River

Crunch

Rustle

Small broken branches made noises under our shoes and the grass rustled as we walked inside the jungle. The half-dark jungle was a little bit spooky and somehow chilly. Our path was being illuminated by the oil lamp on Alaric's hand, who was walking slightly behind me, doing his best not to look scared. It was visible that he regretted coming inside the jungle.

"I-is there much left?"

He glanced around as he moved the oil lamp left and right.

"We are not even that deep in the jungle, young master."

"W-we are not?"

"Nope!"

I pointed at a huge thick tree in the distance.

"The river is there."

"Oh!"

Alaric let out a relieved sigh before stating a question.

"But how are you so sure? Have you been to the jungle before? You seem to know this place-AAAhhhh wh-what is this- O-Oh, a root... A-Ahem, you seem to know this place too well!"

The young man pretended that the scream and his fright had never happened, but he was actually clinging to my right arm with cold, frozen hands.

'I know the jungle 'cause I've passed this place in a few of my regression turns.'

There was no way I could say that to Alaric.

"It's just common knowledge."

"C-common knowledge?"

Alaric didn't linger on that question and changed the topic, constantly talking about something as if he would die if exposed to the creepy silence of the jungle.

"Do you really think Ranger will get mad at us?"

"They must've noticed young master's absence by now and are searching for you all around. I don't doubt Ranger will punish us once we return."

Alaric paused for a second, released my arm, and stepped to the right as if nothing had happened, then heaved a sigh.

"I will take the responsibility, you don't have to say anything."

"Such things are not effective against Ranger. We are both fucked."

"..."

The young master was speechless for a brief second.

"...Then why did you agree to my suggestion?"

The edges of my lips rose up to a smile on their own.

"I didn't. I was forced to do this by my young master."

"Wha-"

Alaric had a betrayed, backstabbed expression while staring at me with his mouth half open.

"You were the one who said not to bring Liam with us!"

The smile on my face didn't fade but widened even more. For some reason, it was fun to tease this young man. I've not done such a thing in a while so the situation is more than enjoyable.

With the same smile plastered to my face, I pushed my body towards Alaric and said in a whisper.

"It's because I want to murder you in a silent corner without any witnesses, young master!"

"...."

The light-brown-haired man beside me blinked as he gradually decreased his speed and eventually stopped walking. He turned his face to his left in a slow motion and glanced at me with his eyes widened a little bit. His pupils stopped on the smile on my face, which I'm sure looked kinda creepy, and the young man swallowed his saliva.

"T-that was not funny at all, Ian!"

I didn't move back nor did I stop smiling.

"But that's the truth. Young man, you should now turn your back to me and run away if you want a tiny chance to survive!"

"..."

Alaric secretly shivered, his shoulders tensed up, and he took one step to the right. He was still staring at the smile on my face.

"Your joke is not funny at all! Also, you are being rude t-to your master! I'll tell it to Ranger!"

Alaric huffed as he looked away from me and resumed walking while stamping his feet.

'Are you a 6-year-old threatening your bully by mentioning your dad?'

Only a small area in front of us could be illuminated by the oil lamp, so Alaric stopped after taking a few steps and looked back at me as if saying that he'd leave me in the dark if I didn't resume walking right at that moment.

"Fine!" Two big steps were enough for me to arrive beside the young master. "But I wasn't joking!"

Alaric visibly flinched, but didn't show any fear on his face and just kept walking. Silence descended between us and the only voices heard were the rustling of the grass and the distant sound of flowing water. While walking in silence, the young man would open his mouth from time to time in an attempt to say something, but he'd close it once again as soon as glancing at the smile on my face.

'I feel like I'm bullying a kid.'

Well, he really was a kid in front of me... His actions were making me feel guilty!

After a few minutes of walking in silence, the river could be seen clearly. The ground was elevated a few inches just before reaching the river. There were trees taller than normal around the river and the grass was denser. The scene of the wet soil and grass filled the air, making one want to stay by the side of the river for hours and breathe in the refreshing smell.

"Ah, but... But we didn't gather any firewood!"

It was just after arriving at the river that Alaric suddenly mentioned one of the things we had entered the jungle. He looked around in a fluster and walked towards the first broken branch he saw.

"The wood here will be wet and unusable. We'll gather firewood on our way back."

"Oh!"

He nodded his head and walked back to me. I stepped to the side of the road and looked down at the flowing water.

'What if I jump into it?'

I can pretend to slip and fall into the water... And the water can carry me far away. They can assume I'm either dead or lost, but they'll never find me... With Alaric here, he can be a witness that I didn't run away.

'After all, living as someone 'who got lost by accident and never found his way back,' is much better than living as a 'runaway slave' that people were searching for!'

Nodding to myself internally, I grabbed the bucket and walked even closer to the river. The ground around the river was a little bit higher than the surface of the water and the soil was wet. It was the most suitable condition with the 'My feet slipped and I fell into the river,' scenario! I put my feet on the edge of the soil and leaned forward with the bucket in my hand.

"Aahhh!"

Letting out a scream, I 'slipped' my foot and threw my body towards the river as if I fell down while trying to reach the river to fill the bucket. The bucket fell out of my hand as I dropped face-first towards the water.

"AAAAHHH!"

At that moment, before my body reached the water, a scream entered my ears coming from behind. The next second, something grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

SPLASH

However, I still fell into the water. My body dived down into the deep water and water entered my nose and mouth, making my throat itch and burn. I floated in the water that was moving at a fast speed and I could feel my body graze past some small and big objects.

Cough Cough Cough

I hurriedly raised my head up and started coughing and spitting out the water that had entered my mouth.

Cough Cough Cough

A few meters away from me, a person was desperately struggling against the rush of the water, coughing, spitting out water, and raising his hands up and down in an attempt to swim.