Chapter 55: Departure

Under normal circumstances I would let her help me out in these battles… But I can’t when it means breaking the promise I made to Airi.

It already feels like I broke it with letting her heal my chest wound, just I can’t let it be anything more than that. Fighting with my own strength and power is better than relying on her anyway.

I don’t know the long term side effects of the infection yet either. She could end up using this to take more control if I don’t do things carefully.

“I just can’t rely on you like that. Fighting like I’ve been is the best solution for the time being,” I say while keeping a calm tone.

The sadness in her eyes only seems to get worse.

“There’s nothing I can do to convince you… Just know that I’m here when you do change your mind,” Celeste replies as she turns around.

Everything disappears in an instant as I wake up to the sight of Amelia next to my bed once again. This time around she doesn’t scare me since I kind of had a feeling for some reason.

She is watching my arm again, even though it is wrapped up.

It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me but it could be because she is curious if I’ll turn into one of the zierel. I didn’t think about it like that at first.

That is quite the logical assumption to make based off of what she was doing when we first ran into each other.

She also doesn’t trust people very much either which is the other thing.

“Good morning to you too,” I say quietly.

“Sorry. Honestly I just get curious about the infection in your arm,” She apologizes.

“It is fine,” I say with a laid back tone. “Did you pack what you need?

“I did, we just need to head out the door,” Amelia answers as she stands up.

“Probably best not to waste any time then,” I say while standing up from my bed.

I grab my stuff and walk past her, quickly making my way into the main room. Airi is waiting in here for us, not that I am surprised by it in the slightest.

She appears to be holding a paper in her hands of some sort.

“Yo,” I say to get her attention.

Airi turns her attention away from the paper in her hands.

“Good morning Liam, I was just looking at the map,” Airi replies calmly.

“Is that map for us?” I ask curiously.

“Of course. I want to make sure you have a clear idea of where to head first,” Airi answers with a smile.

I walk over and she hands the map over to me.

It is setup quite nicely for us. Airi drew a line from the church through the streets and out of the city. The path is basically highlighted for us and it seems we are heading for some sort of fortified city.

This definitely looks like it’ll take us a couple of days to get to as well. In short this is not going to be a light trip by any means, not that it is a big deal.

“I also gave Amelia the food for the two of you; I’ll probably bring more when I join you,” Airi says with happiness in her voice.

“Gives us something to look forward to then,” I reply, returning a smile.

I hear footsteps approaching from behind me and turn to see that Amelia is looking around me at the map.

“We have our work cut out for us. It’ll definitely be a long walk,” She says while staring at the map.

“Best not to waste any time then,” Airi responds.

Airi walks over after that and gives me a hug before letting us leave the church. She pats Amelia on the head as well.

With that we exit the church, beginning our departure for this fortified city. The streets are also a lot quieter around here since killing all of those Zierel around here.

Airi also did a lot of hunting herself so I’m sure we won’t have any problems getting out of the city.

It does feel different to walk with someone else through these streets after spending all that time with Airi. I don’t really mind the feeling but it will be an adjustment.

But the first hour goes by without any issues as we reach the end of the road. Our lantern that Airi gave us is enough to see the now leaving sign.

“I don’t know what to expect beyond this point so we should be on guard,” I advise with a cautious tone.

“Probably the best idea anyway,” Amelia agrees as she pulls out her knife.

I pull out my sword as well before we continue to walk. The streets ahead are filled with deserted cars, remnants of bodies, and blood stains everywhere.

It is definitely brutal to follow this road but I’m sure we’ll be able to handle most of the zierel that come our way.

Another hour passes by…

It doesn’t feel like a whole lot is out this way but I don’t really mind the silence right now. It means we don’t have any problems to deal with at the moment.

I can appreciate that when I’m in unfamiliar territory like this; I’ve never really been out of my city much.

This kind of thing is something that my family rarely did since most of our relatives lived within the city. Plus the other cities didn’t seem all that special to my parents which is why it didn’t matter.

The countryside is a nice thought, one that we often considered. I think that is the only place my parents really thought about taking us most of the time.

It is on the eastern outskirts of the city which is why it isn’t bad to travel to.

Shuffle! Shuffle!!

“I hear something moving around,” Amelia says quietly.

“Yeah, I heard it too,” I reply while keeping my voice down.

Ahead I can see a couple pairs of red eyes staring back at us.

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