Elina

By the end of the day, we were still on the road. No inn and no taverns. A few passerby, but no one who tried to persuade us to go somewhere. Or as Elina said, no one who tried to seduce me.

Which meant that by sundown, we had to camp in the forest. Which she didn't like. No soft bed, no warm food. A campfire and a tent.

I suppose she could've run off. Fly somewhere where they had hot food and a soft bed. Find a nice inn. Or a wealthy landlord's mansion. Kill everyone inside it. Call it home for a night.

But she didn't do that. Nor did I expect her to. When she was living on her own near Altheim, there were no reports of a silver witch going on a rampage for soft beds and hot food. Which meant that sloth and gluttony were only recently acquired. She was never on the wanted list. Until now.

I stopped the horse and prepared to make camp. She sat on the cart, looking nowhere in particular, saying nothing.

I looked at her. Never on the wanted list. Until now. The Church of Deliverance never bothered with witches who didn't cause trouble. Because there were already too many other things to worry about. But the Church wanted her. And I still didn't know why.

She looked at me. Raised a questioning eyebrow.

I turned around.

Elina probably knew why. She most likely knew everything. And despite all that, she was going along with this, even saying that she needed my trust.

But there was something I knew that she didn't.

The guy at the Jolly Tavern in Larose. The guy who said he was looking for a witch called Elina. Silver eyes and silver hair. There was only one Elina like that.

Double contracts never happen. Unless there is more than one person or organization looking for her. Unless the Church of Deliverance thought I had died. Neither of which was good for me.

I decided not to tell her. Better keep that information to myself. You never know when it might become useful.

Set up the tent, but I didn't make a fire. The sun was at the edge of the horizon.

"Why no fire?" Elina asked.

I picked up some of the leaves from the forest floor.

I said, "The ground is wet. Probably because it rained in this area earlier today."

"Just use the logs."

"I need dry leaves or twigs to start a fire with my flint stones. Without those it's impossible."

"Huh-huhn~ Aren't you forgetting that you are with the greatest witch of the ages?"

"What's your point?"

"..."

I waited for an answer. She got off the cart. Pointed a finger at me. I didn't move. I doubted that she would kill me so easily. But you never know. She's the impulsive type.

She said, "Move."

So I did.

She said, "Make a pile of logs and my little flame will make itself at home."

I wanted to ask if her fire had a personality. Because it looked like it did. But I decided to focus on just finding the right logs.

A little while later, we sat around the camp fire, eating bread and roasting some rabbits I had hunted during the day.

Elina said, "Aren't you glad that my magic can do this? You're the only human in this whole area to enjoy a warm fire tonight."

"Hopefully this fire won't attract bandits."

Elina frowned. That wasn't what she wanted to hear.

I said, "But thank you."

She smiled.

The roof of the forest prevented the moonlight from touching the earthen floor. Our little fire was like an island of light. But it couldn't penetrate the darkness. I looked ahead, beyond Elina, and there was nothing I could see. Just the smell of wet forest.

Elina tilted her head. Her silver eyes glowing. "Are you trying to see something? Hmm? But your human eyes are useless at night."

"What can you see?"

"Hmmm, should I tell you? It might be interesting."

Something in her voice. She was toying with me. There probably wasn't anything interesting.

The air moved. The wind came. Our campfire flickered, the smoke was blown away from me.

I sniffed. Something was off.

Smoke. But not from this fire. It came from somewhere else. Somewhere in the darkness. A fire in these wet conditions shouldn't be possible.

Unless...

I looked at Elina. She smiled. "So you have noticed, hmm?"

I said, "Stay here."

I couldn't see, but my nose worked. I followed the smoke into the darkness. One step at a time. Felt my way forwards. Tripped on some roots here and there. Elina's chuckling slowly fading behind me.

And then I saw it. A flickering fire in the dark.

I stepped closer. Someone was sitting there. Looks like a guy.

He heard me. Turned around. I recognized him.