My composure was gone, and my body felt weak. I vomited again until my stomach was empty. Martin had become a monster and I had finally realized that. No wonder people were afraid of him, and me. So this was why some hadn't eaten and would rather starve. While others couldn't stop eating once they did. It was a slope of madness and despair that Martin had created, one of survival and the other of saving your soul.

The poor, the weak, and anyone he deemed to be criminals was made to be eaten. Anger and disgust swirled inside of me. This wasn't the utopia I thought it was. Martin wasn't the man I thought he was. Then I remembered what I'd done, I had condemned some of these people to this fate. My knees fell to the floor as I screamed loudly out of frustration and resentment.

The doors of the building opened and the guards looked at me. I stood up and wiped my mouth while grabbing the hilt of my sword. I gave them a look of anger, disgust, and pity. They returned my look with eyes of animosity as I had learned their secret. A guard charged at me with a spear and I used my sword to cut the spear in half. After that, I dislodged his head from his body in one swipe. The other guard was fearful and tried to run.

I re-positioned the sword in my hand and threw it at his leg. My Mithril sword easily went through his leg like it was paper thin. My expression had become dull but there was a burning rage in my heart. I walked over to him and my body felt heavy. The weight on my shoulders were almost unbearable but I carried onward. I took out my sword and the guard cried out in pain.

I knelt down next to the guard and firmly grabbed his head with my weak arm. I balled my right hand into a fist and began punching the man. I couldn't feel the contact of my knuckles to his face. Blood started leaking from his nose and his mouth as I kept going. I stopped my attack when his front teeth went missing and I wiped my right hand clean on his clothes.

The guard was gargling on his blood and his eyes showed the expression of a submissive animal.

"Are there anymore?" I said and pointed to the storage house.

"No-no…gargh..no…more."

"Do you keep anyone alive?"

"No-Rhkk…rgh…no…one..alive."

The guard was still alive and I wasn't satisfied with that but he only ran away from me. I stood up, cleaned my sword and sheathed it. My face was still expressionless as I left the man in the darkness. There were other men like him in this town and I needed to see them. What happened to my former companions that would make them turn insane? Is everything actually my fault? Or is this just how the world is?

As I distanced myself from the building, a lone figure appeared.

"So you saw it?"

"Yes," I said and spat on the floor.

The person who appeared before me was the barmaid. She was covered in a hooded robe just like the other men. I could see why she knew the things around town. She was probably a part of the people who dissented against Martin's rule. This barmaid was one of those so-called "criminals."

"When did you know?" I said.

Her eyes stared at the floor before reaching me.

"We were starving after the war," she said. "Martin had come, hearing about out plight."

There was a bitter sneer on her face as she remembered.

"Soon, we were able to have food again but something was wrong," she said. "People started disappearing and that's when some people knew."

Tears began streaming down her face.

"First, it was the criminals, then it was the poor, and then it was anyone who didn't smile."

Her hands were shaking and I could hear the trembling of her voice.

"Some people ate the meat but once they did, they couldn't stop."

"Did nobody say anything?" I said.

"We tried but half the town had already eaten and anyone who dared say anything became a criminal in the Mayor's eyes!" She said.

There was a nagging ache in the back of my mouth and I couldn't help but feel bitter at the whole situation.

"Our group is going to burn down the town, we're going to destroy this place and leave nothing left."

She picked up some resolve after saying that.

"Only the Mayor will stand in our way, so we need you to do something about him!"

I gripped the handle of my sword tight and looked away.

"Kill him, please, kill him!" She said.

The barmaid pleaded again to me with tearful eyes.

"I'll give you whatever you want! If you want my body, I'll give it to you! My family is gone! Just kill him!"

She grabbed my cloak and held it tight in her hands.

"There's no need for any of that," I said.

I gently brushed her aside and continued walking down my dark path.

I couldn't hear anything anymore. Everything was a pitch black darkness around me. Only faces of the dead appeared in front of me. They haunted me with their smiles, their unnatural smiles. I could see them just like all the people I let down. I walked by them and my heart was bleeding.

Would Martin have become this way if the Hero was still alive? Would Helem still not be a man of the cloth? Had I cursed myself to this fate of death and despair? I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. I tightened the grip on the hilt of my sword.

I remembered when the Hero introduced Martin to me.

"This is our new companion!"

"This big guy?"

"Yeah well, he's still a kid, so teach him well."

"THIS BIG GUY?"

"He's only fifteen, just a boy."

"THIS BIG GUY!?"

I looked up to the young boy who looked like a mountain.

"What's your name?" I said.

"Martin," he replied. "I'm a mercenary."

His face looked haggard like he had been through some tough experiences.

"You look like you want to say something else," I said. "What is it?"

"Are you strong?"

I smirked at him and laughed but his expression was serious.

"Well, depends on what you think is strong?"

"Can you beat me?"

"The day I can't beat someone younger than me is the day I call it quits."

Martin charged at me the moment I said that. I side-stepped him easily and tripped him down with my foot. He was surprised but he got up quickly and rampaged towards me again. I dodged his moves easily, it looked like there was some anger in his heart. I knew that type of frustration all too well.

Martin became exhausted as he chased me around but he never laid a finger on me.

"Done yet?" I said.

"Y-you're strong!" He said. "I like you."

I looked at the Hero and the others who only laughed. It wasn't funny to tell another man he liked him out of the blue. I had become a mentor of sorts for Martin after that. We taught him the way of the world and we taught him what strength meant. If you had any strength, you should use it to help people. That's what I believed and I still do.

My memories went back to the days after we defeated the Demon Lord.

Some years had passed since I first met Martin, he was growing up to be a fine young man. We were all still in Demon territory and were heading back to the Kingdom. We had set up camp on a mountain and dark things often strayed far away from us. All eight of us were together and we talked about happy things. Helem talked about how he would spread the gospel of the Veil. I talked about how I wanted to settle down with a family and run an orphanage of sorts.

Few seemed surprised but everyone still laughed and said I would do something like that.

"What about you Martin?" I asked.

Martin was occupied with the fire and he was cooking something delicious for us.

"Well, I want to run a butcher's shop like my father or maybe a tavern," he said. "I just want people to come and eat delicious things."

"I would be your first customer! If you serve the same things as that dragon steak we had a couple weeks ago." Liz said.

"As long as you have something to drink, I'll be there," I said.

Everyone joined in and told Martin what they would like him to serve.

"Why do you just want to be a cook?" The Hero asked.

"I like seeing the happy faces of everyone as I serve them something good," Martin said.

Martin had a beaming smile on his face.

"My little brother and sister will help me run the shop," he said. "Then I could stay home and take care of them."

I went over and ruffled Martin's hair as he always talked about his family. Everyone laughed when we all saw Martin's embarrassed face. He loved his siblings dearly and acted like a doting parent. Since he was the eldest, he had to take care of them when his parents were gone. Even though he was away from them now, he could hold his head up high to say he was with the Hero's party.

My memories faded and I was back in the darkness.

Suddenly, fires were raging around me like the memories in my mind.

The townsfolk had started to burn away at this place. I walked as fires continued and my face was still expressionless. I had finally made it back to the tavern and stood still outside. The cheers of laughter were soon replaced by screams and the roars of fire. Martin's men exited the tavern and ran around in a panic to quell the flames. Martin had come out but he looked like he did when I first met him.

I looked up at him and he looked down at me.

Soon the images of the young Martin was replaced with a monster.

I held the hilt of my sword and then drew my blade.