A Journey Unwanted
Chapter 556 - 543: Odd group
[Realm: Álfheimr]
[Location: Heart Kingdom]
[Outskirts]
Robert sighed quietly to himself.
It felt as though the entire hunt had become meaningless. The boar they had tracked, the patience he had exercised, the careful positioning in the trees—all of it had ended with a single thrown javelin and a casual decision to move on. Now the odd little group was already traversing the forest again, following a narrow dirt path that wound between dead trees and patches of brittle grass.
At the front walked the one who had decided they were leaving.
Robert’s emerald eyes lingered on Mikoto for a moment longer than he intended.
He still could not decide whether the white-haired youth was truly human. It was not merely the power, though that alone would have been enough to make a man hesitate. There was something about Mikoto’s presence that felt strangely removed from ordinary people. The beauty was the most obvious part of it—he was refined, like a figure carved by a God rather than born from flesh and blood.
It was still difficult to reconcile that face with the fact that Mikoto was male.
Granted, when Robert had first met him, he had been in disguise. That revelation had been an unpleasant surprise in its own right. But even knowing the truth now did little to make the youth seem any less unreal.
"Something troubling you, Robert?"
The voice pulled him from his thoughts.
He glanced sideways.
Gretel walked besides him, silver eyes watching him with attentiveness. As she walked, she subtly adjusted the rapier at her hip so the sheath sat more comfortably against her side.
"Merely questioning my current company," Robert replied with a light shrug.
The motion caused the rough string of his makeshift bow to bite a little deeper into the skin of his shoulder. He ignored the discomfort.
Gretel looked ahead before answering.
Further up the path, Echidna walked besides Shuten-dōji, the two women speaking in low voices about something Robert had no desire to decipher. One was a monster in human form; the other, an oni spirit from some distant eastern land. Whatever they found worth discussing was probably beyond him.
Gretel’s gaze returned to him.
"I’ve certainly never travelled like this before," she admitted with a small hum. "Even by Nil standards, this is unusually eclectic. And compared to everything I’ve experienced lately, this group still feels unusual."
A small smile touched her lips.
"Though you don’t need to feel obligated to stay with us. If you’d rather go your own way, no one would stop you."
Robert let out a quiet breath through his nose.
"I know that." His expression softened slightly. "But you were associated with Gerard. That old bastard was tougher than iron and a mean one. He was stubborn, loud and impossible to reason with half the time and probably too old to be picking fights with people stronger than him. Men like him don’t keep company carelessly."
He looked at her more directly.
"If he trusted you, that says something." Another small shrug followed. "And whether you’re a lass or not, you still helped me get out of that damned fortress. That’s not something I forget."
Gretel’s smile became a touch more awkward.
"That was mostly Mikoto," she corrected gently. "I didn’t exactly break you out by myself."
"Maybe." Robert considered that. "But I don’t know Mikoto well. I know Ella, and I know the person behind the disguise is apparently capable of frightening anyone."
His eyes drifted briefly towards the petite figure ahead of them.
"What I do know is that he doesn’t seem like someone who does things without a reason. So I figured you talked him into it."
Gretel shook her head.
"I didn’t have to persuade him." Her voice grew quieter as she spoke. "He just asked me what I wanted to do next." For a moment she stared at the path beneath her boots. "I couldn’t help Gerard."
The admission came softly.
"So at the very least, I wanted to rescue you."
She offered a thin, tired smile.
"Though even now I’m not sure whether resisting the Heart Kingdom is still possible."
Robert was silent for a few steps; the wind stirred dead leaves across the path.
"With the Retorta Guild backing them," he said eventually, "I suppose a lot of people will decide the fight’s already over."
Then, despite himself, a grin slowly spread across his face.
"Problem is, this isn’t the sort of thing I can walk away from." He reached up and adjusted the bow on his shoulder. "I’ve spent too long hating what that kingdom’s become to suddenly pretend none of it matters."
Gretel studied him for a moment.
"I envy that confidence, Robert," she said quietly. "Or maybe I envy the certainty behind it." Her gaze lifted towards the grey sky visible through the trees. "Either way, I hope you’re right."
A small, genuine smile returned to her face.
"And I hope you succeed."
Robert’s grin faded into something smaller but more sincere.
"Thanks."
Mikoto, meanwhile, had caught every word of Robert and Gretel’s conversation despite the distance between them. The dead forest was quiet enough that most would have struggled to make out more than the occasional sentence.
For him, it may as well have been spoken beside his ear.
He walked at the front of the group without slowing; his eyes remained fixed ahead.
Only his thoughts wandered.
("So carrot-top really intends to see that rebellion through...?") He turned the thought over without much emotion. ("He’s serious.")
A small breath escaped through his nose.
He still couldn’t understand it.
Perhaps that was because he had never truly witnessed the Heart Kingdom at its worst. He knew of its atrocities and understood them intellectually. He knew enough to recognize tyranny when he saw it. But understanding something and living through it were entirely different things.
To Robert, that rebellion wasn’t merely an objective. It was probably the only answer he could still accept. Something worth wagering his life on, Mikoto found that line of thinking difficult to grasp, ridiculously so.
("Sounds exhausting.") His expression barely shifted. ("Throwing your life away over an idea, really damn stupid.")
Yet despite the dismissive thought, he didn’t completely disregard the man. Quite the opposite, his red eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
("Still, he’s sharper than he pretends to be.")
Robert laughed easily, smiled often, and spoke casually. But beneath all that he clearly observed. He had watched the man hunt; he had watched the way he asked questions, the way he never wasted words.
("Crafty bastard.") The corner of Mikoto’s mouth twitched. ("Too cheerful for his own good, but not nearly as simple as he looks.") Another quiet step followed. ("I’ll have to keep an eye on him.")
It was not because Robert frightened him. No, people like that were simply the hardest to predict.
"You seem remarkably occupied for someone who’s scarcely walked a few minutes, Yuki." The voice arrived so suddenly beside him that anyone else might have flinched.
Mikoto merely shifted his eyes sideways.
At some point, Shuten-dōji had drifted away from Echidna and closed the distance without making the slightest sound. She now walked comfortably beside him, hands tucked behind her, her pace perfectly matching his own.
"When did you get over here?"
"You did not notice?" The oni sounded genuinely curious. "I suppose your thoughts were deeper than I imagined."
"They weren’t." Mikoto looked ahead again. "I just wasn’t paying attention to you."
"I shall choose to believe the kinder interpretation." She murmured.
"You’d be choosing wrong."
A tiny smile appeared on the oni’s lips. "I noticed."
They walked another few paces in silence.
Eventually she spoke again.
"You’ve stopped objecting quite so fiercely whenever I call you Yuki."
Mikoto sighed. "You’re still using that stupid nickname?"
"I’ve grown rather fond of it." She stated.
"I haven’t." Mikoto muttered, his nose wrinkling ever so slightly.
Shuten-dōji tilted her head ever so slightly.
"Then perhaps..." She appeared to consider the matter with complete seriousness. "...Mikoto-chan?"
Mikoto looked at her with disbelief. "If you actually consider that crap again, I might throw up." The response came immediately.
"Hm." The oni lowered her gaze. "That saddens me a little." She did not sound particularly saddened. "I believed it was rather affectionate."
"It usually is when you use honorifics like that," Mikoto said idly.
"Then why reject it?" The oni questioned.
"Because you’re the one saying it," Mikoto spat out bluntly.
For perhaps the first time since they’d begun speaking, Shuten-dōji gave the faintest indication she had been defeated.
"...A difficult child."
Another quiet stretch of silence settled between them. Unlike most people, neither seemed uncomfortable with it, but again, the oni spoke up.
"There is something I have wondered."
Mikoto gave a noncommittal grunt.
"If you’re asking for money, I don’t have any."
"I was not."
"If you’re asking for food, ask Robert."
"I was not."
"If you’re asking for emotional support—"
"I certainly was not."
"Good."
Shuten-dōji’s smile became just perceptibly warmer.
"I simply wondered..." Her gaze drifted toward the distant horizon. "...why remain within the Heart Kingdom?" She looked back toward him. "You possess the strength to leave whenever you desire. A different nation, continent, or world, perhaps. So why stay?"
Mikoto answered without thinking.
"Cause moving somewhere else is a pain." His shoulders lifted slightly beneath the weight of his armor. "And this kingdom’s got the most cities."
"That’s it?"
"That’s it." He shrugged. "I don’t care enough to complicate it."
Shuten-dōji regarded him for several quiet seconds. "Curious."
"What is?"
"I believed you disliked inconvenience. But you have willingly chosen the nation most likely to oppose you." She looked toward the gray sky. "You could have sought peace but instead chose resistance."
Mikoto frowned. "This is merely the most convenient place to weed out the overgrown lizards."
"Perhaps." The oni nodded slowly. "Or perhaps your feet arrived at the destination before your mind knew why."
"And what’s that supposed to mean?" His tone carried little genuine curiosity, mostly annoyance.
Shuten-dōji looked at him with those calm red eyes.
"I think..." She paused briefly. "...you are the type to walk toward difficult roads without realizing you have already chosen them."
Mikoto’s brows furrowed.
"I used to know someone much the same. He insisted every decision he made was practical." She smiled ever so slightly. "But somehow he always found himself standing where the struggle was greatest." Another few steps passed. "I was the same."
Her voice softened.
"I believed difficult paths gave life shape; they revealed things comfortable roads never could."
Mikoto clicked his tongue. "You really ought to stop spouting such crap and deciding on your own conclusions."
"I am not deciding." She answered as calmly as ever. "I merely like observing; there’s a difference."
Mikoto let out a slow breath through his nose, his rosy lips twisting into a small frown. He looked ready to dismiss the conversation altogether. Then his red eyes caught something between the dying trees.
His entire attention shifted in an instant.
The idle irritation disappeared from his face, and the conversation ceased before another word could be spoken.