"Ah! Ah, a... a... half..." His voice becomes quiet as he trails off, even cracking slightly at the end. But even if the sentence isn't complete, I can finish it myself.
'A half-elf, huh? He's like Merle, then. A halfling as well. Well, I shouldn't tease the kid so much. He'll seriously end up crying at this rate.'
I nod and step closer to him. "Don't worry. My... friend is a half as well. Your secret's safe with me." As a reassurance, I offer him a small smile, which seems to have an effect as he seems slightly calmer compared to just a few seconds ago.
However, my attention keeps getting averted thanks to those delicous-looking vegetables in his fardel. I'm craving some good food. Even one of those carrots would suffice at this point.
"Huh? Really?! Whew... I'm really glad!" A relieved sigh breaks my trance-like state, and I turn to look back at the kid. That's when I can't help but notice just how childlike and innocent he seems at this exact moment.
'Well, I also shouldn't judge a book by its cover, after all. He may not be as innocent as he seems. It's better to stay on guard even around children like this one right here.'
With that warning in mind, I give the kid a reassuring smile and a nod to confirm my own words and ease his worry. With a gentle pat on my horse, I continue talking.
"I'll keep it a secret, don't worry. Let's make this fair and square, shall we? I know your secret now, so I'll tell you one of my own!"
His eyes light up at my words, and I put on a slightly dry smile, masking it behind a somewhat warm expression, which I force myself to put on for the sake of this little boy.
"I'm from Lafiel, but I befriended someone who's just like you, a half-elf, so I ended up in Silvailia with him. That's why I know Elvish and didn't realise my slip-up. Are we even now?"
A small grin stretches across my lips as I put a finger up to them, subtly hinting that he should keep this a secret as well and just accept my words like they're not lies. He doesn't know that, though.
Although the lie isn't completely wrong either.
"Yes, sir!" His words are accompanied by an eager nod of his head and a wide smile that seems to brighten up the tense atmosphere, which was still there just a moment ago.
"Call me Alaire." I sigh slightly, my eyes locking with his sparkling blue ones. "Okay! I'm Ros, s‐Alaire!" He quickly corrects himself and lets out a small giggle.
'What a funny boy.' A slight yet an actually genuine smile forms on my face once I relax slightly. His bright smile and seemingly innocent nature make my heart warm up ever so slightly.
'Perhaps he'll be useful in the future... But he seems kinda young. I'm guessing around 10 years old. That's a bit young to be travelling by yourself around a treacherous path like the one I came from. Is that the norm here in Elarion?'
My eyes drift across his face, taking in every detail before they settle down on his nose. A light blue, wave-shaped marking stretches across his whole nose.
'Huh? The Water attribute. He's quite young, but he already has powers? That makes me wonder how old you actually have to be to awaken and get your powers. Maybe it differs for everyone in Elarion?'
While pondering, the boy's eyes trail up to analyse my own markings with a critical eye.
'That marking looks familiar... What is it, though? I feel like I've seen it before. It's rare to see this, that's for sure.'
Ros thinks and stares at me. With a sigh, my thoughts fall back into place. 'I'm still missing some key parts, but I've basically pieced almost everything together. Excluding Hewie... She's a damn mystery.'
"So, Ros... Would you mind showing me your village? And maybe share a carrot with me? Pretty please?" I give him a slightly pleading look, hoping that he won't mind me visiting the village and eating his vegetables.
"Sure. I'll also make you some food, mis- Alaire." With a nod, he starts leading the way. I take my horse's reins and follow Ros alongside my stallion, who only snorts a bit.
While we walk, I notice the name of the village on a sign nearby. Greenvale village. An interesting name. It's simple, but it seems to hold a deeper meaning than simply some weird characters carved into a piece of wood, stuck in soil to show the way.
Along the whole way, Ros introduces the village briefly, saying something about Grenvake being a province of Alamoria.
Then, Ros leads me to a two-story wooden building and takes my horse, leading it to a manger of water, closing the gate of the horse shelter.
Surprisingly, my horse seems to be calm around strangers. I remember that some horses from my hometown didn't take strangers too well and were rather moody sometimes. But they never caused any accidents... At least none that I know of.
While Ros is tending to my horse, I take a good look at the building. The wood is slightly darker, but not too much. It's made out of walnut wood. There's white paint on the end of each wooden plank. The sign that hangs above the entrance is slightly tilted to the right, but it doesn't seem as though the owner would ever bother to fix it.
'White Molse, huh? So is it a tavern or something? Sounds like it, tonbe honest.'
I muse to myself, and just then, Ros comes back. "Let's go inside!" He beams and drags me into the building, opening the front door carelessly like this isn't the first time doing such a deed. Barging in like a madman...