Chapter 921: Aldric’s Kindness
"Good job. For hanging on till now."
That was all he said. He sat next to
in silence, ensuring that I could rest comfortably.
But how could I?
This was soone who knew what I had done. The whispers I told the mothers who carved pieces of themselves over and over.
Why?
That was the only thing on my mind as I slumbered that night.
Why would soone like him act like this?
The next morning, we continued through the snow.
He didn’t ask anything else, he simply stood at the front to protect everyone who was still alive.
What little signs of life they could find, he would chase.
If it’s a beast, it was food for them to have. If it were other people, he would try to save them.
We had 3 more additions to our group since he joined.
More mouths to feed yet strangely... everyone was surviving.
There’s no need to sacrifice for at.
He simply hunted what he could, rationed carefully and distributed the food.
If this famine was darkness, he was the ray of light for others to cling on.
They soared towards that light like moths to a fla.
But I stood still.
Everything I learned, everything I sacrificed. Everything I’ve had to do...
They were imprinted onto my mind.
The longer I spent looking at this man, the more I felt blinded by his radiance.
And I...
Couldn’t accept it.
I could tell the others were giving up on . There was only so much my father’s good will could do. And it was reaching its limit.
To them, the young
who couldn’t accept Aldric’s kindness was a parasite.
Soone who clearly couldn’t fit into the new system.
And...
As soone who couldn’t fit in, I didn’t belong.
When they ate food, I sat away. When they slept, I made sure I wasn’t a bother.
But Aldric kept sitting next to . He kept bringing the conversation over, disturbing my peace.
They were beginning to warn him. Even when I was in earshot of the conversation.
In fact, they made sure I could hear, just like the whispers I gave to the mothers.
"It’s clear she doesn’t want your help Sir Aldric."
"She’s not helping at all."
"There are others who need your kindness right now. We’re in a famine, there’s only so much we can do by hoping we find prey."
"She’s dragging everyone down."
I turned away, tuning out the conversation to the best of my ability.
Of course I knew they hated .
The roles simply reversed.
Before Aldric ca along, I was the ’light’ of the group.
A twisted one for sure, but one that allowed them to walk another day.
One that took on the sins for the decisions.
Any of them could’ve chosen to make the call.
But they didn’t. They hesitated.
I made the call.
I made the choice to begin filtering out the weak.
I was the devil they pushed to the front.
And now that Aldric has co along, I wasn’t needed anymore.
I wasn’t needed...
They wanted to discard .
. . .
I felt his hand brush my hair.
"Don’t listen to them. This famine brings out the worst in people." He comforted.
I couldn’t hold my silence anymore.
"You only say that because you are strong." I rebutted.
If my father had his powers, if the hunters had his powers, we wouldn’t be in this state.
If soone like him appeared sooner, maybe I wouldn’t have had to do what I did.
Maybe I wouldn’t feel like I’m sleeping on a bed of needles.
Maybe I wouldn’t be scared of being discarded like the ones I chose as my victims.
"That I can’t deny. But I wasn’t always like that. Even with this power, I was scared." I didn’t turn around.
But I could feel a sadness from his voice, his slightly forced chuckle.
"Either way make sure you get plenty of rest okay? Tomorrow might be a little tough. We’ll have to cover more ground if we want to find sothing to hunt."
I could feel his hand patting my back.
Even in this coldness... I felt warm.
But did I deserve this treatnt? After everything I did.
I didn’t know.
So many thoughts flying through my head. In that mont, I just wanted to close my eyes forever and stop thinking.
The morning ca as usual. The sa cold, the sa hunger.
I heard soone muttering under their breath not far from
and glanced over.
Aldric kneeled in front of his sword.
He stabbed it into the ground as though it was a gravestone and seed to be praying.
Was he hoping for a good hunt?
Whatever it was, he stopped after noticing
staring at him.
"Sorry, did I wake you up?"
I shook my head.
Standing up, he removed his sword from the ground and brought over so rations that he heated up by the fire.
I noticed the rations becoming smaller.
It’s been a few days without a hunt and they’re beginning to ration things even more carefully. To make sure that everyone still has energy despite the hunger.
And soon, they’ll have to consider the solutions I had to.
Surely they had to... right?
I paused. I realised I was trying to use this chance to justify my choices. To prove that I was right after all, that the guilt I felt was fake.
All so that I could feel better about myself, that I could laugh in the faces of those that tried to abandon .
Ah... How twisted I’ve beco.
Would my mother and father still recognise ? What has beco of the little girl they gave everything for.
With the decrease in hunts and the increase of careful rationing, the vibe of the camp began to change. They were beginning to whisper doubts whenever Aldric wasn’t around.
The way their eyes scanned the camp to see who’s weakest.
Wondering if it’s possible to ’deal’ with them out of sight to gain more rations.
I didn’t say anything, I pretended not to notice.
When he returned, the camp fell silent once more.
With the decrease in rations, we fell back to our old ways.
Wood was now also being used as food in order to push away the hunger for as long as possible.
The rations we have are absolute last resorts.
Children are usually perceptive about the atmosphere around them.
And for , I could see the shadows of death drifting closer.
If nothing is to be done-
"People will die right?" Aldric sat down next to .
Was I speaking out loud? Did I leak my thoughts into my words?
But he shook his head.
"I’m familiar with those eyes of yours. In troubled tis, you begin to see similarities between people. Eyes of those that are giving up, those that have given up. And those trying to find an answer even in monts like this." He explained, patting her head.
"Even though the road you paved towards hope is one covered with blood, I do not bla you. For that is the only road they could’ve walked for another day of survival.
"You did the best you could. Now don’t worry, this burden is not one for kids to handle. Let the adult, , take burden from now. Believe in
and I will push you to tomorrow." Aldric grinned.
That night I couldn’t muster a single word.
My throat tightened. The words inside my head were stuck.
I simply clung onto him as he wrapped
under his cape to keep
warm.
I wish I could be like him.
The only thoughts in my head are ones where I need to sacrifice soone. But he was different. He was still trying to find hope.
I chose to believe in him. To trust that he’ll carry us to tomorrow.
I understood why I felt sickened at first.
Because I didn’t want to put my survival in the hands of another. I didn’t want to rely on other people...
I was scared that I’ll be abandoned like those who heard my whispers.
But with him... I felt like I could trust him.
Every ti he spoke, I could feel my doubts floating away. Even in this famine, this endless snow, I felt myself believing that I’ll reach tomorrow so long as he was around.
I felt that I could maybe go back to how I used to be next to him.
That night was one of the best nights I slept. No doubts, no worries.
Just blissful silence next to soone I knew would protect .
After that day, I stayed close to Aldric.
I wanted to learn from him, learn how to beco a better person. Even in this ti of need, I wanted to be like him.
Where he walked, I would follow.
Where he rested, I would sit next to him.
When he gathered firewood with everyone else, I stood near him and helped.
It didn’t matter how exhausting it got, I made sure I was near Aldric so that I could learn.
I felt that if I were next to him, this twisted side of
would disappear.
###
Alice took a deep breath. Having made several laps around the zone to get as many Embryos as possible, she had finally reached the max capacity of stats in the second zone.
Speed, Endurance and Spiritual were all maxed out as expected. The rest of her points were split evenly between Physicality and Power.
Like before, she avoided putting points into Faith.
Standing in front of the arena, Alice could feel her heart beating against her chest.
She was slightly nervous.
Even with these stats, she felt dwarfed by the aura of the man kneeling in the middle.
The red haired knight who felt like an unsheathed blade.
Calming her mind, she stepped into the arena.
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