Heisen's Eye

Chapter 4

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Ryu's POV
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As I stare up at the grey clouds, I feel her gaze on my back.

Why? Why does she want to find my parents? Sure, they're famous outlaws, but why only her? The Kingdom should know that a single soldier can't defeat the No-Names.

As I pondered these questions in my head, she had managed to walk up next to me, also staring into the clouds.

"It's gonna be tough to get food tomorrow, doesn't seem like this rain'll let up for a while." (Airi)

"Mm, I suppose." (Ryu)

Right, food. I do need to go hunting. That probably won't be possible in this weather. Not only will I get severely cold, but there're probably no monsters out during this storm.

That means I'm going to have to ration out the monsters I got from my hunt today. With that amount of meat on them they'll probably only last at most 5 days, but I may be able to pull out a week if I try hard enough.

"Say, do you think I could, maybe, stay here until the rain stops?" (Airi)

Huh? What? Isn't she a Knight? Shouldn't she be more cautious about this? I literally pointed my sword at her! And now she asks that? Is she OK?

"... Fine. But don't do anything stupid." (Ryu)

"I won't, I'm a Knight, not some outlaw." (Airi)

"Some outlaw", what a specific set of words. Outlaws have their own set of circumstances too, not all love killing and robbing people.

... I know my parents weren't like that. They were good people, they were just introduced into the wrong side of life, yeah, that's it.

Snapping me out of my own thoughts, Airi asks me a question.

"Say, we don't know each other's names yet, do we?" (Airi)

"Do we need to?" (Ryu)

"... Well, my name's Airi, what's yours?" (Airi)

"... Ryu." (Ryu)

What's the point in sharing our names? We aren't going to see each other again after this rain lets up anyway.

Well, I can bother about that when I'm rested, for now, let's see whether I can get some sleep with this knight here.

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Airi's POV
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He's a strange boy. Not only is he hard for me to read, but he also seems somewhat... Scared around me?

He really does look just like a normal 12 year old when he sleeps, but everything else about him seems too mature. Like he was forced to grow up faster, but maybe that's because he's been a part of an outlaw gang since he was born. Yeah, that's probably it.

But "Don't do anything stupid", what's that about? I'm older than you by 4 years I'll have you know. I'm also a Knight of the Kingdom of Reichtum, I know how to not be stupid.

Man, he's kind of hard to deal with, but I suppose I don't need to be here any longer than I have to. I can just leave as soon as the rain goes away.

Yeah, that's what I'll do. But in any case, I should patch up the wall that I, graciously, cut down.

"[Rise]." (Airi)

And done. I guess now I can finally get some much needed rest, trekking through that forest with this much armour on is tiring.

I don't suppose he has - nope, no he doesn't. He has no blankets or anything aside from the one he is laying on.

Oh well, it's just one night. I can handle this much.

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Early in the morning, I'm awoken by some grinding sounds.

It's Ryu. It looks like he's grinding some herbs in the mortar and pestle.

"Ah, morning Ryu." (Airi)

"... Yeah." (Ryu)

What's with that pause? And why isn't he trying to kick me out or anything? Not that I'm going to stay if he doesn't but I thought he hated my presence here.

Anywho, I should probably get going.

Picking up my helmet, I walk towards the earth wall and raise my hands.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." (Ryu)

Yeah, yeah, whatever.

"[Fall]." (Airi)

As the wall begins to sink into the ground, I finally realise what Ryu had warned me about.

Not seconds after I casted my magic, I was swarmed by pellets of hail, hearing them clink against my armour every second. Feeling them cut through the air next to my face.

"[Rise]." (Ryu)

He lowers his hands and shrugs his shoulders as I let out a deep sigh.

So that's why he didn't kick me out straight away.

"Oh, by the way, you're leaving as soon as the storm is gone." (Ryu)

Ahh, there's what I expected.

Hmm, I suppose I should get comfy, I doubt that storm will go away any time soon, though, this is quite literally just a small hole. There are little to no feelings of a home here.

"Say, Ryu, how long have you been living here for?" (Airi)

"... About 2 or 3 years I think." (Ryu)

"... Were you alone all that time?" (Airi)

"Mm." (Ryu)

I'm speechless.

2 or 3 years in this forest? Alone?

"Am I the first person you've talked to since you've been here?" (Airi)

Ryu stops his hands for a moment, obviously thinking about something.

"... No, I don't think so." (Ryu)

Ahh, that's good. Atleast he had spoken to people since he started living here.

...

"... Do you... Want to come with me back to the city?" (Airi)

Ryu's hands stop.

"To the city?" (Ryu)

"Yeah." (Airi)

After confirming, I noticed Ryu's hands trembling.

"If you don't want to it's fine, but I think it would be for the best." (Airi)

"O-oh, no no, I knew I would have to go at some point, but..." (Ryu)

Noticing his hands trembling, Ryu clasps them together.

"Then come with me! I can find you a good inn and you can start from there." (Airi)

"L-let me think about it first." (Ryu)

With that, Ryu returns his attention to his herbs, but I can see that my proposal is at the front of his mind.

I suppose I can't rush him though, so I'll let him think about it. We have enough time after all.

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Author Notes
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A sudden plot point appears. Seriously, I had a lot of fun writing this one. Just setting up their relationship now, purely to develop it for later on is something that I am enjoying immensely.

As for Airi claiming she will die from the cold, that is quite literal. In the forest they are staying in, the seasons are very exaggerated, so winter gets very very cold and summer gets very very hot.

This is also why there is a hail storm happening. It got so cold during the night that the rain turned into snow, and then into hail over the span of a couple hours.