Yong-Sun was screaming

The next day.

The attendant at the desk looked toward the stairs. He heard someone rushing down the stairs and made preparations to welcome the guest.

A disheveled Lady rushed at him at the next moment.

Her hair was messy, her robe barely covered her, and she looked panicked.

"Good day, Milady. Can I help you in some way?" He asked politely.

"Huff, huff, did … huff, did the hooded man leave?" she was leaning on the counter, catching her breath as she tried to speak.

"Yes, Milady, he left with the child earlier today, as I understood he left when the gates opened." He answered politely.

"Huf, Did he say where he was going?" she pushed some of her messy hair away from her face.

"Is there anywhere to go besides down the river to Palmo City?" He asked back.

"Hah! What a stupid question; I'm sorry to have bothered you. By the way, I will leave in an hour," she informed him and left, pulling the robe tight around her.

She had slept in. She had been too excited by last night's events that even the Daylight Dreams struggled to pull her under.

She ran up the stairs only to grab the thing she needed to wash up. Then, after her shower, she rushed back upstairs again and packed up her things. Leaving just an hour after she had talked to the attendant.

She went to the main building of the city Trade Center; that place could provide you with whatever you wanted as long as you had the money for it. She went to buy a reputable pair of guards. She was in a hurry and didn't care much who she chose, only that they should be capable. She ended up with a decent pair of men who turned out to be twins.

She left with them. Hoping to catch up with the hooded man.

Unknown to Liam or the Lady. The twins from before had decided to find another way to leave the city. They had signed up as guards for the rich traveling between the cities. Of course, they had to prove their worth first, but they passed the trials with flying colors.

That was how they ended up as the Lady's guards, as they were the only ones available.

And neither knew that they were going after the same person.

Liam, of course, was oblivious to all that and traveled with three children. It was much more challenging than he thought it to be.

At first, when there was only Yong-Sun, then it would have been easy. He'd just give him a piggyback ride, but now there were three. He couldn't travel like he was used to. The travel was slow as it could get; that was only for Liam.

To the three kids, this was all they could muster.

On top of that little thing was that they were in the forest for the first time in their life. They were scared beyond reason.

Liam made them walk down the most accessible paths and made breaks every two hours. The sun was setting fast, and the kids were terrified. The forest looked scary when the sun was up. What would it look like in the dark?

Liam didn't make things easier either. Instead, he forced them to walk constantly with little breaks.

He knew they were scared but overcoming the fear of things is the first sign that they can grow stronger. If you can't even face your fears, you might as well die off somewhere.

"Do you know any of the creatures living in the forest?"

The kids were surprised by the question but answered anyway.

"Yes, the Purple Runner is the most common," one of the brothers answered. Forgetting his fear for a moment.

"Yes." Liam agreed, "Do you know what the rarest creatures are?"

"Not really. They only taught us the common creatures around Maple city," the oldest of the brothers said.

"Ahh, I see. I am going to call a friend over. She is also a creature of the woods and has been hostile toward humans. I am hoping that she will help us reach our destination sooner. Please try not to make sudden movements and stay calm when you see her." He looked at the children's faces and only saw something positive in Yong-Suns face.

He stood up and called for Haru. Liam looked with his eyes but couldn't see her at first. He sighed after a moment.

She slowly walked out of the forest toward Liam, who was just waiting, opening his arms wide.

Liam looked at Haru as her nose twitched. Sniffing everything. She didn't like that the human had smaller humans with him, and the human, Liam, smelled different. She had gotten used to the smell he had before; it felt natural. She liked and disliked the smells she could sniff from him now. He smelled better and worse at the same time. There were too many different scents on him. That was why she didn't like the new smells. Those didn't smell right to her.

She approached, putting her nose against Liam's hand and slowly getting closer to his body. The closer she came, the more she could feel him. And after a moment, she was rubbing herself against him. Haru ensured she covered him with her own smell as much as possible.

"wow," one of the kids breathed out. Liam had his hands around Haru as he looked back. He felt Haru tensing up at that moment.

"Wait! Haru! Stop! They are not dangerous," Liam said, but he didn't believe Haru could hear him. Her ears were turned down, and she looked ready to bounce.

The two brothers had gotten up. One even had stepped closer, but Yong-Sun had grabbed their clothes and pulled them. The two brothers looked back and saw the boy looking at the creature strangely. They didn't understand, but the grip on their clothes seemed to be holding them for dear life.

Yong-Sun didn't know what had come out of the forest. The creature didn't look anything like the ones he had seen before. But he had good instincts. So when, Yong-sun saw the creature react in a way that looked dangerous to him and responded.

Liam sighed in relief when he saw Yong-sun pull the boys back. The giant cat seemed to relax a bit but still started moving past Liam. Seemingly ignoring him. He closed in on Yong-sun and sniffed him.

Liam didn't see any aggression in Harus behavior, so he let whatever was going to happen, happen.

However, at the next moment, Yong-Sun was screaming for dear life.