CHAPTER 49: YOU ARE TOO NAÏVE (1)

The next morning, Excafol is already outside when I wake up. Maybe he didn't come back. When I went to sleep, he was still talking with Selene. There is a pair of trousers and a shirt on my bed. It must be Selene who brought them for me. When I go downstairs, Excafol is wearing different clothes. His beard is trimmed and his hair cut neatly. When and where did he get the time to do all this?

"Good morning"

"Good morning Kevin, did you sleep well?"

"I think so. Where is Selene?" There is a guy at the counter of the inn, Selene is nowhere to be seen.

"She is already waiting for us, come on, we are leaving."

We go outside, there is an old carriage with a horse in front of the inn. It's a simple carriage like the ones used to transport food. Excafol climbs at the front and takes the reins.

"What are you waiting for?"

Is he going to drive us? With this old thing? I climb to the rear and sit. Excafol starts driving us. We reach a gate different from the one where we had entered the city. Selene is there, waiting for us. But, she is completely different from yesterday. She is now wearing a chainmail as well as plate armor on her arms and legs. There is a huge great axe attached to her back. She looks really imposing.

"You got them?" Excafol asks her as she climbs up and sits beside me.

"Yeah, I have them. We can go now, everything has been taken care of." Saying so, she closes her eyes. Excafol screams 'hiyah' at the horse and it starts trotting again. When we pass the gate, we go to the right.

***

Until the sunset, Excafol kept driving, taking left and rights turn here and there. I wonder where we are going. When he finally stops, we are in the middle of a forest. Selene opens her eyes. All along, she was sleeping.

"Why did you stop?" That's the first thing that she said after waking up.

How did she managed to sleep while sitting like that with all those things on her is the real mystery right now I think.

"The mare is tired, and we will be there by tomorrow anyway." Excafol answers her while climbing down. She follows him and so do I.

Excafol starts putting up a tent while Selene disappears god knows where. As for me, Excafol asked me to pick up dried wood. When I bring it back, He uses a fire script to start the fire. One hour later, Selene is back with a deer. She went hunting apparently.

"Kid, clean this up fast!" She throws me the deer but, when I catch it, I fall.

That thing is almost the same weight as me and she can throw it like nothing. Although she said to clean up, she has already removed the intestines so there is not much work for me. I try to cut the leg but behind me, Selene screams.

"Whatcha doing punk?! Remove the skin first, idiot!" I look at her all surprised. I have to do what now? Tatiana always told me that when you remove the intestines, you can cook the fish with a bit of salt. Is it not the same for this?

"I am sorry, I don't know how to do that."

"Tch. shitty good for nothing. Put your knife right between the skin and the muscle and cut gently to separate them."

I do as she says and indeed, they separate quite easily as I move my dagger, I just need to stay focused and follow the same line. When I finish, Selene comes and picks it up. Then she cuts it in half. The first half is put on the fire and starts roasting the second one disappears from Selene hands right in front of my eyes. Just like that, it was gone. I almost screamed seeing that.

"What was that?!!"

"What?"

"The meat! It is gone! But it was in your hands just now." Instead of answering, Selene simply looks at Excafol, who smiles in return. Then she looks back at me with a smile.

"You truly know nothing important."

"You are too naïve! That my problem!"

While we were eating, I asked Selene why she is always angry when I speak or even just breathe. And her answer is not really something I was expecting.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it is obvious! Waiting for parents that abandoned you, pitying somebody who massacred your village, following somebody else's orders. You are not even naïve, you are a dog. As long as someone gives you food, you do whatever they want. Kalok's case is in fact the crown of it all."

"What are you talking about?"

"See, that's what I am talking about. You were used through and through and you don't even realize it. From the beginning, it is clear that Veronica brought you there with a purpose, the king had ordered your assassination as well as all those from your village so why would she keep you alive?"

"Stop there Selene, I will explain, it's better."