"You should stay here until they're done." Goulth advised him.

"How long will it take?" Red asked.

"Not sure." The giant shrugged. "Probably no more than an hour."

The boy could already hear the sounds of shouting from within the hall. He decided to take the man's advice and remain inside the forge.

...

It took just about as much time as Goulth had suggested for the sounds of discussion to die down. Red was about to ask whether he should finally go, before they heard knocking at the door.

"Come in!" The giant roared in response.

The sound of a door being open and then closed could be heard from the other room, and a few moments later, Eiwin appeared in front of them.

"How did it go, girl?" Goulth asked. "Did the old Captain give you any trouble?"

"Not any more than usual." She shook her head. "However, he seemed more on edge than I remember."

"Might have to do with the monster horde." The giant tried to explain. "But then again, there might be more happening than we know of."

"Isn't that always the case, Master Goulth." Eiwin shook her head helplessly. Her attention eventually shifted to Red. "I actually came looking for you... We need to talk about what happened."

An awkward silence settled in the room. The blacksmith seemed oblivious to it, though, and continued to work as if he was alone.

"Did Allen tell on me?" Red asked in his monotone voice.

"No, he did not." She denied it. "He refused to, even in front of Hector. He said he told you to run back to the guild and look for help while he stayed behind to fight... Unfortunately, he's always been a terrible liar."

"... Did the merchant say something?" The youth was already surprised by the fact Allen hadn't given him up.

"He was raving about being attacked by a child when he returned to his shop. The guards thought he was talking about Allen, but he was outside the entire time." Eiwin revealed.

With these kinds of clues, it would have been weird if she hadn’t guessed Red was involved.

"... You shouldn't have done that." She remarked. Her words sounded like an admonishment, but the calm tone of her voice made it difficult for the boy to take it as such.

"He was trying to steal from Narcha, so I thought it would be fair to do the same to him." Red explained the reasoning behind his actions.

"I know, but we don't measure the evil of our deeds by the person we do it to." Eiwin shook her head. "That merchant may be an awful person, but it is still wrong to steal. Though life is not always so simple, ideally his unjust conduct should have been punished lawfully. If we all were to take justice into our own hands, the only end result will be chaos."

"It just seemed right at the time. Besides, I don't really make a habit out of stealing." The youth wasn't lying.

The woman had a conflicted expression. She knew that Red had helped the guild and her friends. But at the end of the day, she still had a hard time justifying an immoral act.

"Give the kid a break, girl." Goulth interjected. "If he hadn't sneaked in, then something bad might have happened."

"What do you mean?" Eiwin asked.

Both she and the boy looked confused at the man's words.

"The merchant was carrying a talisman." The giant responded.

"What?!" The woman looked shocked.

Red remembered the slip of paper he had brought. He had been so absorbed with the Spiritual Medicines that he had forgotten to ask the blacksmith what that item was.

"What is that talisman for?" The boy asked.

"It's a portable spell, kid." Goulth explained. "It's equivalent to a strike from someone who has already opened their Spiritual Sea. The one the merchant was carrying was a fireball Spiritual Art. It could have easily wounded or even killed Narcha or Eiwin if they were caught by surprise."

Red frowned as he recalled the merchant's threatening words.

"Can anyone use it?" The youth followed up with another question.

"Yes, as long as they know how to activate it, even the most normal person can use a talisman." The man nodded. "They're very hard to make, but their ease of use is their main strength."

It suddenly became clear to the boy how close to death the group had been at that moment.

"That's not normal." Eiwin spoke up as she recovered from the shock. "A talisman is not the kind of thing a merchant like him could get his hands on."

"That was my thought too." Goulth agreed. "The only talisman maker I know about lives in the capital, and his items are way beyond what anyone in this town can afford."

"Were there any markings?" She asked.

"Not any I could recognize." The man shook his head.

Red was confused.

"What do you mean by markings?" He asked.

"Remember what I told you about the pills?" Goulth responded. "Those markings on their surface also serve as an indication of the person or faction who produced them. The same goes for talismans, except this one had no signature."

"Could it be fake?" Eiwin questioned.

"Not at all." The giant shook his head. "It was carved on quality monster skin, and painted with genuine Spiritual Ink. It looks like it was produced by a true master of their craft."

The woman's expression grew even more concerned.

"The kid also brought some trade documents from the merchant's office." Goulth pointed towards a pile of papers on his desk. "I looked through them but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. Maybe you'll have better luck, though."

"I will take a look at them, Master Goulth." Eiwin nodded.

She turned to look at Red.

"I can't agree with your decision, Red, but I recognize how much help you were to us." The woman spoke genuinely. "I also don't agree with a lot of things Miss Valt does, but she always has the Sect's best interest in mind. In the future, though, I'd like you to be more careful... Things could have turned out much worse."

The boy nodded. The next time he stole something, he needed to be careful about these talismans too.

"It's unfortunate he had already sold Miss Valt's pill, though." Eiwin shook her head in resignation.

"... We have it." Red spoke up.

"Huh?" She perked up. "What do you mean?"

"Here."

The boy took the glass vial out of his pocket and showed it to the woman.

"That's..." Eiwin narrowed her eyes as she examined the green pill. Eventually, she let out a sigh. "So it turns out he didn't sell it to anyone else. I suppose Gustav could have just paid the merchant enough to not deliver this to Miss Valt. Either way, that's just another indication that guy didn't have any good intentions..."

She looked at Red.

"You should give it to her." Eiwin smiled. "She'll be very happy."

The boy nodded.

"Do you know where she is?" He asked.

"I saw her walking towards the training field. Do you want me to come too?"

"It's fine." Red shook his head. "I can handle it."

With that, the boy got up from his seat and walked. Eiwin looked at his back with a worried expression while Goulth let out a laugh.

"That kid is really direct, huh?" The man commented.

...

Sure enough, Red found the tall woman on the training field. She was wailing away at a wooden target using a large wooden blade. There was no rhythm or skill behind her blows, and it looked like Narcha was letting out her anger more than anything.

The youth hesitated for a moment, but he still decided to approach her. As he got closer, he started to notice there were plenty of cracks on the training weapon.

"Fucking old man..."

Another strike against the target.

"Fucking merchant..."

Another hit. More wooden splinters flew off from the impact.

"I'll show them!"

With one final blow, Narcha completely shattered her training weapon against the target. An explosion of splinters happened around her, but she didn't flinch back.

"Fuck!" The woman roared and threw the ruined weapon to the ground.

She turned around abruptly, striding in the direction of the weapon rack. However, she suddenly froze upon noticing Red's figure silently standing there.

"What do you want, brat?!" Narcha grumbled.

The youth was worried she would hit him if he wasn't careful with his words.

"Here." Red didn't beat around the bush. "Your pill."

He threw the glass vial over to the warrior. The woman caught the item, but didn't seem to have registered his words until she examined the object in her hands.

"This..." Narcha's furious expression was replaced by astonishment. "My pill!"

She blinked, having a hard time accepting the sight in front of her. Eventually, though, realization crossed her face.

"It was you!" The warrior exclaimed. "You stole from that bastard!"

"Yes." Red nodded.

Narcha was at a loss for words. However, a few seconds later, she frowned.

"Are you hoping to buy my trust with this?" She asked.

"Yes." The boy nodded again.

"Uh..." She didn't know how to respond. "At least you're honest, I suppose."

The warrior pocketed the vial and looked at Red with a thoughtful expression. The two of them stared at each other in silence for what felt like an eternity.

"I owe you one, kid." Narcha finally decided to break the silence. "I intend on fully repaying this debt, but I want you to know that this doesn't change my thoughts about you."

The youth would have been suspicious if she claimed otherwise.

"I can see you're resilient, kid." She continued. "But I know you're hiding something. We all are, but I don't think your secrets are as simple as ours. I really want to be wrong about you... I wish that you turn out as just another normal member of our Sect and contribute like the others. But I know that one day your past will catch up to you and get all of us involved too...

"For some reason, I can feel it."

Red didn't respond.

"It sounds stupid when I put it like that, huh?" Narcha laughed. "But it's the truth. For some reason, I have been having very bad dreams since I met you that night. Some might call it superstition, but once you learn enough about the mysteries of this world, you'll learn not to ignore any signs you receive... When you add that to all the weird shit that has been happening in that forest, how can I just pretend everything's normal?"

"... I understand."

In fact, he understood her all too well.

"Good." The warrior nodded. "I don't actually hate you, kid. I hope you are aware of that. I kind of admire you, to be honest. When I was your age, I didn't have my shit together like you. Maybe I still don't. But these people... They are too important for me to take this matter lightly."

"Is that why you're risking it?" Red asked. "With the pill, I mean."

"That big oaf has been talking too much." Narcha frowned. "But yes, kid. That's one of the reasons I want to open my Spiritual Sea. That, and for revenge..."

The woman trailed off.

"What if it doesn't work?" The boy followed up with another question.

"I've been trying this for years. I've failed more times than I can be bothered to count." She shook her head. "But I have no other option than to keep trying. I have to succeed... I will succeed, no matter the cost."

Red could feel the absolute resolve behind the woman's words. It bordered on madness, a desire to see something through that was consuming her being.

'But maybe this is just what's required if one wants to walk this path...'

"Alright." Red spoke up. "I'll think of a way you can repay me."

"Hey, I didn't say I was going to do just anything." Narcha scowled.

"I thought this pill was very important to you, right?" The boy frowned.

"Well... Yeah."

"And you said you were going to repay your debt, right?"

"That's... Yes."

"Then you would need to help me with something really important too." The youth explained. "It's only fair, right?"

She nodded with an unwilling expression.

"Then I'll think of something when the time comes." The boy concluded and walked off, leaving behind a brooding Narcha who couldn't help but grumble to herself.