Yuki lay on the bed, unclear if he was actually asleep or if he was still unconscious. His body was wrapped head to toe in bandages, which Hellina had to change regularly as she closed his wounds with her magic.

"Well, I've done what I can," Hellina said to Yuki's worried comrades standing behind her. "Honestly, he shouldn't even be alive from the amount of blood he lost. Either my magic is that good or he's just too stubborn to die."

"It's the latter," Cliff commented.

"Will he be alright?" Allisa asked, feeling concerned.

"He should be. Right now he needs rest or he'll open up the wounds and probably bleed to death." Hellina said.

"Thanks' for your help." Nel said, nodding her head in gratitude.

Hellina departed, leaving Allisa, Nel, Max, Cliff and Melvin alone.

"Don't think I've ever seen him lose before," Melvin said. He had been helping Hellina with the healing, and he was now exhausted, sitting on a chair close to Yuki. "I mean, he' gets banged up allot, and he pushes himself way two hard, but.... He's never really lost to anyone."

"He'll be fine. That bastard won't let something like this kill him." Max said. Even he was concerned for the well-being of Yuki.

"That man though, who was he?" Allisa asked.

"Bad news that's for sure," Melvin said.

"I think I might know," Cliff said. "Remember what I told you two?" he looked at Max and Melvin. Max looked clueless, but Melvin immediately caught on.

"You think..."

"It would make sense." Cliff nodded to Melvin. "He may be a suicidal maniac, but even he's not dumb enough to charge across a battlefield to fight one guy."

"What are you talking about?" Allisa asked.

"Oh right, you weren't there when I told them."

"Told them what?" Max asked.

"You were there!" Melvin exclaimed in annoyance. "Remember, after the thing with the homunculus!"

Max still didn't look like he had a clue.

"Never mind." Cliff brushed it off. "May as well explain it since we're all here."

Cliff then told them about what he and Yuki discussed together when they were in the labyrinth, about his oath, revenge, whatever he called it, and that the man he fought might have been the one he's been searching for.

"Guy... S-Suki.." Allisa said, struggling to pronounce the name.

"Gai Tsukiyo," Nel clarified.

"I get the feeling you know who he is," Cliff said to Nel who nodded in response.

"By reputation only. A wandering swordsman who literally turns up out of nowhere. He's renowned as one of the worlds greatest swordsmen."

"Like Kobra?" Melvin asked.

"That's right." Nel glanced a worried look towards Yuki. "Although, as you saw, he's probably even greater than Kobra was. Along with his skills with a sword, what makes him dangerous is that he tunes up out of nowhere, and then disappears as fast as he shows up. and whenever he does, death always follows."

Allisa couldn't help but gulp.

"As usual, you seem to know a lot," Melvin said.

Nel took out a small book. "This is known as a bingo book. It's... kind of like a bounty list shared amongst Assassins. Rowin gives me the updated versions if they change." She quickly flipped through the pages and handed the book to Allisa, holding open a page. Max and Cliff leaned in took a look at the page, with Melvin trying to get a look. The page in question had what could be described as a photo. Underneath was information, along with a number at the bottom of the page.

"70 million?" Allisa said, amazed at how high the number was.

"Whoa, that's a lot of money," Max said.

"Is that his bounty?" Cliff asked.

Nel nodded, taking her book back. "I think you get a general idea." She looked back at Yuki. "I couldn't have expected him of all people to have some kind of connection to that man."

"Well, he always was a mystery," Melvin said.

Rodger then entered the room. "Hi guys."

"Hey." Allisa nodded.

Rodger walked up to the bed, looking at Yuki. "Is he gonna be ok?"

"Yeah, don't worry, something like this won't be enough to kill him," Cliff reassured him.

"So.... Did he know that guy or somethin?"

"We're not too sure," Allisa said. "To be honest. We don't really know him all that well."

"Yeah, and whenever we do ask him he acts really evasive," Melvin said.

"Thought he told us to mind our own business," Max said.

"That's what 'evasive' means, you idiot."

"Anyway, you need something kid?" Cliff asked.

"Oh, right." Rodger turned back to the others, with a very worried face. "The meeting’s about to start."

"I see." Cliff sighed. "Hope the old man will be ok."

"I'm sure he will," Allisa said. "I mean, in the end, nothing bad happened. And I'm sure he had his reasons."

"That's not going to be the problem," Nel said. "It's the anti-human faction that concerns me about this."

"Oh come on, not even those jerks will complain about something like that," Max said.

"Even if he had the best of intentions the fact is that their leader went behind their backs. That's not something hawks like them will take likely."

"Gramps will be fine," Rodger said. "Like ya said, nothin actually happened, were all still alive, what can they possibly complain about?"

"I hope you're right," Cliff said. "For your old man's sake at least."

Town meeting

It was now around late afternoon when the meeting began, though it was quite difficult to tell the time of day with no sunlight penetrating the dark leaves of the forest canopy. Over three hours had passed since Celtic Hoards attack on Sterland Village, and the residence was a little on edge.

While initially shocked by the army that laid siege to their village, as well as the cannon that managed to breach the barrier that protected it, the battle never came thanks to the intervention of the mysterious Gai Tukiyo. Thanks to him, no lives were lost and the village remained undamaged.

However, the barrier needed to be replaced which would take days according to the village elders. This meant that until the barrier was repaired, not only would the village be vulnerable to another attack from Celtic Hoard, but also powerful monsters that roamed these parts of the woods. There was also the clean up of the valley outside the village of the destroyed Magitek weapons and dead bodies.

Regardless of all these things, however, the attention of the villagers was more focused on something their chief had to tell them.

"I thank you all for coming." Gimdo addressed the villagers before him. "As you know, we were attacked by Celtic Hoard, the group of Human bandits that have come into the forest recently. Thanks to that unknown human though, we have survived with no casualties. And whoever that man is, I would like to express my gratitude to him.

"I realise that it has come to your attention that I may have been in contact with the leader of the humans. I'm here to say... it is true."

A series of shocked mummers returned in the response. Allisa and her companions (mines Yuki), along with Rodger, Dora and Fred watched nervously.

"I meant the leader Dolton when around when he first appeared about a month ago, and we made an... arrange a deal. In exchange for Mythril, he was to keep his men from destroying our village."

"And when were you planning on telling us!" This voice came from, unsurprisingly, Dorian, who seemed to have rallied a considerable amount of support from the majority of the villagers as they all expressed their disdain towards these turn of events. "I recall a month ago, you gave us an assurance that something like this wouldn't happen, delight my objections and the objections of a majority of the villagers suggesting that we drive them from the forest!"

"I am aware of that," Gimdo responded to Dorian. "But as I said then, and as we saw today, they were in possession of weapons and had power that far exceeded our own. I didn't even know they had a weapon that could destroy the barrier around the town."

"Oh don't give me that excuse you senile old man!" Dorian snapped. "I have told you how dangerous humans can be, you should have listened to me when I said that we should have gone out and forced them out! But no, you told us to leave them be, and then you parlayed with their leader, behind our backs, and engaged in a deal which obviously failed!"

"You're going too far Dorian!" A woman snapped, the one from the council that resembled Fred. "We know very little about the human world, and had no knowledge of such weapons. Gimdo knew this and realized that if we provoked them, we would have been slaughtered. That, I believe, is why he engaged in this deal." A splattering of supporting cheers followed.

"A Deal that obviously failed. As I have said, time at time again, humans can't be trusted!"

From then, various other villagers began to add their own thoughts, most of whom agreed with Dorian, some of them even glanced at the humans standing at the back of the large audience.

"Things don't look good for Gimdo," Nel commented.

"Why are they arguing?" Allisa asked in disbelief. "Everything's fine. They're all alive aren't they."

"Things aren't always that simple." Cliff sighed. "It's like in Terra, when things seem to be going wrong people look for scapegoats to direct their anger. It's like Germany after the First World War, with all that's going wrong for them, its easier to look for someone to blame rather than fixing it yourself."

"What good'll that do!" Max said, clear looking annoyed. "The can blame people all they want, that's not gonna solve anything!"

"That's just how some people are," Melvin said. "Gotta give the chief credit for putting up with people like that."

"Although, I'm starting to think the village's anger is gonna be directed at us after this," Cliff said.

"That seems likely," Nel said.

"But we haven't done anything to them," Allisa argued.

"That won't matter. The fact is we're still outsiders, and they were just attacked a day after we arrived. That's enough for someone like Dorian to regard us with suspicion."

"Remember how he attacked us at that meeting," Cliff added. "If we had actually fought those Celtic Hoard guys off he would have at least backed off. Since we haven't really given him a reason to trust us he's not gonna shift his opinion of us."

Allisa couldn't reply, as both Cliff and Nel had some good points.

"So let's just find these bastards and kicked outta the forest," Max said.

"It's good Yuki's bedridden cause he's the only one who'd agree with you on that suicidal plan," Melvin commented with an exhausted expression.

"D-Don't worry." Fred said, "W-We'll vouch for you guys. M-My ma's in the council so they'll listen to me at least."

"And you can be sure Gramps will support you guys," Dora said.

"Thanks guys," Allisa said with a smile. "Huh? Where's Rodger?"

Dora and Fred looked to where Rodger was standing. He was gone.

"He left a couple of minutes ago," Nel said.

"Wait, he did? Allisa asked.

"Is he...?" Dora looked at Nel with a worried expression.

"No. He went him the opposite direction." Nel reassured her, sensing her worry would be to charge up to the stage and make a scene.

"Seriously? Figured he'd be charging in and do something stupid." Cliff said, airing Dora's concern.

"So was I." Dora sighed in relief.

"H-Hey... is Rodger really going with you guys?" Fred asked.

"No." Cliff and Melvin said in unison.

"We... haven't really decided yet," Allisa said to them quickly.

"What's this about Rodger going with us?" Nel asked.

"Oh, we haven't told you huh. Um, Rodger asked to go with us."

"I see." Nel didn't have a look of surprise that she and Max had.

"Y-You're not acutely considering it as well?" Melvin asked concerned.

"Personally, I don't think it's a good idea. But the decision is up to Allisa, not me."

"Eh!" Allisa jumped in surprise. "Wh-Why do I have to make this decision?!"

"Because technically were your followers which means you're in charge."

"Since when am I in charge?!"

As far as she knew, Nel was the one who made all the group decisions.

"What's so bad about him coming with us anyway?" Max asked. "After all, his magic's pretty awesome."

"That's not the issue!" Melvin exclaimed to him. "Did you forget why we're out here?"

"Cause we asked a drunk for directions."

Melvin's head dropped down. "That's..... one reason I guess."

"He's got you there," Cliff said nodding.

"Sh-Shouldn't we vote on this at least." Melvin wined.

"We're out here because we voted on it, remembering," Nel said, a slightly threatening look coming over her. "and if I ever see that bimbo again I'm going to cut off her tail and ears."

Everyone took a step back from Nel as a menacing aura seeped from her.

"Well, if he asks again, just say no," Dora said to Allisa, rather bluntly. She kept her eyes on the town meeting.

"D-Dora.....?" Fred noticed the change in Dora's mood.

".... You don't want him to leave?" Allisa asked, remembering the argument between Dora and Rodger when he announced his intentions to leave with her group.

"..... He.... He should just stay here." Dora huffed. "I-I mean, you've noticed how reckless he can be. And He-He's just rushing into this and he's gonna get himself killed."

"Kinda sounds like you really don't want him to go," Max said.

"Wha-What's that supposed to mean!" Dora snapped, her face going red.

"That... you don't want him to leave....?"

"Oh... Wh-well of course I don't want him to leave. He's my friend after all. And I know better than anyone how much of an idiot he is. He's also reckless, stubborn, he doesn't know when he's beat, or when to give up. He's always pushing himself and.. and...." Dora fell short on her list.

"Ah... Seems there's more than just that, isn't there." Cliff said with a cheeky grin.

"You got that too," Melvin said, also with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Cut that out!!" Dora snapped.

"I don't get it," Max said, looking back and forth.

"You can be so dense." Allisa groaned.

"I-Its not like that!!" Dora protested, before continuing with a pout. "I just get worried for him, you know."

"I know the feeling."

"Well, we have three days for you to make up your mind," Nel said to Allisa.

"Why am I making this decision?"

"Because I just said so."

"That's not a reason!!"

"Just say no and get it over with," Cliff said.

"Why do it?!"

"Because you're our leader according to Nel." Melvin said.

"Uhhh.... I'm getting a headache."

Rodger vs. Steve

"What's wrong with those people."

Rodger sat alone on the walls, overlooking the valley where Celtic Hoard was just a few hours before. Rodger had gotten fed up with the town meeting and wandered off. He hated people like Dorian, who was just too scared to venture out beyond even the village.

"What's that old coot's problem anyhow."

"Should be asken that about your grandpa."

Much to Rodger's grief, Steve and his two friends, Redwol and Gura approached him.

"That's what he gets for being a damn human lover."

"Least it's better than being a stubborn old bastard like your old man." Rodger sat up and jumped down from the baluster. "So what ya want now?"

Steve simply grunted. "Just got bored of the meeting so I thought I'd come and see my old friend."

"Really, you have friends?"

Gura grunted at Rodger's comeback, but Redwol.

"Well, the word is that you're planning on going with those humans," Steve said.

"H-How do you know?!" Rodger exclaimed.

"I saw it," Redwol said, bringing out his crystal ball. "You know my clairvoyance magic. I've been keeping a close eye on those humans, and I couldn't help but notice that you wanted to join them."

"Well, it's none of your business whether I do or not." Rodger huffed.

"Do you honestly think they'll even let you come along?" Steve said, catching Rodger off guard.

"W-Well....."

"I mean, what reason would they have to even take someone like you. We watched that fight you had with those humans near your old man's grave. I don't think I've ever seen something so pathetic before in my life."

"Y-You....." Rodger clenched his fists. "You think you could have done better?"

"Cause I could. In fact, I could have beaten all of them on my own, and certainly without human help like you." Steve then turned to leave.

"Alright! You and me! Here and now!" Rodger yelled, pointing his finger.

"Remember what happened last time?" Steve smirked.

"I'm a lot stronger than last time since unlike you, I've been going out to train." Rodger boasted, pulling out his hammer. "And if I win, you take back what you said about me."

"Alright. Since you're in a hurry to lose, you're on."

****

The two moved down to the valley, standing several meters apart with Gura and Redwol standing back. The valley still had scars left from that morning. While the dead had been moved, there was still the destroyed Magitek and discarded weapons littering the area, some stuck within the fissures in the ground. There was also the damage to the earth caused by the fight between the swordsman and the leaders of Celtic Hoard. The area where Rodger and Steve were closer the wall, and away from where the fighting took place.

"Last chance to back out," Steve warned, pulling out a blowgun.

"That's my line." Rodger retorted, resting his hammer on his elbows.

Gura heaved his mallet in the air.

"Ready," Redwol said, raising his hand. "Begin!"

As Gura's mallet fell, Rodger slammed his free hand into the ground. Pillars shot out in front of him and aimed themselves at Steve. Just before they hit, a force blew a large chunk out of them and hit Rodger in the chest. "GHA!!" Rodger tumbled back, stopping just before one a fissure.

Fred came through the remains of the pillars, twirling his blowgun. "Forgot about my 'Air compress' already?" he brought the tube up to his lips and blew a short burst.

Rodger rolled out of the way, just before a large chunk of the earth was blasted away.

"Your magic may have that creative freedom, but my air shots are way stronger. Be grateful it ain't loaded or you'd be dead."

"Damn you!" Rodger slammed his hammer to the ground. "Take this! Ga-Ga-Golem!" His golem formed in front of him, heaving a large fist at Steve. Steve leaped back before the fist smashed into him, giving his blowgun a quick blow. The compressed air made a round dent in the golem's chest, but not enough to destroy it outright like the pillars.

Looks like he strengthened it. Two fists then molded around Steve, forcing him to dodge again as the two smashed into the ground. Suddenly, he was surrounded by pillars that shot from the ground, curved and descended towards him. Ha, looks like he wasn't just boasting. But,

Steve took his blowgun and blew down while spinning in a circle. The bases of the pillars were sliced through, halting the pillars. He then leaped out of the way as the debris crashed to the ground.

I'm still better.

The Golem then appeared behind Steve, locking its fists together. Steve jumped out of the way again as the fists smashed into the ground, blowing off another shot, which managed to blow a hole into the arm of the golem. As the arm fell, Steve skidded across the ground, and blew on the blowgun again, firing at the same spot where he hit the golem last, finally managing to blast through the chest.

"That's all you can do?" Steve mocked, looking towards Rodger who was on his knees. "Given up already, loser?"

Rodger looked up with a big grin. "I'm just getting started!"

The ground around Steve then suddenly cracked apart. "Huh?!" suddenly, the ground then shot up as though a land mine had gone off, peppering Steve in little rocks. "What the hell!!" Steve was hurtled by the sudden force of the rocks, crashing back down to the ground. When could that loser have set that up? Was it when I was busy dealing with that stupid golem?

As Steve got back to his feet, Rodger sent two more pillars after him. With no time to use his blowgun, Steve leaped out of the way as the pillars smashed into the ground. Rodger still had both hands on the ground and brought out two more pillars, which Steve dodged again.

I get it. You're trying to keep me from using my Air compression. Not bad for that loser. But....

As Steve avoided another pillar, got into view, he curved his free hand and put it in his mouth and blew. A shot caught Rodger, taking him by surprise and forced him back to his feet.

"Wh-What the!?"

"Doesn't have to be from the blowgun! I can just use my hands if I wanted, though not as powerful as this." Steve fired off another, more powerful shot, which caught the still staggered Rodger, sending him flying back several meters before rumbling to a stop.

"D-Damn it!" The shot had knocked the wind out of him. Rodger didn't have time to catch his breath as Steve let out another shot. He then had to dodge again. The momentary momentum he had gained was lost.

"You ain't the only one who's learned a new trick!" Steve inhaled a deep breath and blew down on his blowgun. This time, instead of one shot, multiple were fired at Rodger, who was unable to dodge at all.

"GAH!!" Rodger let out a cry as the multiple shots slammed into him and tumbled back again. "......That hurt...." The impacts had knocked both his helmet and hammer away.

"Had enough yet?!" Steve mocked.

"Shut up!" Rodger picked up his helmet and hammer. "We ain't done yet."

"Just face it, you can't beat me. But don't feel too bad, after all, you never could beat me." Steve twirled his blowgun around with his fingers. "Let's face it, ever since we were little, I've always been better at everything you're not."

Rodger grunted as he put his helmet back on. "I don't recall ever losing to you."

"Then your memory sucks." Steve mocked. "Or it's just full of that crap your pa filled it with."

Rodger twitched as something inside him snapped. "Don't you ever insult my pa!" Some of the loose rocks started collecting on Rodgers hammer, increasing its size.

Steve grinned as he taunted Rodger with a hand wave.

"Alright you bastard...." Rodger charged towards Steve, with his hammer raised in the air, springing himself from a pillar that he formed, using the momentum to swing down on Steve, who brought his blowgun to his lips, prepared to fire at Rodger. "Eat thi-"

A wall then formed between them, catching the two by surprise. Rodger, who was still in mid air, slammed into the wall his rock hammer coming apart as he flopped back down.

"That's enough!" An angry Gimdo approached the two, followed by Dora, Fred, Bush and Allisa's group.

"He started it," Steve said as the wall slowly collapsed.

"I'm sure," Gimdo said, glaring at Rodger.

"S-stay out of this..." Rodger groaned. "A mans gotta finish what he started."

Gimdo walked up to Rodger and knocked him into the ground with his magic, burying him to his neck. "There's been enough fighting today." Gimdo sighed and walked away with Rodger still squirming.

"Wait! You're not seriously gonna leave me out here?!"

Gimdo didn't reply.

"Gramps?"

"Sorry," Bush said as he walked past. "There's something the two of us needs to do." He then followed Gimdo.

Max then came up and put his hand on Rodger's head.

"Huh?"

"Alright... one, two..."

"Owowowowow...."

With a big tug, Max freed him from the hole he was in.

"There we go," Max said with some sense of accomplishment.

"Ahh!! Felt like you were gonna pull my head off ya moron!!" Rodger snapped, rubbing his neck.

"Don't tell me you ran off to pick a fight with Steve?" Dora asked, founding.

"No!" Rodger said.

"You did challenge me though," Steve said as he began to walk off.

"Cause you were pissing me off."

"Whatever." Steve snorted, Gura and Redwol following him. He looked towards Allisa, Nel, Melvin and Cliff with a large grin. "You guys better get too comfortable. If my pa has his way, you'll be gone one way or the other." He gave out a sinister laugh as he departed.

"What a jerk," Melvin commented.

"S-sorry about him." Fred apologized.

"It's nothing you should apologize for," Melvin said as he walked over to Rodger. "Need me to heal you?"

"Na I'm good," Rodger said.

"You're not good! You're covered in buses!" Dora snapped. "Seriously, what were you thinking? You haven't once beaten Steve in a fight."

"I could've beaten him this time though!"

"Does Steve have the same kind of magic like Rodger?" Allisa asked.

"N-No. his ability's called 'Air Compression.'"

"Air compression?"

"H-He shots out concentrated air bubbles with his blowgun."

"Oh I get it." Cliff nodded. "It's like a balloon. It's a bubble of air held in place by a rubber membrane. When there's a large enough tear of friction, the air escapes so fast it ruptures the exit points resulting in a small explosion." Cliff explained to Allisa. "Is that right?"

Fred nodded. "Y-Your really smart mister."

"I'm not all brawn you know," Cliff said to him with pride.

"Yuki would disagree if he were here," Nel commented.

"Well, he's not here cause he is all brawn and no brains."

"That's true."

Allisa looked at the scars of the battle, not quite understanding the concept.

"So... he fights his balloons?" Max said, scratching his head.

"And then there's you," Cliff said, slapping his head In exhaustion.

"So what's up with Gramps?" Rodger asked. "He didn't look right."

Everyone went silent with a concerned face.

"What's up?" Rodger looked around, confused. He then looked to Dora, who looked away, avoiding eye contact.

"They.... The council decided that....." Dora spoke quietly, "unless this thing with Celtic Hoard is dealt with.... your Gramps won't be chief anymore..."

Rodger's eyes widened with disbelief. "What.... They can't do that!"

"They just did," Nel said, sounding very serious. "Dorian's been put in charge with dealing with Celtic Hoard. Unless Gimdo can successfully ensure that Celtic Hoard leaves the forest, he will be deposed as chief and Dorian will succeed him."

"N-Nel!" Allisa exclaimed at Nel's bluntness.

"It's best he hears everything."

"N-No way." Rodger collapsed to the ground, his face looking like a cross between anger and objection. "Damn that bastard!" he growled.

"Rodger," Dora muttered, feeling distorted seeing her friend like this.

"It won't happen," Max said to Rodger confidently. "You'll see. Your old man's got it covered."

"How are you so sure?" Melvin said, not feeling as confident as Max.

"Gut feeling."

"I was afraid of that."

"No he's right," Allisa said, backing Max up.

"He is?" Melvin exclaimed.

"I-Its something my gran used to say, 'never assume the worst. Always believe in the best and never lose faith.' I think that's how it goes." Allisa said to Rodger. "I know that's not a lot to go on, but.... I guess we just gotta have faith."

"Yeah.... I guess you right." Melvin nodded. "A bit too optimistic, but I get what you're saying."

"I think the Elder said something similar to me once," Cliff said. "Well said Allisa."

"Yeah, what she said," Max said grinning at Rodger.

"Yeah..... yeah ya right," Rodger said perking up. "No way gramps is gonna lose out to that crummy bastard!"

"I hope not," Nel said. "Otherwise we won't be able to stay in the village."

"You didn't have to put it quite like that," Allisa said, exasperated by Nel's bluntness.

"She has a point." Cliff sighed.

"And besides, your gramps has my grandpa helping him," Dora reassured Rodger.

"A-And most of the village still believes in your gramps," Fred said.

Rodger nodded. "Thanks, guys."

Taste of Defeat

"Finally awake?"

Gil awoke to the sound of a woman. One of Celtic Hoards chief medic, simply called Doc. Ironic since she looked nothing like a doctor, with half her hair shaved off and long claw marks across her face.

"Where am I?"

"Home base," Doc replied.

Gil tried to sit up but felt pain in his chest, which had been wrapped in bandages.

"Might not wanna move too much. That was a deep cut you got."

Gil looked round. He was in the medical tent, which was packed with the wounded, some with arms and legs missing. "What the heck happened?"

"Who knows? We just got our Asses kicked by one guy. How pathetic."

"One guy did all this?" Gil said in disbelief. "What a mess." It should have been an easy assault, even with the Salamander and his friends on the Samiet's side. No one could have predicted that a single swordsman would lay waste to the entire force without any real effort on his part.

"Seems I missed out on allot." The patient on the next bed said. Unlike Gil and most of the other patients, he was covered in burn marks.

".....Apa was it?" Gil knew the man vaguely as someone who was stationed in his camp for a brief period. He didn't know him that well, but his large and stocky phasic was memorable enough to recognize him. "Who did that?"

"That kid. You know, the one with the scar on his chest."

"The Salamander?"

"Yeah, him." Apa sighed. "I lost the Giga hands." He raised his massive hand. "I also heard Zambi was killed by that swordsman that attacked the army. Unbelievable that one man did this with just a sword. Quite funny if you think about it."

"Funny? Guess that's one way to look at it." Gil muttered. "Where's the Boss?"

"In his tent, talking to our 'guests.'" The Doc said.

"You mean the girls who're working for Yensin?"

"Yep," Doc said. "Probably talking about how we were screwed over by that guy." Doc then picked up Gáe Bolg. "As one of the officers, ya probably best to head on over there." She chucked the spear to him, which he caught. "I got more patients to heal up, or see how many body bags I'll need." She let out a sigh and walked off.

It took a while for Gil to get out of the bed he was on. Following the assault on his base, and losing one of the Magitek weapons, Dolton had made his displeasure at Gil's failure quite clear. He was the one who had given Gil Gá Bolg as a symbol of his position as an officer on account of his strength and mana abilities alone.

Following the disaster, he was certainly out of Dolton's good graces, and he had made it clear that he needed to prove himself in the attack on Sterland Village if he wanted to remain in Celtic Hoard, or in the land of the living. Following the disaster, Dolton was likely in a very bad mood, which would mean that the chances of seeing tomorrow were really slim if he got on to the topic of his position.

Gil let out a long sigh as he placed his spear down and picked up the tunic nearby. "What a mess."

"Be careful friend," Apa said as Gil put the tunic on and slowly got off the bed. "The boss can be pretty dangerous when he's pissed."

"I've gathered that," Gil remembered that Dolton killed Kron when he said he lost the Magitek weapon. Gil was only alive because he decided to give him a second chance due to his 'worth'.

Following the debacle of the attack, as well as the fact that Gil was taken out by the man with a sword, it was highly unlikely that Dolton's opinion of him had improved enough for him to let him off the hook over losing the Magitek in his base.

Let's just hope he doesn't notice me. That's really the only chance I got.

An option would be to run, but he needed Celtic Hoard. He needed an army, followers, allies, whatever he needed to kill that kid, the slave that destroyed his home, the white-armored Salamander.

****

"Quite embarrassing."

"Very embarrassing."

"All those weapons."

"To be defeated by one man."

"It was quite a show, right Thelma?"

"Right Louise."

"Who's side are you creeps on?!"

That was the very first thing Gil heard as he entered Dolton's tent (which was really the inside of a small cave) was the two Assassin twins mocking Dolton. He stood on the side of a table with a map of the forest, Ingrid by his side. On the opposite side were their guests, the girl Ellie and the twin assassins. Gil stood by the entrance with Waze. Broco was waiting outside the tent as a guard.

"Surprised to see you up and about. Figured you'd be running for the hills." Waze said to him, shooting a quick smirk.

Gil ignored him. He had his reasons for not running, and he was certainly not going to tell him.

"So what now?" Ellie asked Dolton. "I told you before we were going to pay you after the job was done."

"I know, I know!" Dolton exclaimed impatiently. "I'll think of something! I'm not leaving till that village of midgets is burnt to the ground!"

"And how are you going to do that when half your army was destroyed by that swordsman?"

"Things may have gone smoother if you guys actually helped out."

"You said you didn't need any help." One of the twins said.

"You told us to sit back and watch the show." The other twin said.

Ingrid then joined in. "I believe your exact words were, 'I don't need help from a bunch of pre-school adolescence. Just sit back, relax and allow the grownups to take care of everything.'"

"Who's side are you on?!" Dolton snapped at her.

"That's sexual harassment."

Dolton banged his head on the table in frustration. "Give me a bit of time and that stupid village will be cleared out."

"I won't hold my breath," Ellie said. She then turned and departed, with the twins following.

"Ok," Dolton spoke when he was sure they were out of earshot. "Any ideas?"

"Just go in and shoot up the place," Waze said with a grin.

"And how do we get over the walls?"

"That's what you have to figure out."

Dolton groaned. His gaze then fell on Gil. "I just realized, I still don't have a reason to keep you alive."

Gil unconsciously gulped.

"So unless you can give me an idea," Dolton extended his index finger, "you're dead."

Gil began to sweat with panic as Dolton approached him slowly. His mind ran faster than it ever had before, and with that, he thought of one sentence, just one, and blurted it out without thinking.

"Take a hostage!" he said very quickly.

Dolton then halted his advance.

"Y-You know, t-take someone... no- a bunch of people- no- important people and demand that they leave the village."

"And where are we supposed to find these hostages?"

"Um.... We... um...."

"DOLTON!!!"

As if the goddess was smiling at him, a loud voice interrupted Gil's potential execution.

****

Dolton emerged from his tent with his officers. "Well well, if it isn't Gimbo."

Standing in the center of the camp was Gimdo and Bush, and was surrounded by the members of Celtic Hoard, all feeling on edge following the events of today.

"I'm surprised to see you here old man," Dolton said as he approached Gimdo. "Thought you guys would be celebrating the fact that you get to live a little longer."

"We had a deal! I give you Mythril, and you leave us alone!" Gimdo yelled.

"I know the deal," Dolton said, pushing his shades up, "it was a very profitable deal that got us a good deal of Rundes."

"Then why?! Why did you attack us?!"

"Why? Isn't it obvious." Dolton grinned sinisterly. "Because I hate your kind, ever since that idiot you called a son crossed me. I made it my mission to burn that place to the ground." Dolton then started to giggle. "And thanks to that deal of ours, I was able to buy the Magitek I needed for that very operation."

"You bastard!" Bush snapped. "You've been playing us from the beginning!"

"That's correct." Dolton then extended his arms. "All this is all thanks to you. And get this; I've now been paid a ridiculous sum of money to make sure I carry on my ambition to destroy that village. And you know me, I can't turn down a good deal."

Gimdo clenched his fists. "Then we have nothing to discuss." He said. "Consider this a declaration war! I will do what I should have from the beginning, and drive you scum from our forest once and for all!"

Dolton's grin then disappeared as he stared Gimdo. "Hey, Gil." he then turned round to one of his officers and grinned. "I think we found our hostages."