Chapter 196 – Over the Summit (II)

Chapter 196

Over the Summit (II)

The dishes were laid out flatly on the table–your standard fare of plain, unseasoned rice, some boiled game meat (mostly hare), a few veggies strewn about in a haphazard salad, and… well, that was it. There was a lot of it, yes, but that was it.

The kids didn’t stand on ceremony, digging in right away and slowly slurping the combo of rice, ‘salad’, and a few pieces of chopped meat.

“This is Rayce, by the way,” Lilia finally introduced the young man who sat rather motionless, the look in his eyes… vacant. I don’t know whether it was because being possessed by a demon did something to his psyche that cannot be undone or because he learned someone he trusted was using him, but I know that either of those things would have probably done me in.

“Nice to meet you, Rayce,” I said.

“–hm? Ah, yes, nice… to meet you too. Thank you for saving me, too. Miss Lilia has explained what happened.” His voice was rather monotonous and dry, as though someone had sapped all his will to live.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” I said, taking a spoonful of rice. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m… fine,” he replied.

“Oh, I kind of doubt that.”

“Hm?”

“If I’d undergone something like that,” I said. “You’d see me screaming at the top of my lungs and trying to eat lumber. No–I guess, compared to that, you are doing fine.”

His lips creased into the faintest of smiles for a moment as he finally reached for the spoon and started slowly eating.

“We’ve arranged for the Captain’s–I mean, Thrall’s funeral,” Lilia said. “Though we know the truth behind it all… these people probably don’t need to. I imagine, though, with the Captain gone and Zhu and I leaving soon, this place won’t be a home for many much longer. What about you, Mister Lu? Are you leaving soon, too?”

“Hm,” I nodded. “This wasn’t our destination, after all.”

“Ah. Crossing the mountain. Will be challenging.”

“Did you ever cross it?”

“No. The north is… well, let’s say I don’t envy you needing to go there,” she said. “Most of what I heard of the place paints it as a monster-infested wasteland.”

“Encouraging.”

“Ha ha, I apologize; not all of it. There’s the Silvercrest City, which, purportedly, is something of a bastion. Tall, silver spires jut into the sky, the holy glow of an all-encompassing barrier keeping the darkness at bay. Entry fee, however, is rather… hefty.”

“Perhaps they’ll let us in for free on account of how adorable the kids are?”

“Pfft,” as Lilia and Zhu stifled their laughs, I caught the kids digging their heads even deeper into the meal, as though they were feasting on some truly heavenly dishes. I merely smiled, taking a bite as well. “They just might, to be honest.”

“Where is your hometown, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh, not at all,” she said. “We’ll be scurrying far eastward, beyond the Heavenly Plains. Our little shamanic paradise is wedged inside a deeply hidden valley that only those who can control mana can even see. But… there’s, uhm, there’s a bit of an issue…”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Hm?

Oh-oh. I don’t like the sound of that.

At all.

“What issue?” I queried carefully.

“Rayce,” Right…? “I’m afraid he cannot come back with us.”

“… why?”

“Though Zhu and I are more than understanding of his circumstances and would have immediately allowed him reentry,” she said. “Our Elders… won’t be as understanding. To them, all that will matter is that he did break our laws–and he did escape and evade pursuit, even slaying a few Shamans in the process. I’m afraid that, if we take him back with us, he’d be captured and executed within a few days.”

“Can’t you explain it first and convince them?”

“… have you ever tried convincing an old, stubborn ox of something new that they should embrace?”

“Fair point. So, why are you bringing this up?” Please don’t let it be that she wants me to take the kid with me–

“Though asking you to take him in is perhaps too much, I implore that you at least help him cross to the Silvercrest City. Once there, I’ve explained to him what to do and how to keep living. Don’t worry–we’ll provide him with enough resources to pay his own entry fee.”

Right.

Well, at least she’s not asking me to adopt him.