"Whether you like it or not… I am your Chief now."

Latanya's words traveled across the room like a knife as it pierced the ears of the Locals. They could only watch her as she slowly sat on the Chief's chair. "...Not as comfortable as I remembered it--"

​​

"I… I don't accept you as my Chief!"

"Me too!"

"We don't even know you and you're a barbarian!"

"...Without us taking your side, all of you would have died."

"That--"

"Then do you want to go to war again? I would gladly take this seat forcefully if you want it that way."

The Locals in the room could only shut their mouths as Latanya's sharp words continued to cut the deepest parts of their hearts. What she said made sense, if an all-out war happened between them and the Prisoners, they would have been decimated.

But still…

"N… no one will accept you as Chi--"

"Ghost!"

As soon as the Locals heard that, they could not help but flinch and back away. Van, on the other hand, could not help but slightly groan in frustration as he was being treated like a dog… even his title seemed like that of a dog's.

"...Come here."

"..." Van could only puff his chest out domineeringly as he approached Latanya. If he was playing a part, then he might as well play it well. But then, as soon as he got close to Latanya, she lifted him up and placed her on her lap.

...He was a dog-- a lap dog.

"What--"

"Just stay still, I will reward you later of anything you want." Before Van could breathe out his protest, Latanya whispered into his ear and stroked his dirty hair filled with blood.

The Locals could only look at each other as they saw Ghost on Latanya's lap. They saw how he destroyed his enemies on the battlefield earlier, he was like a storm… one blink and you're dead.

Eugene, on the other hand, could not help but let out a long and deep breath. This Ghost is the child they came to rescue a few weeks ago in the Encampment. So… he has truly become one of them, Eugene thought in sorrow.

But this is good, at the very least, there were other children here now. Maybe it's not too late for this child, Eugene thought, still completely oblivious of the fact that Van was older than he looked.

"Now tell me, Eugene," the Locals' racing thoughts were disrupted by Latanya's sudden change of tone, "What happened to the Wall? You've only sat in this chair for so little time and yet you've already let something as drastic as this happen…

...This is your fault."

"The Chie… Eugene is not at fault!"

"Oh? Then tell me what happened."

"We… we were attacked by a--"

"That's enough!"

Before one of the Locals could finish his words, he was interrupted by Eugene's thunderous shout.

"..."

"I… I am afraid we can't tell you what happened." Eugene slightly stuttered as he turned his head to the side, his lips and hands trembling at the same time.

"...What?"

"The only thing I can tell you is that the one who killed the Chief and the one who destroyed the Wall is the same person… no…

...a deity."

"A… deity?" Latanya could not help but breathe out as she stopped stroking Van's hair.

"..."

"Please, don't make me say more. He… he told us that he would kill everyone here."

"...Why?" Latanya raised an eyebrow, "Where is this person now?"

"He… he's gone."

"I--"

"Did he mention something about a Messenger?" Van, who has been keeping quiet throughout the conversation, spoke.

"!!!"

"N… no." Eugene could only look to the side as he stuttered, his lies clearly surfacing due to the shock on his face.

"..." Latanya furrowed her eyebrows as her eyes trailed back and forth between Van and Eugene. It would seem that whatever happened here, Van somewhat knew something about it… She always knew something was up with this boy, but to think he would be this interesting.

Latanya unconsciously licked her lips as she tightened her embrace around Van. Whatever the case is, that wasn't their priority right now.

"Enough about that for now. We need to do something about the Wall," Latanya said as she looked Eugene straight in the eyes, "Bring some mages to seal up the Wall. We don't need any other unknown entities coming out of it…

...Also, has anyone from the City arrived here ever since we killed one of theirs?"

"N… no. They might not even know that he went here."

"Hmm…" Latanya placed her hand on her chin, "Still, we need to set up our defenses just in case. How many men did we lose?"

"We're estimating it now, but it shouldn't be…"

Slowly, the talks between Latanya and the Locals became smoother and smoother. Some of them still held expressions of doubt, but as they heard Latanya's words that were full of authority, they too started to nod in compliance.

Van wanted to leave since they seemed busy, but for some reason, his body wouldn't listen to him. It would seem that he was more exhausted than he thought. And so, he just decided to lean himself on Latanya's soft body.

Van also noticed that each of his movements made the Locals flinch; are they really that afraid of him?

Their talks lasted for an hour and Van was finally free from Latanya's grasp. The other Locals were gone, but Eugene and Latanya were still talking, with Eugene trying to catch up Latanya with everything that has happened in the Village since she was gone.

Van stretched his neck as he walked towards the door, but before he could leave, he heard Latanya's voice calling for him.

"Find me later tonight, Van." She said. Van, however, only shrugged his shoulders as he went out the door.

The dim light of the setting sun quickly welcomed him, making him slightly cover his eyes. Just one day, it took just one day to change the flow of things. It was the same when he was thrown here; everything he ever knew and everything he ever had… it just took one day for them to disappear from his hands.

Life… truly was a fragile thing. Be it in the Relic Graveyard, here, or the world outside.

"..."

He could hear the gasps of the women and the children as he stepped out of the Chief's house. It would seem that his title of 'Ghost' has reached even the civilians.

Van only let out a sigh as he started walking around the Village. The people were obviously wary of him as they did their best to avoid him. He supposes this is for the best, he was more used to this reaction.

"Ah, Van! You're finally out!"

"Hm?"

Van quickly turned around towards the direction of the voice that called for him, only to see Gil running towards him with a slight smile on his face. It would seem that he has already recovered… that was quite fast.

"Come with me…"

"...Why?"

"What do you mean why!?" Gil let out a long sigh as he tried to catch his breath, "We are…

...burying our dead."