The first thing Red did was check whether anyone was waiting outside his room. After that, he left the room while carrying his equipment and made his way to the training field. As he approached, he saw Narcha's figure waiting for him. She was wearing her studded leather armor, as well as the large steel saber. By her side were two large backpacks, stuffed full of supplies, if Red had to guess.

"You're punctual." Red commented.

"I take my work seriously, kid." Narcha scoffed. "What's with the bow?"

"It's for shooting things."

"I know what it's for!" The warrior barked. "I mean, do you even know how to use it?"

"More or less." The boy shrugged. "Might not be as good as Rog, but I could probably do some damage with it."

"Hm, we'll see about that." The woman seemed skeptical.

"Did anyone notice you?" Red shifted the topic.

"Not really." Narcha shook her head. "They're used to me wandering off on my own every now and then, so it didn't raise any alarms."

"Good." The boy shuffled around his pockets and picked out a piece of paper. "Can you check if this is written properly?"

The warrior picked up the note and read it.

"'I be back soon. The big lady is come with me.' What the fuck is this supposed to mean?" She frowned at Red.

"I just recently learned how to write." The youth explained.

"That's not what I'm saying!" Narcha rebuked him. "Ugh, anyways, I already wrote my own note. You don't need to leave another one behind."

Red agreed with her and pocketed his own note again. As the two of them put on their backpacks, the boy pointed downhill.

"Follow me." He instructed.

"What do you mean?" Narcha frowned. "Do you even know where you're going?"

"I memorized the way Rog took to the forest." Red explained. "That way, we can make sure we're not followed. Just follow my lead, and make sure to be sneaky."

"I don't need your advice, kid!" The warrior complained. "I know how to sneak if I need to."

Although she looked angry, Narcha still followed the youth's steps. Red weaved through the buildings and alleyways of the town, and soon enough, they were in front of one of the main streets. A few pedestrians were still walking around even this late at night, and some guards were stationed on patrol.

"Now's the important part." Red spoke to the woman. "We will wait until everyone is past and then we will quickly make our way past this street."

"I already told you I know what I'm doing." Narcha complained.

Their discussion, however, caught the attention of an elderly townswoman who was walking nearby. She looked at the alley and noticed the ferocious warrior and the sneaky child crouched in the area. Narcha looked up at her with an angry look.

"Piss off!" She politely advised the woman.

The elder didn't need to hear it twice before she ran off. The warrior grumbled to herself before she noticed Red looking over at her with a frown.

"That was just an accident..." Narcha smiled shamelessly.

The boy felt as if their chances of sneaking around weren't that good.

...

Eventually, they made it to the edge of town and into the farmlands. Red thought to employ the same strategy Rog had taught him of running through the field. Narcha, however, impatiently shot the boy down, and the two of them quietly made their way through the road.

The youth checked back multiple times to see if they were not followed. His vision wasn't as good as the woman's, though, and he ended up having to ask for her help.

"No one I can see." She shrugged.

This gave Red some confidence, but he still didn't let his guard down. After five minutes of walking, they eventually arrived at the treeline. The boy immediately called their march to a stop.

"What is it now, kid?" Narcha impatiently asked.

"We can't go with the road." Red explained. "Need to dive into the forest."

"Already?" The woman frowned. "We've not even left the town's premises."

"Last time I came here with Rog, bandits got on our trail pretty quickly." The youth justified his opinion. "Who knows whether there'll be others watching us. If we just walk through the main road, they'll have an easy time spotting us."

"Bah!" Narcha complained. "Fine, kid, but don't blame me if we take longer to get to our destination."

Red obviously wanted to be swift, but not in exchange for his safety. The youth chose a different way to travel through the forest this time around, avoiding the area he and Rog had fought the bandits. He was curious to know if anyone had found the bodies. However, it was likely the bandits' companions would be searching around that place.

As they walked through the forest, Red did his best to stave off the distraction from the Moon's gaze. His physical capabilities weren't compromised, but the pressure made it hard for the boy to focus. Thankfully, though, this wasn't the first time the youth had acted under these kinds of conditions.

Although Red wasn't familiar with the environment, his underground experience served him well in the forest. He always kept his direction in mind when detouring past obstacles and watched for any signs of footprints or animal tracks. Throughout the next hour, Narcha kept strangely quiet, observing the boy in action.

"This is not your first time doing this." The woman broke the silence.

"Yeah, I did it with Rog a few days ago." Red shrugged.

"This is not what I mean, kid." Narcha shook her head. "You seem experienced enough to travel through a foreign environment. Not to mention, you also act like there might be an ambush waiting for us behind every tree."

The boy didn't respond.

"Seems like you had to hide for a living at some point in your life." The warrior continued despite his silence. "Was it from monsters or from people?"

"...A little bit of both." Red finally replied.

"I guess Domeron wasn't lying when he said you were a survivor, huh?" Narcha laughed. "Did you ever get tired of hiding?"

"Sometimes." The boy nodded. "But my life is the most important thing at the end of the day."

"That's a good point." The woman agreed. "I got tired of hiding a long time ago. Unfortunately, can't say I'm strong enough to do what I want yet."

"You said you wanted to take revenge, right?" Red asked.

"Yeah, but it's a distant dream right now." Narcha looked despondent. "My targets are way too strong, and I can't even open my Spiritual Sea."

"...Did you eat the pill?"

She nodded. The youth could guess the results.

"Are you sure you are fit to fight right now?"

"Hah, just a pill like that can't keep me down." Narcha laughed. "I've been able to fight under worse conditions in the past."

Red thought about her words in silence. Although the woman still seemed in high spirits, the youth could tell something was bothering her from the inside.

"Is it that hard to open the Spiritual Sea?" The boy asked.

"It is." The warrior nodded. "The first time I tried it, I failed, but it didn't seem that hard. On my next tries, though, I kept falling short at the same point. No matter how I tried to approach it or how much more experience I got, nothing changed. It's like there's a paper-thin wall between me and success, but no matter how hard I try, I can't break it."

"Is there really no way other than the pill?"

"There probably are, but none that I'd be willing to take."

When she mentioned that, Red couldn't help but recall the deal the blob had offered him. Indeed, there might be other ways to improve, but the price wouldn't be small.

"Maybe we'll be able to find a genuine Parting Sea pill for you." The boy offered. "And then, later on, you can help me the same way."

"Haha, I wish it was that easy, kid." The woman laughed. "Unfortunately, I don't have much time left to pull off a breakthrough. Even if I find a pill later, I might be too old."

"Then what do you intend on doing?" Red asked. Although he didn't know Narcha for long, if her ambition was any indication, she wouldn't take defeat lying down.

"I will bet the only thing I can, kid." Narcha smiled. "My own life!"

Red didn't know how to reply. Eventually, he stopped and looked back at the warrior. The woman stared at him with a frown.

"What is it?"

"You seem very willing to talk." The youth stated.

"And?" Narcha looked confused.

"I thought you didn't trust me."

"Ugh..." The boy's words seemed to take her by surprise. "Look, do you want me to keep silent for the rest of the journey then, you little brat?"

"No, this is fine." Red shook his head. "I'm sure I can learn something even from someone like you."

The boy walked off without waiting for a response.

"Hey, what do you mean by that, you little shit?!" Narcha shouted before following behind him.

...

The next few hours were mostly uneventful. During their trip, Red didn't see many tracks. He had deliberately chosen a roundabout path to avoid meeting with other people. This meant that there probably wasn't much to be found in this area of the forest.

By this time, they were already deep into the night, and Narcha called his attention.

"Kid, it's getting late." She spoke. "It's best if we find somewhere to make camp."

"Not yet." Red shook his head. "I'd prefer if we traveled during the night and slept during the day."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" The warrior frowned. "Although bandits are more active during the day, there are quite a few of them who try to ambush campers during the night too. Not to mention, staying still during the day might make us an easy target."

"You're right, but I prefer to move at night." Red stated simply.

Of course, the real reason was that the youth was simply unable to sleep during the night with the Moon's gaze on him. He couldn't tell that to Narcha, though.

"We can find a secluded spot in a few hours and camp there." The boy continued. "I'm confident in being able to hide us."

"Whatever you say, kid." Although Narcha looked a bit skeptical, she didn't seem worried.

Red guessed she probably didn't need much sleep either way. As they continued their walk, though, the youth suddenly caught something with his eyes.

"Wait." He called, causing Narcha to stop on the spot.

"What, did you see something?" She asked, examining their surroundings with a hand on her saber.

Red crouched down and examined the ground. After pushing the leaf litter aside, the youth saw signs of human tracks and quite a few of them. He pointed it out to the warrior.

"Group of four people, I think." Red did a rough estimate based on the patterns.

"People, here?" Narcha frowned. "There's nothing to be found in this area of the forest. Unless..."

"Bandits." The youth completed her sentence for her.

"This close to town?" She was confused. "I suppose with what happened to you guys, it's not unexpected."

Red nodded and took an old piece of paper out of his pocket.

"What's that?" Narcha asked.

"It's a map I got from the bandits." The youth explained.

"A map?!" She seemed shocked. "Why didn't you tell us about it?"

"Rog said it wasn't important." The boy replied. "He said it just points out the bandit's hideout, but everyone knows where they live anyways."

"Ugh, that idiot." Narcha looked angry. "Even if it's unimportant, it might help us with our missions... What are you looking for, anyway?"

"According to the map, there are no bandit camps around here." Red pointed out.

"Then you think it's not bandits?"

"Not necessarily." The boy shook his head. "However, if you wanted to start acting closer to town, then wouldn't this kind of isolated area be a perfect place to settle in?"

Recognising what Red was implying, Narcha frowned.