Chapter 21: 21: Misdirection.

We hurried out of the shop while increasing our pace even further. I could tell that the woman and the impulsive one hadn't realized who was behind the hood but I couldn't say for sure if that was true for the last one.

Even if he was aware of it, he wouldn't make a move right there in the shop. I guessed that he wasn't the type to make a ruckus, which was good and bad at the same time. The smartest choice would be to track us and ambush when we were alone or when we would leave the village. It wasn't necessary to create a commotion here.

Maybe I was just paranoid but there was nothing to lose if we proceed with caution in a dangerous situation. We got what we needed from the village so it was better to leave. 

” Fio, maybe it will bring you bad memories but... you must tell me about these people. You must know about them at least a little bit. How strong they are? ”

” I should be able to handle one of them but if I have to fight with two... I'm not so sure about it. ”

She stopped and looked at me from head to toe for several moments after which, she looked straight into my eyes.

” The rest depends on how strong you are. Maybe we can lay a trap or wait for an ambush. ”

Yeah, that wasn't the answer I hoped for. If she was indeed levels above them she wouldn't be in their possession in the first place. Not to mention that there wasn't a need to fight with them, at least not for now. That was just in case they figured out and decided to follow us.

I had no idea if I had a month in this world and if we considered the existence of levels and skills, to fight someone who spent years of life in this world would be stupid. 

Fiona was quite strong. I already saw that in the short time we traveled together and if she could not take more than one of them, then there was a very high chance for me to not even be able to handle even one alone. 

In the end, we decided to leave the village as fast as we could. The village had just one entrance so we were forced to go with it. At the moment we reached the gate, I saw the younger guard and an idea came to me. 

” Excuse me, do you know in which direction is the biggest town close to this village? We came here from far away so I'm not so accustomed to the place yet. ” I asked the young guard with a smile. 

If you wanted to track someone, you had to follow their steps. Asking the gate guard in which direction your target was moving could be described as basic protocol. If that was the case, then feeding them false information wouldn't be so bad. 

” Oh, you are already leaving? ”

” Yes, we just stopped here to resupply. ”

He was pondering about something for a second but ultimately answered my question. Apparently, there was a bigger city conected to all the smaller villages three days south-west from the village. 

I expressed our gratitude and we moved south-west conform to the instructions we just received.

” We agreed to cross the borders to Brigandia, don't we? Why change the destination so sudden? ” she asked me before I was able to clarify it first.

” That's because we won't change the destination. We just need to make it look like we did. After we are far enough from the guard line of sight, we'll change our way to follow the original direction. ”

” Mm, so that's why... ” she nodded at me while giving me another quick glance from top to bottom. 

I just smiled at her and motioned for us to hurry. It wasn't like I didn't like the silent praise in her eyes— which made me question if I wasn't turning into an arrogant elf for real —but that wasn't the moment for it. I just hoped that my worries were unnecessary. It was way better for my preparations to be for nothing. 

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-Ron’s POV-

Ronald could not believe his own eyes even though the reality was laying in front of him. 

There was definitely something wrong with the situation so he had to proceed with caution. He learned that lesson in the hard and painful way after all.

 ’Fortunately, my stupid companions didn't found it.’ 

The beastkin managed to hide fast enough for them to not notice but he still caught it. Even so, there was a problem. She was still alive but somehow, she acquired a troublesome helper. 

The man pretended to ask the shop owner something fitting the context and took a peek at the troublesome intruder without making any eye contact with Fiona. It was essential for them to assume that he hadn't taken notice yet.

The elf was young... or so seemed to him. You couldn't accurately guess how old an elf truly was just by appearance. At least, not someone who was in their company regularly. Ronald heard that they weren't even considered adults before fifty years or so. 

But even he was able to tell that she was yet to that standard. He guessed that she was in her twenties or early thirties at most. 

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However, the problem was exactly in that fact. Because she was so young, there was a high chance that she wasn't alone. If she had other companions, the situation would be even worse.

They started to slowly step toward the door. That was within his expectations but something he hadn't expected was bound to happen.

” Uooo, what kind of beastkin is that? I never saw one like that... ”

As easy to manipulate as Gerrard was— which was the reason Ron was keeping him around —he was causing a lot of trouble lately. 

The situation was moving in a dangerous direction so Ronald had to step in and remediate it before it was too late. He had to seriously consider finding another easy to manipulate companion; one with less enthusiasm.

They followed shortly after the slave and the elven girl had left and traced them to the village gate. That proved for Ronald that there was a high chance for them to be alone or at least that they were not willing to confront them.

’She will find soon that running away from me was not the smartest move.’

The faster he followed after them, the better. He stopped wasting precious time and asked the guard boy for some information.

” Do you know in which direction has left that elf girl? ”

” Huh, why do you ask? ” the young guard responded somehow taken by surprise.

” I have something to speak with her but unfortunately she had left before to have a chance. ”

” Oh, is... is that so? In that case, you need to hurry to catch up to them. She just came here to resupply and had left north. I... I didn't pay much attention to it though. ”

’North... That means they were heading toward the border with Brigandia.’ That was the logical conclusion but something seemed off about this guard.

He definitely was hiding something at how nervous he looked and Ronald decided to play a little with him to find what it was.

He took his sword and pointed it at his neck faster than the boy could react.

” It's not good to lie. Your friend out there seems to have a nice nap right now so it'll be a waste to bother him, don't you think? If you try to scream or something... I'm gonna cut your neck. How about you tell me why were you lying to us? ”

*gulp*

” I... I can't reveal to some suspicious men in which direction had gone two defenseless girls. ” he said with a trembling voice trying to take a peek at his sleeping companion.

His face was started to get pale and Ronald could see his feet trembling. Just another little push and he would spit all out.

” Hehehe, we have a little knight right here, Ron. How about teaching him about how things truly works. ” Gerrard stepped in the conversation with a big and threatening grin on his face. 

Ronald had to admit that his thug behavior was useful sometimes. He couldn't miss such a good opportunity.

” I know that you had good intentions... But you also need to take into consideration your own safety, right? If I accidentally press my sword a little harder we don't know what might happen. I don't think that two girls who you don't even know we're worth the risk, right? ”

” I, I don't... I mean... They don't... ” the young guard gibberish was not helping out. That started to become annoying for them so he pressed a little harder and a red liquid started to slowly descend on his blade. 

The guard stopped spouting nonsense but his body started to shake even harder. If he screamed or something, the situation would get quite complicated. Not to mention that the whole charade took already too much time. Ronald needed to press him harder and finish it quickly.

” Listen here boy, you spit what you know and we leave as nothing had happened. How about it? Or we cut your head and simply follow after them. We can't waste too much time with you. ”

” She... She asked about the closest town and seemed to be in a hurry for some reason. I... I don't know why. I told her about Tar City two days south-west from here. That... That's all I know, please don't kill me. ”

” Tar city, huh? ” 

’That is certainly a possibility.’ He saw that the slave still had that collar around her neck so maybe she needed to take it off in a limited amount of time... He had no idea how she managed to deal with the collar but that would be valuable information as well. The slave traders would pay for such information. 

Looking back at the young guard, the boy started to cry as well so he doubted that he was lying to him a second time. He took back his sword and the boy fell on his ass with a thud.

” Let's go. We need to catch a running dog and a little thief before they get to the city. ” Ronald said and they all hurried south-west.

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