Nel knitted his brows as the complexity of mana coating the knife-edge made itself known. For a second, he didn't believe it was his mana inside Bell’s body.

Sweat dripped from the side of his head as he tried to have more insight into the arrangement. As per Celpie’s instructions, the first step was to connect with the compound structure hugging the blade. However, Nel couldn't even begin to comprehend where to start.

After trying a few times, Nel gave up on the fruitless endeavor.

“How was it?” Celpie was the first to ask questions. She pushed her face to Nel and threw an expectant look.

“I’m sorry.” Nel dodged her expressive golden eyes and looked to the other side.

“Eh?” Celpie’s words stuck on her throat. She took a few seconds to process Nel’s meaning as her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. “Have you tried hard? It shouldn't be difficult, right? You just have to pull on it. Please! I beg you-”

“Pie!” Swan screamed, shutting the girl up. She turned around, eyes filled with hot tears, “big bro Bell! Big bro Bell!”

Nel flinched at how cold Swan’s tone felt.

“Keep quiet.” Swan hissed. Putting a hand on Celpie’s head, he pulled her to a hug. She wrapped her hands around Swan’s waist and buried her face against his chest. A moment later, muffled hiccups came from her.

“Thank you for your effort. Can you please leave us alone for a moment?” Caressing Celpie’s head, Swan mumbled without even looking at Nel.

“Sure.” Nel nodded his head and walked out of the room in hurried steps. Outside, he leaned against the wall next to the door and covered his face with his hands. “Shit!” A muffled curse filled with frustration escaped through the gaps of his hands.

Nel knew it was foolish to be guilty over something like this. They were his would-be kidnappers. Had they succeeded, he might’ve already become a rotting corpse somewhere. Yet, a part of him was making his heart heavy. Especially the eyes of Celpie, they made his stomach feel heavy.

“Shit!” Nel cursed once again. He rubbed his face as a determined light flashed in his eyes. He turned around, heading in the opposite direction of the hospital’s gate.

XXX

Sean couldn't calm down. He knew Nel for more than two years, but he had never seen him behave the way he did back then. It raised all kinds of flags in his head.

The Nel in his memory was never an impulsive individual. He was always mindful of his actions and surroundings. Even when dealing with annoyances, he’d at worst show indifference. But the Nel he saw in the waiting hall was angry, frustrated, and borderline reckless. He even dared to raise his weapon inside a hospital’s premises, which was punishable by law.

Sean felt worried. He also started to have suspicions about the new patient they admitted. That man, Saw’s reaction was also strange.

Normally when someone threatens you with a deadly weapon, your first reaction should be to run and hide. Yet, that man did the exact opposite. Granted, he was also a hunter, but Sean still felt his reaction was suspicious.

Knock! Knock!

While Sean was mulling over this strange matter, wondering what he should do, someone knocked on his door. Creasing his brows, he adjusted his expression and made his back straight.

“Come in.”

The door pushed open, revealing a familiar face.

“You!?” Sean rose an eyebrow.

It was Nel.

“Hey,” Nel nodded his head. “Can I come in?”

“The hell you asking for?” Sean snapped, beckoning him to come inside with his hands.

Nel wordlessly stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Pulling the wooden stool meant for the patients to sit, he dropped his ass on it.

“What with the long face?” Sean asked, leaning forwards while resting his elbows on the table. He rose an eyebrow towards Nel’s downtrodden face that seemed to have frozen in place.

Nel didn't answer him immediately as he played with his fingers.

Since he wasn’t saying anything, Sean decided he should get some answers first. “Do you know that guy, Saw?” He came directly to the point.

“You can say that, yeah.” Nel hummed as he nodded his head. Suddenly thinking of something, he narrowed his eyes and asked, “you were complaining about their patient, right?”

“Yeah,” Sean replied honestly.

“I guessed so.” Nel narrowed his eyes and frowned. “Well, to tell you the truth, I’m the one who shoved that knife inside his ear.”

“Wh-?” Sean almost screamed. He covered his mouth with his hand and narrowed his eyes towards Nel. Raining his eyebrows at him, he hissed, “That’s you? What happened? Why?”

“It's quite a story, actually.” Nel took a deep breath and told him everything about the incident. He even went the extra mile and revealed the events inside the south side dungeon, especially his encounter with that red-colored sword-wielding hunter.

In the entirety of Vedan, Nel only had a few people he could call friends. To whom he can share the thoughts of his heart. Putting aside Chen and Loui, Sean was one of those friends. Their relationship dates back to Nel’s amateur days as a hunter.

From the get-go, they hit it off nicely. Nel’s somewhat reserved personality went well with Sean’s outgoing goofiness. Their friendship only improved throughout the following days.

“Wow!” Sean exhaled a long breath after the short story finished. He fixed Nel with a withering stare and spat out a response. “I knew you were an idiot, but not to this extent.” Each word came out with enough emphasis to make sure Nel understood it clearly.

“I am. Ain’t I?” Nel shook his head and smiled bitterly.

“You definitely are.” Sean hissed. Covering his face with his palms, he leaned back on the chair while making a long “hmmm” sound. “You’ve a bad way of handling people who are hostile, borderline murderous, to you. No, you definitely suck!”

“...” Nel kept his mouth shut and looked down.

Sean took it his cue to continue as Nel didn't retort. “Let’s forget about the southside dungeon incident. The fact that you are here to seek help for someone who planned to kidnap you was enough proof of your idiocy. And that girl! Let’s not forget about her! She literally tried to kill you twice, man! But what did you do? You made friends with her! Are you out of your mind!?” He nearly screamed the last part.

Taking a deep breath to calm his agitated heart, Sean threw a condescending glare. “Nel, for your own good, change the way you are now. You’ll suffer otherwise.”

“These are all special cases,” Nel argued. “I’ve always handled things alright.”

“Eric is still alive and running.”

Nel clamped his mouth shut as any and all reasonings died in his throat. The reasonings he was preparing to justify himself went up in the air.

“You can’t say anything, can you?” Sean gritted his teeth. “Eric nearly killed you socially. Had it not for Rie’s quick thinking, you might’ve been exiled from Vedan for good. What did you do in retaliation? Nothing!”

“He already got in enough trouble with her family,” Nel responded weakly, although his eyes dodged Sean’s.

“No, Nel,” Sean growled fiercely. “The reason why you didn't retaliate against Eric is because of his family. You were afraid they’d use their power to find trouble for you. You call it ‘troublesome’ but in reality, you are just a chicken!”

Sean stopped and took a few long breaths.

“You know what the other hunters call you behind your back? A spineless pussy!”