Aleksis and Lauriel were having a lot fun in Thailand. Lauriel deliberately often put Aleksis on his shoulders because he wanted the little girl to see the view from a high place.

They took city trains and buses and mingled with residents and tourists, just how Lauriel liked it. He wanted Aleksis to experience adventures and be on the road since young.

As usual, Lauriel wore glasses so that his unique eye colors didn't attract too much attention. He also bought a smaller pair of glasses for Aleksis. The glasses made them look like nerdy tourists.

Thailand was a paradise for exotic food and that was what made Lauriel want to bring Aleksis there. In the culinary center of Bangkok, they walked around and tasted dishes made from grasshoppers, scorpions, crocodiles, and many other animals that were not normally consumed by humans in other parts of the world.

After feeling satisfied with their culinary adventures, they continued their journey to Chiang Mai using the night train. Lauriel wanted to take Aleksis on a hot air balloon there.

According to him, some of the best places to fly hot air balloons were in Cappadocia - Turkey, Bagan - Myanmar, and in Chiang Mai - Thailand. Considering Chiang Mai was the closest place, he decided to bring Aleksis there.

"You would love to see the earth from above in a hot air balloon," he said to Aleksis, who started dozing off beside him. The little girl just nodded with one eye open, then fell asleep. Lauriel laughed at this. He tidied Aleksis' messy hair in a single braid and then covered her with his jacket.

He was pensive for a few long seconds and a moment later, seeing that Aleksis was already sleeping comfortably, he decided to go to the toilet to relief himself.

There were almost no other passengers in the carriage, only one Thai family and two white tourists who seemed to be occupied with their book and laptop.

On a train that was moving like this, of course he should not worry for bad people who would bother Aleksis. After all, he would only be gone for maximum ten minutes.

Unfortunately, the toilet in his carriage was broken and so was the next one. Lauriel moved quickly across the two carriages to the rear end to find a working one. After he was done, he immediately returned to his carriage. It took him less than ten minutes.

"Hey!"

Lauriel was surprised to see his jacket on the floor and Aleksis was no longer in her seat. He immediately shouted loudly, shocking everyone in the carriage. People who were sleeping or busy with their laptops were shocked.

Lauriel quickly surveyed his surroundings and realized that one of the tourists who had been reading a book was not there. He was accustomed to mapping his surroundings once he entered a new place and he could picture the man clearly.

The missing tourist was a young man with blond locks who wore a short-sleeved blue shirt, ripped jeans, and a pair of old boots. Lauriel didn't pay much attention to his face but he remembered all the young man's characteristics.

"Do you see where the person sitting next to this seat went?" Lauriel asked quickly to the tourist who had been busy with his laptop and was now staring at him with a gape face. Lauriel was not aware that he asked the question in Thai and the tourist certainly did not understand his words.

"Err... sorry, we didn't see anything, we were sleeping..." The Thai man, who sat with his wife and children at the end of the carriage, suddenly responded. "Do you speak Thai?"

Only then did Lauriel realize that he was not speaking English. After thanking the Thai man, he repeated his question to the tourist - now in English. Strangely, the tourist's face looked even more dumfounded.

Ugh... Did this tourist also not speak English? Lauriel thought, irritated. He then quickly repeated his question in French, German, and Spanish... until finally the tourist raised his hand and stopped Lauriel.

"That's enough. I understand you the first time, and, sorry I didn't see the person you are referring to. What's wrong? What can I do for you?"

"Hmm..." Lauriel did not reply, he immediately took his jacket and bag and hurriedly walked to the front of the carriage. He remembered that on the way to and from the toilet, he had not seen Aleksis nor the tourist who was reading the novel. It meant they went the other way.