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We finally docked at a hill that was quite far from the settlent. The hill was high enough, so we landed around its base. The slope was quite steep, but we had no other choice.
Alex imdiately took a rope from under the boat and threw it toward a tree so the boat would not drift when we got off.
Alex went down first and swam to tie the end of the rope to a tree trunk.
He slowly pulled the boat closer.
One by one we climbed down, and Alex helped us.
Even though the hill was quite high, at least there were not many tall trees. There were so vegetables growing around, which seed to be farmland owned by the villagers.
Michelle was still unconscious.
"Is she still sleeping?" I asked Farel after everything that had just happened.
He nodded.
Earlier Alex had checked Michelle's pulse and pressed on her chest to perform first aid and remove the water that had entered her lungs. But after that she fainted, and Alex realized she had been slightly poisoned by the water she swallowed while swimming.
"Will she wake up soon?" I asked, worried because Michelle was still unconscious.
"Yes, maybe. Give her a few minutes and she will wake up," Alex said.
After that we looked toward the water again.
It seed the water level had stopped rising.
Several objects that could not sink floated to the surface, and the water had beco murkier, a sign that the massacre of the Elf clan had killed almost eighty percent of them.
While we were staring ahead, suddenly my uncle and aunt woke up one after another. They were shocked when they saw the water in front of them had turned murky and slled strongly of blood.
"The Elves… are they destroyed?" my aunt said while wiping away tears after realizing what had happened.
The soldiers had gathered them only to wipe out the Elf clan.
I understood what my aunt felt. Perhaps now the remaining Elf clan was barely twenty percent.
As we stared forward, Michelle suddenly woke up and looked around.
"Xanders!"
She called my na.
I turned to her and she looked at sadly.
"What made you co looking for ?" I asked.
She took a deep breath.
"Can we talk alone?" she asked.
I looked at Farel and Alex alternately. They nodded.
Then I walked a little farther away from them, followed by Michelle.
"Go ahead," I said.
She nodded.
When she spoke earlier with everyone, her eyes looked sad. But when we were alone, her gaze beca firm.
"King Albert is not a good man."
"He wants to sacrifice you and rule all the clans."
I nodded because I already knew that he only wanted to use .
But when I thought about breaking free, what I feared most was my ancient fire hurting innocent people. If that happened, the chaos would be even worse under King Albert's rule.
"You already knew?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yes, I already knew."
She shook her head when she saw my calm reaction.
"You're just being used by him. You're just a pawn he uses to achieve his goals."
She pressed her hand against my chest as she said that.
But instead of getting angry, I just stayed silent and looked at her.
Our eyes t.
She looked at with determination.
I reached out to touch her hair, but when I was about to stroke it, she suddenly grabbed my hands and I stopped.
"How did you get here?" I asked.
There were many questions I wanted to ask, but I chose not to ask too much.
I didn't even know why she ca here.
"Are you being hunted?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
She shook her head.
"Alright. I won't force you to answer."
She sighed deeply.
Honestly, I didn't completely believe her words. There had to be sothing bigger behind all this than just Albert.
We ended the conversation and returned to the others.
Farel's parents looked at with warm smiles, while Farel looked at with curiosity.
They didn't ask anything about Michael. They respected privacy.
Since the sky had grown darker, we hurried to leave the hill.
I carried my uncle while Alex carried my aunt.
The path was steep, and several tis Farel asked to carry them instead, but we refused because he was still injured.
"Let carry them," he insisted.
I shook my head.
"Your wound hasn't even healed yet," Alex said while chuckling softly.
"You… I'm still capable!"
"You're used to carrying your parents. Just walk properly," I said without turning back, while Michelle followed behind us.
We finally reached the peak where there was a waterfall.
That place beca our gathering point to decide our next plan.
The journey took about three hours.
Several tis we stopped to rest.
Farel also asked to take turns carrying them, but I refused because his wound was still serious.
Because we were exhausted, we decided to rest for a while.
Although the destination was already close, rain began to fall and soaked our clothes.
We had no choice but to take shelter.
From there we saw a quiet cave.
We rested inside the cave because the rain beca heavier and the road was slippery. The sky was also growing darker.
Inside the cave we lit a candle that Alex had brought in his bag.
Alex prepared everything. He even brought dried at for us to eat.
I found it strange how he had prepared everything so carefully.
It was as if he already knew sothing was wrong with the palace hall.
"You seem like a very careful person," Farel said while eating the dried at Alex had given him.
Alex stopped eating and looked at Farel.
"Yes. As you guessed, I already made plans for the future."
He spoke quietly.
I nodded because it seed he didn't want others to know too much.
"Are we staying here tonight?" Michelle asked.
She was sitting a little apart from the four of us.
I nodded.
It was impossible to continue traveling because the rain had grown heavier and there was a storm coming.
"Do you want to sleep?" I asked when I saw how tired she looked.
I also noticed she seed uncomfortable with her wet clothes.
I took off one layer of my clothes and walked toward Michelle.
"Here."
I handed the cloth to her.
"No need," she said while leaning her head against a rock and closing her eyes.
But I still left the cloth beside her even though she refused.
When I returned to the others, Farel imdiately asked,
"Why do you care about her?"
I shrugged.
"I don't think I care about her."
He chuckled softly.
"I've known you since we were kids. You never help won… except Shasha."
I shrugged again.
After making sure the campfire was burning, the air grew colder.
The wind blew strongly.
My uncle and aunt were in better condition.
Everyone had fallen asleep.
Only I remained awake, staring at the fire.
My body felt tired, yet sohow I couldn't close my eyes.
Sothing was bothering my mind.
And I didn't know what it was.
.
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