"CAN YOU TWO PLEASE KEEP IT DOWN A LITTLE?! WE'RE IN A MIDDLE OF A FOREST FOR GOD SAKE!" Ed Screamed as he woke up in the middle of the night. Of course, it was Vivi's moans that prevented him from sleeping. "I can't comprehend how you can sleep in the same room as them." He said while looking at the sleeping Lyana. He couldn't sleep until the moaning stopped. The next day they resumed their travel to the bandit pass. the road gradually slanted up as they got nearer to their destination. A massive mountain range stood before them. It's ice-covered peaks rose above the cloud, hidden from sight. The Golden Range it was named. It spanned hundreds of kilometer, covering the whole northern border of Amaryn. The only reason Amaryn and The Holy Kingdom have never waged war on each other for a thousand years was due to how impassable Golden Range was. The mountains were largely unpopulated by normal citizens, but bandits, brigands, and The Mountain Tribes made their home there, making it a treacherous path for travelers and adventurers alike. There were only three paths anyone could take to go through the golden range. The Alonon pass, The Bandit pass, and the Devil pass. The Alonon pass was where most people would choose when they wanted to go north. It was a safe and secure road protected by the Kingdom with patrols and checkpoints placed along the way. The second was the bandit pass, it was faster to go through the bandit pass than Alonon pass, but the risk of being attacked and raided by bandits was also much higher since there was no guard placed there. The Kingdom couldn't secure the Bandit pass because it was far away from any major city, unlike Alonon pass which was next to Aeston. The third and the last was the Demon pass. It was a series of tunnels dug through one of the mountains. It was the fastest and shortest path. During an attempt to widen the tunnel, the workers came across a cave system full of high-level monster. The tunnels were then infested by high-level monsters and were never used again aside for foolish adventurer seeking hidden treasure inside, though rarely, if ever, they returned. "Pay attention to your left and right. Bandits, monsters and the mountain clans could ambush us anytime." Theo said as he walked in front of everyone. They have to remain wary for the next 40 kilometers. The air became colder and thinner the further they went to the pass. The mist descended from the mountain, making it hard for them to see their surrounding. Luckily, there was no sighting of anyone other than them, at least until they reached the halfway point. A caravan was stuck on the road. One of its wheels was broken and the people around it, who wore mail armors, was trying to fix it. A blonde haired beauty who wore a better clothing than the rest was sitting on top of a box, watching. "Wait." Theo whispered when Ed was about to approach them. Theo held Ed back, he wasn't sure of what he saw because of the mist. "Why are you stopping me?" Ed asked. "Are you stupid? This is the bandit pass. Those people are also bandits, dressed as merchants to trick." He whispered, careful to not let the bandit know about their location. "If we help them, they will act nice at first until we let our guard down. Then they will call their friend and ambushed us from all side." "How can you be so sure? What if they are actually people in need?" Theo grabbed Ed's head and pointed to one of the crevices on the cliff side. "Look." The head of a bandit could be seen. He was hiding behind a rock though not that successful. "What if the bandit is waiting because they are afraid of the guards there?" Ed asked. "You really think that?....well I can't blame you, you've never seen a bandit raid before. No, they are not going to be afraid of the guard unless the guards outnumbered them and were very well equipped, which right now is not the case." "You know if you're wrong, you're condemning innocent people to die." "Innocent people die every day, Ed, but rarely on the sight of the privileged." Theo replied coldly. He looked at the cliff next to them and took off his sabatons and gauntlets. "Hold this for me, and prepare for battle when I give a signal." He climbed the cliff wall. Theo stopped and grunted. He looked at his hand, it was covered with bandages. His cracked bone wasn't a big problem, but it was still hurt. Lyana, Vivi, and Ed watched as Theo disappeared among the rocks. It was amazing how fast he climbed considering most of his armor still on his body. They observed the caravan again. Theo's word was proven when they realized that those people didn't actually try to fix the wheel, but only moved a box from one place to another and so forth. They were taken by surprise when the earth rumbled. A huge boulder tumbled down the slope and crashed the Caravan, killing two out of six people. The 'Guards' panicked and drew their weapon. The blonde haired woman stood in surprise and took out a dagger hidden beneath her skirt. The rest of the bandit, ten in total, appeared from the crevice and approached the now destroyed caravan. They all looked to the source of the boulder. A handsome man stood there with a huge smug smile on his face and sword on his hand. "NOW!" Theo shouted, signaling the other to attack. Theo rushed down the slope at a staggering speed. Those who saw how fast he was would not believe that he wasn't wearing any footwear on those rocky surface. "[Mind Spike]" "[Lighting bolt]" "[Fire arrow]" Three voice rang from behind a rock. One of the bandit's eye shot open, his body convulsed and fell to the ground. A bolt of electricity hit another bandit, paralyzing him. Then a fire arrow hit a fur-armored bandit, catching it on fire and causing the bandit to panic. The rest of bandit fell into a panic and lost their formation. In all their years of being a bandit, they have never once been the one under attack. They have always been the one who attacked. This lack of experience and the sudden appearance of unseen enemies made their focus falter. They all ran away. "I will make you pay for this!" The blonde haired bandit, their leader, screamed as she ran away with her tail between her legs. Not literally of course, she was a human. "Is it okay to let them get away?" Lyana asked. "It's not like they could do anything." He answered. He turned to Ed. "See?" "Y-yes." Ed answered. He stared blankly at the corpse of the bandit. The bandit he attacked was dead, lying on the ground with his face burned. Ed's chest was burning and his breath became shallow as he closely inspected the corpses. The corpse's eyes were opened as if staring back at him. Their mouth wasn't closed and fresh blood poured out from their wound. Some were crushed beneath rocks, one was electrocuted to death, one had her mind.....cut off? He wasn't sure what Vivi had done. These bandits, they did this thing because they have mouths to feed. They needed the money because they have families. Now they lay dead on the ground. What will their wives, their children do when they know their husband, their father, their brother, their loved one, would not come back home. Would they cry? Weep? How would they find the money? Find food to feed themselves? What if their children were still small? Not knowing about anything and finding that their father or mother will not come home. He pondered it over and over and over again in his head while staring at their cold dead body. Guilt began to eat at his conscience. In his mind, he knew that those bandits have done something much worse than just killing and looting. And they would have done much worse if he didn't kill them. They deserve it, but his heart couldn't agree with his mind. Theo and Lyana noticed Ed strange behavior. Lyana covered her face with her palm. "Not again." Theo patted Ed's shoulder. Ed turned his head . "Don't think too much about it Ed. What you did is not wrong. You've saved a lot of life because of it. Don't worry too much about their family, those who live in these mountains are not people who will die just because of....this." Ed nodded "Thank you, Theo....." He said that, but his heart wasn't all that affected by his word. They were still in the bandit pass when the sun set. They set up a camp in a safe spot where they could only be attacked from one side. They still have around four days of more walking before reaching Ketu Theocracy. Ed stared blankly at the bonfire, stew untouched in his hand. He was still thinking about what happened earlier. The face of those he killed still lingered in his mind, no matter how hard he tried to get it out. Because of that, he hasn't been talking all that much to others. Theo watched him from the side. Lyana had told him what happened with Ed. This time was much worse though, since it was him who killed a person instead of just watching people die. "Ed. You want to talk about it?" He asked with a soft voice. Theo wrapped his arm around Ed's shoulder. From the perspective of Lyana and Vivi, the scene was like a father hearing his son's problem. Ed didn't turn his head. " No. But thank you for your co-" "ED!" Lyana shouted. "Speak!" Ed and Theo were surprised by Lyana sudden outburst. They stared at her for a good few second. Ed let out a sigh and smiled seeing the concern in his companions' eyes. "I...have killed many animals. Monster too. Skeleton, zombies, human-like monster.. all that sort of things." He grabbed his burning chest. "But I've never killed another person. When I saw their face, their dead face, my chest burns and it didn't get any better. The image won't get out of my head no matter how hard I tried." Ed said with teary eyes. "I think you shouldn't try so hard to get it off your head. The harder you try, the longer it will stay in your head." Theo said. "Speaking from my experience, I say that you have to focus on something else. You need something to take your mind away from those images." Lyana added. "I agree with Lyana. Though in my case I never feel guilty because I hate the person I killed." Vivi continued. Ed's mouth curved slightly to a smile despite his still sour face. "Thank you..... If I may ask, who is the first person you all killed...or just kill anyone that makes you guilty?" "For me, it was when I was bought by some old pervert. He gave his slave a really poor living condition, and his sexual fetishes are as strange as it can be, it just so disgusting. So I killed him. I didn't feel any guilt about that, he deserved it." Vivi answered. "For me, it was during a famine in the demon realm. A raiding party of demon tried to kidnap my sister and me when we were out playing. I fought and killed a few. During the fight, I felt nothing, but after the fight, the guilt and trauma hit me. It lasted a few days, but seeing that my sister is safe after that remove some of my guilt." Lyana's eyes was a bit teary. She reminisced about the happy time she had with her sister. She wiped tears off the edges of her eyes. "And after burying myself in books for a few days, the guilt was gone." "My first kill was when I was four..... or was it three? I don't really remember." Theo said calmly, drawing the attention of others. "When I was a child, I was raised to be a killer by my mom. Back then there were some intruders that got caught, and as a way to train me to kill, I was told to execute them. So I did." "And what did you feel?" Ed asked. "Honestly, nothing. Maybe amused seeing their lifeless body fell to the ground, but other than that, nothing really. Sorry there, can't help you." Theo then let out a loud laugh. The way Theo said that he didn't feel anything when killing and that his first kill was when he was four, brought a strange feeling to everyone, including Vivi, who normally never react no matter how strange Theo seemed. Ed let out a wry laugh. "It's okay." Three years of knowing him, and there was still some loose screw that he didn't know. The somber expression returned to Ed's face after a while. Seeing that he didn't succeed at first, he tried again. Theo rubbed his own chin while thinking. If it was a woman, he knew a thousand ways to distract her mind, but Ed was a man. Seeing Theo's troubled face, Vivi remember about what they had been trying in the past few days. "Theo-sama why don't you ask him about skill points? Since he's a System Protagonist, he might know about it." Theo expression lightened up after he heard Vivi's suggestion. It might take Ed's mind off his guilt, and he might learn something about the skill point. Killing two birds with one stone. "Ed, do you know anything about Skill point?" He asked. Ed raised his eyebrows. "Skill points?" "Yes-" Theo proceed to tell everything he knew about skill point with Vivi adding some more information along the explanation. "OHH! You mean that. Of course, I know. Though unlike Vivi, I can only do it when I sleep." He answered as if that was normal. "So can you teach me how to do it?" "Eh?" Ed asked. If a question mark could appear in the air, then it would have appeared above Ed's head. "Can't everyone do it?" he asked, oblivious to the fact. "Hah?" Theo pulled Ed's head and smacked it lightly. "If I can do it why the heck am I asking you?" Vivi's eyes shot open when she saw Ed's and Theo's friendly banter. There was a creepy delight on her face when she took out a notebook and a pen. She began to write something on it. ------- Theo sat on a rock, facing the only path bandits could take to attack them. Behind him, Ed, Vivi, and Lyana already fell asleep next to an extinguished campfire. In front of him were Panes, Claw, and Talon. He had just finished cleaning them. Even though the three will not dull and will not rust, occasional dust cleaning was still needed to keep their pristine shape. "Theo-Sama, you haven't sleep, yet?" Vivi woke up and sat next to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder. "No, not that I need one." He wrapped his hand around her. "Please rest, I'll take it from here." She said. "Everyone needs sleep." He smiled. "Yeah, but I don't need normal sleep. I can enter a lethargic state where I'm half conscious and my body stopped moving, but part of my mind is still awake and aware of surrounding. It's not as good as normal sleep, but it keeps me safe in the wilderness." "Then go get a 'normal' sleep, I will watch here. I'm used to waking up all night in my previous life." She said with a smile. Theo smiled back. His gaze moved towards the collar on her neck. It was a symbol of his distrust. She was his slave, and although he treated her very nicely, she was a little bit too nice for him to not be suspicious of her true intention. Although her every action didn't seem to suggest she was going to betray him, who knows what might she do when he took off her collar. He sighed. It might be because of his recent encounter with Aria that made him unable to completely trust Vivi. Theo felt a little bad about it. She was a nice woman, most likely, she didn't have any ill intent. But Theo couldn't take the risk, he knew how powerful Vivi's mind magic was. But even if he didn't trust her completely, she deserved some reward after everything she had done. "Vivi." He called. "Hmm." She answered, still clinging to his arm. He turned his head to look at her. "You can just call me Theo from now on. You can ditch the 'sama' part." Her eyes opened wide, and her cheeks reddened. An innocent smile crept across her face, and she hugged his body tightly. "No. I'll still call you Theo-Sama." Theo raised his brows, confused. "Why?" "Because I'm used to that." She kissed him on the cheek. "I love you, Theo-Sama. And don't worry about the collar, I know you're still torn." Before Theo could ask a question, Vivi answered. "I can read mind, remember?" She sat back next to him. "Lately your mind has been filled with nothing but worry, I can read your mind like looking through a window. And you never forbid me from reading your mind." Theo kissed her deeply on the lips. Her words made him feel even more bad for doubting her. When his hand started to rub her breast, she stopped him. "I'm on that time of the month, remember?" "Ah, yes." His gaze moved towards her butt. "Wanna try the back door?" Vivi chuckled. "No. I'm not in the mood. Let's save that for a special occasion." Theo smiled and kissed her again. "Okay, I think kiss is enough for tonight." He stood up from his position and picked up the three swords in front of him. "If anything remotely suspicious happens, wake me up immediately." Theo laid his body on his portable bed. Before he closed his eyes, he saw the notebook Vivi spent the whole evening writing on. He took it without getting permission from her. Since it was hers, it was his by extension. He opened the book and read the first page. Two Best Friend. An adult BL fiction of Theo-Sama and Edmund. Written by Vivi. "BL?" He didn't know that word. Since the title has his and Ed's name, he was curious to open the next page. But somewhere, deep inside his heart, he knew that opening the next page would scar his eyes and brain. Trusting his instinct, he closed the book and let his body rest.