"Come on, let me go already," August pleaded again and again but the strangers didn't pay him any mind. Both of them stood at a distance whispering occasionally ear to ear.
"I can hear you," he cried. "Could you please not plan to kill me? Honestly, I just want to return home."
"Enough!" The young warrior shouted. "If you can hear us then don't listen."
'Is this guy for real?'
August rolled his eyes. He was getting fed up with being tied every time. From the moment he fell into this forest till now, his limbs couldn't even catch a break. It was one rope after another.
He saw the girl taking some steps towards him, then she sat on her knees, facing him—
"Sir Augustus, you said something about going home. May I ask you, where are you from?"
August studied her for a moment, it hadn't been a day since he met her and the girl was already surprising him. At first she grabbed his shoulder while exuding the incomprehensible pressure and now sitting exactly before him as if she wasn't blind at all.
'Come to think of it. Is she really blind?'
"I will answer you," he said carefully. "But first, you tell me who you are? And…"
He thought for a while whether to ask the insensitive question or not. In the end he realised, he wasn't exactly a sensible person himself. So he asked,
"What's up with your eyes?"
Surprisingly, the girl didn't seem to react as he expected at all. Instead, she gave him a pleasant smile. The innocence plastered all above her beautiful face.
"Ah.. this?" She said, touching her eyes with her slender fingers. "I am blind, I thought it was obvious. Wasn't it?"
She turned to the warrior behind. The young man suddenly felt nervous and shook his head.
"I don't know, my lady. The only fact I know for sure is that you are the kindest person in the world."
August let out a scoff.
'Kindest person in the world. Saying like he knows everyone, what a bootlicker.'
The girl chuckled and turned to August. She was about to say something but he spoke before she could have.
"Hey, my mother had advised me against talking to strangers. So, why don't you just let me go?"
At his words the girl's smile widened more,
"Oh… you speak the truth. We are strangers indeed. Then why don't we get to know each other huh? What do you say?"
August stared at her blankly.
'How the hell did she reach that conclusion?'
"My name is Irene," the girl said. "And he… is my loyal knight, warrior Miles."
"Miles?" August chuckled silently, "That's an odd name for a warrior."
Expectedly, the warrior pulled out his sword. "What do you say? I'll take your head for that."
August smiled at him deviously, "Then why don't you come here and take your award pretty boy?"
The warrior's complexion turned red from anger. It was obvious that he wanted nothing more than to slice August down but the youth was regarded by Irene's lightless eyes.
He took a deep breath and put his sword back into the sheath.
'Woah.. even he's scared of her.'
The girl turned to August, her smile unwavering, "will you please stop angering my knight?" not bothering to hear his response, she continued.
"Thank you very much. Ah… what was I saying? Right, just as you asked we have introduced ourselves. Now it's your turn, I suppose."
'What a bother.'
He let out a long sigh, "okay, as you know my name is Augustus. Being an idiot I couldn't come up with a fake name in the given time —hence, that's my real name. Sadly. As for my home, that's a mystery for us all."
The warrior named Miles creased a brow, "what does that mean? Have you no home to go back to?"
August looked at him, dejected. "No genius, I do indeed have a home. Only at this moment I am unable to remember where it is. Or perhaps I don't know where I am."
Warrior Miles slowly nodded, "Makes sense."
'It does?'
August was surprised himself. How come he's the sane person here?
"What?" He asked. "You are just going to believe me? No follow up questions, no suspicions, nothing?"
Honestly, he was a bit offended by how calm they were hearing his suspicious claims. Though, he couldn't remember the location indeed but their strange trust made him more uncomfortable.
At his words, the girl named Irene chuckled,
"Well, yes. We do believe you. Why would you even lie to us? We are strangers aren't we?"
His perception of these two people was about to go wild but thankfully, Irene spoke and explained further.
"There's no need to be concerned, Sir Augustus. You see, it's not that we trust every stranger just like that. That's not what people should do in the first place. As for me, I happen to be blessed with a boon."
August thought for a moment, the lightless pupils of her eyes focused on him. But he was only dreaming, right?
"A boon that allows me to peer into someone's soul to the truth within. That's why you told me your real name instead of making up an alias. You didn't expect that, did you?"
August admitted that he was quite surprised. If she could force people to speak the truth which meant his earlier slip up had nothing to do with his mindlessness. He even remembered staring into her eyes while speaking, in fact.
'Thank God. I still have some conscience left within me.'
So, the girl was a mage after all.
Now, the question was what he was asking them again and again.
"If you are that powerful then, what the hell do you want from me?"
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