‘More skilled than Narcha.’

This was Red’s assessment of Reinhart’s strength. Although he couldn’t totally judge the man’s strength from this brief confrontation, what he had seen already told him a lot. Reinhart fought with precision and speed, and all of his blows targeted his opponent’s necks. It was a ruthless form of fighting, and it reminded the boy of Domeron somewhat.

‘She wasn’t lying about his strength.’

“What’s the point of all of this?” Red asked, looking over the headless bandit bodies around.

“Well, we need to make sure they pay for betraying Gustav, right?” Reinhart said with a smile.

“Do you mean you plan on killing every bandit in this forest by yourself?”

“Not quite.” the man shook his head. “Just the important ones.”

Reinhart turned around and walked towards the alcove. Red watched the man in silence before looking over at Allen. The young master was trembling, his face pale in horror as he stared at the bandit’s decapitated corpses.

“H-he…” the words wouldn’t come out of his mouth.

“Have you never seen a corpse before?” Red asked.

"N-no…”

“It’s an awful sight. However, if you plan on being a cultivator, it’s something you’ll have to get used to. Death is inevitable in combat.”

“I’m… I-I will-”

Allen lurched back and vomited his stomach’s contents. Red stepped back, waiting until his companion was done.

It took almost a minute, but Allen finally caught his breath. “I… I think I’m okay now.”

“Are you sure?” Red frowned.

“Yeah, I just need to…” the young master trailed off as his gaze passed by one of disembodied heads a few meters away from their location. “Ugh-”

Once more, Allen began vomiting. Red could only sigh at the sight and wait until the boy had recovered. Such gruesome scenes had long lost their impact on the youth, but he could imagine how it could still affect Allen.

‘It would have been better to start with some complete bodies, I guess…’

By the time the young master had recovered, Reinhart returned to them.

“Look what I found!” the man waved a few slips of paper in his hand.

“Talismans?” Red’s eyes lit up as he recognized the items.

“Communication talismans, to be more precise.”

“Is this what you were looking for here?”

“Not necessarily, but it sure does help.” Reinhart paused as he noticed Allen’s condition. “Oh, I almost forgot about you, little kid. Have you never seen a corpse before?”

Allen looked over at the man with wide eyes. “H-how could you just kill them like that?”

“What do you mean by that?” Reinhart looked genuinely confused.

“T-they thought you were an ally, and you just… You just killed them!”

“They were bandits, kid.” the man shrugged. “Low-lifes, scum, brigands. They have committed much worse crimes than you could possibly imagine. Stabbing them in the back is just paying back with the same coin.”

Allen looked at a loss for words.

“Is that all you needed to do here?” Red interjected, shifting the topic of conversation.

“No.” Reinhart shook his head. “I don’t really believe a word that guy said earlier about them being the only camp in the area, but thankfully we have a way to verify it now.”

The man pulled out one of the communication talismans he had gotten, waving it in the air.

“How do you use that?” Red asked.

“It’s pretty simple. You just have to scratch out one of the marks on the talisman…”

The man demonstrated as much with the item in his hand. A stream of light-blue colored Spiritual Energy came off of the talisman, and Reinhart brought it close to his face.

“Gustav’s people want to meet with the boss.” the man said with an exaggerated voice.

The energy around the talisman flickered before dissolving into thin air.

“There you go!” Reinhart turned around and smiled at Red. “Impressive, isn’t it?”

“What was that voice supposed to be?” the boy frowned.

“I was trying to imitate the bandit from earlier, of course!”

“… And you’re certain this plan of yours will work? Do you even know where this talisman is taking this message to?”

“No idea, but as long as we try all of them, we will eventually get a response!”

Reinhart used the remaining talismans to transmit the same message. A few minutes passed by, though, and none of the talismans received a returning message.

“Why are they not responding?” the man frowned. “I’m sure these talismans are working.”

“They might use code words in their messages to account for other people getting their hands on their talismans.” Red said.

‘Or maybe they aren’t gullible enough to believe in your ridiculous impression.’

The boy left that thought unsaid.

“That makes sense.” Reinhart nodded, unbothered by the revelation. “Oh well, I guess we just need to keep looking.”

The man’s attitude gave Red some pause. It was hard for him to tell whether Reinhart was acting stupid on purpose. Every interaction the boy had with him since they met felt as if they were acting out a play that only the man knew the script to. It was a vexing experience, to say the least.

“Where are we going next?” Red asked.

“I still need to check the other bandit camps to see if they’re truly abandoned.” Reinhart said.

“… Haven’t you just alerted the bandits to your presence with those talismans, though?”

“It’s fine.” the man shook his head. “The small fish need to stir the water to bring the big prey out.”

“Is that how it works?”

“Maybe. I’m just doing what I was told.” Reinhart shrugged. “Either way, let us continue.”

Red didn’t feel like he was any closer to understanding the man after this conversation. He looked over at Allen, who had been awfully quiet.

“Are you good to go?” the boy asked.

“I’m fine, it’s just…” Allen trailed off with a concerned expression.

“What is it?” Red frowned.

“… Is he going to kill more people?”

“Probably. You don’t need to watch, though.”

“Ugh.” the young master paled but tried to keep his composure. “It’s fine. I can do it.”

“You don’t need to force yourself.”

“I’m just listening to your advice!” Allen didn’t back down. “I need to get used to it at some point, right? This is the perfect opportunity!”

‘I’m not sure headless corpses are a good starting point.’

Despite his thoughts, however, Red simply nodded. “If you insist.”

“Are you two going to come or not?!” Reinhart yelled from a dozen meters away.

Allen looked startled, but still nodded at Red. The two of them followed behind their captor.

…

It took one hour for them to arrive at the next bandit hideout.

“Abandoned.” Reinhart said with a frown. “Looks like he wasn’t lying after all.”

“It was already a big surprise that the bandits managed to keep a hideout so close to town after what happened with the Baron.” Red shook his head. “More than one, though? That would have been discovered long ago.”

“Can you tell me if the tracks are recent?” the man asked him.

“How would I know?”

“What, haven’t you been learning from Rog?” Reinhart said with a grin.

His words surprised Red. His trips to the forest with Rog were meant to be kept secret from everyone else. The only trace they had left behind on their voyage back then was when they had killed that group of bandits who were following them. Still, Red didn’t know how they could have figured it was Rog and him who were responsible for that.

“Can’t you tell yourself?” Red asked.

“I’m not cut for this kind of tracking work.” Reinhart shook his head. “I like to take a straightforward approach to handling my problems.”

“Like when you stabbed those bandits in the back?”

“Hey, that was still a straightforward approach!” the man frowned. “Either way, can you tell me or not?”

Red hesitated, but he still looked around the hideout. In the end, though, he shook his head. “Tracks are too old. They probably left this place a long time ago.”

As Red said that, a sigh of relief came from Allen.

“Shame.” Reinhart shook his head in resignation. “I guess we’ll need to try our luck at the next one.”

“Ugh, another one?” the young master said in dismay. “I mean… How many of these camps are you going through?”

“There are quite a few more, but this one should be the last one you need to worry about…” the man said in an ominous tone.

“W-what do you mean by that?”

“I mean that I’m going to let you brats go once we get there.”

“Oh, I see…” Allen sighed in relief.

Red, however, didn’t take the man’s words at face value and was preparing himself for the worst. Still, he thought better than to bring his suspicions to light in front of Reinhart himself.

The trio resumed their travels, and Red continued to sense the undead fluctuation following him. The boy was hit with the grim realization that even if they escaped Reinhart’s clutches, the necromancer would be waiting right at their heels to ambush them again.

‘There’s no winning here.’

Of course, maybe their stalker had no more undead to attack them with, but Red wouldn’t count on it. The only solution the boy could see was if they were reunited with their companions, but he didn’t know how long that might take.

“Do you remember what I told you when we first met?” Reinhart said, suddenly interrupting the boy’s thoughts.

Red looked up at the man's back, surprised. “… Not really.” he shook his head.

“I told you not to trust Hector.”

The boy indeed remembered something like that, but he hadn’t really paid much attention to the man’s words back then.

“What do you mean by that?” Allen said as he perked up at the mention of Hector.

“This goes for you too, kid.” Reinhart said with a smile. “You should never trust that old man, no matter what happens.”

“So you’re saying we should trust you instead?” the young master wasn’t convinced. Even after learning about the cruel acts Hector had done in the past, Allen still had a long-standing sense of attachment to the elder who had raised him.

“You don’t need to trust my words. You can confirm this for yourself. Hector has plenty of secrets to hide about his past, so try asking him about it. Better yet, ask Domeron about it. He should know it better than anyone in your sect.”

Allen looked ready to argue back, but for some reason, he eventually fell silent.

Red noticed this situation and looked over at Reinhart. “Why are you telling us this?”

“I just felt like it.” Reinhart shrugged.

“Are you trying to cause dissent in our sect?” the boy frowned.

“Of course I am!” the man said with a laugh. “But that doesn’t mean what I said is a lie!”

“And why do you, as an outsider, know about it when even most of our sect members are unaware?”

“That…” Reinhart scratched his beard. “I can’t tell you.”

Red shook his head and looked back at Allen. “Don’t trust what he says. He doesn’t have any good intentions.”

“R-right!” Allen nodded with eagerness. “I know he is lying!”

Red actually also suspected Hector, but he knew better than to let an outsider plant seeds of dissention in their ranks. He would do his investigations in due time, but for now, he trusted Hector more than Reinhart.

“Whatever you say, kid.” the man shook his head in resignation. “In the future, don't say I didn't warn you.”

“I am more than ready to…” Red trailed off, staring to his left with a frown.

“Huh? You were ready for what?” Reinhart asked.

Red didn’t respond, focusing on his crimson sense. A strong foreign fluctuation suddenly entered his detection range, and it was quickly approaching the trio.

‘No, it’s not foreign, it’s…’

“Get away!” Red pushed Allen back as he tried to avoid the area.

“What are you-” Reinhart’s words were halted, as he also looked in the same direction with some alarm.

Something jumped out from the trees, diving towards the man at impressive speed. Reinhart could barely unsheathe his sword and put it in front of his body to block, but the force of the blow still threw him back.

In the place where the trio had just stood, a scaled crimson creature stood.

The demon had returned.