My glance silently pores over the crowd. Everyone is silent. Patir, who stands by my side speaks to me in a quiet voice. “I was with the young master when it was delivered… It was Yosana.” He looks regretful as he said and my eyes dart over to the woman. The crowd around her immediately pulls back, and when she tries to follow it, she is denied. I hand Kassa’s unconscious body over to Patir and start moving. She is scrambling as I slowly approach.

I don’t know Yosana well, but I know her nonetheless. I know she has five kids, three sons and two daughters. I know her husband, Bisen, a quiet man who seems to enjoy the small things in life. I have seen some of her sons run around with Kassa, both as playing children, sparring in training and hanging out with a distant air to them as teenagers.

As I slowly draw ever closer, and that she realizes the crowd isn’t letting her through, she makes a run for it, but as she breaks into a run, I do too and catch her with a tight grip around her neck from behind.

“Why?” I ask her. “WHY DID YOU DO IT!?” I shout in my frustration. I can feel her shaking.

“She… She’s not a child of God” she sobs as she starts speaking. “The bounty of the dungeons was from God to the humans. She has no right to partake in it!” She gets louder and starts almost screaming. “SHE IS CORRUPTING OUR COMMUNITY!”. Those words are not her words, but I recognize them. I jerk her around to the crowd and point a man out.

“Are those your words, or his?” The man I have singled out is the preacher and the crowd backs away from him in much the same manner. The reply comes not from the woman, but from the priest.

“THOSE ARE THE WORDS OF GOD, YOU INFIDEL!” I never once attended his sermon’s but I heard talk of them and his talk about community and God’s bounty, so my suspicion of him was high from the start, but it appears he was not the one who pulled the trigger.

I dash forward and even while holding a grown woman in one arm, I easily seize the other. I slowly pan them around for all of the surrounding crowd to see.

“SEE THESE PEOPLE? THESE ARE TRAITORS!” I catch her family, or at least some of it, her husband and two of her sons standing together as I do so. They turn away their eyes when they meet mine.

“AND THIS! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO TRAITORS!” I say as I squeeze their necks till their flailing bodies become still. Most of the crowd evades their eyes from the scene, but most return their eyes to the scene.

“These people sought the life of one of ours and paid with their own!” I cast them to the ground. And I start walking away.

What did I just do? As my rage subsided the consequences of my actions. I return to Patir and Kassa. As I open my arms to receive Kassa, but instead of handing her over, he speaks.

“You should leave the village.” He says. I flick my gaze to his eyes, but they don’t show their or hatred. It confuses me.

“Why?” It feels wrong. What I just did was in part motivated by not wanting traitors in our midst. If I was going to just abandon the place afterwards, it feels needlessly cruel.

“You hurt the nephew of the duke.” He solemnly says as he hands back Kassa. “They’re not going to just ignore that.”

Something sits in me. The memories of being locked up. I don’t want that again. On the other hand, I am monstrously more powerful than before. I doubt the guards were small fries, but I squashed them with ease. I think to myself, can I not just take down the whole dukedom?

But then another thought strikes me. I heard my previous name, Yos, being discussed as an evil entity. I showed my hunter tag in God’s Win. If they somehow link the two, will the dukedom receive help? Will I have to fight off the majority of humanity? I shudder a little as I realize my decision.

Why? Why do I have to leave? Everything was so peaceful and nice and full of love and respect and good food and drink. But the alternative puts me in that hell again. Rolling the die between being sealed away once again, or going back to a wandering lifestyle for certain, I pick the latter every time. At least for now.

I nod at Patir. “Right. Then, go gather your stuff, I’ll keep watch over her till you are back.”

I simply nod. I quickly run off. First to get Dixy from my hiding spot, next to my house to gather clothes, pans, firelighting kits, tools, etc. and stuff them into a backpack. I proved to have gathered slightly too much over the years here, and have to empty it out and decide on what I want. It’s difficult with all the emotions and thoughts filling my head. And those are aided by the small memories attached to the items.

A cutlery set from the industrious brothers, a pan prepared for me by Guran, a decorated mug given to me by Patir. I push the thoughts out of my head and try to focus, but they keep creeping back in. My eyes moisten, but I manage to leave several of the less useful items, even if I had fond memories attached to them.

As I go back, Patir looks a bit surprised. Maybe he can tell I cried. I receive Kassa from him and prepared to say my goodbyes, but he caught me off guard first.

“What if I join you?” He asks me. Huh?

“I mean, I am probably an accessory or something. Doubt the duke will let me off easy. The rest can just claim that they were held hostage by you and me, but I don’t have that luxury.” I feel my lips curling into a smile.

“I’d love that, Patir.” He smiles back. “Great, then it’s my turn to go packing he says as he leaves me with Kassa, and half-jogs towards his house. Really, I had the feeling I might just change my mind and go fight the dukedom if I had many more emotions manipulate me, but know that my best friend is coming with me, I feel better about it.

“You… You are leaving?” My thoughts are interrupted by another voice. One of a young girl. I turn my head to see Yasia, as tears well up in her eyes.