The sudden rustling of the bushes around us put me on high alert. Din was still asleep as the sun hadn’t risen yet. I could see multiple figures in the forest surround us.

I tried shaking Din, but my hands only phased through him. I immediately yelled for him, “Wake up, Din! We’re surrounded!”

“W-what…?”

Din managed to stand up, but he didn’t seem to fully be aware of the situation we were in.

The figures finally came into the open area to reveal their full black armor with golden markings. They were the same ones that were with Gore. There were about six of them around us with a few more hiding in the trees.

Blinking multiple times, Din seemed to have woken himself up. He kneeled down to get his bag, but was stopped by one of the knights. The knight grabbed both of Din’s arms and then pushed him onto the ground.

“Get off of me—!”

Din screamed as he struggled to push the knight off. The knight had the upper hand as all he had to do was apply his own weight over Din to stop his movement.

From within the forest, Gore Lenstone finally stepped forward. He approached Din and then knelt beside him.

“You were in Paro’s village a few days ago, weren’t you? I thought I saw someone new there.”

“W-What do you want from me?”

A swift motion of his hand told the knight to stop pushing Din onto the floor. The knight moved back beside the others.

Din stood up slightly while holding his left wrist. There were already markings around his wrists from the knight’s hold on them.

“I want to know what your relation is to Paro?”

Noticing the markings around Din’s wrists, Gore faced the knight that had attacked Din. The knight bowed his head quickly before stepping back a few steps.

Din appeared wary of Gore, especially with the warning that Paro gave him. After seeming to realize that there would be no harm in telling the truth, Din answered, “Paro is my uncle.”

Gore’s eyes widened. “I see… that’s very interesting…”

Something about Din’s answer seemed to have triggered something in Gore. Gore seemed to be analyzing everything there was to see on Din.

Gore asked, “Did Paro mention his connections with me? Anything relating to that at all?”

“You can’t tell him about the deal, Din!” I quickly added in before Din answered. There was something about the way he asked that told me it was dangerous to tell him the truth here.

“He told me you two were old friends.”

“Anything else?”

“No, that was it.”

Not seeming satisfied with that answer, Gore began pacing back and forth. He was a menacing man to be near. Something about him screamed danger, as if any mistake you made could get you killed.

Gore asked, “You’re Din Morrison, correct?”

Having suddenly be called by his full name, Din was taken aback. Gore was awaiting his answer so Din nodded.

“You’re a wanted man now, Din Morrison. There’s various wanted posters with your name and face on them.”

“What?”

“You’re listed as a criminal who interfered in the business of knights, who protected a servant of the devil, and who attacked an Ace knight. There’s a large bounty on your head as well. It seems like they want you alive so they can capture your sister, Katherine Morrison, as well.”

Din stepped back, readying himself for any battle. It was no use, not only did Din not have a weapon in hand, he was surrounded. There was no way he could fight out of this situation.

“Clashing here will do you no good,” Gore scoffed. “We’re not here to capture you. No need to be so defensive in front of me. When I saw a new face in Paro’s village, I had to check on who they might be.”

“You were waiting for me to leave the village?”

“I only had one scout keep an eye on whoever entered or left the village.”

“Why did you want to make contact with me?” Din asked.

Gore thought about his answer for a bit before shaking his head. “If you don’t know, that’s how it should be. Maybe Paro can tell you in the near future.”

By raising his hand, the knights all turned around and left into the forest. Gore also turned to leave.

Din asked, “Is that really it? You won’t take me?”

“Don’t misunderstand, Din Morrison,” Gore warned Din, “Because you’re related to Paro, I’ll be leaving you with a warning, but make no mistake, the next time we meet, I will capture you with no hesitation. Besides, there’s someone else you should really be wary of. Reine Talus. If you run across that man, you’d wish you were caught by me.”

With that, Gore left the forest. Even though I was worried meeting Gore here, he not only left us, but gave us a warning as well. I knew it wouldn’t be the same if we met him again, but for now, I was just relieved that he wasn’t that bad of a man.

Through the leaves, sunlight began entering through them, so Din decided to pack up. It was only the start of the day, but Din already looked tired.