Suspicious.

As Tal and I were on our way home, it was like he had totally forgotten about the thief that had stolen his pouch.

He seemed to just want to get something to eat.

We arrived back at Lewis’ place with a bag full of sandwiches for everyone.

Right as we opened the door, we noticed Mun, Lewis, and Chris cleaning the main hallway.

“What’s going on?” Tal asked.

“Chris couldn’t take the smell anymore so we’re cleaning up the place,” Lewis explained.

Lorelei came by my side as I entered the house.

“Good morning, Din.”

“Good morning, Lorelei. How was rooming with Mun?” I asked.

She gave a wry smile while scratching her chin but didn’t answer my question. With her hands behind her back, she asked, “Were you able to find the thief? I heard you two leave in the morning and then noticed your note.”

I shook my head, “No, but something strange happened just now.”

I looked over to the others.

Mun handed her rag to Tal, “Wow, you’re sure? Like really really sure? You won’t put this against me in the future, right?”

Tal laughed while kneeling down to rub the rag on the floor, “Don’t worry. I don’t mind doing favors once in a while. We brought some sandwiches so you should go eat that.”

“Thanks, Tal!”

Noticing that Mun was heading my direction, I handed her the entire bag of sandwiches.

“I’ll be eating later, so you can take the bag with you,” I offered.

“Don’t mind if I do!”

Mun took the bag and went into the kitchen with it.

“Hey Din, do you mind helping us? The more help we can get cleaning this hall, the faster we can get it done.”

“Ah sure,” I replied. “Lorelei, I’ll tell you more about it later.”

I couldn’t risk telling it in front of Tal. The way he was acting now was strange. Lorelei seemed to understand as she nodded with a patient smile.

—We spent most of the day cleaning up the main hallway, so it didn’t smell anymore. Lewis, who couldn’t notice the smell in the first place, seemed to be the one trying his hardest to clean.

After having eaten the sandwiches with everyone, I was planning on talking with Lorelei about Tal, but was stopped by Chris.

As we were heading to our rooms, Chris stopped me in the kitchen.

“Din, is it alright if we went for a little walk?” She asked.

I looked over at Lorelei, who seemed just as confused as I was. I nodded to Chris and then she led us out of the house. Tal, Mun, and Lewis had already gone up the stairs, so it was just Chris, Lorelei, and me going out.

As we were walking, I noticed that she seemed to be taking me towards the hill where Lewis had proposed to her. Just the same as yesterday, I couldn’t see anything with the mist surrounding the city.

Even though the sun should be out at this hour, it didn’t help one bit in this thick mist.

After a while of silence, she began, “Lewis mentioned that he wanted to quit the Ravagers.”

She paused to check my reaction. After noticing that this wasn’t news to me, she continued, “He told me he wants to settle down and have a kid with me. That he doesn’t think we could continue our lives with the Ravagers if we wanted to give a good future to our kid.”

I nodded to let her know he had told me about this.

“Did he tell you why he joined the Ravagers?”

“Why he joined? No.”

She seemed to reminiscent her past as she spoke, “It started when we were just kids. Lewis and I knew each other for as long as I can remember. Our families lived onto a few houses apart so we would often meet with each other and play all kinds of games. The house we’re staying in right now, that was the same home he had been living in as a kid. After my parents died, I sold my parents’ home so that Lewis and I could live together.

“One day, when we were kids, Lanport was raided by a group of pirates. During that raid, Lewis and I had been playing at this same hill. I was around 9 years old and I believe he was around 15. His parents knew where we were so they came to get us to safety, but while we were running, we were intercepted before we could get away. Lewis’ parents protected us. They only had a dagger each, but they held their own against seven or eight pirates.”

She closed her eyes tight before calming herself.

“When we reached the governor’s land, we turned around and saw that his parents were already killed. Lewis didn’t cry or yell or anything, he just remained silent as we were taken inside the governor’s mansion. It wasn’t even a full day before we heard that the pirates had all been captured. It wasn’t because of the Lanport guards, that’s for sure.”

“Huh?” I tilted my head.

“It was because of the Ravagers. Eliana and some of the old Ravagers members were already on their way to Lanport to receive shipments of materials from another country. When they noticed that Lanport was under attack, they took it upon themselves to help save the citizens of Lanport.”

“Is that when they joined the Ravagers?” Lorelei asked. I repeated her question to Chris.

“Yes and no,” Chris answered. “That was definitely the reason why Lewis wanted to join the Ravagers, but we didn’t join them immediately. After we knew the city was safe, we went back to our homes and went back to our daily lives. I made sure to make Lewis feel welcomed to my place, but the very next day, he was already back to how he usually was. He was cheerful and full of energy. It was like the pirate attack had never happened.”

She sighed before continuing, “It wasn’t until much later that I realized that he wasn’t fine. He was just acting tough in front of me. When we started living together, I could hear him crying in the middle of the night. To see someone who would normally be the life of a party look so sad was something I hadn’t expected. I just didn’t know how to make him feel better. Then one day, he suggested travelling to Newron to meet Eliana. She accepted our request to join her group immediately after she heard our reasoning.”

A gentle smile appeared on her face.

“We also learned that she was 16 when she had arrived to help Lanport. Both Lewis and I respected her for all that she had done for us, we still do. Working under her for so long, we realized that we had made the right decision to come to Newron.”

Suddenly, her expression shifted to a stern expression, “That’s why I can’t accept the fact that Lewis suddenly wants to quit being part of the Ravagers.”

“With all they went through, it makes sense why she would feel that way,” Lorelei added.

“It wasn’t until last night that he started acting this way,” Chris continued. “Was there anything that happened that made him change his mind? It was you and Tal who went to the bar with him last night, right?”

It felt like it was the exact same with Tal. How he suddenly changed his mind on searching for the thief after we had met with Crowell.

“I think it was Crowell.”

“Crowell? What do you mean?” She asked.

“It wasn’t just Lewis that changed recently, Tal also seemed different early today,” I explained. “They both started acting differently after they had both talked with Crowell. Tal was looking for the thief that had stolen his pouch earlier this morning, but after he met Crowell, he suddenly changed his mind and gave up. I can’t say I know Tal that well, but from what I could tell, he wasn’t one to change his mind that easily.”

Chris nodded, “He’s always been the stubborn kind, for sure. So you’re thinking Crowell has something to do with this…”

She didn’t seem convinced.

“We’ve known Crowell from before we were married,” she started. “He was always a very timid man. He always cared deeply about the well beings of the people close to him and would freak out the moment anything happened to them. He was a weak man, but his drive was strong. He wouldn’t back down from any fight if it meant protecting someone he knew.”

A timid man was the last way I would’ve described Crowell. He had a strong aura around him from when we met.

“Hm… it’s getting late. We should head back before they start getting worried,” Chris suggested.

But before we started heading back, she added, “Crowell is a nice person, but his determination can be scary at times.”