Lilia's Tale

Chapter 53: Identity

We walked for a short moment until we arrived in front of the academy. The size mesmerized me once again, though quite significantly less than my first impression. It was probably due to our suspicious follower, although it also lost part of the effectiveness of a first impression.

Father went to ask the entrance guard if we would be able to meet with the principal.

"Unfortunately, he is currently unavailable. I do not know why, but he will be back in around a week from now. Additionally, the place is closed."

"Is he even in town?"

"I don't think so, no."

"Well that's unfortunate. Thank you regardless."

Father sighed and we moved back towards the town center. I was a little surprised by the move, as the person we were suspicious of would normally be in that way.

"You coming?"

"Ah, sorry."

Not having realized I was lagging behind, I quickly caught up to him and we went ahead. I noticed we went past our stalker, although he seemed to simply continue in the same direction. He was probably acting like he wasn't doing anything suspicious and just went that way.

As we arrived back at the fountain, Father put his hand on my shoulder.

"He's still behind us. At this point, there isn't a question anymore."

"Who is he after though? You or me?"

"That's a good question. Should we split up to see?"

"I think that's a good idea. We need to... Wait, he stayed outside watching me when you went into the town hall, so he's probably watching me."

"You're right, actually. Then, should we get onto him?"

"Sure thing. How do we do it?"

"I'll go into the town hall to look for more info for potential houses to buy or even build. Meanwhile, you slowly go back towards the inn, okay?"

"That sounds about right to me. Let's do it."

Without any further comment, I headed back towards where I thought the inn was. I could feel myself being followed shortly after I entered the main way towards the inn. My mind was making this noticeably more stressful than it had to be, pondering uselessly on the worst-case scenarios. I pushed myself to keep walking, despite my growing need for a place to hide.

As I continued acting as bait, I realized I didn't have any way of knowing if or when Father had caught the individual. Thinking back on it, I stopped in the middle of the road, slowly succumbing to the idea that everything was for naught because of this.

As I dove deeper into my own spiralling mind, I heard someone talk in front of me. Returning to reality to check, I noticed a man squatting right in front of me. He was maybe around twenty-five, and no facial hair whatsoever. He seemed soft, if anything.

"Hello?" I instinctively said.

"Is everything okay? You were spacing out in the middle of the road."

"Ah, yeah, I was just thinking about something. My apologies if I worried you."

"Well, I can't exactly help you with your own thoughts. Though, where are your parents?"

While I felt relatively hurt that the first thing a stranger would ask when seeing me was where my parents were, I knew it was normal. However, it also meant that expectations were put, so I tried to fit within those expectations.