Hector gathered all of his sect members and brought them back towards the fort. The place was completely empty, as most of the army was still out there dealing with the horde’s surviving monsters and gathering corpses, yet the elder did not seem to care about these matters.

He urged them on, and under Eiwin’s guidance, they arrived back at the tent the Baron arranged for them. When they were inside, Hector weighed all of them with a weary expression.

“Did something happen?” he asked. “The communication talismans we arranged were not working, so I couldn’t make you aware of my condition.”

Eiwin nodded. “We were attacked by something on our journey over…”

The woman proceeded to explain their encounter with the floating head, as well as their efforts to free their companions of their possession. By the time she was done, Hector was frowning in worry.

“I thought once I threw that head away everything would be dealt with, and yet…” He shook his head.

“This is not your fault, old man.” Rimold tried to assuage his worries. “No one could have predicted things would have developed in this manner.”

“Maybe, but I should have still tried to be more thorough in getting rid of it, at the very least. The being said, it seems we have more immediate worries.” Hector looked over at Narcha with a frown. “You killed a member of the Curse Breakers?”

The woman gritted her teeth and look down.

“This was not her fault, Master Hector.” Eiwin jumped to the defense of her companion. “She was being possessed.”

“Weak minds make for perfect hosts for ghosts.” Hector said. “You might think this was not your fault, but I have always made it clear in our teachings about how the state of mind of a cultivator is important. It seems, however, that I was not clear enough.”

He directed stern a gaze at Allen, Narcha, and Rimold, who all looked away in embarrassment.

Eiwin frowned. “Be that as it may, that is not our main concern.”

“Indeed.” the elder nodded, looking over at Red. “You say you got rid of the body?”

Red nodded. “As thoroughly as I could.”

Hector sighed. “I will have to take your word for it, then. At this point, the Curse Breakers have probably already arrived and investigated the scene.”

“Could this come back to us?” The boy asked with a frown.

“Hard to tell.” the elder shook his head. “It depends on how much importance they put on this matter. It is not unusual for Curse Breaker knights to die while on missions, but their retaliation depends on how important that mission was in the first place. In any case, this is something we will need to wait and see, but I will do my preparations.”

Eiwin and Narcha still looked conflicted, even with his reassurances, but they kept silent.

There was a pause as Hector seemed to consider his words.

He looked back at Red. “Where did you learn that exorcizing technique?”

‘Straight to the point, it seems.’

“Someone taught me it.” Red was brief with his reply.

Hector frowned at his words, and he wasn’t the only one. At this point, even if Red’s companions weren’t aware of what was going on between the boy and the necromancer, they could still make some guesses as to the necromantic origin of this technique. Not to mention, he had already told the truth to Rog, either way.

Hector, however, seemed hesitant to discuss the matter. “… I’ll just ask you one question. Is there anything we need to worry about?”

Red frowned, pondering the elder’s question. “… I do not know. I was forced by circumstance to make some choices, and while I’d like to think they won’t affect our sect, it would be remiss of me to guarantee you anything.”

There was a silence following his words as his companions digested his words with conflicted expressions. Rog, on the other hand, was sitting down while looking over his equipment, barely paying attention to the conversation.

“It doesn’t matter.” Narcha spoke up. “He did what he needed to do to save us, and this is not the first time either. Whatever consequences come from it, I am more than willing to deal with them… Isn’t that what you taught us, old man?”

The woman stared at Hector with an intense gaze.

The elder sighed and nodded. “You’re right. It would be hypocritical of me to punish or press you when you’re the reason they are still alive… That being said, I would like to be made aware if something changes. Is that clear?”

Red nodded. “You will be the first to know.”

The boy wasn’t comfortable having these delicate secrets of his be revealed to others, but now that it was done, it would benefit all of them if he let Hector know when something changed.

“What about you, old man?” Rog asked. “Weren’t you supposed to be distracting the wolf? We also almost died because of you.”

Hector snorted. “Don’t presume that I failed at my job. I was doing my part in distracting the wolf, but I never expected to be attacked by a cultivator, too.”

Allen’s eyes widened in surprise. “That guy attacked you too?”

“He did.” Hector nodded. “Luckily, I was already prepared to escape if need be, so I managed to keep my life. Regardless, I couldn’t risk getting close to the wolf again after that.”

Red frowned. “You seemed to have an easy time killing him with that sword. Why didn’t you use it before?”

The old man glared at him. “What do you know about these treasures? You think a weapon that allows you to kill someone at a higher realm than you can be used at will?”

“I know nothing about treasures, actually.” Red shook his head.

“Well…” Hector looked at a loss for words. “Treasures need Spiritual Energy to power them, and let’s just say a treasure as powerful as that Deep Sea Sword can’t be powered by any common type of Spiritual Energy.”

“You mean it has limited uses?”

Hector nodded. “Indeed, and I can’t charge it again at my realm either. I was still hesitant about using it during the battle, but I couldn’t let that beast master flee. Not to mention, by helping that woman, I also earned us an invaluable favor from her Crystal Sky Sect.”

Red sighed in admiration of Hector. Even in those situations, the elder thought about how he could turn a crisis to his own benefit, like a true cultivator. A lot of his companions weren’t comfortable with this side of Hector that seemed indifferent to the suffering of people outside of his own sect, yet no one complained since the old man always did it for their benefit at the end of the day.

Or better yet, they couldn’t really complain when his attitude was what saved their lives in the past.

Allen’s interest was piqued at the old man’s words. “You mean we could ask the Crystal Sky Sect for anything?”

Hector gave the young master a sly smile. “As long as it’s worth the transgressions committed against me and the price on the head of a Greater Ring Realm cultivator, then yes, we can ask for anything.”

Allen beamed. “Then can we ask for a Parting Sea Pill for Narcha?”

Hector’s smile disappeared, and everyone looked over at the young master in shock. Red felt Narcha’s fluctuation stir, but the woman remained silent, observing Hector’s reactions.

The old man frowned. “I will think about it.”

“Great!”

This had clearly caught the elder off guard, but his response seemed enough to satisfy Allen for now. Red caught Narcha’s conflicted expression, which she did her best to hide before anyone else noticed.

The boy didn’t linger on the matter, though, as he had other questions to ask Hector. In fact, he was still curious most of all about the beast master they had just confronted.

“Was that man a demonic cultivator?” He asked.

Hector shook his head. “Not necessarily. Beast taming is an unorthodox method, but not a demonic one. If I had to guess, that was just another displaced cultivator from the barbarian lands acting as a mercenary.”

Rimold frowned. “If he is not a demonic cultivator, why did he attack us?

“Mercenaries work for the highest paying client.” Hector explained. “Sometimes, those happen to be demonic cultivators, too.”

Red frowned. “You mean even powerful cultivators would stoop so low as that?”

“They would do that and much worse, kid.” The elder said. “It is not only demonic cultivators you need to worry about in this world.”

“Well, yeah, there’s also those cursed beast people and the undead folk.” Rog said with a shrug.

Red was about to question the hunter about what he meant when he felt a fluctuation enter his detection range. He paused.

Hector noticed his change in expression. “Who is it?”

“The Baron is coming.” Red said.

The elder snorted. “He sure took his time. Let’s go outside and speak to him.”

They followed the elder out of the tent. Ahead of them they saw the Baron, flanked by a few of his soldiers.

The man seemed surprised once he saw Hector walk outside.

He nodded at the elder with an embarrassed expression. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. I had some matters to attend to.”

Hector glared at the Baron. “What, were you planning another scheme behind my back again?”

The Baron smiled helplessly. “… I did not have a choice in this matter, Hector. I was merely following orders.”

“What do you want?” The elder asked with an irritated voice.

“I have my soldiers gathering the corpses of the monsters. We have killed a total of twelve Lesser Ring Realm monsters over the course of these two days. It has been decided five of their cores and materials will go to you and your sect.”

Hector snorted. “Is that your way of apologizing?”

The Baron shook his head. “No, this is merely your rewards earned. Without your help, things could have gone much worse for me and my men.”

“Very well then, but don’t expect a thank you.” The old man nodded. “Is that all?”

The Baron hesitated. “… No, that is not all. I have come to ask you for you and your sect’s help in hunting down the remaining wolves. Although the main horde is defeated, there are still dozens of wolves and other foreign monsters wandering the forest. Some of them are even in the Lesser Ring Realm, and your expertise would prove invaluable to me and my men.”

There was a moment of silence as the elder seemed to consider the Baron’s request with a frown.

A few seconds later, though, he looked up with a resolved expression. “The answer is no.”

The Baron seemed shocked at his reply, and he wasn’t the only one. Behind the elder, Red and his companions were staring at Hector’s back with astonished expression. Even Rog was no exception.

Eiwin made to speak up. “Master Hector, are you certain that we-”

“Enough!” Hector held his hand up, which was enough for Eiwin’s sentence to stop midway through.

The Baron also had a troubled expression. “Hector, if this is about compensation, we can-”

“This has nothing to do with compensation.” Hector cut him off. “You made a promise to me, and regardless of whether you willed it or not, you still put me and my sect in danger through your omission of vital information. This is not the kind of transgression that can easily be reconciled by any offering of gifts. It is a fundamental betrayal of trust.”

“I did what was necessary for the safety of all of our people.” The Baron frowned. “Whatever offense I may have caused you, I will take personal responsibility. However, by refusing to help us in this hunt, you do not only affect me, but you affect all the people in this region that will die should the horde survivors be allowed to run free.”

“I have said my part.” The elder seemed resolved. “We will offer you our help after we are back in town and completely recovered, and only when proper compensation is presented.”

The Baron stared at Hector, his expression betraying anger for the first time since Red had seen him. “… Why are you doing this?”

“I have been far too kind to you and this town for these last few years. Perhaps this has made you and others think they may take advantage of my good-nature and sympathy, but I have had enough. It is time to show again that my trust is not something easily abused, much less easily recovered.” Hector looked at his sect members. “Follow me. We are leaving.”

The elder turned around and began to walk away. Red and his companions were left baffled at his actions, but all of them knew that no words of protest would change Hector’s mind.

This time, he was truly resolved.