Kotori looked in puzzlement at the two men in front of her.
They were carrying a wooden large cart with a curious pack animal pulling the carts. The cart was covered with a tarp so she couldn't really see the contents of it
The men looked shocked to see Kotori and her party out here.
This wasn't a surprise considering the fact that Kotori and her party had hidden out near the eastern part of the Kingdom of Faramouth. The entire peninsula had a peculiar geography where all the coasts were covered by mountains. Making the country itself nearly landlocked. There was a port on the western side of the peninsula which was the only port the country had.
Kotori had hid here since people rarely lived near the mountains. This was why Okateratsu's prison/den had never been found. She now looked at the two men in front of her with puzzlement.
They were slightly shorter than the average person. But they had very feminine appearances.
[Bishounen?] Kotori thought.
They were slender in appearance and were frankly quite androgynous. One of them was darker skin with black hair and almost looked like a tomgirl. Another had tousled blond hair and brilliant blue eyes with freckles.
"W-Who are you?" The blond one asked
[Hmm] Kotori thought. His voice was very high pitched almost girlish.
She realized she had to respond
"Ah, we're travelling" Kotori said
"Travelers I see!" The blond boy said his face looking relieved. It seemed like he thought they might've been bandits.
[Not completely incorrect assumption though...] Kotori thought, Looking at Amelie, she was technically a "bandit" depending on who you ask.
Their assumption was still correct if you looked at Kotori's party. The constant moving had made them quite disheveled and they honestly looked like ne'er do wells to an unassuming person.
She introduced herself to them making up a story about how they were looking for a village nearby. It was an obvious lie, but she was sure these people posed no threat to her anyway.
"Are you perhaps looking for the Dweyer village?" The dark skin boy asked
"Ah... Yes" Kotori said. In truth, she was just lying but it would be difficult for them to ascertain if she was.
"We're going right there want to come with?" The boys asked
[Shoot!] What had started as an innocent lie to hide their identity had turned into an invitation. If she denied them here she would definitely look suspicious.
"Sure." She said defeatedly.
Amelie gave her an upturned look as if she was judging how Kotori had handled this situation
[I'm sorry!] She apologized internally
They began to follow the boys back to their village. Apparently, the Tan boy's name was Horatio and the blond boy was names Nick. The creme-colored beast pulling their wagon was called a Felter and named Tina. It looked like a cross between a llama and horse.
They were heading back to their village after selling their wares. When Kotori had asked them what they were selling they showed her their left-over goods in the wagon. Apparently, they were smiths and they sold weapons and other such tools.
Nick had a very easy-going personality, whereas Horatio was much more reserved and looked at them suspiciously. He seemed to be one of those serious types.
[Ah please don't look at me like] Horatio had been eyeing them suspiciously ever since they started walking together.
[I'm a cute harmless little girl see!]
This gaze seemed to change when he looked at Umi. Noticing his gaze, she gave him a small polite smile. Horatio blushed and then looked away.
[Ah cute.] Kotori thought, It seems Horatio had developed a bit of puppy crush for Umi.
It was too bad it was one-directional. If he ever tried to make a move on Umi she would likely turn him down and loudly proclaims things like "My heart belongs to my master!"
Kotori internally giggled when she thought about the scene.
On the other hand, she could see Nick sneaking glances at Layla. Kotori pitied him. He didn't know how abrasive her personality was.
[Good luck little boy!]
Kotori was not quite right in saying that. Apparently, both Nick and Horatio were around the same age as Amelie which means that they were around 20. Kotori was shocked when she heard that fact. They looked like slightly older middles schoolers. Though, it made more sense that they were walking around and traveling like this if they were that old. She would have serious concerns for whatever parent would let their children stray so far from home.
[Yep, Yep Children shouldn't leave home too early] Kotori thought, without considering the irony of her statement.
Apparently, the boys lived in a village deep in the mountain range. Kotori herself didn't mind following them. She was already trying to hide from the Faramouth Kingdom so going into the mountain ranges surrounding them seemed like a good idea anyway. In fact, she likely would've gone into hiding there whether these boys came along or not.
The path they were walking on steady became less and less tread until eventually, it was a little more than a hunter path. The boys didn't seem to mind and walked with a purpose like they had a perfect idea of where they were going. Kotori diligently followed along.
Soon they came upon a small village. There were several plumes of smoke coming from multiple houses and it looked like a nostalgic scene that reminded Kotori of other villages she had been in. Several people were walking about.
When they got closer Kotori was surprised at the nature of the villagers
[Why are they all Bishounen!]
Author note: Sorry about the weaker activity on watt pad it's final season rn and it's hard to manage several different platforms. I have been posting daily so there's actually a few more chapters on my scribblehub if you want to read ahead.