Chapter 5 - A blazing arrest

Three wide eyes stared at Rio's hunched figure. They were expecting rats or a huge mess, not one of their fellow villagers.

A soft groan escaped the boy's lips, eyes slowly parting. He then lifted his head and let out a drawn-out yawn, stretching his arms with a strained expression as the bones released several popping noises.

"God, my body's stiff as a board," Rio complained. He then bent his back where several vertebrae began to crack quite loudly, but he seemed to have enjoyed it judging from his sigh of bliss at the end.

At first, the worst thought passed the three older villagers' mind, though that was quickly washed away when their eyes wandered behind the boy where a pile of dead rats were being devoured upon by flies.

"Did he really spend all night killing those things?" the chief thought, "but how did he know that the rats would be back here?"

"Jeez it's morning already? No wonder my body hurts," the boy moaned. He then pushed himself to stand up, groaning in pain at every little movement he made.

Finally getting their thoughts together, the adults began to question Rio as to how he managed to get in.

"I just went in the same way as the culprits." Rio pointed at the pried open door. "Honestly, I'm surprised no one heard that."

The three adults just looked back at the two guards who were sheepishly looking away and whistling.

"So, you know who did this?" the chief asked, hopeful.

"Yeah and I can help you catch them later, I know the place where the rats came from."

"Just tell us and we'll catch them," the boss ordered.

"Do you honestly believe me? Well, it's best to just wait till dusk since that's usually the time they grab the rats," the boy suggested. "So, can I get some rest first?"

With that the chief turned to the others waiting outside the barn and informed them that the crops had been kept safe by the two guards. A clear lie, but the chief thought that if he were to praise Rio instead, then it might raise some questions on how the boy knew about it in the first place, therefore a white lie was necessary to appease the crowd.

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Walking home worried, Sora wondered where her friend could be; her first guess was somewhere in the village and that didn't go well, her second one was outside the village: his training grounds. Unfortunately, she didn't know where that was.

Opening the door, the girl made her way back to the kitchen, thinking it would be best to just end her search and hope he would turn up later, he usually did.

However as reached their living room, on the couch with his face buried on a cushion was Rio, sleeping soundly.

Sora stood there in the room with her eyes widened, twitching here and there. She moved to his side and then began to poke the boy, he felt real enough. Was she just really tired and didn't notice him?

A scent of something rotting then entered Sora's nose, making her reflexively cover her face and reel back trying to get away from it as quickly as possible.

"What is that smell?" she complained. She then began to lightly smell the air and it didn't take long for her to pinpoint that the smell was coming off from the boy sleeping on the couch.

Not wanting to bear the smell, Sora tried to wake Rio up, but the response she gained was just a groan and him turning his back to her. With some veins popping out of her forehead, the girl darkly grinned as she took some of his skin between her fingers, then proceeded to twist it tightly.

Unsurprisingly the boy jumped up screaming at the top of his lungs. "The hell?!"

"Where have you been?" the girl yelled.

"Huh?"

"What do you mean, huh?! You've been missing since I woke up!"

"I was in the barn," Rio answered, still half-asleep.

"No you weren't! I was there and you were nowhere in the crowd."

"I was in the barn Sora, not the crowd."

Silence befell the room, Sora stared at the boy, attempting to understand his words. "What Do you mean?"

Rio didn't answer, instead, he just fell back asleep, snoring lightly with his back turned to the girl.

"He was in the barn?" the girl repeated. "He was. In. The. Barn…"

Shaking her head, Sora headed to the kitchen, but not before whispering something under her breath. "This idiot."

Heating up her stove the girl began to peacefully cook breakfast, but her eyes kept going between the food and the boy on the couch.

After some time, Rio woke up from his slumber and finally noticed his disgusting smell. Without any hesitation, he ran to the bath and quickly jumped into the bathtub to get the stink off of him without any hesitation.

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While in the bath, Sora continued to cook their breakfast, but her mind then began to wander into the past.

She recalled many moments during their time together where Rio pretty much came to her battered or bruised from helping another person out.

One such was during their middle school, a time when Sora began to grow into a woman and the time boys began to become attracted to her. It was also a moment in their lives where she began to notice Rio's particular trait.

If she were to guess, it was probably due to her. Despite her body changing, her skinship with Rio had not dropped and she continued to stick to him like glue. She's been told off by both A-chan and Rio about her clinginess, but the girl refused to stop. Little did she know, this innocent act would serve as fuel for a spark their classmates had.

In typical jealous fashion, the boys in their grade began to despise Rio for being able to stick close to Sora even when they weren't dating. They hated this because whenever they approached her, she would immediately be distracted whenever Rio was in the room and it would ruin the mood. But she never knew that.

All she knows was that after a certain amount of time, the boy would approach her after school in a mess from helping others out.

She could remember just staring at the boy with wide eyes, while he giggled about his appearance.

"I must look like I came out the junkyard huh?" he said many times before.

Or. "Sorry it took so long."

There were many excuses that escaped his lips, but each one lost all meaning once he came to her in a worse state than the last.

From dirt marks to bruises; from bruises to scratches; and from scratches to bandaged wounds.

No excuse, no smile, no apology could make her feel relieved from seeing him hurt.

She begged.

She cried.

She yelled.

She tried everything to stop him, but none of them worked.

This led to nights of Sora silently weeping herself to bed, while shaking in frustration for not being able to do anything.

She would've told his family, but he begged her not to because he didn't want to worry them. Sora couldn't refuse him, a part of her truly wanted to stop him, but his desperation won her over and he continued to help others at his own expense.

From then on, she continued to watch over Rio, always tending to him whenever he tried to get away with any injuries or berating him for pushing himself too much.

Many would question why Sora would stick around such a person, but if one were to actually ask, she would say that she would still stay by his side because with everything wrong with him, he made it up with all of his comforting, encouragements and faith in her. Troublesome as he may have been, she always loved being by his side and that was what anchored her to him for years.

With breakfast now ready, the girl proceeded to place everything on the table before making her way upstairs to check up on the boy.

She knocked on the door but received no response. Thinking he fell asleep, she knocked harder, but still no answer.

"He didn't sneak out again did he?" she thought, some veins beginning to pop out her head.

A door then opened and Rio came out of his room with new clothes while wiping his hair dry. "Ah that was refreshing."

A brief silence then befell the two when their eyes locked. Rio began to sweat at the sight of Sora's blank expression, since it usually meant she was really mad.

"Well, breakfast is ready so make your way down," she said nonchalantly.

"Wait Sora," Rio interjected.

Turning around the girl hummed curiously, tilting her head as she looked at the boy.

"I, uh… well I'm sorry," he said. "I must've worried you."

Sora thought about how unfair her friend could be sometimes. Here she was hiding how frustrated she was, yet he had the gall to apologise in such an adorable way. So unfair.

"Well if you really wanna apologise to me, then hurry down for breakfast." The girl made her way back down, but not before letting yet another whisper. "I'm used to it anyways."

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After they had their fill of some tasty food, the two just stayed inside their home to relax. Rio sat on their sofa while Sora laid herself down on his lap, both took up a book to read and were just there in the silent comfort of their home.

At the stroke of noon, however, a loud knock tore them off their relaxation time. It annoyed Sora particularly because she was hoping to spend some time with Rio, though she wasn't really surprised that someone came knocking at their door after Rio played exterminator.

"Must be for you," she pointed out.

"Yeah." Rio then left his comfortable spot and opened the door where the chief was waiting for him along with some villagers. He already knew what they wanted so he turned to Sora and told her that he'll come back shortly.

In response Sora just smiled and nodded at him, knowing fully well he'll be alright with the villagers. She couldn't stop him, but at least he wasn't alone.

The group, led by Rio, then headed outside the village to the spot where Rio found Eric's lackey letting some rats out of a cage. Along the way, the outworlder was questioned on what he was doing outside the village and Rio just jokingly answered he was getting tossed around like a ragdoll. Though unfortunately for Rio the only thing that crossed the villagers' minds were:

"What's a ragdoll?"

When they arrived at the spot, the group hid behind some trees or in some bushes and waited for their culprit to appear. At first it almost seemed hopeless, no one was coming and some of the group was starting to doubt Rio's claim, but they were told by the boss that Rio was an honest guy, they just needed to be patient and it paid off since the person who they were looking for appeared after some time.

At first the group didn't act, but when the lackey released the rats he had in a cage, everyone jumped out from the shrubs and surrounded the lackey.

"What do you have there?" the boss asked, making the lackey jump in surprise.

"Chief! Everyone!"

The group then eyed the empty cage beside the lackey, before staring him down. Of course the lackey noticed and tried to make an excuse for the cage, but it was too late. They already knew what was in there.

"Who put you up to this?" the chief questioned.

At first the lackey just tried to act like he had no idea what the chief was on about, but after everyone's eyes thinned the lackey caved in and spoke up.

"I-I was just doing what I was told to do," the lackey cried.

"By who?"

"Eric."

Some of the villagers in the group gasped in surprise, but the chief, the boss and Rio weren't affected by the revelation at all. In fact all the chief did was sigh and shake his head in dissapointment. He then turned to the others, telling them to make their way back to the village so that they could confront Eric.

Along the way some of the villagers that tagged along were conversing with each other about how surprised they were about learning that Eric was the one behind letting rats eat out their crops. But the boss voiced how he was more surprised that they didn't know it was Eric, arguing that people are far too easily charmed by the guy.

Out in the front Rio was walking alongside the boss, the outworlder heard the others' conversation and can't help but be somewhat amused by it.

"Eric sure has a way with words if he's able to trick this many people," the boy said.

"Yes, his charisma is not to be taken lightly, however with that came arrogance and greed," the chief responded. "But that part of his personality is often overlooked."

"I guess people are attracted to bad people." The boy then chuckled, recalling a particular taste some people from his world had.

Seeing his reaction the chief couldn't help but smile. "I suppose so."

When they reached the village the group immediately headed for Eric's home, though Rio stayed well behind the others and just planned to watch the entire thing unfold.

Knocking on the door, the group waited for a bit before Eric peeked through the cracks and saw the chief.

"Oh chief," he greeted, fully opening the door only to be taken aback by the group that gathered in front of his house. "What's all this?"

"Eric we know," was all the chief said, but Eric only smiled at him.

"You know what chief?"

Clearly aware the boy was just putting on an act. Knowing this the chief shook his head. "Eric it's no use, we know everything."

A brief silence fell on the group momentarily before Eric threw the door open and pointed a white orb at the group. Flames then quickly gathered at the centre before spitting it all out in a massive roar.

The group dropped to the floor, letting the river of embers blast past them, but a few did get scorched in parts.

After all the flames had gone past them, Rio looked at the damage and his eyes widened when he saw the fields blackened and ablaze.

"What the-"

"Eric!"

Turning his head back to the others, Rio witnessed Eric being roughly tossed to the ground by the boss.

"You bastard! You just ruined the fields!" Wrapping his hands around Eric's neck, the boss was ready to just end the younger man's life for what he's done.

"Let him go!" the chief ordered, but the boss wasn't listening he just couldn't let what Eric did go. "We will deal with this properly, do not let your anger get the better of you."

Listening to the chief, the boss let go of Eric, but the younger boy was quickly apprehended by the other villagers who held his hands together before lifting him to his feet.

The chief stared at Eric and only saw the eyes of a man drowned in envy. Turning to the villagers, the chief asked that they keep Eric somewhere secure and keep an eye on him in case he attempts to escape.

The old man then turned to the still burning fields and noticed that Rio was oddly glued to it. Approaching the boy, he too began to stare at the flames and his heart tightened at the sight of his villagers' hard work all turned to ash and smoke.

"Sorry chief," Rio suddenly said, "this may have never happened if I weren't around."

Looking over to the side, the chief saw the guilt that was painted onto Rio's face. "No, you did nothing wrong, Rio. This was my fault for not addressing Eric's behaviour sooner."

"But I'm quite sure that he wouldn't have done this if I wasn't around."

The chief then chuckled. "That may be true, but sooner or later someone would've threatened Eric's status here, it just so happened to be you."

"Just my luck," Rio complained.

Thinking back on what Eric's lackey said, this wasn't the first time someone had challenged Eric, but those who had done so left the village, so the chief had a point in terms it just so happened to be him. Still, it didn't erase the fact that it was him that propagated the events that had just unfolded, leading to the fields being destroyed.

"Rio," the chief called. "In this world, there are always going to be people who exist solely to hate you, don't think your presence is at fault."

"Chief."

"I had known Eric since he was a child, back then he wasn't like this." The chief lowered his head. "This is years of having gotten away with things as I couldn't find it in myself to correct his mistakes."

Turning to Eric's house, the chief sighed as he recited to Rio why they allowed Eric to grow up the way he did.

"Without a family, Eric spent most of his childhood in loneliness, while the village and I acted as his family, there was no replacing the real warmth of a mother and father. So, we pretty much let him get away with many things, thinking it was for the best. Oh how wrong we have been."

Rio stared at the chief, he saw the face of a man who felt defeated. He may have ended up as someone troublesome, but he was still a part of this village and for the chief that meant Eric was like his child, in a sense, so to see his own child be dragged away for a crime still struck him hard.

"If things could've gone differently I wonder how he would've turned out?"

"I don't know, maybe a hero?"

"A hero you say?" the chief reiterated. "Hmm, maybe but that wasn't the outcome that we were given, so I'm afraid that will have to be left as a dream."

With much to do, the chief told Rio to go home. The boy expressed his desire to help, but the chief just shook his head and urged the boy to go.

Deciding it was best to follow orders, Rio slowly made his way back to his house. But without taking a final glance at the chief who was still staring at the fields. Before he got too far away, the boy managed to catch a quick glimpse of a tear rolling down the chief's face. This struck Rio, so he quickly left the scene, wanting to give the chief privacy he deserved after having to watch one of his villagers be restrained, as well as witness the death of many grown foods.

When Rio had returned home and told Sora about what had just transpired. She was unsurprisingly devastated, she worked on those fields with the other villagers and for it to be just sent to an early grave, she was heartbroken.

She dropped to the couch and hid her face in her hands as she silently sobbed about the crops.

Rio did his best to comfort the girl, but there was only so much he could do, once again he was in front of someone who was like a parent seeing their children be taken away from them.

"Sora, chin up, you'll be able to plant them again," Rio tried to encourage.

"Summer is nearly over, there's no way any crop would be able to survive the winter, Rio we can barely get food to anyone this year," Sora snapped back.

"The chief said he sent someone to the capital to get us some supplies, we have to wait," Rio answered. "For now all we can do is help out where we can."

Letting those last words sink in, Sora nodded.

Despite the despair the loomed over the village, the two spent the rest of their day helping around the village as happily as they could and like the girl, many shared Sora's sentiment and her dolour, but also like her they strived to work their best to make something good out of a bad situation.

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Several days later, the two outworlders woke up to everyone gathering at the entrance of the village. Curious the two attached themselves to the back and tried to take a peek, unfortunately not much could be seen behind so many heads.

"I wonder what's going on?" Sora asked.

"If I were to guess: Eric's arrest," Rio responded.

"And you're right, they're also here to give the supplies, they came swooping in on their wyverns not too long ago, people are just here to see it," a villager said to the two.

Becoming one with the crowd, the two waited with the rest of the village for Eric's departure.

While waiting, Rio felt a small sinking feeling creep onto his stomach, something that didn't go unnoticed by Sora when it was painted on his face.

Wanting to comfort him, the girl placed her hand on his shoulder to get his attention before showing him a warm smile. In response, the boy just gave an unsure smile of his own before continuing to wait alongside Sora.

It didn't take long before the crowd suddenly shifted into a bit of taunting, informing that Eric was now being taken in.

However, that's not what Sora focused on.

"Alright make sure he's secure, we have to get back to the capital quickly for the queen," a female voice said.

Once the female's voice rang in her ears, Sora's eyes widened before she then quickly dug into the crowd, asking everyone to let her through. Rio, who had no idea what got over her, followed suit, calling out to her.

Popping out from the crowd, Sora's brown eyes met a pair of emerald ones. In front of her, with short silver hair, and a mace strapped to her side was a very familiar face.

"Noel-chan?"