Miyako was quite confused as to how that question elicited that kind of reaction from the girl. She was quite worried that she did something wrong. And all of a sudden, the girl's face turned into disgust.

"Ew. No. I am absolutely not a ninja. Do not ever call me that. Please." She lowered her head.

Miyako couldn't understand why she would be repulsed by such a title or job. Being a ninja was a great job to do, and very respectable. Ninja honed their bodies and skills every day before they could be let out into the field. They were the masters of stealth, spying, and often, assassination.

"I-Is that so? My apologies." But Miyako decided not to probe more into it. "Are there only two of you?"

"Yes."

"Will he or she not be joining us?"

"You'll meet her tomorrow morning."

Miyako found that quite strange. But best not to think too much about it. "You are quite strong, to defeat those people."

"In the right environment, one could pretty much defeat most enemies. Well, most… What about you? You're someone important, what happened to your security?"

"... We assume they're all dead. They stayed behind to help us escape." There was no way they could confirm. But knowing the enemies, they certainly killed them all.

"I see." Estelia grabbed a stick and flipped the meat on the pan. "Were your pursuers supposedly pretty strong?"

Miyako was a bit taken aback that she would even ask that question. "Yes. D-Did you not realize?"

The girl shrugged. "I didn't exactly fight them head on, so I couldn't tell."

For you to even be able to kill them already determines how strong you are.

She was so strong that she didn't even realize how strong that group was. She might not consider their true strength because she fought in a different way. But still, to pull something like that off successfully was nothing to scoff at.

"How easily did you defeat their ninja?" Satomi asked as she gripped the sheathed of her weapon.

"You mean the woman?"

"Yes."

"She was fast, I'll give her that. But it was not that hard to kill her, really."

"Huh…"

"Was that even a strong ninja? I have to say, the ninjas I have met so far are quite subpar."

"Subpar…?" Satomi muttered, speechless. She fought that ninja woman, after all. And she was an absolutely difficult enemy to defeat. It was too bizarre that Estelia didn't think much of her.

"But enough about me. I am more curious about your situation," Estelia said. "Were you just running aimlessly?"

Miyako lowered her head in shame. "Yes. We left our map behind. Their attack was unexpected."

"Then you didn't realize you were heading to some place more dangerous."

"What do you mean?"

Estelia pointed towards the mountain range. "That is a region filled with outrageously powerful monsters."

Miyako recalled the map she saw when studying this place. "Could it be the Badlands?"

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"I guess they do call it that."

Miyako placed a hand on her mouth. If that happened, if they entered that place, then it would have brought them to an even more dangerous position. With just the two of them, and a group of human enemies chasing after them, their doom would have been certain.

"I just got out of there," Estelia added. "And it is not a pretty place."

"And you survived. Amazing."

"I barely survived. Straying off the path made things incredibly harder."

"You got lost too?"

Estelia swayed her head for a moment, as though thinking on how to respond. "... In a way. We got separated from the rest of my group."

"Oh."

"Anyway, any idea who were those guys chasing you? Where they're affiliated?"

"We don't know exactly. But we guessed they might be soldiers from whatever island."

Estelia flipped the meat again. "I have heard that the islands are in constant conflict. I guess it's not surprising they would try to assassinate someone like you."

"... This is not a usual occurrence. We are not in an outright war."

"Is that so?"

Miyako narrowed her eyes slightly. There was something she noticed based on Estelia's words.

"Miss Estelia…"

"Just Estelia is fine."

"Estelia… You sound like you're not from around here." Locals, or anyone from Shinoroa, would be all too familiar with the state of the archipelago and its islands.

Estelia then grabbed some fork and pushed it into a piece of meat. "That's because I'm not from here." She then handed it out to Miyako.

Miyako blinked her eyes before carefully receiving the meat. "Not from here? What do you mean? Not from this island?"

"Yeah." She then handed out meat to Satomi, which the latter received gracefully.

"From which island are you from?"

"I mean, I'm not from Shinoroa at all," she confirmed Miyako's suspicion.

She was astonished to hear that. How could someone like her be in the middle of this island? Someone from far away. Someone from beyond their shores. Miyako never imagined that she would meet someone like that here. All thoughts and questions came to her mind, but she kept control of herself.

"You mean you're from far away? From other lands…?"

"Yes."

Miyako was still in disbelief. She had always been curious about places aside from her own lands. The stories she heard, her imaginations, her curiosity.

Estelia glanced at the meat that Miyako had yet to take a bite of. "Better start eating before the meat gets cold."

"Ah, right." She then slowly bit on the meat. "W-What brought you here?"

"... For personal reasons…"

She didn't seem keen on sharing details about her purpose here, so Miyako decided to let it be. With that said, that explained why she seemed out of place, this girl.

"Now that you are free from your pursuers, what are your plans from now on?"

Miyako and Satomi looked at each other before the former turned back towards Estelia. "To the capital city of Hokugo."

"Still plan on going there, despite what happened?"

"Yes."

"That could be dangerous."

"Even so, I still have matters I must settle." Going back home now was not an option. She must fulfill her obligations. And perhaps she could even learn of who sent those warriors to kill her.

"... If you say so. Then, then is it fine if we go together?"

"Together?"

"We're also heading for Hokugo."

Miyako smiled. "That is completely fine. I would feel relieved if I'm with more people."

"Splendid." She stood up. "I have some extra sheets for sleeping." She grabbed her bag, and started pulling out more sheets.

Miyako observed her. She seemed like a gentle person. "Estelia… May I ask a question?"

"Hm? Go ahead."

"Why did you save us?"

Estelia paused and turned her head towards them.

There was no need to help them. Helping them would only put herself in needless danger. Even if she was strong, strong people normally wouldn't care about everyone else. And would only care if it benefits them in any way.

Estelia was silent for a moment, looking upwards, thinking of an answer. "... I guess sometimes I just like to do something good."

"Do something good… ?"

Estelia then formed the most precious, and the purest, of smiles. One that would charm anyone. "This place could use some goodness, don't you think?"

Miyako's eyes widened. She saw absolute beauty not just on the outside, but also beauty from within. For someone to be so precious, a lone light in this place of dread, it almost made Miyako shed a tear. It warmed her heart to realize there was such a person, it made her happy.

Estelia then handed out the sheets to them. "Apologies, but this is all I have."

The sheets were far from futons, but they were thick enough to make yourself comfortable laying down on the bare ground. All in all, this was more than enough. In fact, Miyako was feeling quite embarrassed to just accept them, giving nothing in return.

"Thank you." Miyako bowed her head as she accepted the sheets.

"You have had a long, stressful day. I suggest you sleep early. And you can rest easy, my companion will be on watch."

Miyako looked around, but she could neither see nor sense Estelia's companion.

"She's around, don't worry," Estelia said. "Now then, if you'll excuse me. I'm, um, going to sleep. Goodnight."

"Uh, goodnight."

As if nothing bothered her at all, Estelia headed straight inside her tent and immediately laid down to sleep. Miyako turned towards Satomi.

"We should sleep."

"I'll keep watch, milady."

Miyako shook her head. "You need rest, too. So please, sleep."

Satomi lowered her gaze before giving a faint nod.

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