132 3.44 A plan - Part 4

"Again, I just did what I thought was right. Anyway, it looks like my part in the discussion is over. I need to return to what I was doing. Please excuse me."

I walked out of the tent early since it looked like they wanted to discuss a few things privately. There were still some people left who needed treatment, but their condition wasn't serious, so the holy mages would probably be able to handle that.

"Mom, mom, I am hungry."

"Please wait a little longer, sweetie. They will start preparing dinner soon."

A little girl, who was probably around six years old, was holding on to her mother's clothes. Her mother was looking around to see if anyone could help, but unfortunately, there was no one. Everyone was busy with their own struggles.

I wish I could move forward and help them, but I myself had nothing. It was painful to just watch them like that, but what else could I do?

I could go somewhere, bring the food and feed them. However, how many mouths would I be able to feed like that? It wasn't just one or two. We had thousands of people here.

I lowered my head as I walked past them. It wasn't because of shame, but because I was feeling hollow.

"Master, I think you should stop overthinking. There is just so much a man can do."

Sam was right. But even though I knew that, I couldn't help but feel empty. That's how I had always been. It was hard for me to ignore people suffering right in front of me.

When he saw no change in my facial expression, Sam continued.

"You can't help it, can you? Although I think you should know that this world is bigger than it seems. There are people with a worse fate than this."

"I guess, I feel based on what I see. Isn't that what being a human means?"

"It is, but if you keep on thinking like that, you will never be able to be happy."

"...maybe."

I looked at the sky, and it had already started getting darker. Since we still didn't have enough tents, we would probably need to sleep outside tonight. However, I was just glad that we were able to arrange tents for women, children, and the injured.

It was then that something came to my mind. It was a crazy idea, but there are times when those crazy ideas feel you with so much excitement that you decided to go with it. That was what just happened to me.

"Sam, you can return to others. I think I will take a look around and return in a while."

Sam smiled; he probably noticed the change in my facial expression. 

"Alright. I hope you are able to return before dinner, master."

I nodded in response. I then walked towards the deeper part of the forest, while Sam just walked towards where everyone else was.

"Boy, it's not safe to go there?"

"Oh! You are the boy from the morning. Where are you going?"

Even though he was surprised at the start, he wasn't showing that big of a reaction. It was probably because of what the Duke did this morning.

"I was just trying to see if I can get a big enough animal for dinner. Please don't worry about me; I will be fine."

"Okay, if you say so."

After the knight left, I kept walking forward. The thing I was planning to do wasn't that great, but it was definitely going to help in the situation we were in right now.

After I reached pretty deep in the forest, I contacted Flare telepathically.

[Flare, can you hear me?]

[Yes, master. Is there some sort of problem?]

[No, I just wanted to know if you are busy or not. If you are, I will call Yoru.]

[Wait! I mean, I am free. I treated most of the injured. There are only a few left, but the healing team is taking care of them.]

[Then, I will summon you here. Please get to somewhere where there aren't many people.]

Many people already knew that Flare was a spirit, but making someone disappear right in front of them wasn't a good idea. There could be people with weak hearts there.

I waited for a while, and after a few seconds, Flare contacted me again.

[Yes, master. I am ready.]

I summoned the purest flame within me, and from there, Flare emerged like usual. But unlike before, she was in her human form.

Her clothes were made up of flames, but as soon as her feet touched the floor, she changed back into the attire she had before — white top and black midi skirt.

"Master, are we going somewhere?"

"Yeah, let's go as high as we can, Flare."

The two of us lifted ourselves in the air and continued going as high as we could. We were fast, so the air resistance was huge, but I countered it using wind magic and my mana cloak. As we moved higher, the air started getting less dense, and when it looked like we reached a reasonable height, I stopped.

From up there, I could see the lands far away and even the ocean in the south. I could see the sun setting and the lands slowly being covered in darkness. The view from there was hard to describe in words, but if I had to choose one, I would say it was amazing.

"Master, what are we going to do here?"

"Please wait a little longer, and you would understand."

After a while, it got completely dark, and in that darkness, I could see several small groups of lights on the ground beneath us.

"Flare, we are going to go towards those lights. They are the villages near the city. If we ask them for assistance with food and clothing, they might be able to help us."

"I understand, master."

The two of us then started flying towards one of the villages on the southern side of the city. I wasn't planning to go as far as the Calm village, but I was hoping to notify all the towns and villages around and request their assistance.

: Requesting aid