“Hmm, that sounds interesting... Do you have a map of the mountain or location?” Izoke asked.

“No, I don’t”

Sumiko heard their conversation from the stairs. She ran down and into the living room near Izoke and the elder.

“I know where Kalan Mountain is! It is useless to tell you about the location. You will need a guide!” Sumiko explained excitedly.

“Sumiko, what are you saying?” The old man demanded.

“I can help him to get there...” She said.

“What? No! I can’t let you go! Do you remember what happened to your parents? The consequences of traveling through those mountains for normal people is death. Do you know why they died miserably? I can’t let you go. You're all I have left Sumu,” The elder scolded angrily.

“But, he also helped us to get rid of that monster. If he didn’t kill that thing then we would have left this village or died. Also, don't call me Sumu anymore I'm no longer a little girl!”

"You'll always be my little Sumu to me," The elder chuckled.

"You taught me that debts must be repaid!"

The old man stopped like the air had been torn out of him.

“Do you where the mountain is?” Izoke asked her.

“Yes”

“Elder, I think I will need her help to go there. Please let her go with me. I promise that I will protect her with my life.” Izoke

“Huff* Ok but please consider her safety. I have only one Grandchild.” The old man says by taking a deep breath. Then he mumbled something, "Why do children always have to grow up and have ideas of their own?"

“Don’t worry I'll keep her safe.” Izoke

"I'll worry until she is back with me. That's part of a loving guardians job but I trust you, young man," The elder finally agreed.

Izoke felt this girl was somehow different from other NPCs just like the village manager. She was a beautiful young lady close in age to Izoke's. Izoke doesn’t want to travel with players and he can live like normal in front of an NPC because he was is also an NPC. If she was a player, he would never let her travel with him as he would fail to conceal his true identity eventually.

“Nice to meet you Sumiko, I’m Izoke. We will head to the Kalan Mountain tomorrow morning and I promise that I will return you safely. You should go rest for now. It will be an exhausting journey,” Izoke said dismissively.

A while later Sumiko was asleep in her room.

Izoke sat on the chair opposite the old man. Curious he asked, “What happened to her parents?”

“When she was a child, she and her parents went to the Kalan mountain searching for Herbs with an adventurer. She was about 9 years old at the time and the adventurer had bad intentions. The adventurer decided to kill all of them and steal their belongings but somehow my son saved her by telling her to return to the village in the middle of the journey. She returned by walking from there, and after a few days, I saw her approaching through the storm. I asked her where is her mother and father were but She didn’t say anything. Her mother was a young and beautiful woman.

Then the day after, a bunch of villagers and I decided to go and search for them. We looked for them for days and when we were near a river I saw the corpse of my son. Her father had fought through severe injuries. His death was most certainly a painful one and only one fate could make a man endure such torture. He was sliced all over his body and pieces of him were torn off too. He died over the course of days. Had we been faster perhaps I could have seen him alive one last time. We searched for her mother in the forest near the river where we found her body lying over in the bushes. Her throat was slit with a knife. she was naked and her body was covered with bruises which means those Human mask-wearing monsters raped her. After they were done with her they killed her!” Midway through his story, the elder broke down into tears.

Izoke was in a dilemma about whether to take her in the journey or not because he is not strong enough to guaranteed her safety and this old man has lost enough. To be stronger and become more rounded of a warrior he needs this weapon called "Gun". It was a gut-wrenching dilemma but Izoke had to decide. He promised himself that he will protect her no matter what it takes. He didn't want her to meet the same fate as her parents. From what the old man described the culprits were players too. The elder said," They had their names floating above their heads. The leader was a man named Todo".

Izoke thought, ‘ A wicked person, swayed by evil motives and evil action is described as a demon. They were also a demon wearing a human mask.'

“Elder, Don’t worry I will protect her on this journey and return her safely after a few days,” Izoke promised.

“Please do”

After that, they had a good warm meal and Izoke went to bed in the elder's guest room.

He lay on the bed and turn off the light and thought, 'From now on I have a duty, A duty to become strong, A duty to save the weak. A duty to protect those I care for.'