Upon seeing that there was nothing else for her to do, Sarey got up and walked from the cottage. Just before walking through the door, she glanced at the book she took from before. It was left on a table just before she started the treatment.
“It won’t hurt me to take a peek, I guess. He won’t run away anytime soon.”
Putting it in her hands, she tried to open the chained cover and unseal the brown leather-covered book. “Ugh! It won’t open up. What is even a book which can’t be read? How ironic.” She tossed it away and did not notice that all of Allan’s blood on it was no longer on it. She was in a hurry when she found it, so she did not think much of it when she left with her father.
Leaving it out of her mind, she walks out of her home with certain plans she just got. Just as the door slammed shut, the twisted and chained cover cracked apart. Revealing the nice-looking cover from the hide of an unknown creature. Light descended from it within a few meters' radius. A flickering gray image rose from within this light. A transparent and indifferent-looking caricature of a woman's body appeared from it. Looking around her with her pupil-less eyes. She looked in confusion and hesitation shoved on her face in stark contrast with the previous impression of a calm look.
She stared at the only living being in the room. It was unknown what her intentions were, as her impression hadn't changed. Flickering quickened, and her figure slowly descended back to the brown-covered book.
The room came back to its reality. Allan was still tightly sleeping. Unmoving even if he wanted to.
Back in the place where Allan landed.
The man was gathering some branches and bushes for camouflage. He did not want to get involved since he had some experience that no ordinary mortal has, but this time, it was anything but dangerous and he knew it.
He carefully documented everything on a piece of paper. Since he couldn’t decide on weight, he wrote about the rough length and physical appearance of every piece of metal. He dug some holes into the earth for less heavy objects, like jewels, gems, and coins. His list was just an approximation of the thing that he managed to discover from debris. For example, he could not figure if something was hidden below the weight of the materials with those claw marks, which were incredibly heavy.
He also noticed one particular leather bag hidden beneath the tree that was shattered and fallen to the ground. It was thinly sprayed with the blood but otherwise was in a good condition. The leather had some quality that this man has not discovered, but it was quite possibly the most normal thing out of everything he had seen so far.
Looking inside the back, he discovered some worn-down books, weapons in decent shape, and the remains of some food inside. There were short swords, blades, and 4 shiny-looking flying knives. They were mixed with two colors and a strange wavy pattern. Food was rotten beyond recognition and hard as stone. There was some shattered piece of glass. Perhaps from some bottle of what was once there as well.
“How strange. This is the only thing what is normal to my eyes, apart from these flying knives.” He glanced at the blades in his hands and tossed one of them at the near boulder. It went rather deep and left a scar on the surface.
“That is some excellent craftsmanship. Flawless and nice to toss.” The quality surprised the man and took 2 to his pocket. Another pair went back to the bag.
“This probably belonged to that boy. It looks like some kind of emergency supplies. Did he run from home? I wonder... But I am not sure about the rest of this stuff.” He shook his head.
It took him some time to conceal it, so it was hard to notice what was hidden beneath all of this debris. He reached all major stone debris away and discovered quite a few things as well. Nothing like the clawed materials, but more gems, some jewelry, and coins, which were here in quite a quantity.
Branches with leaves, wood, stones, and dried leaves were scattered around small, steep hills, which was an idea of this middle-aged man.
He also dug a hole for a chest where he stored some things that he managed to handle. Probably just in case he wanted to quickly take something from this fortune.
With a bag on his shoulder and finished work, he went home. He did not look back, as everything here was still somewhat covered, but it was all he could do in a matter of a few hours.
“Must be enough. I believe.”
On a route back, he retrieved the deer his daughter killed. It was still the middle of the day, but it felt like he spent days’ worth of work in just a few hours.
In a while, he could see once again a wooden cottage. His daughter was sitting by a front door, deep in thoughts and perhaps something else as well. She changed from her previous attire to fabric trousers and a shirt. She wore a hat that hid her hair. This did not change her youthful face of around 15 years old, but it was probably the choice of her clothes and hat. She was glancing at the front of the door with little thoughts.
Upon seeing the return of her father, she was woken up and got up. He was carrying a bag on his left shoulder and a deer on another.
“Y-you are back rather soon.” She said nervously.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“No.”
“Is he already dead?”
“No.”
“Then let me go inside.” He said sternly.
“What do you have in your bag?”
“Heh. Did you invite someone from town to look at him? I won’t be mad at you considering circumstances, but be careful next time.” He said meaningfully. He knew his daughter quite well.
“I know. It’s just my teacher. I did not tell him much. Just a favor.”
“That is fine if it’s just him. Take the deer and prepare it for now, as usual. I will take a look at our little sleeping boy.
“Alright.” She said in a better mood.
They both stepped inside the cottage.
Upon tossing a deer on a clean kitchen table meant for butchers and bags to aside. He looked at the living room around the corner. In another room was Allan, still laying there as before. Beside him was a man dressed in a long-sleeved robe. His back was facing the entrance to the room.
“Good day to you, mister Zigmund.“ He said in a pleasant voice to an ear without turning around. He sounded rather younger than expected, for a teacher.
“Hello there Triston. For you to come here so earnestly is rather surprising.”
“Well, I didn’t want to come, but she insisted heavily. Your daughter could be rather stubborn and persuasive when she can.”
“Tell me about it, please.” Zigmund helplessly shook his head and seated himself on a chair in the room.
He took a glance at Allan and was silently shocked at how young he looked. Earlier he expected him to be on a bring to adulthood. Probably a member of some gang or something who got into a conflict in some otherworldly heist of some royal family, but he was mistaken. Not like he was sure about it for certain. He was thinking about it a lot, since it was hard to forget.
By this time, the beating sound could no longer be heard. Allan was laying in silence.
“Damn. He looks young.” He muttered under his short, rough-looking beard.
“He is, and I am no doctor, so I can’t help much other than provide some general understanding of his injuries and the state of the body.”
“That is more than enough. Sarey will be it at ease.” Zigmund said.
“You talk like you want this boy to die. I can’t see why she would care too much about him. Death is normal in today’s age. You know much better than me and others.”
“Of course, I am aware. I wish for my daughter to learn so much, but the world is not that easy-going place. She will need to grow up first.”
“That is not the wrong mindset. We didn’t talk this much before, but I respect you as a person from a vastly different field.” Triston said as he turned around.
In front of Zigmund was rather a young-looking man. In his mid-twenties at worst, with blond hair, brown eyes, and a trimmed beard. He was rather slim-looking, but he hid it behind the clothes of his choosing.
“I take it as a compliment. Let’s leave it for now. How is this boy?”
“His injuries are severe. Sarey did a great job at first aid. I can’t see why he should not live, though. His skin or internal structure through my checks did not spot some problems apart from some significant damage of unknown origin to his internal and external body.”
“First aid? He was like this for who knows how long a period of time before we discovered him.” Zigmund thought to himself. It was obvious that the bag that he discovered with things inside meant something new was going on, that he did not understand yet.
“But his eyes are untreatable. If he will make a recovery, he will be blind for the rest of his life.”
“That is understandable. Thank you for your expertise.” Zigmund slightly bowed his head.
“Do you want something for this? I don’t know things what would be something what you would need.”
“Oh? Your daughter provided me with some monetary compensation. That is just enough, not like I did a lot. His fate is his and his alone. Although I wonder what you will do if he regains his life.”
“That is just a matter of the question of what if. We will see it then? I don’t know who he is or where he comes from, but I am more than willing to figure something out since it's about my daughter as well. ” Zigmund acknowledged his thoughts. This was a meaningful conversation that he did not predict.
“People are dying every moment that passes by. For your daughter to worry about some random encounter is just questionable, to say the least. But be my guess about what you will do next. I will take my leave now as everything that I could say to your daughter already happened.”
“Sure. Sure. If there is nothing that you need. Thank you for coming.” Zigmund casually stated from his frowning position on the chair.
Triston glanced at Allan for one last time as he turned around and left the room. Zigmund was left there alone for some time. He was thinking if he did a mistake in allowing this to happen. It was not something good for Sarey to involve herself with this, and even Triston acknowledged and wondered about this as well. It was just unfortunate that his daughter already decided by herself what to do.
It was more clear to him than anything else that pursuing her otherwise would be impossible. He couldn't help but sigh. She would have not changed her mind, anyway, even if he was more serious. Now, he could only hope that there will be no trouble.
Triston was walking through the hall, in the kitchen's direction, where was Sarey carefully butchering the deer she killed in the morning.
