"Seriously, that old stubborn fossil, always clinging to those outdated rules and refusing to let go!!"
By the small river in the village, the little boy angrily picked up a small stone and skipped it across the water.
"But there's nothing we can do. The elder has always been like this."
His best friend, who was even younger and smaller than he was, tried comforting him: "Since even the elder have turned you down like that, you should probably give up on the idea of leaving the village, right?"
"I will never give up!!"
The little boy showed no wavering at all in his desire and determination to leave: "I'm going to the outside world right now!"
His desire even intensified; the more the elder refused him, the more he wanted to go!!
"Pairo, you actually want to go outside, too, right?"
He looked at his friend, who was sitting on the grass, and asked him.
"Mm, I do want to..."
Pairo nodded, his small face calm: "But my eyes and feet aren't very good."
"And most importantly... I don't want to bring trouble to my family."
The little boy: "…"
The moment the word family was mentioned, he also deflated and grew even more upset: "Why do such stupid rules even exist!!"
"It's definitely because the elders look down on children!! Saying that unless we become adults, we can't undergo the trial of going outside!!"
"He won't even teach us the common language used outside!!"
"It's really infuriating!!"
The little boy yelled angrily, and even his eyes began to change.
"Your eyes... they're getting really red again..."
Pairo stared wide-eyed at the changing pupils of his friend.
"Of course they are, because I'm having emotions!!"
The little boy said as if it were a matter of fact, then took out a special eye drop solution and applied it to himself: "I heard that people outside don't have their eyes turn red when they turn emotional."
"Eyes turning red when we're turning emotional, only our Kurta Clan can do that."
They were the Kurta Clan, living deep in the mountains of the Lukso Province.
This tribe possessed the Scarlet Eyes, known as one of the seven most beautiful colors in the world.
When emotionally agitated, their pupils turned crimson, and after death, the color could be preserved permanently.
"My father once told me..."
Pairo looked at his friend's eyes, which had returned to normal: "The reason our tribe has the rule forbidding going outside…
"It is because outsiders discriminate against us, our eyes turn red, which is different from theirs."
"So only adults who can keep this secret are allowed to go to the outside world..."
But just as Pairo said this, his friend did not finish listening.
As if sensing something, he shot his gaze toward the depths of the forest.
"There... seems to be a movement there?!"
In this forest, in order to better protect the tribe, there were basically no traces of living creatures nearby.
To the outside world, it was considered a forbidden zone.
Ordinary adventurers would never come to such a place.
But everything has exceptions.
There were always a few people who didn't follow common sense, wandering around and accidentally getting lost here.
Just like the girl who had collapsed in this forest, nearly unconscious and dying.
"She... Is she an outsider?!"
Pairo followed his friend toward the source of the sound.
Seeing someone from the outside world for the first time truly startled him.
"Should we go contact the elder and report this outsider?!"
The timid Pairo immediately thought of going to the elder who could handle anything.
But the little boy looked at the girl with a gaze full of curiosity.
"%@(^!@)(&^..."
The girl on the ground mutters something unconsciously, as if she desperately wanted to say something.
The little boy and Pairo couldn't understand the common language of the outside world.
But that didn't stop them from grasping her condition through her state.
"It looks like she's... extremely dehydrated..."
The little boy examined her, then took off the bottle at his waist and put it into the girl's mouth.
Gulp, gulp.
She visibly went from weak and dying to gulping down water desperately.
"Ah, I'm alive again."
Finally, she even had enough strength to speak: "Thanks to you two, I barely survived."
On her head were two mickey-mouse-shaped heart-patterned hair bun accessories; when she smiled, she looked sunny and gentle.
The little boy and Pairo still couldn't understand her words and only stared at her in curiosity.
"It seems you must be an isolated tribe, you don't even know the common language outside..."
Seeing this, the girl looked at their unique ethnic attire and then opened her backpack: "My name is Sheila. I don't know what currency your tribe uses, so I won't give you money, though I don't have money anyway..."
Muttering about almost passing out from dehydration in the forest, Sheila took out her most treasured item from her backpack: "This book is my favorite thing. As thanks for saving me, I'll give it to you!!"
As repayment for saving her life, Sheila offered the most precious book she had always valued like treasure: Dino Hunter.
The little boy and Pairo exchanged glances.
Besides the rule of not being allowed to go outside, the village also forbade casual interaction, contact, or speaking with outsiders.
They were absolutely not allowed to take things from outsiders…
"Alright, alright, don't be so shy."
Seeing the two children not reaching out, Sheila simply shoved the book into their arms.
And later, for her own survival, she gestured repeatedly that she needed more water, mimicking the sound of flowing water to show them where she could drink.
The two children truly could not understand Sheila.
Helpless, the little boy risked being locked up and ran back to fetch a dictionary for translation.
Through the dictionary, the three quickly established communication.
They managed to converse somewhat properly.
Not only did they tell Sheila where the water source was, but they also discovered Sheila's feet had been injured.
Both old and new wounds, some hadn't even healed before new ones were added.
Sheila explained: "Every time my foot injury almost heals, I end up tripping and hurting myself again."
"And maybe it's because I dressed like this that I got injured while walking through the forest..."
"Then just don't dress like that."