Keith forced his body to remain tense and upright for as long as he was out in the open. Priestess Athena had given him a room for the duration of his stay and Keith was thankful.
"Dear guest, kindly call upon us if you need anything. We will look after your needs for you."
The person who had led Keith to the room gave a respectful bow while sneaking wide-eyed looks at him. Keith pretended he did not notice the subtle gesture of the teen in front of him.
It had been half an hour by now and everyone in the camp knew who their 'guest' was. Thankfully, no one knew that Keith was the same person who had knocked on their door and been driven out yesterday.
It was all thanks to the magical contract and its usage. Otherwise, Athena would have revealed everything to her people.
'The game was right. The only way to make a Hermit keep your secret was through external force. I am so glad I remembered that. It would help me deal with that hidden dragon in the future.'
Keith had two reasons for coming to this camp and extracting the promise from priestess Athena. First was obviously because this place was the best place to solidify his identity.
But the second one was even more important than the first. It was because of a hidden party member of the protagonist. Whether you meet him on your route depended on various factors.
The character was named Shinu, who was a dragon cub raised by the Hermits. He was an extreme force later in the game and capable of killing armies if you poured your resources into him.
His story was a typical sob story - being different and being bullied for it causing the kid to end up running away. Shinu was then captured by the slave traders and auctioned as an 'exotic human' without a gender.
Shinu was later saved by the protagonist (the one you played since it was a common route) and was a hidden quest reward.
But Keith was not going to let that quest take place. He was going to pick up Shinu before he could run away and turn Shinu into his loyal guard dragon. It was a big-risk, big-reward move on Keith's part.
'I need to wait for the dawn to fall before I can go looking for Shinu. The children are brought out in the evening and that is when Shinu gets bullied the most. I must take advantage of that time and gain his trust.'
Did this make Keith a bad person for ignoring a child being abused and then taking advantage of his trauma? Maybe so.
But Keith's life was at risk here so he was going to use any underhand trick he could think of.
Finally, the sun settled and the sky fell dark. It was time for the worries of the day to melt away into night's pleasure. No one was excluded from this event, not even the children.
And it was prime time for Keith to execute his plan.
......….
"Ouch, it hurts. Why are you pushing me away?"
A small child asked this question to the group of children in front of him. He had various cuts and bruises on his small body but nothing major seemed to be broken. This child was Shinu, the one Keith was looking for.
The other children he was addressing looked offended and awkward at the question asked.
"Huh? Stop asking me why we are pushing you away. Don't you know that you are different than us all? Your mommy picked you up from the outside and the adults say that outsiders are bad people."
The leader of the small party spoke, puffing his chest out.
Since the people in their society did not lie and they did not mince their words, the kids had learned some harsh world as well. And as a result, these children could be often brutal in their speech.
"I am not a bad person. My mother says I am a good person and my mother doesn't lie."
Now the kid who was bullying Shinu looked startled. His mind was conflicted with the new information he heard.
He knew that his father had spoken the truth about the outsiders being bad, but Shinu's mother was a part of their society and could not lie. There were two pairs of contradictions in front of him and the kid did not know what to believe.
"H-How can this be? You are lying. You are a bad adult, lying to me right now, aren't you? You are showing your true outside colors. See, I knew there was no way you were one of us."
The bully almost yelled as he pointed toward Shinu. It was the breaking point for Shinu. The happy atmosphere of the place was not enough to settle the pain in his heart and tears started flowing down Shinu's face at the sudden accusation.
"I-I am not a liar. I am one of you -"
"No, you are not. You are a weirdo we do not accept as a part of us."
"Yeah, leave our town right now. We do not need an outsider like you living with us."
Shinu could no longer take the jeering voices asking for him to go away. So, he did what any kid his age would do when faced with rejection from his closest people.
Shinu ran away toward the outside of the town. The settling sun was casting a shadow over the world. Darkness was making it difficult to see in such a situation.
But surprisingly enough. Shinu seemed to have no problem seeing where he was going. His eyes could pick up the surrounding even in the darkness of the night. But it did not strike as odd to Shinu.
He ran and ran until he reached the boundary of his town. He needed to cross it and he would be free from these people and their harsh worlds.
'Mommy said never to cross the camp boundary if I do not want to die. But living here is painful. Mommy is also busy indulging in pleasure and I do not want to disturb her.'
So, Shinu made up his mind and he gulped down his nerves. He raised one clawed hand to grip the wall and then he started climbing.
Three climbing steps in and Shinu knew he could do it. He could scare the wall and become free.
But no sooner than he had thought this did he face his biggest obstacle in the form of a green-haired human man. The unknown man had picked up Shinu by the back of his shirt and picked him up.
Then, Shinu had been made to stand on his feet again and all his progress had been wiped clean.
"Hey, what do you think you are doing? Do not touch me, you moron."
Shinu did not know what these words meant but he had heard the elders yell them when they were irritated and frustrated with someone. So, they were most likely complaints and Shinu decided to use them.
Instead of looking upset and going away as most seniors did after they were yelled at, this foreigner just looked amused.
"You have one heck of a mouth on you kid. Has no one ever taught you the importance of not speaking what is on your mind? You can get in a lot of trouble if you offended the wrong person."
Shinu knew a warning when he heard one but he did not care much for it. He was taught not to keep his words a secret since birth.
"I will say what comes to my mind. Hiding things is not the Hermits' way and I am a member of this community."
Shinu is proud of his identity as a Hermit. He had grown up here and only known this place. It was forever going to be his home, no matter what happened.
He might look different from everyone in this camp but Shinu considered himself as their member.
"I see. So, you consider yourself a Hermit, huh? That makes things easier for me. Shinu, would you like to come with me to the guild and learn how to weird your power? I will be able to make you the strongest in your home."
The handsome man made an offer to Shinu and it sounded far too good to be true. And if there was one thing Shinu's mother had warned him, it was to not fall for sweet words.
Shinu could feel greed and hunger cloaking this handsome man in front of him and that did not form the best first impression on him. He was not going to go with this man anywhere.
"No, I am not going anywhere with you. I do not like you and your lying aura. I am going to stay in this camp my whole life."
Shinu yelled with confidence which made the foreigner snicker.
"Oh, but were you not in the middle of running away?"
