“Where are we heading, Uncle Paro?” Din asked as he wiped his eyes to remove any signs of doziness.

It was still quite early in the morning, but the village was already bustling with people working. Paro had woken Din up and was leading him through the village with no words aside from ‘follow me’.

They walked towards the very east of the village where a cabin was present. Unlike the other houses in the village, this one appeared old and the wooden planks were broken, with holes all over.

Inside the cabin was dark as there were no windows to let sunlight through and no light source anywhere within. It was dank and crowded near the main entrance with dust covering almost every object in the room.

Paro led Din towards the end of the room and then halted next to a door. He pulled out a ring of keys, rummaging through them to find the right one in this darkness.

Finally, having found the right key, he inserted the key and then opened the door, which required force as the hinges had gotten stuck. Inside the door lead to a long hallway, even darker than the room before. It was almost pitch-black inside. Paro turned around to warn Din.

“Watch your steps, the floor is uneven in the hall.”

With a nod, Paro entered through the door with Din following closely behind him.

Even as a ghost, this place was sending a chill down my spine. The chatter and laughter from the outside were audible no more, the only sound that remained were the occasional creaking of the wooden floor and the wind flowing through the small holes.

As they went deeper into the hall, the wooden floor turned into stairs made of stone. They slowly climbed down the steps until they were in front of another door. Paro sorted through the ring of keys that he had been holding and then inserted it after he found the right one.

Unlike the previous door, this one opened with ease, leading them to a large room made of stone. There were multiple lanterns hung from the ceiling throughout the room so we could see clearly in here. On the right side were prison cells, about seven of them, but there were no guards anywhere to be seen. The prison cells were all empty except for one.

A bald man with a black beard was sleeping in the corner of the cell. He was wearing a plain green shirt with dark green pants. His feet were dirty as he didn’t have anything covering it.

There were many cobwebs and dust particles everywhere in this room aside from his sleeping area.

“Uncle Paro, why did you bring me here?” Din asked while looking worriedly at his uncle who still hadn’t explained anything yet.

With multiple loud clanking as Paro wacked the cell bars with a cup that was placed outside, the bald man finally woke up. He looked at Paro and Din with sleepy eyes before finally getting out of the bed.

“What do you want, Ridge?” The bald man spoke with a weary voice. He lazily walked towards them, placing his hands onto the bar and then leaning forward as he spoke.

What had this man done to be in here? And why were there no guards to watch him?

Paro placed a hand on Din’s shoulder and then instructed him, “Din, if you wish to leave this village, you must first prove to me that you’re strong enough. Kill this man right here and I will set you free.”

Taken aback, Din removed Paro’s hand and then moved away from him.

“You want me to what? How could you even say that?”

I was surprised, but the bald man remained silent. He only watched the interaction between the two with the same lazy eyes as before, as if used to this kind of thing.

“If you’re to travel outside this village, you’ll need to face many enemies. Like the Executioners, there are other groups that’ll try to kill you. If you want to be free, then you must prove to me that you’ll be able to fight out there. You’ll need the drive to kill those that’ll get in your way. It’s kill or be killed, Din. If you’re unable to kill this man, then I will use any means necessary to keep you in this village for as long as I want.”

Din yelled, “You can’t keep me locked up in here, Uncle Paro! And you can’t force me to kill this man either!”

Growing impatient, Paro raised his voice, “This man killed a woman just because she didn’t accept his hand in marriage. He tortured her day after day until her body finally couldn’t take it anymore. This kind of man doesn’t deserve to live in a world like this, Din.”

“I… I…”

If what Paro had said was true, then a punishment by death seemed likely for the man, but why was he locked up in here all by myself? Why is Paro forcing Din to be the one to execute the man?

“Din, don’t do it. It’s not your responsibility. I don’t know what your uncle is trying to do, but you shouldn’t have to do this!”

Din looked at me with eyes that understood what I meant, but he then turned to Paro and nodded, “I’ll do it.”

“Why, Din?” I asked, but he ignored me.

A knife was pulled out of Paro’s pocket and handed to Din. Paro opened the cell and let Din inside.

The bald man only stood there, remaining in the same position as before. He only looked at Din, showing no concern to anything that was happening right now.

“Hyah—!”

Din rushed forward with the knife and stabbed the man on the side. The bald man fell onto the floor, but was still alive. He coughed up blood as he tried standing up. Din pulled the knife out and then stabbed him directly in the chest. It wasn’t enough. He did it again, but the man still moved. Again, again, and again…

At last, the bald man finally remained on the floor, frozen. Din was breathing heavily as he stood above the man he had just murdered.

I moved towards Paro. He appeared calm even after seeing all that had just happened. Even with the sight of his nephew almost in the brink of tear, he remained calm.

“Tonight during dinner, I’ll tell you of a place that might know about Lorelei’s abnormal case. Go wash up and enjoy the rest of the day as you’d like.”

With just those words, Paro left the room through the dark stairs. Din remained at the same spot. I’m not even sure he heard Paro just now. I moved closer to Din to try to console him.

“It’s okay, Din. This isn’t you fault.”

Those were merely empty words. I didn’t believe them myself, but if Din could find comfort within those words, that would mean they served their purpose. I could hear Din sobbing quietly with the knife still in his hands.

Even while he was fighting the knights, he had only wounded them. He tried his best to avoid injuring them beyond medical help, but this time, there was no helping the bald man anymore.

Eventually, Din managed to get back on his feet and walk home.