Chapter 6: Your Opinion
"Come, have the group move towards it. Have you sent someone to scout ahead?" she asked the girl as the rest made their arrangements to move.
"Yes, I've had Ali move ahead of us to figure out what it is." the girl replied.
In this world, many things can cause smoke rising to the sky, especially with its dark color.
Fire.
Many scenarios ran through Oliphym's mind while the group move towards its direction.
It didn't take long before the group arrived at a clearing in the middle of the forest. The girl named Ali stood not far away, her figure easily recognized by the others, with a tail and ears resembling a fox's.
The rest also noticed the source of the pillar of smoke, although based on how dim and more less the smoke is, its probably more than a while since the fire has dissipated when the smoke was noticed.
Ali greeted the others and told Amanda and Canna her findings.
"There was no one here when I arrived, but..." her sad expression remained on her face as her sight land at the source.
Something was burned in the middle of the clearing, and it was set-up as intended, and its too big for a small campfire.
When everyone else noticed a burnt pole in the middle of the ashes and a figure tied onto it, gloom suddenly descended on the rest of the group.
The others didn't allowed the children to lurk out of the carriage, saving them from the sight of cruelty.
Its not only one, there are two others behind it which were similarly burned, two steps away from one another.
Oliphym can tell at a glance if the act of burning corpse was meant as burial, or as a way of inflicting slow and agonizing death, and at a glance, its obvious it was the latter.
"We better leave this place." Canna said as she grabbed Amanda shoulder.
Amanda's expression is one of disturbed as well and she isn't completely comfortable or used to this sight.
Oliphym agreed in his mind. He has no clear idea why something like this happened as from his experience, many scenarios and practices could result to such a situation where the people are burned to death.
Execution, something delivered as a sort of punishment, or to get rid of something dangerous.
Another is persecution. In history, many forms of literature and records showed similar catalogs related to burning a person to death.
One example is a witch hunt, another is heresy, and many others alike that could trigger this response, similar to beliefs and superstitions.
Oliphym frowned with a sour expression. This practice is too cruel no matter what the justification.
But being himself, he doesn't want to say anything else without knowing the story behind it, atleast, he would want to make an effort to figure out why.
The standards back on earth doesn't apply here.
Although there was belief, in the end, its just a belief, and all people on earth are unquestionably human despite the naivety of people back then, and the lack of knowledge to explain things that were different in their eyes.
But in this world, multitude of races exist, so the possibility of more other creatures and race existing is not impossible, and this goes the same for more things that couldn't be explained.
Exorcism, demonic possession, racial oppression, traditions, and many more.
As much as Oliphym hated these ideas, how else can he explain what he saw?
They decided to not stop for a day and stayed away from that place as they departed.
Amanda said that the supplies can still last for a week without foraging and hunting.
That night, the same day after dinner when everyone is taking their rest, Amanda came to him while he was on the lookout.
"Amanda, what's wrong?" he asked. He noticed her eyes, her walking posture, her body language and the subtle emotions were easily recognizable by him. She fidgeted and wouldn't meet his eyes at first.
He saw plenty and experienced this alot in his past life.
Its-
"Oli, can I ask you somethings?"
-when someone is nervous to ask something unusual!
Oliphym smiled wryly at her and nodded.
"Sure, how can I help you?"
"You see, I want to hear your opinion on some things." glancing at him, Amanda took a sit beside him.
"Sure, is it related to the burnt bodies earlier?" he tried to guess while he recall all the things he encountered ever since he came to this unfamiliar world. Its the most probable topic.
"That, and also some other things. I've already discussed this with Canna and the rest, but we'd also like to hear your opinion."
"Sure, but couldn't it wait until tomorrow so everyone could hear?"
"I wanted to hear your answers sooner."
With her answer, he really have no problem with it.
"No problem, ask away." he watched at the campfire while he waited for her questions.
"We plan to figure out who are behind the burning of the bodies so our travel may take longer until we reach our destination which is a city." she spoke, which came as something sudden for Oliphym.
They seemed to have plenty of time to think of others, is what Oliphym criticize in his mind.
"Why'd you all decide on that? I think you're missing the priority here, personally, if I were you, I'd first find a safe place to settle the girls and recuperate. Then I'll do other things afterwards." he answered without reservation, as if to refute her, albeit not intended.
"..." her expression remained unchanged as her eyes moved from the campfire, to the side of his face.
"Its not that I don't understand why you decided that, and you have the right to decide what to do. But you seem to be forgetting how fragile our situations is.-" he took his time to breath as his gaze remained on the campfire. Words leave his mouth as his mind reminds him of what has happened so far.
"-If it weren't for your luck encountering me, you girls would still be chained and locked up elsewhere. All of us here, including me, aren't equipped enough to have insurance. Are numbers are small as well. Think about it. The group that abducted you all, and the circumstances surrounding the burned corpses. You should take into consideration that in many cases, it would take a village's population or more for things like this to happen. Even if that isn't the case, don't forget there are still children with you." he said as he looked at the camp and then turned to her.
"Personally, I'd really want to convince you to not meddle on other matters, and focus on taking care of yourselves, if not for yourself, but atleast for the childrens' sake." his low voice and gentle but unmoving gaze showed his serious thoughts.
This moved Amanda a little, reflexively avoiding his eyes as her face warmed a little.
She also understands that the childrens' safety is just as important as well, but hearing his side made her think twice and reconsider her decision.
"Also, you are not alone. In this vast world, I believe there will be people that will deal with those that abducted you, and those related to the earlier matter. Its just about dealing with things at the right time and at the right situation. Right now, our situation doesn't favor catering more problems."
Oliphym is capable of what he can do. He knew this and learned alot of lessons as he grew up to be strong and keeping a straight head. He knew when to act and know when it is appropriate or not.
Despite his achievements and how well off he was, he doesn't neglect and still has much to learn.
He wants to put to a stop to those bandits that kept abducting and killing people.
He wish to abolish the belief of burning corpse, whether is be punishment, or for persecution.
But he still needs to learn effective means to deal with them, and make preparations as well if he wish to act, which he couldn't possibly do now with how limited he know about the world.
What preparations?
Oliphym did not overlook even the slightest clue that would give him an edge among others.
Magic-arms!
A combination of firearms and magic!
Myriad races!
Each race has its strengths and weaknesses which he would also find helpful whenever needed in the nrar future.
In addition to that, his knowledge and skills he learned in the previous world will eventually finds its uses here.
If his acquaintances on earth were to see him now, they'd probably tell him he is always overthinking, but also feel envious to the point they'd tease him.
Only pointless thoughts bring harm!
Still- although its been at the corner of his mind, he always subtly felt a strange feeling that he couldn't explain.
Similar to Deja vu!
"..." Amanda was speechless as her eyes absentmindedly met his own. from Oliphym's perspective, she seems to be examining his expression while thinking about his opinion.
But for Amanda, she was simply in a daze staring at him. For her, his eyes have a light of well-thought considerations, while also not hesitating to tell his opinion to the point he is so sure and confident about it, making him more capable and amazing even for her.
".. Do you have something else to ask?" he asked her, making her snap out of it.
Amanda held her cheeks as she turn her gaze away with a tinged of blush, not believing how she behaved. "Your opinion…"
"..Amanda?"
"N-no, its fine now. Thank you."
"Really? You said 'questions' so I thought you'd ask alot."
"Your one answer already answered all my other questions, so its fine! Thank you. G-good night!" Amanda suddenly stood up and suddenly crawled into her tent.
He smiled wryly as Oliphym watch her departing back before his eyes landed on the campfire again.
His eyelid felt heavy, his eyes are abit itchy. He felt sleepy but he couldn't afford to do it, nor can he properly rest or get a wink of a good nap.
There is this feeling that kept bothering him, like somehow, a lot of his memories don't add up, like a recorded video that has obvious lapses of cut out scenes.
A slight throbbing pain suddenly hit his head as his eyes narrowed while rubbing his temple.
A smile of an unrecognizable girl flashes through vision like an illusion, and this girl wears a dress very common on earth.
To his surprise, he doesn't seem to recall the identity of this person.
Then suddenly after a short moment, like waking up from a short dream, he suddenly had a hard time remembering the vision. Like how a person try to recall their dream from their sleep.
Oliphym decided to not think of it anymore as he sigh inwardly as he stick to his lookout duty.
The campfire illuminated the night while the night sky is dark as if shrouded by clouds, blocking out the light from the stars as there will be gentle breeze of cold night brush against his skin once every often, relieving him temporarily as there are slight traces of sweat on his temple.
-
Morning arrived as the sunlight hit the camp. He just washed his body when the light of dawn illuminated the camp and came back when the sun has risen.
It didn't take long as the rest of the group woke up. Some started the campfire again to prepare for breakfast.
The children were always the last to be awaken, as they have a dedicated tent allocated solely for them, and every morning when Jianne wakes up, the first things she does is to find him and sit next to him.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked her as if its the usual now.
"Nn." Jianne nodded while making a sound that came from her throath as she took the food Oliphym handed to her.
"Eat well so you could grow up well like the others. Let me know whenever you need anything okay?"
Jianne nodded as she attentively eat her food.
As if accompanying them, he felt the morning breeze blew gently through the camp the entire morning.
He then notice Amanda making his way to him as if to inform him. He couldn't help but recall their previous conversation last night.
"Canna seems to be feeling unwell, can I ask you to take a look at her?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
_ArchKingLynis_
_ArchKingLynis_ Unlike the first two or three chapters, the following are better if you asked me. But can you please tell me if I should revise the first chapters or they can stay as it is?
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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