathing finally calmed down and his complexion grew better.

Phew.

Having calmed down a bit. I sat next to the lying boy on his bed and took another good look at him. I am not a doctor by any means but I know a bit about the field. All signs point to him being sick, malnourished, and overworked. A strange purple rash could be seen from below his chest, just above the abdomen. I didn't notice it earlier when I was wiping off the sweat but now when I took a closer look at it, I could see purple hives appearing on his abdomen. I have no idea what it is nor have I seen anything like it before.

What is going on with this boy? Why is he alone in this house un-supervised when he is in a condition like this? Why was he even working in the garden in the first place? Questions pop up, but as usual, no answers to be found.

I put back the clothes on the boy and lie his body softly on the bed. This will have to do for now. I left the boy alone in the room in order to find something to help him.

I searched the house high and low, finding anything that can help with fever or skin rashes. Disappointingly, there was none. I didn't expect a magical drug-like Penicillin or Panacea to appear, but to actually find nothing, not even traditional herbs was utterly crushing. I could travel to the clinic nearby for some medications but I remembered the long line in front of the clinic when I arrived at Cezza. I can't really leave the boy alone anyways, not in that condition. This house was completely undefended too at that, I am surprised that monsters or thieves haven't snuck in to kill the boy.

...

This house... can only be described as suspicious. Most of the house was pretty much left unused except two rooms and the kitchen, dust gathering everywhere. The kitchen... I guess it's better to call it a dining area than a kitchen. It has nothing in it, no food, no pots, not even a fireplace to cook food. All it has is a bunch of bowls and cups lining properly alongside some pails of water. I assumed the pails contain clean fresh water, but looking at the state of this house, I bet one will get dysentery just by consuming it.

The first room, the room the boy was sleeping in, was just a normal boys room. Nothing out of the ordinary to be found in here, no diaries or journal, no secret stash of sorts, nothing. Just a bed and a desk filled with the boy's drawings. Drawings of what looks to be a gang of adventurers travelling the world. I'm sure it's the boy's dream to travel and explore the world. I can see why. His condition wasn't exactly ideal for travelling.

The other room on the other hand... was much more delicate— much more interesting. It's as if a witch lives in there. It's full of books and grimoires, much of it was basics to using spells and magic while a select few of the grimoires contained some of the more advanced middle-class spells. A large magic formation lies in the middle of the room and in the middle of that formation was a large empty cauldron with a large pedal in it. At the side of the room are closets full of pretty witches and magicians dresses and a bunch of robes— wizard robes. The owner of the room whom I presumed to be a female has a strict sense of fashion, probably obsession towards dressing like a wizard. The room was slightly dusty as if someone hasn't been using it for a while, but it was without a doubt that someone else lives together with the boy. Or at least used to.

Which makes it even more disappointing when I found nothing else of value within this room. Do these people even have money? Just like the rest of the house, the entire place was empty. No herbs, no magic crystals, not even a magic staff. What kind of wizard doesn't have a staff? Of course, there was the possibility that the owner of this room had taken everything and left the house. Did she abandon the little boy to his fate?

A revolting feeling of disgust developed within me.

Suddenly, an image appeared within my thoughts, the image of a shrouded black figure flying across A'bell. That person is a magic user as well. Could it be? Could this place be a hideout after all? Is the boy connected to all this?

*sigh

No point thinking too hard about it. Overthinking something is never good. I made a mental note to myself to keep a little bit of caution around the child.

...

"It's almost dark huh" I let out my voice as I viewed the evening sun outside the window.

I should at least cook something for the boy to eat when he wakes up later. The problem is that... there isn't anything in this house at all. Wait.. there is isn't there...? A bunch of corns outside in the garden. I could even make a fire if I just cut the fence. It was terribly made anyway, and I could make a stone wall that will work miles better than that piece of trash. Before I went outside, I took a look at the water inside the pails in the kitchen. It looked to be clear and clean as far as my eyes could see, but just in case...

"Armageddon, I know you hate water, but do you mind?" I asked gently to the shapeshifting shield that is currently taking the form of a coat that I am wearing. A big gentle smile appeared on my face.

Armageddon wiggled in discomfort in protest for a while, but I just kept smiling at it. It wiggles even more for a while before turning into a large cooking pot, having apparently given up.

Good girl.

I then used the pot to collect a large amount of water from the pail before bringing it outside to the garden where I promptly destroyed every single wooden fence. I then collected the wood and conjured stone walls to surround the garden instead. A simple task for a person of my calibre.

All the wood I collected, I cut into small pieces and lay the pot on the pile of wood. With a flick of my finger, a spark of flame appeared and started to burn the wood. The black pot squirmed in the fire, forming tendrils that lashed out.

"Just hold it in Armageddon, just only until the water boils long enough," I told the shapeshifting shield before proceeding to check out the corn stalks growing in the garden. I hope that some of these are edible.

"Shaa!" A disembodied hissing sound could be heard as I moved away from the burning pot.

Alone in the dining area with nothing but the light of a lamp to illuminate the area. On top of the table are two bowls full of corn soup. I say it's corn soup, but in reality, it's just water with corn in it. I made it by peeling the corn kernels and dumping it in boiling water for a good five minutes or so. I then poured the contents into a bowl.

There weren't any spoons lying around the house so I just picked up the bowl and drank the soup from there.

It's... plain to say the best about it.

Ah well, food is food. At least it's edible. There wasn't much I could have done to make it any better anyways.

"Shaa..." Armageddon, which was now a coat again was hanging on the wall. It let out a lifeless hiss.

I gave my thanks to the ultimate shield for pulling through such a harrowing situation.

...

It's quiet. I've been here the whole day and not a single person had entered the house other than me. The other tenant seemingly missing from the picture, no parents, no relatives, no friends, no neighbours. All alone in this sad excuse of a house. Has the kid truly been abandoned? It's not the first time I've seen something like this happen, but it stings my heart nonetheless.

*Thump *Thump *Thump

The sound of hurried footsteps going down a flight of stairs rang across the house and soon after, the energetic face of a boy appeared in front of me. His face full of expectations and happiness, as if excited for something. It didn't last long though, for as soon as he sees me, that happy excited face quickly turns into despair and fear, before shortly turning into anger.

Sorry I'm not the one you wanted to see kid.

"Who are you!?—What are you doing in my house!?" The sound expected from an underage boy that hasn't hit puberty came out of his mouth. I'm rather surprised by the energy the boy has despite his condition.

"Ah, Corn Boy! You're looking much better now, had a nice sleep?" I took a sip from my bowl of corn soup.

"You better leave! or... OR!"

"Keep it down boy. It's the middle of the night. You wouldn't wanna wake the neighbours up would ya?" Not that he has any neighbours.

"I'll, I'll, I'll call the guards!" The boy gave out a threat.

I just ignored it and move the other bowl towards the end of the table, towards Corn Boy here.

"Better eat up before it gets cold, I went through quite the trouble to make that ya know," I said nonchalantly to the boy.

"I'm serious here! You better get out before I—"

*Grumble

"..."

"..."

The boy's stomach protested and his face turned into bright cherry colour.

"Want some soup?" I told the boy as I pointed my hands towards the bowl with the soup in it.

The situation went silent for a while before the boy quietly walked to the table and sat down. The boy stared into the bowl before giving me a suspicious look.

All I did was give him an assuring smile, before taking another sip from my bowl. The act strong but shy type huh.

The boy stared back into his bowl of soup before gulping down his saliva. Slowly he brought the bowl closer to his mouth and took a drink from the bowl. A look of dissatisfaction appeared on his face.

"This soup is lame." the boy gave me a discontent look.

"I'm sorry for not being the best cook in the world," I said to him and proceeded to finish my portion of the soup.

"..."

"..."

Both of us stayed silent as he continued to drink his soup. Despite being discontent with it, he continued to eat it earnestly. I can't help but gave out a smile as I saw the boy drink the soup. A sense of nostalgia washed over me. I used to take care of my younger siblings and they would always tell me that I suck at cooking, but they still ate it all in the end. A silhouette of my then younger sister and my younger brother replacing the boy's image could be seen for a while.

Spoiler: Spoiler

I wondered... how are they doing right now?

...

It ended as soon as it started and the boy soon finished the bowl of soup. We both just sat there at the table and looked at each other. The boy looking at me as if analysing me. It was not as bad as a moment ago, but I could tell he was still wary of me.

"Um... so... who are you? And what are you doing in my house?" He asks in a much more polite tone this time but with a hint of caution.

"Name's Effinshia, Corn Boy, and the door to your house was open," I told him my name but kept quiet about the event where he lost consciousness.

"Stop calling me Corn Boy!"

Stranger in the house and the thing that you get mad about, is how I call you? Corn Boy?

"It's Korva and you better remember it! I'm going to be the best adventurer there is!"

Korva huh, not a bad name. Not bad at all.

"So you live here alone kid?" I ignored his remark about being the best adventurer, emphasizing on the alone part.

Korva sulked for a while before giving me an honest answer. "Yeah... I don't have... anyone else left."

I felt another sting to my heart. A spectacular lie that will fool anybody, a kid wise beyond his years accepting his situation. He seemed so calm and collected about it too.

.

.

But a lie nonetheless. I could tell that the kid was afraid. Why? Because I've been there myself before. Having nobody else in your life.

"Say, lady, you are an adventurer right?" Korva asked me as I tilled the ground.

"Hmm, adventurer huh"

I stopped and leaned on the hoe before facing him, Korva the Corn Boy who was just sitting cross-legged by the porch. It's been about two days since I've met Korva. During this period he seemed to have greatly mellowed out to me. I may be good with kids, but I am not THAT good. Still, it's not like I couldn't understand wanting to be with someone when you are in pain. Even if the person is a stranger. Besides, the way the kid is clinging to me was kind of endearing.

I examined him and saw that he is, in fact, getting better. He was still thin of course, but not to the point of looking malnourished anymore. The house didn't really have anything to cook with and I can't really bring a sick kid to those restaurants in town. Also, I can't really cook anything special because Armageddon refused to be a pot ever since that day. So, I got the next best thing. I bought a bunch of nutritious fruits and vegetables and blended them in a mix to feed the boy. The barrages of complaints that I had to hear every time we eat was pretty damn annoying though.

I'm not a miracle worker boy! There is only so much I can do without the proper tools!

"Well, I guess in a way, I am an adventurer" I gave a proper answer to Korva.

"I knew it!—What rank are you?!" Korva stood up with a jolt of energy all of a sudden.

Ooooh.... He meant that Adventurer. Uh-oh.

"I um... I... am an A rank!"

Is A rank good enough for the kid? I want to aim high enough but not too high.

"WOAH!" Sparkles could be seen in Korva's eyes. "Where is your card! Let me see your card!"

... I don't have a card. In the first place, I'm not even registered to the Adventurer's Guild.

"... Sorry, I'm not actually an Adventurer. I don't have any card." I crushed the boy's dreams and looked away from his face.

"..." Korva just stood there silently. His face is full of disappointment at the figure in front of him.

Stop-Stop it! Don't look at me like you are looking at trash!

"I'm just as strong as any of them you know! I can tussle with even the best of them!"

"..."

"It's the truth Corn Boy!"

"Stop calling me Corn Boy!"

Korva sat down crossed leg again before letting out a grunt.

"Prove it! Show me that sword of yours!" He said as he let out a mischievous smile.

Does he mean Kirin? That was his aim from the start? Just so he could see a sword? Well, I guess it makes sense for young boys to be interested in swords. They ARE quite cool.

"Alright, you can look at it. No touching though." I unsheathed my partner from its sheath. The hoe dropping to the ground.

Korva pumped his fist in the air in a congratulatory pose. Heh, this cheeky boy.

I brought Kirin as close as I can to Korva so he can have a good look at it.

"Woah!" His eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, he eyed every piece of the blade, and just as he promised, he didn't touch Kirin at all.

"First time seeing a real sword?"

"Yeah! The Adventurers in town never let me see theirs! Says it's not a toy and stuff! They're soo annoying," He said to me, his eyes never leaving the blade. "So what's its power?"

"Power?" I asked back, confused about what he meant by power.

"You say you are as strong as an A rank right? In the stories, I've heard that A ranks Adventurers all have a special power on their swords! They can go shing shing and whoosh!"

Korva seems to have a weird view of what a sword should be.

"Sorry, but my partner here doesn't have any powers" I answered him honestly.

"Ehh... that's so lame... what good is a normal sword."

For some reason, his comments kinda ticked me off. Oh, I'll show you alright!

"Non, Non, Non! You see, a sword is only as good as the wielder!" I posed in a dramatic fashion, ready to swing Kirin.

"All you need is trust in yourself and the weapon. As long as you do that, even a normal blade can slay dragons!" I said dramatically as I swung Kirin three times in quick succession in three different directions at the same time. The sword skill 'Triple Trials'.

A gust of wind blast out of the one spot I strike at. I then sheathed Kirin in the coolest way possible in front of the kid. I took a peek at Korva, his eyes shining with excitement as he squealed happily.

"Woah! SO COOL! It's like in the books! Do that again! Again, again, again!"

So he wants a cooler one huh?

"Alright check this one out Corn Boy! A favourite skill of mine. It's called the 'Cyclone Blade'."

I charged mana into Kirin before unleashing a single flowing strike, a small blue tornado appeared at the end of the strike and moved away from me. It's a small harmless one, of course, the real deal would just blow this house to pieces. But still impressive looking nonetheless. I then sheathed Kirin back in the coolest way I could think of in front of the kid.

"WOOOOAAAHHH!"

You think that's cool? Wait till you see what Stopwatch and Justicar can do! I could feel my ego being boosted off to the skies as the child got super excited.

*Cough *Cough

What brought it down again was the sudden coughing the kid had.

"You okay Korva?" I asked in worry.

"Forget about that *cough Do that again! *cough Do another one!" Korva ignored his cough and begged me to do another sword skill.

I got too overly excited that I forgot the boy was sick. How careless of me. "I think that's enough for one day Korva. Let's get you some rest for now"

"Ehhh, *cough but... *cough I want to see more"

"Get some rest first, I'll show you an even cooler one next time. It's called the 'Cross Infinity', so be a good boy now, okay?"

"Cross Infinity? What's that! That sounds so cool!"

"If you don't get to resting now then you will never know what it is ya know" I gave him a mischievous smile of my own.

Korva brooded for a while. "Bleargh" He pulled one of his eyelids and sticks out his tongue at me before running back into the house.

Tsk. Kids these days.

I finished tiling up the gardens and planted the new rows of crops. I planted a bunch of good ones like lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, carrots and lasts but not the least corn. For the Corn Boy. It's all easy to plant crops and have rather fast growth times. By the time I'm done nursing the boy, I could teach him about how to properly take care of the fields. With enough effort, he could even revive the entire farm, and maybe one day he could get enough money for a sword to finally take up that adventuring gig he loves so much.

The sound of cicadas singing could be heard as I gave myself a satisfied nod. It's already night time by the time I clean things up here.

Crap!

I forgot to cook the boy’s dinner!

....

....

....

"You still awake Korva?" I entered his room with a bowl of vegetable mix. A young weak blue-haired boy is seen lying down on his bed, reading a book of sorts.

"Yeah. I'm awa—Urghh not this thing again...." He replied to me meekly before giving me a disgusted look when he saw what's in my hands.

"yes- yes- I know," I said unapologetically as I handed over the bowl to him, spoon included. I carved it myself from a piece of wood.

"Urghhh... Bleargh" Despite his complaints, he always eats all of it. This time was no exception.

I gave him a natural smile. "You doing alright now?"

"Um, Much better"

"That's good I guess"

"..."

"..."

A moment of silence came in between us before he broke it.

"Hey, lady, what's the world outside of Cezza like?" he asked timidly.

The world outside of Cezza huh.

"It's vast. So vast that not even a lifetime is enough to explore all of it," I replied to him with my honest opinion.

"What kind of places are there out there?"

"Plenty, you got snowy mountain hills filled with treasures at the peaks, hoarded by the Dragonewt folks. You got forest full of Elves that worship a giant tree the size of a country. You even got an ocean with a giant ship the size of a mountain moving around. A library with an infinite amount of books, where all you can see is just rows and rows of books stretch as far as the eye can see and even further, guarded by a group of people only known as the 'Librarians Of Infinity'. My favourite is a Sky Fortress that is so large and far above other sky fortresses, you can even call it a second moon. I heard moon bunnies live in that fortress."

"Woah... That's pretty awesome." Korva lets out a weak voice of amazement "Wish I could visit those places one day."

"Don't worry, once you get better you will." I just simply told him.

Korva didn't respond at all and continued eating in silence. I say all those fancy stories and all that optimistic crap, but all he does is nods sadly. I wonder if there is anything I could do for the kid?

Korva took another bite from his spoon. His face twisted in disgust as he swallowed the mix.

Hmmm...

"Hey, Korva"

"What?"

"When was the last time you've eaten real meat?" I gave him a smirk.

"TASTY!" Korva said excitedly as he eats a piece of delicious bird meat. "What the hell! You really can cook!"

"Hmph, Of course I can cook! Who do you think I am~!" Though, in his defence, all I did was put some spices on the bird and fried them by a campfire.

It was the day directly after. I promised the kid that I'll let him have a taste of delicious bird meat. Korva didn't believe a word I said though. A fact that says that I couldn't cook is already embedded in his mind. I couldn't take this lying down of course, so as soon as the sun rises up, I went into the forest to kill some birds.

By the time Korva woke up, I was already cooking the last remaining birds over at a makeshift campfire in the gardens. The smell of delicious fried food allured him to the campfire. My plan is simple. The kid is starving, so all I needed to do was to feed him. Fatten him up a bit. Get the kid to grow some muscles!

I couldn't help but smile as he devoured the food in front of me. It really does feel good when something you make gets appreciated by someone.

He looked to be getting healthier, but the fever seemed to be pretty consistent and kept coming back. I studied Korva again only to see a little patch of the purple rash on his right arm.

Just what exactly is that damn rash? I'm starting to get worried here. A deep feeling of dread rose within me.