22 Seven Friendly Faces

After a few days where she was running at full speed, Leilade arrived near a humble village where she could see some farmers working around. Everything was normal, not at all agitated. Thanks to her small size, she managed to bypass the very lackluster vigilance of the adults and get closer to the village. As she guessed, it was really a small town, where only a few dozens of families lived. Trying to remember the memories of the soldiers, she wondered if such location will be visited.

(Probably not, it is both too far and too small. I would advise you to reach a more appropriate target, Outlander. And I also warn you about capturing a prey here. Since it is quite close to the previous battlefield where you left the princess, any actions here will prompt a swift answer. There are no orphans or homeless weaklings here.)

Both of their thoughts were of a similar nature and soon, Leilade left that picturesque hamlet to find a bigger city. Circling around the numerous farms, she reached the dirt road that would lead her away. Not wanting to stir the attention of those that would take this path, she ran at a certain distance away from it, letting her the possibility to hide if she needed. That was quite useful since she saw several riders galloping at full speed coming from her back. She recognized the tabards of the 13th Legion and guessed that they either found the princess of the battlefield filled with mummy and skeleton.

Thankfully, besides them and some group of humans with weird equipment, she encountered only a few humans. Based on the memories she gathered, she was pretty close to a real city. One that has some population problems and was riddled with criminals. In other words, a perfect place to kill someone unnoticed. Of course, such city needed some defenses and the security was pretty high to fight the different gangs maintaining control on the slums. Meaning that an innocent child coming near one of the gates would not always be accepted inside. Well, she could always try.

Looking at her state one last time, she made some changes. Her slippers were destroyed some time ago and she was barefoot, that was good. Her little dress was not destroyed enough and was quite intact. She used her hand to pierce some holes near her stomach and knees. As for her injuries, they were not healed yet. She had put her purple armor inside her bag but the only white parcel of skin was still at her right shoulder. As for her face, it was too scary, she looked above and saw that it will be dusk in a few hours. If she arrived in the middle of the night with a face without a nose, mouth, ears, and hair, the soldiers will think that she was a ghost.

No, she couldn't stay like that. She used a small amount of the pitiful batch of darkness still inside her to cast a weak illusion spell. It only turned her head into a normal one. Now, she looked like a brown-haired little girl with freckles and blue eyes. And she had a nose and a mouth in that state. As for the weak part, it was only relative to her, nearly all the magicians in this world would have kneeled before her just to have it.

When she arrived at the gate, a short file was already formed. She didn't know if she could just cut it since she was in a pitiful state, but the two traders in front of her were quite stressed. So she just stayed behind them. Only when a group of people arrived did the situation changed. It was a group of seven men led by a tall, muscular and half-naked brute. He was nearly twice her size, but still shorter than Kardel. He had two axes hanging on his belt and all gave her a sentiment that they were strong. The way they were dispersed, protecting the two weaker and smaller men in the middle, the fact that even there they were not totally relaxed.

And while she was looking at them with her now blue eyes, the group was also looking at her with surprise. They wouldn't boast about it, but when they walked in the street, they scared a lot of small children that ran away crying. It was not their fault that their leader was a terrifying berserk that looked as friendly as a wild bear. But on the other hand, the little girl was not in the least terrified by them. Examining her from head to toe, they all looked at her burned body and destroyed clothes. What happened at such an innocent being to end up in a state like that? The began to discuss that.

"Eh, Khozak, you think we can just take her and bypass the control. I mean, look at her, she must be hungry and thirsty."

"I agree with Richard. I am no holy knight, but I remember when I grew up in the slums. My guess is, she was kidnapped and she managed to escape. The least we can do is drop her by the Church, that would be better than living in the streets."

The two talking were wearing respectively a huge armor with a shield and a sword and a leather armor with numerous weapons hanging around his body, like some throwing knives, a few daggers, and a rapier. But after they talked like that, all the group began to nod while looking at the bear man in front of them. They were respected in that part of the region and were tasked principally by the mayor and the army to investigate the unusual reports. Unlike some adventurers that were doing anything for money, they still had a conscience and they were liked by the local populace.

As for Leilade, after the initial interest with the strange group, she turned back to look at the progress of the file. But apparently, the trader was arguing with the guards, retarding everyone. One of the servants in the caravan in front of her was even complaining about the thirty minutes of waiting they already experienced. Hearing this, she was considering to leave this place and search for an alternative way to enter. Normally, a city like that had some sewers, she only hoped that one of exit was not locked. At worst, she would break it, but she rather wanted to avoid that.

"Hum, hum, little girl, he, look above."

Leilade turned around and saw the giant overhanging her. He tried to smile but it was so similar to the smile Kardel gave when he was hungry that it only looked dangerous. She was certain that if a normal child saw that, he would have passed out thinking about the monster that will eat him. On the other hand, the berserk didn't notice the fact that his smile was that scary and kept going.

"What's your name, little girl?"

"Leilade."

"Do you want to go in?"

"Yes."

"You can accompany us; we will take you to a place where you will be able to eat a lot of sweet things."

"Ok."

That surrealist discussion stunned the six men listening to it. What in the world happened in front of them? At first, they were disturbed by the cold and calculated speech of the child. They had heard a lot of people talking like that, but they were either undead, magicians with decades of experience of some patriarchs from the noble families. All in all, dangerous and very experienced beings. But the very same tone was used by the eight years old girl. The holy knight felt cold sweat on his back.

But after that initial surprise, they were mad at their leader. Why did he have to talk like a sexual predator like that? Forgetting the deep and grave voice that was not modifiable, why did the last sentence look like a pervert luring his prey to his basement? And he even used the word "we", meaning that all sevens were alike. That was too much for the pale looking priest, and he violently pushed Khozak away.

"Don't listen to him, little g… Leilade. Yes, Leilade, we will get you in and after that, you can do what you want, ok? We won't take you anywhere, we will just point to you where you can find a bed and food, that's better?"

"Ok."

The very laconic answer extinguished the fervor of the priest. Before they were only pitying her, now they were more and more curious about what could happen to a child to turn her like that. After hearing the sentence from his companion, the berserk thought about what he said and that led him to the same conclusion that the rest of the group reached; he really sounded like a sexual predator.

"Ok, enough Irion. Now climb my shoulders, we will do that quickly."

The giant human crouched and tried to help Leilade climbing on him. She had no reason to refuse, since that group was quite friendly, even if they were a little weird. At least, she will be able to enter the city easily with them. Not hesitating for a second, she agilely sat down on the berserk, without even needing his help. The man in leather armor was shocked but when he looked at his companion, he saw that none of them really noticed anything strange. Thinking that he was losing his calm for nothing, he didn't say anything.

The seven adventurers and their newly found companion bypassed everyone and immediately came in contact with the guards. They exchanged a few jokes and news, but none of them talked about the living thing moving on the shoulder of the bear man. But their eyes were fixed on her, and that caused the rest of the group to be weirdly ashamed and guilty. Only Khozak was fine and still laughing, not noticing anything. They realized that and made an internal pact of not letting their boss talk to any child in the future. That would only provoke a lot of problems.

After entering the city, the leader still kept on explaining everything and took a long time to do it. He regularly stopped in front of numerous shops and buildings, teaching the little girl everything he knew. And while the number of stares he received was not bothering him the slightest, the six men following him were more and more frenzied by the situation. Seeing that no matter what they did, they were not able to make him go faster, they took the initiative and explained beforehand what she will see.

That way, Leilade learned the name of that company. It was called Proud of Axes, but when she said it loud with her cold voice, six people sunken while only one under her glowed. She realized that this berserk was unfazed by nearly everything embarrassing. But thanks to them, she received the news she truly hoped to know. The magical test will be conducted in one day and the priest, Irion, told her that it will be done in front of the manor of the mayor. That group was very reliable, and all the infrastructures were well described. The travel ended when they finally stopped in front of an orphanage.

She finally climbed down from the tall shoulders of the giant and turned around to see the faces of those seven humans. They were appreciated by the others for their behaviors and respected for their strengths. Their death will be a moral blow but will lead to some unrest. Reaching that conclusion, she stabbed her left hand with her right nails and some of her blood leaked. Then, she took the hands of Khozak.

"Thank you Khozak."

"Irion."

"Richard."

"Jimmy."

"Pedro."

"Miguel."

"Mario."

None of them noticed the small batch of black blood that infiltrated their body. All had a huge smile on their faces, after doing such a good deed and seeing the happy child in front of them. They never expected that a lot of things will happen to them only because of that.