The Hero Should've Known Better

Chapter 17: Flaker

Sollar's shoes dug into the muddy trail. Keeping an arm in front of her face, the Demonfolk girl braced against the rain and wind that was picking up. Drops of water slapped against her arm, bringing with it a shivering chill.

The burlap coat had gradually soaked through with the heavy rain, but the Demonfolk girl kept it on to shield her body from the ice-cold drops that rained down.

"...Cold," she muttered. Her body shivered.

Despite this, she was going to go onward. She remembered one of the Gen-ralls saying that being in a hard situation built character. While the Demonfolk girl wasn't too sure on what 'building character' was, she was sure it was a good thing!

Regardless, the cold didn't help.

Sollar kept her eyes on the ground ahead. Water ran down wagon grooves on the trail itself, which at least gave her a direction to follow when walking.

She gave another step forward, and the mud gave way. She almost slipped, but her tail shot out to balance her again.

"S-slippery," she commented.

After catching herself, the Demonfolk girl continued. She stepped underneath a groove of trees next to the trail, shielding her from the rain for the time it took her to pass it.

Then, she stopped.

The Demonfolk girl could hear something. In fact, the ground was rumbling.

Sollar could feel the shaking of the surface through her shoes. Then came the hissing and clacking of metal, not too dissimilar to the rail engine that she had been on.

But there weren't any tracks around, so where was the sound coming from...?

Looking at the ground, the Demonfolk girl could even see her shadow being cast by a light source shining directly behind her. A loud, shrieking sound of metal followed, before Sollar heard the voice of someone right behind her.

"Wait, wait! Stop the hauler!"

Sollar turned around as quick as she could, just to see who or what it was. She squinted her eyes at the bright light in front of her, taking a few steps to the side to get the glare out of her eyes.

It was a large machine. The metal surface glinted with the rain that had fallen on it.

It was like the rail engine that she had been chased off, much earlier in the day. However, this one was much longer, and didn't move on rails. It rolled forward on two front visible wheels, before finally coming to a slow, heavy stop.

The entire machine hissed upon stopping. However, the person sitting at the front had caught her attention.

Sitting on this seat at the very front was a boy, holding a wheel to steer the large front wheels. Rain dripped from his mid-length white hair and down his pale, slightly blue skin. His clothes were as soaked as Sollar's, but despite that, he did not seem bothered by the rain at all.

His ice-blue eyes peered through a pair of goggles, watching the Demonfolk girl.

"Eh? What's a lass like you doing out here?" he asked.

Sollar stared at the white-pale young man.

"Ain't gonna answer?" he asked. "Well, either way, you're drenched! Lassie, you shouldn't stay out here for too long, you're gonna get sick."

"B-but you're staying o-out," Sollar said, through chattering teeth.

"That's 'cuz I'm a Snow Spirit," he retorted. "Cold don't bother me. Unlike you. Pretty sure Demonfolk don't really like the cold, either."