Several days passed, and at the edge of the forest Athtar was passing through, atop a certain hill, Athtar finally saw a small village below him; he had found a human settlement. Fortunately, the village was small and not surrounded by any walls. Nevertheless, Athtar was cautious and decided to sneak in for a few days, then take some provisions and leave, so he could get further away from the kingdom and the bad people.
Athtar looked at the thing his mother had given him earlier, which was now in his hand; It was a necklace that seemed very valuable given the circumstances they were living in at the time, and Athtar didn't believe his mother had the money to buy something so expensive. Athtar opened the necklace and found a photo of his mother, Elizabeth. On the photo was a strange signature the boy didn't recognize, with the name "Phillips" written on it.
There was nothing else on the necklace besides the photo and the signature. Athtar didn't understand any of this, but he was happy that his mother had given him a keepsake that would always remind him of her.
Athtar decided to wait until nightfall to sneak in.
The village was small, and there were four guards—one in the east, one in the west, one in the north, and one in the south. The guards were intimidating, but they weren't as frightening as the guards in the Kingdom of Kayvan or the wolf he had faced a few days earlier, and this gave him some peace of mind.
After circling the village, Athtar found a spot where he could sneak in and finally entered the village. He began walking through the dark areas where there were no lights, but he didn't realize that two pairs of blue eyes were watching him curiously.
Athtar slowly searched for the food storage area, and when he found what he was looking for, he turned around to back away and devise a plan to steal the food from the storeroom, but what met his hazel eyes were two lumps of white flesh that, without meaning to, he bumped into, leaving him feeling as if he were in his mother's embrace for a moment.
Terror filled his face as he backed away; it hadn't occurred to him that he was being watched at all, and he was certain no one even knew he was there—so how did that girl know about him?
The girl looked a little curious as she looked him up and down, then said in a faint voice, "You're not from this village, are you?" "
Athtar put on a stern expression as he walked away from the girl, saying in a slightly cold voice, "None of your business... and don't come near me. I'll be leaving in the morning..."
The girl smiled as she watched the boy walk away, then whispered in a faint voice that didn't reach the ears of the boy walking away, "Interesting "
Athtar decided to change his plan. Instead of trying to keep a closer watch on the village, he decided to rob the food storehouse that night and leave before dawn. He had grown uneasy about that strange girl, and his best option was to leave before she could report him.
When he sensed there were no guards at the food storehouse, he was about to move toward it, but a certain voice stopped him in his tracks before he could. "I thought you said you were leaving in the morning, but you're just a thief, huh?"
The boy turned around again in fear and saw the same girl from before, with her blue eyes and blonde hair tied in a ponytail, smiling a sly little smile at him.
Athtar backed away and tried to run, but the girl vanished and reappeared behind him, then grabbed his hand and said with a smile, "It'll take you 100 years to run away from me… you silly boy."
Athtar had no chance of escaping, so he stopped trying to resist, causing the girl to raise an eyebrow curiously. "Oh, aren't you going to try to run away?"
"Running away is pointless, isn't it?" Athtar replied with just a short sentence, looking as if he had resigned himself to his fate. But not just anyone would notice that hidden desire to live burning faintly in his eyes—not just anyone could see it. Yet that girl had already noticed.
'What kind of past would make a child like him have eyes like that?' she whispered to herself as she stared at him, then asked, "Where is your family?"
"They're gone. All of them."
"Your relatives?"
"I don't have any..."
The girl's eyes softened, and in her imagination, it seemed as though she was seeing herself from her past reflected in this child. She closed her eyes and said, looking at him, "Then I will be your family from now on…"
…
The next morning, 07/15/540
Athtar woke up after sleeping in a comfortable bed for the first time in his life. He found himself in a strange room, under a ceiling unfamiliar to him. That girl... What is she planning? Is she going to sell me to some slave traders? Or use me as a sacrifice for some ritual? Athtar couldn't stop himself from thinking of the worst possibilities, even when the girl had dragged him to her rented apartment yesterday, helped him eat, or given him a bed to sleep in.
Athtar understood that running away was pointless, so he gave up trying, and he didn't want to make the girl angry so she wouldn't hurt him.
"Oh, you're already awake? Good morning…" The girl opened the door to Athtar's room, wearing more comfortable clothes than yesterday—a long, loose white dress—and holding a spoon in her hand. She still had her hair tied back in a ponytail, and her large breasts were clearly visible even beneath that loose dress.
Athtar didn't respond to her; he stared at her coldly, then turned away and looked off into the distance. He didn't want to talk to her. This girl had practically kidnapped him—even he knew that much—but compared to wandering through the forest, staying with someone strong might give him a slightly better chance of survival.
The girl pursed her lips when the boy ignored her and made a face like, "Hmph!" Then, pointing her spoon at Athtar, she said, "You're such a rude boy. At least respond to my greeting!"
Athtar didn't answer her, which made her sigh. She turned and said as she walked out of the room, "Go wash up, then come to the kitchen for breakfast."
Once again, Athtar didn't respond to the girl's words, but at least he obeyed her requests, which made the girl feel relieved that he was responding properly; she had already noticed that he was much smarter than his age.
...
At the breakfast table, the two of them ate in silence. It was clear that Athtar wasn't going to start a conversation, so the girl cleared her throat to get his attention and then said quietly, "So, what's your name?"
"Athtar, Athtar Jones…"
"Jones..." The girl gave a slightly strange look when she heard that name, but Athtar didn't notice that subtle change at the time.
"How old are you?" the girl asked him next.
"I'm eight."
"What were you doing before you came to the village?"
"....."
Athtar didn't answer her; he chose to remain silent. There was a possibility that the girl might know something about the Kingdom of Kayvan, and for some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity with her, as if he knew her, or something like that, which made him more cautious around her.
"Well... it's okay if you don't answer. I'll tell you about myself so you don't think I'm the only one who can ask questions..."The blonde girl gestured to herself with a small smile and said, "My name is Margaret, and I'm an adventurer who's been wandering around this area for a while. Because of some problems with my family, I decided to strike out on my own early, ran away from home, and here I am."
Although Margaret didn't reveal much about her life, Athtar gained a slightly deeper understanding of her. At first glance, she didn't seem like a bad person, but he couldn't shake that possibility from his mind; he still couldn't trust anyone yet.
Breakfast ended after they got to know each other a little. Margaret didn't ask Athtar if his magical powers had awakened, and he didn't say anything about it to her, preferring to keep it a secret so it could be a trump card for him someday.
"So where are we going, then?"
As they walked out of the village, Athtar asked with some curiosity, and felt relieved that the road they were taking was not the same one leading to the kingdom.
"We're going to the Kingdom of Seia to the south. They say there's a rare and powerful beast roaming there. I want to see it, and if the opportunity arises, discover it and delve into its secrets." Margaret wore a suspicious expression as she looked ahead, as if she were a predator eyeing new prey. Her expression made Athtar feel a little anxious about not trying to escape from this obsessed girl.
Margaret wiped the drool hanging from the corner of her lips and regained a more natural expression as she said with a smile, "Anyway, this is our next destination, Athtar. Get ready."
The boy gave Margaret a small nod and followed her as she walked ahead without asking any more questions.
...
The journey to the Kingdom of Seia took about a week. It was a difficult trip for Athtar, who was discovering the world for the first time, but thanks to Margaret's presence, the wolves that had once frightened him were now a breeze, and he didn't even worry about monsters larger than that, because Margaret was truly strong.
After entering the city, the two booked a shared room with two beds. Athtar felt at ease lying on the bed again; compared to sleeping out in the open, or in his old home where they slept on sheets and mattresses, the bed was like heaven.
After Athtar spent some time trying to practice developing his mental powers that allowed him to combine the elements, Margaret, who thought he was asleep, called him to eat. Athtar stopped what he was doing, got up, went to the table, sat down next to Margaret, and began eating in quiet silence.