End War

Chapter 4 : My Name

"Pant pant pant", the Kid stopped running. Nobody chased them anymore. They're near a river bank.

"Where are we?", the Girl asked their location.

"Don't have any clue", The Kid didn't know too. They were lost somewhere in Ygdrassil.

"Let's have a rest here", the Kid needed to rest as he kept running for a night.

"You're fast, yet you could keep running all night", the Girl amazed with his stamina.

"This is our habit as a bandit for running all the time. Either run to catch up with our target or run from the kingdom's army. Though, it's my first time running while carrying someone. It feels twice as heavy", the Kid said.

"I'm sorry...", the Girl felt sorry to him while she was looking at her leg.

"Anyway, who are you exactly? Simon said you were the King of Ivra's relative", the Kid tried to change the topic.

"Pardon me for not introducing myself yet. My name is Jeanne V. Ivoria. I'm the last kid and daughter of James V. Ivor, the King of Ivra. Just call me Jeanne", the Girl introduced herself. She was the princess from Ivra, one of the big kingdom in the land.

The Kid was surprised. It was the first time for him to see a real princess.

"So that's why Exovia hired us. You have great role to Ivra", the Kid realized the purpose of his job before.

"It was truly Exovia who hired you? As I expected. They will do anything to get their goal. But if I was eliminated last night, I don't think it would give great damage to Ivra. As you can see, I'm disabled. I can't walk around on my own. People looked at me with pitying eyes. I can't gain power as they threaten me as their poor little princess. Yet, from all the King's children, it is only me who isn't a Gifted", Jeanne explained her condition. The topic went back to the topic that the Kid tried to change.

"Ehem, it's rather strange to confide in strangers. Anyway, what's your name?", Jeanne asked the Kid's name.

"My name is .... The bandit called me Kid, I don't really have a name", all those times, the Kid didn't have a name.

"Wow, it's strange for a person to don't have a name. Kid.... Ahh, I know. Let me call you Kido. It' your name from now", Jeanne gave the Kid a name, Kido.

"Kido? From Kid? I don't understand what makes it different, but you can call me what you want", he said as it was just a simple thing. But, deep in his heart, he felt warm. He smiled thinly. He didn't remember when the last time he smiled.

"Thank you for saving me, Kido. But I wonder, why did you save me last night?" Jeanne asked Kido's intention in saving her.

"It's nothing. I want to leave that stupid gank for a long time, but I don't know where to go. Last night, I saw a reason to leave them", Kido explained his reason for saving her.

"Do you regret it?", Jeanne asked.

"Not in a single mind", Kido didn't regret it at all.

"Then after we've come to Ivra, you must become my royal guard! It is just like a fairytale in the book, isn't it. I met a guy I don't know somewhere, then we became friend", Jeanne said.

"Not a bad idea, but we must take you back to your guard first. I think it's a bad idea to come back to Ygdrassil's huge tree. We can meet the bandit if we are unlucky. I think we can go in the opposite direction from the huge tree. Once we get out from Ygdrassil, we can take you to the village inside Ivra region and report to any guard", Kido explained her plan to escape.

"I don't mind your idea, but if we go in the opposite direction we have to walk through a long route. It will be tough for you since I can't....", Jeanne worried for Kido.

"We will walk in the daytime and take a rest if moon has shown its eyes. It will take a longer time, but we can save our energy in case there are unexpected dangers. Let's focus to catch a breath for now. We will make a move after then", Kido asked her to continue her rest.

After a while, they made their move. Kido carried Jeanne on her back. His hands supported her legs. Jeanne's hand was around his shoulder and neck. He walked slowly while observing around.

"Hey look! There are some big plants with beautiful flower. Wowww, I haven't seen them in Ivra", Jeanne saw big plants with colorful flowers. Its trunk was sturdy. The flowers were quite big too.

"You must have seen them while you and your guard were going to the heart of Ygdrassil, haven't you?", Kido asked

"No, I haven't seen them... Julius told me to keep inside the cart. I've read them in the library book. They call it "Death Flower". Its beautiful look attracts its target the it will eat them. It is carnivore though", Jeanne had read many books and knew a lot of things in Ygdrassil though she had not seen them before.

"It's good to tell me now, I've just wanted to go nearing it. Please tell me earlier if you know and see any dangerous creatures here", Kido is the opposite of Jeanne. He didn't know many things because he didn't like to read books.

As they walked, they saw many weird, beautiful, and dangerous things. There were squirrels with wings. There were basilisks like before. There was a huge hot waterfall.

"Kido, the water here is warm. I'm curious about their taste", Jeanne was curious with many things at there.

"Hey, we don't know yet if it is safe or ~", Kido tried to stop her.

"Sluuurrrpppp, ahhhh. It is so fresh, Kido! It was just like drinking hot tea without the tea!", Jeann had already drank it.

"So it is just a mere hot water, you mean it. It seemed it isn't poisonous. Next time, don't do careless act", Kido warned her.

"Hmm... Kido, you become more like Julius", she said.

A while then, the night had come. Kido made a campfire. They were resting. They ate fruits they'd found on the way. Then they're gonna sleep.

"It is my first time sleeping on the ground, hearing the nature voices.", Jeanne used to sleep in a silent voice in her castle. On the other side, Kido used to sleep in noisy because of the drunk bandit.

"Make sure you have a good rest otherwise you will be sick and slow us down", Kido reminded her.

"I know, Kido. This is new experience for me....Zzzzzz", Jeanne had fell asleep. She must be tired. Then, Kido fallen asleep too.

To be continued...