At least half an hour’s worth of walking had been completed before Aeris was set back onto her own two feet. Slung over Peltier's shoulder, she had watched the silhouettes of stout cottages become specks in the distance before disappearing completely.

  Initially, she'd kicked violently, but Peltier hadn't budged.

  These roads were sparsely seen by Aeris, almost solely used by caravans transporting people and goods between Eubane and the nearest settlements. Now, the midday sun was fixed overhead. It was far too late to run, Aeris knew. Still, she struggled to keep up. She wasn't like Kimon and Mikaela, who exercised frequently.

  The boys walked a few places ahead of her, and Kimon’s voice could be picked up.

  “You're learning the sword, right? Who taught you?”

  Kimon was carrying a large stick, dragging it along the worn dirt road. Aeris wondered if he would start swinging it around, too.

  “No one taught me,” Mikaela mumbled.

  His sword practice at the forest cabin had been so clean and practiced, Aeris struggled to believe him. Kimon echoed her sentiment a moment later.

  “You're so good, though. Does a village chief need to know swordplay?”

  “No. That's why I was self-taught.” Mikaela sounded annoyed. “I never wanted to be Village Chief anyway.”

  “Huh. So it was decided for you?”

  Mikaela bristled.

  “No. It's different.”

  “Different how?”

  “It just is.”

  Mikaela turned away from Kimon, signalling that the exchange was over.

  Aeris wiped her eyes again. She'd never set her sights as high as village head, but to brush it off so easily?

  She remembered studying and helping out plenty of neighbors, and Auntie always praised her afterwards.

  Perhaps it was Aeris’s fault for following Mikaela so mindlessly, chasing stupid girlish feelings and getting herself into this position.

  They had to take frequent breaks, simply because Aeris could hardly keep walking for so many hours. Her knees complained with each step, especially now that the sun was fully beating down on them. Without bug repellent or water, and with the thick backpack weighing down her frame, it was only her spite for Peltier that made her continue. By the time she paused her mindless walking, her shadow was already pointing eastward.

  Aeris thought she might pass out soon.

  She was about to go back on her decision not to speak a word, but thankfully, Kimon spoke up.

  “Should we set up camp now?”

  Peltier was lost in thought, but nearly bumping into Kimon snapped him out of it. He paused.

  “Ah. Right. We should, shouldn't we?”

  The group moved off the road towards the fields of grass. Peltier found a spot right by the treeline where the grass was thin and the ground was flat, dropping his backpack and dusting his hands.

  “I’ll set up camp. One of you fills up everyone’s waterskins, and one of you hunts something. Someone also has to get firewood.”

  Aeris didn't think she could catch a rabbit if she tried. She plopped down into a squat, swallowing her saliva thickly. All three children set their bags on the ground, rubbing their sore shoulders.

  She sure was hungry.

  “How is anyone gonna catch something?”

  They had no weapons as far as she knew.

  Peltier stuck another piece of wheat in his mouth.

  “If you bring a deer here, I'll shoot it.”

  What a joke.

  “You won't catch it yourself?” Mikaela asked, smiling as if Peltier’s inaction was amusing. Aeris would've found it funny too if she weren't starving.

  “Shoot it with what, huh?” Aeris couldn't keep her voice neutral.

  “Magic, obviously!” Kimon responded on Peltier's behalf.

  His eyes sparkled, keen on seeing Peltier’s prowess revealed after discovering his mentor was a magician.

  Come to think of it, Aeris had never seen magic firsthand.

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  “I don't feel like running around,” Peltier said.

  His job in the village was to catch deer for their skin, given his name. Peltier was clearly a lazy adult, not just an evil one. At least Kimon was up to the task.

  “I've chased deer around plenty of times. You just stay here. But you have to be prepared.”

  He looked at Peltier meaningfully, who smiled ever so slightly.

  “Worry about yourself. And try to get it here before it’s dark.”

  Kimon raced into the woods. Mikaela started walking as well.

  “I’ll gather firewood.”

  Peltier had already knelt, facing away from Aeris, pulling wide skins and ropes from his bag and leaving Aeris to take on the last task. She tried not to drag her feet as she picked up everyone’s waterskins and headed to the forest, where the river ran parallel to the road.

  The forest was much cooler than the open fields, the canopy shielding Aeris from the waning daylight. Crouching by the river, she inspected it closely, almost expecting to see those shimmering minerals that had dripped from the beast's corpse. But the water was clean, and even the water level had even risen since two days prior.

  As such, the only thing Aeris caught sight of was her own reflection. It didn’t look good. Aeris set aside the waterskins.

  Her hair was brittle and certainly soaked with sweat. She splashed water over her face and exposed skin, then rebraided her hair in a vain attempt to restore herself to an acceptable appearance.

  Once done, Aeris clutched at the fabric of her shirt, examining the scales littering her face, arms, and legs. Probably under her clothing as well. Her touch was tentative and fearful, feeling the oddly smooth surface. It was difficult to wrap her head around it.

  Could the small scales across her body truly incite hatred from others? They were unheard of, but not dangerous. And yet, was it even true that beast mana was coursing through her body when she felt perfectly normal? Despite the visible proof attached to her, Peltier didn’t seem trustworthy enough to be warning of their impending deaths unless they wrangled the mana inside them.

  More than anything, Aeris felt disoriented. The starvation and lingering grief kept her firmly cemented where she was as she stared at her reflection. The cicadas had begun to sing, and the trickle of river water put her in a trance.

  She realized that maybe she had taken too much time when footsteps approached from behind her. Her brows were still knitted when she turned.

  “Do you really hate them that much?” Kimon asked softly, crouching down next to her.

  Aeris paused to summon words to her lips.

  “Of course I do… They look gross. I hate the gray color and how it makes me look sick. My hair is tangled, and I'm not sure when I'll next be able to bathe.”

  She huffed once finished and could feel Kimon’s gaze boring into her.

  “Do you think I look gross, too?”

  His tone was deceptively neutral, even amicable. Aeris snapped her head up to face Kimon properly, searching his face to look for hurt and finding none.

  “...No!”

  Kimon hardly looked convinced.

  “I really mean it. I don't! At least the feathers on you… I mean…”

  Aeris stumbled and stuttered. Kimon was right to ask. She hadn't faced him properly since the accident.

  “At least… at least the feathers are a nice brown, and they make a pattern on your face!”

  At last, she found a verbal foothold. It was true, though. The tawny feathers emanated like rays from the inner corner of Kimon’s eyes, fanning out across his cheeks like whiskers.

  Compared to the random patches of scales across her body, Aeris thought he looked better.

  Her face turned red, guilt and shame warring within her. But Kimon merely threw his head back and laughed.

  “I’m glad. To be honest, I don't know what's gonna happen to us either. But Peltier wouldn't try to hurt us on purpose, I promise.”

  Of course, Kimon would say that. He was practically buddies with the man. Aeris wouldn't buy it.

  “How can you go along with everything so easily? You're fine just leaving your home behind?”

  Aeris's voice rose the more she spoke. She felt like she was going crazy, the way everyone just moved on as if things were normal.

  Kimon’s smile fell.

  “Aeris… To be honest, I've never really—”

  “—Are you gonna mope like that forever?”

  Mikaela’s voice cut in.

  Both Aeris and Kimon whipped around to face him.

  Truly, even from this low angle, Mikaela was blessed with an unfairly good face. His eyes were sharp, and his eyelashes cast a shadow on his cheeks.

  But one side of his face was a bright red as if freshly stung.

  Aeris's arguments died on her tongue.

  “Mikaela, are you hurt—”

  “What do you mean, mope?” Kimon interrupted sharply. For once, he looked positively annoyed. “It’s been less than a day since we started travelling.”

  Mikaela snorted.

  “I mean exactly that. Moping. And don't mind this,” he tapped his cheek, “I just happened to tell Mister Peltier I was the one to approach the magic beast corpse. Intentionally.”

  Aeris inhaled sharply. Mikaela had gone up to that mutated corpse on purpose.

  And… Peltier hit Mikaela. Aeris herself had never been hurt or spanked by her Auntie. She was too well-behaved for such a thing.

  Kimon sneered.

  “I thought so. Isn't it rich though? To blame us for not being swept along when this is your fault in the first place?”

  He stood up, leaning into Mikaela’s face. Irritation radiated from him in waves.

  Mikaela didn't move an inch.

  “What’s rich is that you say that, Kimon, considering you've been waiting for an opportunity to leave Eubane your whole life. Perhaps you should be grateful for my actions.”

  Kimon froze. Whether in rage or something else, it was hard to tell. Mikaela turned to Aeris, who was slack-jawed.

  “Either way, even if it is my fault, why don't you make the most of it? There aren’t that many people blessed with the ability to use magic. Let alone the opportunity to attend the academy.”

  Mikaela looked like a stranger, with that arrogant smile on his face. Aeris became acutely aware that despite all the time she'd spent looking at Mikaela and hanging around Kimon on occasion, she hardly knew either of them.

  The close-knit community her village had surrounded her with felt like a farce.

  Upon her stunned silence, Mikaela ran a hand through his hair and began to walk away.

  “Hurry up. Peltier needs water to cook with.”

  If Aeris had her wits about her, perhaps she would've responded, but her brain wasn't quite functioning at present. Jaw agape, she turned back towards Kimon. All irritation had already vanished from his expression, and he was back to being as calm as usual.

  “Don't mind Mikaela.” He smiled sheepishly.

  Aeris didn't reply. Kimon’s tone changes were as startling as everything else. Kimon knelt beside her again.

  “Here, I made something for you.”

  He gently grasped her palm and pressed a small wooden object in it.

  When Aeris looked down, it was a comb. It was a little bit lumpy, but each tooth was well-formed and seemingly polished with something to make the wood grain look pretty. She had no idea Kimon was capable of making such things.

  But of course, both Kimon and Mikaela were sure to continue to surprise Aeris in all the ways they had soared ahead of her.

  Out of all three of them, Aeris was the only one truly caught off guard. The only one who really didn't want to leave Eubane. Why?

  In the face of two boys her age who handled the same problems seemingly without difficulty, she couldn't help but feel ashamed. Her face flushed, and she turned away from Kimon harshly.

  “I don't need something like this. I don't want to get splinters in my hair!”