Chapter 3: Voneveir

"Stop standing idly, let's go."

Clad knew the way in and out of the path that he had carved on his own. Pulling some sticks, he closed the path they came from.

"This way, it will buy us some time to escape."

Frank was still holding Alex's arm who seemed to be in a daze.

"Who are they? Are they looking for you? What do they want from you?"

Full of questions, Clad was a bit annoyed.

"Long story."

"I want to know. They ruined your house and-"

"Frank, there is a good benefit in not knowing something. It's for your safety."

With confusion on his face, Frank couldn't accept the answer that he had.

"But Brother Clad."

"Frank, I will tell you what you want to know but first, we have to get out of this place."

Some soil started to fall in their direction.

"We have to run."

"But…"

"Come, follow me!"

Running, every step and every change of direction they made, didn't make any changes at all. The sound above the ground remained the same. As if it was following them.

'Brother Clad was mad when he learned that I know about Kranses. He seems to hold a great resentment towards Voneveir. But… what did he do for the Voneveir guards to chase him? And are they the ones behind that Kranses poison? The uniform they had isn't so different from what it was when I died… if so…'

There was a hole in the upper part of the ground. They were digging their way inside.

"Alex, stay behind me, I will protect you."

Frank stated firmly as he hid Alex behind him.

'No… they are doing it again. Putting the life of someone I care about in danger… and just like what happened, I still have no power to protect them or even protect myself…'

"Tch, this is all my fault, the two of you got caught up in this mess because of me…"

Hands forming a fist, Clad was full of annoyance in his eyes. They watched how the hole above started to get bigger.

'Both paths are cornered… how did they know this…'

"There is no other way, I hate to do this but… close your eyes, you two."

"What-"

And with Clad hugging the two kids, they just closed their eyes, ready to welcome the Voneveir’s guards that were chasing them. But instead of hearing the sound of the soil falling from the hole above, birds chirping and water dripping from the lake were the sounds they heard.

"B-brother Clad?"

Holding the two, Clad felt the blood dripping from his nose.

"Sit down first, I will get some water for you to wipe your nose-"

Frank saw it and immediately let Clad go to sit down but his offer wasn't accepted.

Shaking his head, Clad wiped his nose.

"No, I can't say that we are safe. My mana is not that high and judging by how my body is doing, I can't do that again to save us. We must go right away before they discover where we are."

Alex couldn't help but be amazed at how he again saw a power like that.

"Brother Clad… are you related to a man named Conor Higgens?"

It seemed to catch Clad’s attention. With annoyance in his eyes, he couldn't help but halt in his steps.

"How do you know that old man?"

Surprised, Alex knew that what he said would just raise more suspicions but his curiosity about Clad’s relation with Conor, and that power that only descendants of Higgens have, made him ask anyway.

"The skill you used…"

The sound of bushes moving was heard. They were well aware that none of them were safe at the moment.

"We are not done yet."

Alex nodded his head and followed Clad. Meanwhile, Frank was now silent as he couldn't seem to catch up with what was happening.

'I am hungry…'

Hearing the sound of Frank’s stomach, Clad looked at him and said,

"Don’t worry, we are almost there."

And so, in a dark alley, they went through as they passed the forest, no other people could be seen walking around other than the three of them.

"Shank, it is me."

The door that didn't look like one opened the moment Clad knocked in a pattern. In just an instant, a head peeked at them and to their left and right. The moment he assured them that they were with no one else, he pulled them inside.

"Whoa…"

A small space with lots of potions on shelves could be seen. 

"Long time, Clad. But who are these brats?"

A man with an eyepatch revealed himself. Clad did not answer and instead headed to the kitchen hiding behind the curtain door.

"What… really? After a long time of not showing up you would appear with these two brats?"

"Who are you?"

Alex asked with confusion. For some reason, he did look familiar. But something was not quite right… 

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Why answer a question with another question?"

Most of the people that he encountered were different from those he associated with in his past life. No one was concerned about him like Frank was even if he held no power or position. No one would dare corner him on the ground like Clad did, although, to kill him was another thing. But indeed, it was not his daily thing to deal with people talking with a mouth like this man.

"Ahh right Clad, now what are you going to do about those morons?"

"Hide from them?"

Clad answered as he didn’t even dare turn his gaze on him. 

"Hide…"

Alex mumbled. 

'All this time, what I did was hide. If there was something I couldn’t face, I hid. If there was something I was afraid to do, I hid. I ran away and hid…'

Even with Shank and Clad talking, it just passed from his left ear to his right.

'Even in my last moments, I was running away. Hiding…'

"If we keep hiding, we will just live in fear. Hiding won’t make them disappear…"

Mumbling those words, even Frank was surprised to hear it. When all he knew was Alex, the kid who hated to be caught by the guards, Alex, the one who he saw hiding in one corner near the pile of garbage. Even with his stomach aching after such hunger, those words made him smile a bit. 

'Alex…'

"If we keep hiding, we will live. Hiding won’t make them disappear, yes. But not hiding would make you disappear."

With his stern voice, Shank walked and stopped right in front of Alex.

"You see kid, stop that big dream of yours. You want to fight those guards? If you want to die then go on. You see this eye?" 

"Are they the ones who did that?"

"If you don't want to lose one eye, better listen to what I said."

And by that, he left to sit in the stairway. 

"The other one will have to wait."

Clad came with a sandwich in his hand. It was hot and smoking. Even the cheese inside was melted.

"Alex, you should eat first. I bet you are hungry-"

"You can eat first Frank. I am fine, thank you."

"Really?"

His eyes sparkled at the sight of the sandwich.

"Yes, I will wait till the other one is done."

About to take a bite, Shank semi-shouted.

"That is one gold per loaf."

"O-one g-gold?"

Stuttering, Frank’s face turned into stone. Getting one silver coin was impossible for him. Let alone having a gold coin.

'This sandwich is worth a gold coin?!'

Dismayed, he knew that he could never dream of eating something lavish. But the sandwich in his hand looked so appetizing that he could eat lots of it without getting full. 

"Hey, Shank, stop teasing them."

"Hahahah that face is hilarious hahah, just a joke kiddo. Eat that to your heart’s content."

“??!”

.

.

.

"Brother Clad, may I know your connection with Conor?"

Giving him his sandwich, Alex sat and saw how Clad sat in the chair in front of him.

"I am his grandson. His daughter is my mom. Not because you are Frank’s friend will I leave my suspicions with you. And not because you saved me, I owe you one. That food is enough, right?"

He knew that the Clad in front of him was different from what he heard from Frank. But for some reason, he couldn’t help but think that his words and actions befitted someone with that ranking before.

'So you are his grandson… I never met even your daughter but here I am talking with your grandson.'

"Is he still alive?"

"That old man? He is dead for good!"