Asta Silva - Childhood and travel

Chapter 18

I looked at the gryphon with mixed feelings. On one hand I was terrified and speechless. because, well, there's a creature in front of me that could kill me. On the other hand, I felt excited and elated. Not everyday do you see such a rare animal up close! In Clover there are no gryphons, they all went away because of poachers. The greed of that old fart, who calls himself king, did that. Because ha just has to have pillows filled with gryphon feathers, 'cause why not.

I sincerely hated that thing, because I won't call him a human being. If I had to choose between him and Solid, I would choose Solid. Really. I'd rather throw him somewhere, where no one would ever find him. I'm still wondering how no one ejected him from the throne yet.

I returned to reality when another growl sounded. Well... If this gryphon won't kill me, Liebe will surely finish the job for him.

I closed my eyes. After a few seconds, which felt like infinity, I felt the gryphons breath on my face. My heart got stuck in my throat and I wanted to vomit. Though I'm not sure if the second one was because of nerves, or because his breath stank like he never brushed his teeth in his life. Ew. Why does everyone in these times never brush their teeth or take something to refresh their breath? It's really not that hard!

After a few seconds or minutes I stopped smelling that foul breath. I sighed with relief when I could finally breathe freely, but my eyes stayed closed. I heard the sound of trees and branches breaking, which meant it went away. I opened my eyes and seeing the creature that could kill me gone, I sighed with relief again, letting my body relax. Unfortunately that was a mistake, because my legs got weak and I fell.

***

I woke up on a soft bed, covered with something warm. A blanket, probably. The first thing I saw after opening my eyes was Liebe's angry face.

Oops.

"What were you thinking?!" He shouted as a greeting. Ow, my ears.

"Firstly: Good morning. I'm also glad to see you, my dear travelling companion" The spirit looked as if he wanted to strangle me with his bare hands. "Secondly: What exactly is going on?" I asked, hoping he doesn't know anything about the gryphon.

If he doesn't, then I won't tell him. You can call me many things, but a masochist isn't one of them. I think.

"Why the hell did you go out to the woods in the middle of the night? I almost got a heart attack when I saw you weren't there in the morning, and then I found you unconscious in the forest!"

"I'm sorry" I really felt bad. But not because of what I did. I would do it again. But I didn't want to worry Liebe.

"Ugh, what do I have with you, brat..." He sighed. "What even happened out there? Why were you unconscious?"

"I'm not sure" Theoretically I wasn't lying. I wasn't sure why I fainted. Maybe because of fatigue or stress. But it's weird, since it never happened before. Well... I've never met a gryphon before either, but you've got to try new things, right? Even if unwillingly.

"Why did you even go out there?" He asked, resignated.

"Curiosity" I said mysteriously.

"Knowing you, I'd rather not know what you mean by that" He sighed.

Oh, you have no idea.

***

It's been a year since that dreadful encounter with the gryphon. I dedicated this time to learning blacksmithing, language, and just about everything that I could. Mikuno was very helpful. Thanks to him I've learned more that I have with those teachers my Father paid. He says that soon I'll be his competition, but I don't think I'm doing that great. What he said was nice, but there surely were more people better than me.

Liebe was hovering over me like a mother hen most of the time. Sometimes he even went with me to the bathroom. Recently his worries increased, because there were some rumors about an uprising or something, and he didn't want me to get into the military conflict of another country. When I told him that I wouldn't do that, both he and Mikuno looked at me like I just said the dumbest thing on Earth. I don't attract that much trouble, do I?

Well, it's true that a few times I stopped a thief that wanted to rob some old ladies — who showered me with cookies everytime, very tasty cookies, might I add — but that didn't mean anything, right?

I befriended a big chunk of the town. Sometimes, to make some extra money, I looked after children. At first I didn't want any money for that, but the people themselves insisted on it.

Right now I'm walking through town and I'm looking for some open shop. This whole day was weird. Mikuno-san sent me in the morning for some grocery shopping, which he doesn't usually do, since he doesn't want me to overwork myself. There were some shops open earlier, but now it's empty everywhere. As if everyone vanished.

I frowned, feeling bad because I didn't see anyone for the past two hours.

Why wasn't anyone here?

I didn't like being alone, but now I just felt utterly isolated. Even Liebe wasn't with me, because he wanted to sleep more. I took a deep breath and went on my way.

Maybe I'll meet someone familiar?

***

After an hour of searching, still nothing. I felt frustrated. Is everyone avoiding me? Did they find out that I don't have magic and don't want to see me anymore? I've never hidden that fact, but I also never talked about it because I feared rejection.

Suddenly I saw a lady that I sometimes babysat for. I smiled widely and waved, but she looked at me with fear and fleed. The smile fell from my face and tears gathered in my eyes.

Did everyone really began to dislike me? Hate me?

I sighed and dragged myself towards the house. I didn't finish shopping, but I had no way to do that, so I didn't care. Maybe people will come out if Mikuno goes out shopping.

I can't do anything about the fact that no one wants to talk to me. I won't bother those people anymore. If they really hate me, then I'll just go away... I don't know where, I'll just go where my feet take me.

I felt that my cheeks were wet. I touched them, confused, and saw that I was crying. I rubbed the tears from my face. I didn't want to worry Liebe when I came back.

I... don't want to go anywhere. It's the first time when I felt welcome somewhere, like how it was supposed to be at home. If I could, I will do anything for everyone to like me again!

I went ahead with new determination. I opened the door to the house, but didn't see anyone inside.

"Liebe? Mikuno-san?" I yelled, but silence anwsered me. What's going on?

I went to the armory, where Mikuno kept all the weapons. I heard noises from that direction, so maybe they are there. It's the biggest room in the house, filled with all kinds of weapons.

I opened the door and turned on the lights.

"Surprise!"