"He's not here!" Alleria said icily.
"How could that be?" Lirath Windrunner looked up in astonishment. "I heard them say..."
"I don't care who told you what," Alleria interrupted him. "First, tell me how you got here. Tell the truth. No lying."
"I..." Lirath Windrunner shrank back a little. "I sneaked aboard."
"Explain." Alleria pressed him, her expression cold.
Unable to dodge the question, Lirath Windrunner had no choice but to tell Alleria the whole story in detail.
Ever since Vereesa had left The Hinterlands, Lirath Windrunner had wanted to follow the troops to the battlefield. He had begged plenty of people in The Hinterlands, including Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen, but everyone knew he was the City Lord's brother-in-law. Besides, they all felt he was too young to go to war, so none of them would let him come along. Eventually, Lirath Windrunner realized no one would let him accompany the troops and decided to sneak along on his own.
The little fellow was actually quite clever. From then on, he went around visiting people under the pretext of playing, but beneath that innocent appearance, his real aim was to gather information.
Not long ago, an Aircraft Carrier Fleet had been urgently recalled to the Hinterlands to replenish and load supplies. When Lirath Windrunner heard the news, he was so excited that he stayed awake all night. At daybreak, he ran to the Harbor. While the dockworkers were carrying supplies aboard, he slipped onto a ship unnoticed using the rogue skills he had learned from Master Thirteen and hid in the cargo hold.
Whenever he grew thirsty or hungry, he searched the hold for food. Naturally, the supplies there included little in the way of tasty, ready-to-eat meals, just some fruit at best. Most of the time, he got by