Chapter 5: Resolve
The next morning Noctis stood once again on the front entrance ready to embark once again.
Elle stood alongside him, also ready to go on her way to work. She still had a very worried expression on her face as if his son was not going to the woods practically in their backyard; but on a war.
After his blunder of a statement last night, where he had to soothe her breaking into a crying fit over the guilt he knew better than to say whatever came to his mind.
No amount of logical explanation of a harvest gone wrong which caused the village to struggle as well as the market to slow down could calm her constant depreciation.
He had to engage in well over a couple hours of convincing to let him go back to this alone.
It couldn’t be helped. She couldn’t accompany him all the time. Not only would it slow him down, it would mean her going to cut very important hours of work.
Last time it happened she had to cover it by going even earlier and coming back much later at night. It wasn’t feasible whatsoever.
Besides, the outskirts weren’t really dangerous. Animals like boars and coyotes didn’t come out of the deep region to it, something villagers attributed to a curse on them. And a boon to them in hindsight.
Whatever the reason, it was a fact that they hadn’t encountered any such beats even though they were so close to the woods.
Even with all this her fears weren’t allayed. Her husband’s death must have taken a toll on her...
"Remember you mustn’t lose your way. Always stick to the outskirts. No going deep in search of more fruits and roots like yesterday."