Part 1

- RAPHAEL BLUESCALE’S POV -

Breathing. That simple action that humans commonly do unconsciously was, for the me laying on the ground barely able to keep my head straight, one of the hardest and most painful experiences I had ever had. I vaguely remember.

[I’ve been hit by that strange thing inside the jewel then…then what? Was I…hunting for prey?... I don’t understand…but this pain. This is from that fist]

My body was a mess. My temperature was decreasing but I still felt somewhat feverish, my ears were ringing, my muscles strained to the extreme, the lack of mana leading to lethargy, the feeling of weakness from the overuse of natural mana, legs and arms barely responsive and craked if not broken ribs. My overall senses were dulled and I wouldn’t dare to open my eyes fearing that the strain on my still recovering brain would be too large. I was just barely able to keep thinking, it was pointless to rush things out. Though that was my train of thoughts, the uneasiness of not knowing what was happening around me and the uncertainty of what I recall from the fight being true or not was prompting me to investigate. Hence, I slowly opened my eyes. The sight that came into view was mostly as I remembered it. The line of trees that acted as border between a now ravaged clearing and that green sea looked as much burned and scarred as I recalled. The holes, in the ground, charred black trees, ashes of burned grass, puddles of blood. It was exactly as I left it. The one thing that changed was the presence of a tall man with black and blonde hair in front of a group of kneeling students. Further back, tied to a tree, sat Gallher. His face wet with snot and tears while his pants were sullied, very much unlike his previous behavior.

“What a… feast for the eyes!” I grunted as slightly raised my back onto the tree behind me.

“GRAAAHH YOU IDIOT!-” Shouted Gildor as he loudly stomped his feet while approaching me “- Do you even know how much of a mess you’ve caused this time!?”

“Well…not like I had…any real choice about it, did I?”

“Tch! Don’t talk. You have fractured ribs, better not strain yourself and poke a hole on those lungs of yours”

“Mhhh, and I wonder…who’s fault was that?” I ironically asked with a little chuckle.

“Oh shut your trap! I had to. You were about to kill ‘em. And, anyway, about that, what the hell happened here. Care to explain?”

“They ganged up on me, some even carrying knives and such…it was going well but then Gallher came…out of the woods with a strange purple…jewel. After it broke I…saw things. I only remember being angry and wanting to kill him…then came your punch”

“A purple jewel?” Asked confused the man scratching his chin.

“Honiro…onnero’s heart or something. I don’t really remember”

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? Are you talking about Oneiro’s Heart!?” Shouted the man.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s the name. What about it?”

“Oh god, this has just reached a whole new level of troublesome shit!” Sulked Gildor.

“If what you are saying it’s correct then this really is more troublesome than you conveyed to me, Constantine” Said the always calm and collected voice of the headmaster coming from my right side.

“Oh, headmaster. You are here sooner than expected but… did you…?”

“Yes. She will arrive soon”

The looks on their faces were heavy as if both of them had a meaning hidden behind those serious-looking eyes. They spoke no words. Especially the headmaster. I didn’t dare to utter a breath as he posed his eyes on the battlefield. For the first time in more than a year, I feared that mellow man. As if breaking the locks on a damn, the headmaster’s anger sipped out in floods together with his absurdly dense mana. Soo dense that even the air I breathed seemed to hold weight. [Only death would wait for me if I were to anger him] was the only thought I was able to spell in my head. The fear I felt against the fiend paled in comparison to that. But, as fast as that killer-like mood appeared it also vanished, right before a third person would set foot into the clearing.

“*huff* Sorry head-*huff*-master, following you was *huff* harder than expected!” Exhausted said the blind elven woman with a bird perched on her shoulder, probably acting as her eyes.

“Don’t worry lady Ekisora-” Remarked gently the headmaster, his clenched fists behind him betraying that gentleness “- It seems our help wasn’t needed. Professor Gildor had the situation under control even before I arrived”

“Ooh I see-” Replied with a slight sigh the woman “- though it’s a shame and a disgrace that some students had to di-”

“Yo Eki!-” Suddenly sprung with his usual loud voice Constantine “- You gotta listen to this first. Raphael, do you mind telling her what happened?”

“Eh? Ah, yes, sure professor” I stuttered, unable to follow their game of glares.

“What? He’s alive!? But his mana waves changed!” Gasped the woman before realizing her own words and thoughts had betrayed her. It was thanks to them that I realized what the other two were so mad about. She was in on the whole Gallher’s revenge plan.

“You see, lady Ekisora, the magic item you’ve been using to show the students the event, not only was I the one who gave it to you but I also was the one who helped that young dwarf lady to create it. Hence I quite know the way around it’s usage and issues. I was rather surprised when I suddenly saw the gem in the lower case completely missing” Menacingly yet keeping that calm air of superiority, said the headmaster.

“Eh? Oh...yes that is a shame! It must have been rather valuable for someone to steal it”

“Unfortunately, that gem holds no concrete value. One could say it’s as worth as a pebble. Furthermore, I’m quite sure no one would be foolish enough to steal something under possession of one of the ruby adventurers” Continued with his press the headmaster.

“W-well headmaster, you know how students are. Some of them do really idiotic things a-and -”

“Eki, let’s stop this-” Once again interrupted her Constantine, this time surrounded by a thick air of seriousness “-You can drop the clueless act, it’s fucking pissing me off”

“What are you talking about Gil!?” Shouted the woman as a cheating girlfriend caught in the act would.

“You said you didn’t see anything, yet when I was approaching the forest I clearly saw some of your birds flying away. Then, what about Raphael’s mana waves changing? If you were able to catch that, how could you not catch the mana waves from Oneiro’s heart being opened? Or we could even talk about how those guys brought in fucking daggers under your nose…YOUR nose dammit! Do you think I’m some kind of moron!?” Lashed out Constantine as he raised his fist.

“Stop right there Constantine!-” Shouted the headmaster grabbing Constantine’s wrist “- Let’s not make this a bigger issue than it already is. We’ll have to deal with the duke, making an enemy out of the elven prince is unnecessary at this point…We can get out of this easily but the same can’t be said for the Bluescales. Get your anger in check, Constantine”

For a moment I seemed to almost picture the scene of Constantine choking Ekisora. His eyes were full of a different type of rage than the headmaster. One that I knew too well: betrayal. I could easily read it. Whatever existed between the two of them had just completely vanished. In a fit of silent rage, Constantine stepped back and leaned on the tree, right beside me.

“Well-” Continued undaunted the headmaster “- what do you have to say for yourself?”

“...-” A moment of silence, in which the woman seemed to ponder on whether to come clean or not, followed the headmaster’s question “- What are you going to do with that information?”

“Nothing. As I said, I do not wish to make an enemy out of the prince, for the sake of the boy that is. Thus, I won’t press charges against you but do not think you’ll be able to set foot into Alamara ever again” Menacingly, with enough pressure to send shivers down my body, even though I couldn’t even see his eyes, the headmaster threatened Ekisora.

“You don’t get it!-” Suddenly shouted the woman with a somewhat crazed expression as she pointed her white eyes towards mine “- He cannot be left alive! What I saw… He is not someone who should live! I didn’t like the idea of killing a kid but after seeing him….seeing it… I-I couldn’t let him live”

“...-” Once again, pressure strong enough to sunk my lungs filled the atmosphere around us, making some of the weaker students still kneeling faint “- Do not ever speak of a child like that in my presence… If you know what’s good for you lady Ekisora”

The woman’s shoulders trembled vigorously as her knees slightly bent under the heavy pressure of the headmaster’s aura. With slow, steady steps, Ekisora backed away and, once reached a “safe” distance she turned around and started to go on her way out of the forest. Keeping silent in that kind of situation was too much of a blow to my pride. With no little issues, I used the tree to help me stand up and, by leaning on it with a shoulder, I was finally able to face her turned back.

“Hey, Ekisora-” I shouted with a slightly broken voice. With a mixture of surprise and annoyance the woman turned around “- I don’t think Gallher’s smart and wealthy enough to buy you in, so tell me. How wide are the duke’s pockets? I’m really curious to know how much my life truly costs!”

“...You really have an aptitude for making enemies” Scornfully replied her.

“There’s a saying I heard from an old bard in the adventurer's tavern. Gold does make the day glow brighter, but so does the sun in the morning…-” I said. In an attempt to imitate the headmaster’s pressure I filled my head with the worst possible scenarios of how the whole situation with Gallher could have ended. Thus filling my guts with rage “- It would be a shame if the sun never again shone for you!”

Either my words or my attempt at copying the headmaster’s pressure worked. Her dead white eyes widened as small trembles shook her body from neck to toes. She spoke no words. Moved no muscle for a good ten seconds. Then, like nothing happened, she turned her back once again and disappeared into the forest. Never to be seen again hopefully. I wasn’t even sure myself what I meant by those words but I was surely serious about making her my enemy if she ever attempted on my life again. Alas, strength finally left my legs once she disappeared from my eyes.

“Profe…ssor…” I tried to muster as my grip on both my conscience and the tree grew weaker.

“Don’t worry Raphael-” Said Constantine while grabbing me just in time before my body could hit the ground “- We’ll take care of the rest from here on. Your friend, Danthe, he tried to stay behind and help you out but I caught him before he could come to the clearing. He’s in rough shape but a couple of hours in the medical wing and he’ll be fine. They’re all waiting for you back at the academy so, relax and get some sleep”

“Yeah…I’ll do…just…that” I said as my eyelids grew heavier until finally darkness embraced me and sleep cuddled my tired body.

Part 2

I woke up surrounded by white curtains in an all-white bed. The smell of fresh bandages, blood and various herbs filled the air I breathed. Around me no sign of neither the clearing nor Gallher and the others. I sighed in relief as I let my head sunk into the soft pillow. I was reassured by the recalling memory of the conversation between the headmaster and the others back at the clearing. I had no idea of what my assailants’ fates were but I really was glad at the idea of them being punished. Nevertheless, being left in the dark of everything didn’t truly suit me. I tried to move my body, little by little, and as I did so, I could feel the pain still etched inside my bones. The sensation of being unable to move my limbs did disappear but moving a single millimeter still sent shocks of pain through my body. Unable to stand up or sit, I lowered my chin to take a look at my body. Most of it was covered in white and red bandages. What left me in shock was that my abdomen looked completely unscathed. I was sure that the feeling of my skin being burned from the inside was real, yet there was no trace of anything of the sort happening. Stranged and intrigued by that, I slid my fingers across the place where I was supposed to be burned. To my surprise, other than feeling more sensitive than usual, nothing seemed strange.

“Aaalll riight, let’s see how the sleeping beauty is doing!-” Whistled in a merry tune Constantine as he entered the room “- Oh? You awake?!” Continued the man with a whiff of surprise in his tone.

“Surprised, professor?” I replied while forcing myself to raise my back.

“Hey hey, calm down!-” Shouted Constantine as he helped me straighten my back and push me up “- We did feed you two crying princess roots but it’s way too damn soon for you to push yourself! Raphael, your body’s a wreck. I don’t know what kind of magic you used back there but it has taken a toll on you. Not to mention broken bones and the various cuts!”

“That’s not important right now, professor” I said, scoffing away Constantine's attempts to have me lay down.

“What do you mean not impot-”

“What happened to them?” I asked, rudely interrupting Constantine from finishing his phrase.

The air in the room became still and saturated with a sudden heavy mood. The look on Constantine's face was fierce but not menacing, not for me. He wasn’t looking in my direction, whether it was out of shame or else I did not know but the fact that his usual personality shifted to this cold one could only be interpreted as a bad omen.

“...Hey, Raphael-” Said the man with a low and uncertain tone, as if he was trying to convince himself of something “- how about you leave the academy and become my apprentice? You know, most high-rank adventurers have a couple of apprentices. Traveling the world, honing your magic, getting rich and famous. It’s better than staying as a no-name here, no? Besides, it’s not like you have much left to learn here”

For a moment I looked away from the man sitting on the edge of my bed. His words still lingering in the stagnant air. It wasn’t a bad proposal. With the money I would help my family, I would fulfill my dream of exploring this world and I would also gain practical fighting experience. Plus, being the pupil of one of the few ruby adventurers is an achievement in itself. Still, this opportunity came at the wrong time.

“No offense but you’d never make a good actor, professor!-” I jokingly said between a sigh and a laugh. Constantine’s expression slightly darkened, but just for a moment. He was probably already expecting my refusal “- Is it really that bad?”

“It is…it is that bad. Your friends are not directly involved with this and, most of them being of noble lineage, it’s difficult for the Gallhers to find fault in them. You on the other hand are an easy target. While your friends and your brother can be easily shielded by the headmaster’s authority, you, who actively almost killed Delvin, are out of the headmaster’s reach”

“And that’s why you asked me to follow you, huh *sigh*” I said gulping down the strange, greenish infuse of herbs that Constantine was showing on my face.

“Precisely…so, think about it. Why would you still want to stay at the academy when it can only offer you dangers?”

“Let’s be real with each other-” I said, matching the same serious tone of my interlocutor “- power-wise my magic can be considered to be surpassing the advanced tier but if we’re talking about magic variety and knowledge, then I’m merely a practitioner-tier. I know I can be considered an advanced-tier mage just because I know a couple of spells in that tier but that’s not my goal for coming here”

“Then what is? There are only a handful of mages capable of teaching advanced tier spells. Even less adept tier, and they surely won’t feel like coming at the academy”

“Yeah but the library is still there-” I smugly replied “- I’m not simply interested in magic knowledge but all of it in general. You probably don’t know it but I plan on traveling the world once I finish with the academy, hence the need for knowledge. Various languages, monsters types, different cultures, geography and all that. So you see I-”

“Aaahhg, I get it, I get it! Scratch that adventurer stuff, all right?...*sigh* Dealing with you is more painful than any other kid. Well, I came to do my part, the rest’s in your hands. I’ll go tell your friends you woke up” Said Constantine as he stood up and approached the door.

“NO!” I shouted in hopes of preventing him from leaving the room.

“Eh?”

“Don’t tell the others I’m awake. Only Danthe, and tell him to come here”

“Alright, alright-” Said the man with a hint of annoyance in his voice “- but this is the last time you treat me like a butler!”

Not even ten minutes after the end of that conversation, Danthe came rushing through the door as if his life depended on it. With the saddest face I’ve ever seen him wearing, he told me about what happened after I fainted. Apparently, Ekisora had mysteriously left without even a trace of her ever being in Alamara to begin with, the students who attacked me were mostly suspended due to some of them spilling the beans in order to get out with a lighter sentence. The rest of them, mostly those coming from higher nobiliary families, were put on house arrest until further proof of their involvement, Gallher was no different. The talks around the academy spoke of a “mass-expulsion” of what was considered Gallher’s faction decided by the headmaster. Alas, the expulsion of all those nobles would be putting the academy’s prestige to shame so both I and Danthe concorded that it was probably just a rumor. The fact remained that Gallher’s actions were now widely known in the academy, as such, his already bad reputation pummeled even deeper.

Then he told me about a message left under his door. Written on it were pieces of information regarding duke Gallher and his actions. One of those being his meticulous search for information on my name. Danthe too, just like Constantine, prompted me to leave the academy. Reassuring him that everything would resolve itself took more than half an hour on my part and a full-length explanation of my plans for dealing with the situation. When he left the room he carried on his expression the weight of my words and the promise he made to me upon hearing those words. Hence, our final plan was set in motion.

Part 3

When finally the darkness of the night laid it’s mantle over the city, I jumped out of the hospital gown that was given me by the nurses and put on the clothes that Danthe brought me. For him to fetch my own clothes he would have had to let my brother know that I was awake, something that I really wanted to avoid. Though our builds were different, Danthe still had some clothes he brought with him when he first entered the academy. Clothes that were now too tight for him. His choice was simple: a pair of vaguely elegant black trousers slightly tight on my waist, a pair of low boots he rarely used, a cream-colored long-sleeved shirt with a deep V cut that was too big for me hence I was forced to tuck it tightly in my pants, and finally a black cape with a wide hood.

Once ready I silently opened the window facing one of the back gardens of the academy. With fortune on my side, that garden turned out to be one with high hedges. With my muscles still mildly begging me to just stop and sleep, I silently rushed through the garden and ran all the way towards the back of the academy, where security was loose. Carefully then, with much attention not to be noticed, I reached the heart of the city. There I mostly walked on sideroads and alleys with the goal in mind to reach a certain shabby tavern owned by a retired adventurer whom I befriended while working at the guild. One who has a particular tendency to comply when gold is placed in his hands.

The lights were on when I reached the place but the sign on the door clearly said closed, just as I had instructed Danthe to tell the owner. A small, dark and smelly alley behind the tavern was my supposed meeting place with Danthe, though it seemed I was quite early. An uncountable amount of time passed before Danthe would show up as I mentally reviewed the plan and steeled myself for that decision.

“Yo! Sorry, I’m late-” Apologized a cloaked Danthe as he approached me with both hands joined in penitence “ I’ve done what you asked but now what?”

“Now we wait for those two to enter the tavern. When the owner leaves is our cue to take action. By the way, were you able to get that thing from Legis?”

“Oh, this?-” Asked the red-headed boy as he rummaged through one of the internal pockets of his cloak only to take out a small bluish ball the size of a fist covered in loose bandages “- I actually had to steal it. That bastard is waay too greedy with his creations!”

“Of course he’d be greedy!-” I replied, loudly face-palming at the thought of explaining the disappearance of one of his creations to an angered Legis “-You know, he’s a scientist. An alchemist! That thing you stole could very well mean his life to him…we’ll need to apologize to him later… Well, at least we have it with us!”

“It might be a little late to ask but what is this thing and why is it so important to you?”

“That’s poison. Well, more like sleeping poison. It was a failed experiment that Legis has done something like four months ago. The moment that ball is crushed with enough force it will turn to dust and put to sleep all who inhale them. As for the reason you should’ve guessed it by now since I asked you to steal that other thing but anyway, it’s because I don’t want to fight, not in this state….But, Danthe, I must ask you. Do you really wanna do this? I mean, you understand where all this is going right? I don’t want to force this on you so you can just leave me if you don’t feel lik-”

“Sometimes you really talk you much, asshole!” Said the boy with fire burning in his eyes. I already knew he was set on doing this, on following through with this plan with me, but it still felt like I was burdening him. And most of all, I didn’t want to ruin him.

“...Are you sure this is the place, Amelie?-” Said the feminine voice of one of our so-called friends “- I’ve never been to this place before!”

“Don’t worry, this is what was written in the letter. There’s no doubt about it” Replied the girl.

“Raph, those two really came!” Whispered Danthe as we hid under one window while crouching.

“I told you, didn’t I? I’ve got an acquaintance who’s surprisingly good at being stealthy. Now shut up and listen!”

“...being late though. I really hate that side of him!”

“Come on, don’t be like that! Aren’t you happy to see him? Sorry owner, we are waiting for someone, did anyone perhaps came looking for us?”

“Mhhh, are you two gals with the young master of the duke’s house?” Asked with his rough voice the man at the counter cleaning glasses.

“Oh, yes yes, so he did come! Where is he?” Asked Amelie with a bright smile on her face, beaming with happiness and excitement.

[You lousy little bitch! I can’t wait to smash that fake pride of yours!]

“Mhhh, he’s not here yet but I was told to leave the shop to ya so I’ll take my leave now!” Coldly replied the old man as he rapidly grabbed his brown mantle and left the shop. Once out he looked around him two or three times, to make sure no one was looking at him, and triumphantly marched towards a half-broken barrel on the side of the road. Inside it was the pouch full of coins, the payment for his services. The man took it, hid it inside his pockets and left the place without uttering a single word. One glare between me and Danthe was all that was necessary.

A plank, right below the window, wasn’t fixed as solidly as the others. While the two girls talked and took advantage of the absence of the owner to serve themselves some drinks, we raised that plank enough for a fist to pass through. Then, at Danthe’s command, I threw the ball of sleeping dust through the hole while he ignited the bandages around it with fire magic. The plank was closed and the room was sealed once again. The two unaware girls inside the tavern kept on ravaging the old man’s bottles as the effect of the dust took over their bodies. In less than five minutes their sleeping bodies were laying on the ground.

It was one long hour full of silence what was awaiting me and Danthe before our two now tied captives would wake up. The tavern had no upper floor hence we were using something akin to a basement, mostly used by the owner to store the few barrels of good wine he had. There we took the two girls and tied them to a chair with some rope we found down there. Neither of us spoke. I suppose it was our way to steel and come to terms with ourselves. When we finally heard the first waking grunt I almost felt a sense of relief. That awkward silence was about to break.

“Good morning Miss Reville-” I said moving from the corner I was laying in to the turned chair in front of the girls “- Slept well?”

“W-where am I?” Asked the girl in return. Her mind still not fully awake.

To remedy that, I raised my open hand and made it fall across her face, leaving one big, red mark of my fingers on her cheek. Danthe did the same thing to the other girl, twice. With much surprise on their part, the two girls looked around them, at us and their tied limbs before fully realizing the situation they were in.

“What’s the meaning of this!?” Shouted the girl next to Amelie.

“Miss Saifri, I see you are fully awake now. Good, it will make things easier-” I said whilst signaling with the gesture of a hand to Danthe not to intervene any further “- Now, let me explain the situation since it looks like neither of you fully understands it”

“What are you doing Raphael?!-” Shouted Amelie as she struggled to free herself from the ropes “- What’s the meaning of this?”

“As I said, let me expla-…Kiara, let’s not do this, will you? Refrain from using magic for the time being, ‘cause if you do we can’t have a rational conversation and will be forced to punish you…Danthe, if you please”

It took only a word from me for Danthe to get what I wanted him to do. We had vaguely talked about this back at the academy but I had purposely left out the details and methods of the punishment. I wanted to let him have the freedom of choosing his own methods and, to my great surprise, they were quite brutal. At my command, Danthe started throwing punches at Kiara’s belly with enough strength to have her experience some retching. Once he was satisfied with the result, he stepped back and let me speak once again.

“As I was saying, let me explain the situation. The letter you two received from Gallher was actually sent by me-” In response to my words the two girls’ faces became pale with shock “- Oh, come on! Don’t make faces like that. Did you really think we were blind all along? I can understand Kiara, she was a hard one to discover, but you Amelie. It was obvious that Danthe would talk about you to me, no?”

“B-b-but w-we were f-friends, no, Danthe?” Stuttered with tears forming on her face Amelie in a last attempt to breach her old friend’s heart.

“You said it right-” Said Danthe from behind my back with a very scornful tone “- We WERE friends, the moment you became one of Delvin’s fanatics and proposed to poison Raph…that was when it all ended”

“How?” Asked Kiara with eyes full of hate pointed at me.

“Confessing already, are we?” I asked in return.

“There’s no point in denying it now after letters and all, so how did you find out about me?”

“Oh, trust me, it wasn’t an easy task. That fucker made one hell of a good move to make Amelie his spy-” I started saying as I rocked the chair “- You might not realize this, Amelie, but Gallher made you a spy knowing full well that Danthe would tell me about you. You were a decoy. A disposable pawn if you will”

“W-w-what?” Stuttered the scared girl.

“It was a well-contrived plan, you worked as the scapegoat for the real spy who sent, together with you, information to Gallher. That is so that the real spy would be less likely to be found out. Though of course it had a flaw, the fact that it was reliant on me believing that you were the only spy…Honestly let’s be real, what kind of fool would send one and one only spy knowing full well that the enemy is aware of that spy?”

“I see…fuck!” Cursed Amelie as she struggled once again against the ropes.

“And that’s why I started suspecting there was one more spy in our group. As to how I found out it was you the answer is: the attack the night of my dinner with Gallher”

“The attack on that night? What does that have to do with anything?” Violently asked Kiara as she clearly got impatient.

“You see, I was suspicious of three people to be spies: you, Danthe and Legis. Hence, on the night of the dinner, I told everyone to hide in one of the free rooms for students while also telling Danthe to change the location to the tower. When the room was attacked clearly before the enemy attacked the tower I understood that the second spy was either you or Legis. The rest came naturally as process of elimination…But to think that you were onto me since the first day, how very diligent of you…Tell me, what is really your relationship with Gallher?”

“Mhph, ASSHOLE AS IF I’’D TELL YO- *blaargh*” A sonorous fist struck her stomach once again forcing her to choke on her words and instinctively crawl as much as she could to ease the pain.

“Answer the damn question if you know what’s good for you!” Said Danthe with his fist still touching her.

“F-fianceè…I’m his fianceè” Reluctantly replied the girl.

“Good to know…now, let’s get on with business. I will ask you some questions and you will answer. If you don’t you’ll get beat up. The more you defy us the more violent we will get so I suggest answering promptly. Understood? Good, let’s start… first question: does Gallher have any other house except the mansion?”

The two girls looked at each other for a long second and nodded against one another after they reached a silent accord. Both closed their mouths and grit their teeth, refusing to answer my questions. I had expected this but I really hoped it wouldn’t go that way. Loudly sighing, I moved away the chair and stood in front of Amelie while Danthe stood in front of Kiara with his fists clenched and his lips being bitten. Once I started, he started too and fists and slaps fell onto the two tied-up girls. Neither of us was enjoying it, yet neither of us hated it. Our faces spoke clearly. All we were waiting for was for our ex-friends’ spirits to be broken.

“N-no *cough cough*-” Said Amelie with swollen cheeks and blood flowing out of her nose “- H-he only had *cough* the mansion”

“See what I’m talking about? Just answer honestly and you’ll be spared the pain. Now, onto the next question…”

The questioning went on for a little while, forty minutes to be exact, and, between sprouts of violence, tears and defying, we got all the answers I was looking for. The questions varied from how many guards the duke had in his house to the layout of the mansion. I found it astonishing how no one came looking inside the tavern after hearing the screams of the two girls. I wasn’t proud of my work, I felt guilt welling up inside me the more I laid my hands on them, but it was a necessary evil on my part. I couldn’t afford to fail the next step of the plan so of course I would need a great deal of information. With them safely stored inside my mind, I started heading towards the small trap door leading to the main room.

“I-if…o-only you…subm-mitted to him…n-n-nothing would have happened!” Spelled with difficulty Kiara with both eyes shut due to the swelling and a broken lip blooding the whole lower side of her face.

“...There are two things I cannot forgive. You can make fun of me, shame me, try to kill me, steal everything I possess, torture me and whatever else goes through your mind. I’ll retaliate sure, just not this much. But if someone was ever to touch those I hold dear or betray me…Then I’ll make sure they’ll curse every single choice they’ve up until that point. I’ll make their lives so miserable that they’d hope to just get killed…I will never again lose anything. Not this time nor the future” I said, filling every word with the pressure of my mana and the feeling of anger boiling inside of me as I recalled the faces of those that betrayed me.

“Raph-” Said Danthe in a slightly melancholic tone as he grabbed my shoulder “- are you sure you don’t need me there?”

“Thanks, but I cannot stain your hands any more than this…More importantly, are you really sure to be fine with dealing with those two?”

“...It’s partially my fault that Amelie has become like this…I don’t want to burden you any further” Decisevly replied Danthe.

“I’m not happy about this, but please deal with them as you see fit-” I replied without turning to look at the almost unrecognizable faces of my two ex-friends. I climbed the ladder leading to the upper floor and once there I said: “-As I said this afternoon, if you don’t find me in the room in the nursing wing in the morning, tell everything to the headmaster and blame everything solely on me… See ya, Danthe”

“Raph… good hunt!”

I chuckled as I covered my head with the hood and left the tavern. I traveled the side streets and alleys with my mind still fixed on the events of the basement and Danthe’s words. The next morning, once everything had ended, I would ask him what was of the two girls. The only reply I would receive was that “we will never see their faces again”. That night will become a secret me and Danthe would bury with us.

The moon was up in the sky, slightly less than half, covered by some stray clouds that gave an eerie feeling to the mood of the town. The lake in the distance was covered by thick mist while the lighter parts of it attempted to conquer the buildings near the shore. I was hiding behind the fence of a merchant's mansion close to Gallher’s. With my hands slightly trembling inside my pockets I grabbed the little vial filled with greenish liquid obtained by squishing healing herbs with oils. I gulped it down and suddenly, the pain I was feeling completely disappeared as if I had fully healed. Though, of course, it was just a feeling. That vial contained a sort of painkiller. It numbed my perception of pain for a short amount of time. If I brewed it correctly it should have lasted for two hours at max, more than enough time to complete my plan. Unfortunately, that painkilling liquid was one of Legis’ creations still in the experimental phase that I was lucky enough to be taught the process. It being in experimental phase meant that it still had drawbacks, the most concerning of them being that, once it wears off, the pain previously experienced would be felt in an even greater manner.

“Aahhrg, what shitty taste!” I said as I finished gulping it down.

[Calm down, Raphael…I have to do this. I HAVE TO DO THIS-] I thought whilst looking down at my trembling hands and my cloudy breath [- If you don’t do this they’ll come after you, your brother and your family SO SHOW SOME BALLS AND FUCKING DO IT!]

The sound of my own hands against my cheeks echoed in my ears. I took a deep breath and felt my lungs greedily gathering all the air they could. I took a step out of my hiding place and towards the side of Gallher’s mansion where the hedges working as fences were lower.

“...No turning back. I’m ready!”