Red and Domeron walked downstair and out of the fortified building. The youth was uncertain whether to wait for Hector here, but the swordsman shook his head at him.

“Let’s return to the sect.” Domeron said. “Hector will probably be there for a long time.”

Red frowned. The man seemed troubled by something, but this wasn’t the place to ask about sensitive matters.

They walked out of the barracks, under the gaze of many curious people. However, no one tried to speak to them, so they left without issues.

The streets were still abuzz with talk of the murder and the Blood Moon on the way back towards the sect, and it was clear that fear already had the town in its grip. Like the Baron said, though, many people felt lost and hopeless, aware of the fact that fleeing somewhere else wasn’t an option, simply because there was no place in the kingdom that would be completely safe either.

‘I wonder how Gustav is reacting to all of this.’

The merchant’s attitude regarding the news of this assassination would be something they needed to watch closely. While they didn’t have any evidence of the man working alongside the imperials, it would be remiss of them to ignore the possibility. This, however, was something that they would only be able to discuss once Hector came back.

Soon enough, they arrived at the street of their sect.

“How is Rog?” Red asked Domeron as soon as no one was around.

The swordsman shook his head. “Nothing has changed as far as I can tell. However, I didn’t have time to observe him.”

The youth frowned. “And Rimold? Is he still in the sect?”

“Yes.” The swordsman nodded. “Allen has taken his responsibility very seriously, it seems.”

Red was relieved to hear that. In truth, he was worried about the mark the ghost had left on his body, and he wondered if the man would be targeted before they could return.

“I haven’t explained or told them about the dagger and what happened out there.” Domeron said. “Rimold was very interested in it, but I thought it better to wait until we settled the matter of the murder.”

“That’s a good idea.” Red nodded.

They soon arrived at the gate of the sect, upon which the youth detected only two fluctuations waiting for them in the main hall - Allen and Rimold. Rog was off in his room, while his master Goulth was inside his workshop as usual. Everyone’s fluctuations showed that they were on edge, without exception.

Domeron opened the gate and walked inside, while Red followed behind him. They entered the main building, finding Rimold and Allen sat at a table with unnerved faces.

As soon as the rogue saw the youth, he leapt up with an expectant expression. “Did you get it?”

Red didn’t respond, instead examining the man. The gray aura was no longer around his body, and he didn’t seem to have transformed into a rotting corpse like Domeron. However, his eagerness was a clear indication that his mind still lingered on the matter of the dagger, which concerned the youth.

In the end, Red nodded. “I got it.”

A wide smile formed on the rogue’s face. “Great! Where is it?!”

“I hid it outside of town.”

“You what?!” Joy turned into anger in a second. “Why did you do that?!”

Red frowned. “Because of you.”

“Huh? Me?” Rimold seemed taken aback.

“Yes. It’s clear that your mind is still affected by the dagger, so how could I bring it to you when I have no idea about what will happen?”

“You bastard!” The rogue glared at him. “My mind is not affected by anything! It’s just- it’s just…”

The man trailed off as he stared at Red’s icy gaze.

“Bah, forget!” Rimold threw his hands up in resignation. “As long as you have it, then it’s fine!”

The youth nodded, satisfied.

Of course, what he told about hiding the dagger was a complete lie. It was right here with him in his pouch, but he hid the fact from Rimold exactly to gauge his reaction. He intended to discuss matters through with Hector and Goulth before deciding what to do with the dagger, whether he would keep it or sell it would depend on their advice.

Domeron, who knew he was lying, didn’t expose him to Rimold, instead just watching their interaction with interest.

Allen, however, was quick to interject once the topic was done. “What happened?”

The swordsman sighed. “Red can explain. He was the one who examined the scene.”

The young master looked at Red with a mix of curiosity and apprehension. Even Rimold, whose primary concern was now addressed, stared at him with interest.

The youth shook his head. “There’s nothing much to tell…”

He explained the details of the murder, as well as his suspicions that Rickard was involved. Even with the little details he was able to provide, it was enough to create a huge amount of concern in Allen and Rimold.

“How can he still be alive?” The rogue seemed skeptical. “I spoke to the surviving bandits over the years and none of them spotted him during all this time.”

“I can’t claim to be completely confident that it is him,” Red said. “But for now, he is the primary suspect other than Hector.”

“It’s not Hector!” Allen said with a confident tone. “Why would he even do something like that?”

“I don’t believe it’s him either, hence why my suspicions towards a third, unknown party.” the youth said. “It is impossible to know for sure who it is in that scenario, though. In any case, as the Baron explained to me earlier, discovering who killed Orvin in the first place doesn’t really matter. What matters is how they managed to infiltrate the town without being discovered, considering that the formation should have been able to detect anyone above the Lesser Ring Realm.”

There was a silence following these words, the implications of such a murder only now setting in.

“… Do you think they could target us?” Rimold asked with a frightened tone.

Domeron sighed at this question. “It is certainly possible, which is why none of us are leaving the sect without Hector’s supervision for now.”

The rogue seemed surprised. “Hector said that?”

The swordsman shook his head. “No, I did. I assure you he won’t protest, though.”

Allen frowned at this. “Are we just going to hide in our sect? We should try to get justice for Orvin, at the very least. We might not have always seen eye to eye, but he always helped us and the people of this town when it came down to it.”

The swordsman sighed. “I will not be the one to decide this. Once Hector is back, we can speak about how we will proceed.”

The young master seemed unsatisfied with this, but he didn’t say anything else.

As no more questions about the topic were made, Red saw the opportunity to ask about something else that was on his mind. “How is Rog doing?”

Allen shook his head with a conflicted expression. “He is fine for now, but…”

“He doesn’t really leave his room much.” Rimold interjected. “When he does, it’s just to eat or to take care of the chickens.”

The young master nodded. “I saw him trying to skin some animals or work on making more arrows, but with one hand, it was almost impossible. I tried to offer him my help, but…”

“Rog ran him off.” The rogue cut him off again. “I told this moron that the last thing he wants is pity, but he needed to find that out on his own.”

Allen gritted his teeth and looked at Domeron with a pleading gaze. “Can’t you talk to him?”

Domeron frowned. “Why? Just because I also only have one arm?”

“That’s…”

The swordsman shook his head. “I was never one for delicate practices when I had both arms, and I definitely didn’t pick them up after losing one of them. Rog is a far more stubborn person than you know, so if he wants to do this on his own, just let him. He certainly knows how difficult it will be in his current condition to do what he did in the past, so nothing we say will stop him.”

None of them could argue against Domeron’s logic. The hunter had always been hard to read, even for someone like Red, but one thing was for certain - he was very headstrong in his ways. It was better to approach him and try to understand him on his own terms than to try to convince him to give up the only kind of lifestyle he knew.

The youth, who still felt somewhat responsible for what happened to him, decided he was going to talk to the man later. He didn’t know if whatever he said was going to help, but he just wanted to understand what Rog was going through, at the very least.

Right now, though, he decided to move on to another topic.

“What about the Blood Moon?” Red asked. “Did you see it here too?”

Allen and Rimold exchanged apprehensive gazes.

In the end, the young master nodded. “We did.”

“The whole town went into a panic when that thing appeared in the sky.” Rimold said. “Even in the middle of the night, we heard screams of terror and children crying. We thought that demons were attacking us.”

Allen nodded. “I was… I mean, we were very afraid, but thankfully Hector explained what that meant to us. He said that even if a Blood Moon appears in the sky, it doesn’t mean a demonic invasion will happen. It just means that there is a chance.”

Domeron frowned at this. “How so?”

The young master seemed at a loss. “I don’t know for sure… He just said that a location for a possible portal to the Infernal Realm would be revealed, and that the sects and demon worshippers would rush to find it.”

‘So Aurelia wasn’t lying.’

Allen continued. “Either way, he said that the sects are much stronger than the demon worshippers these days, so it shouldn’t be a concern for them to find and seal this portal before it even opens.”

Rimold scoffed. “You’re forgetting something. He also said that even if no demon invasion happens, a lot of demon worshippers and devilish cultivators will be spurred into action to cause chaos around the world.”

“Ah, that may be the case, but… It does feel like we have bigger concerns right now, doesn’t it?” Allen asked.

The rogue hesitated. “… I suppose you are right.”

“Oh, right, there is something else, but…” Allen hesitated as he looked at Red. “I’m not sure if it’s my place to say it.”

The youth frowned at this. “What do you mean?”

“It’s about Goulth.” the young master said. “He has been acting weirdly since the Blood Moon.”

Red immediately had a bad feeling about the situation.

“… Weird in what way?” he asked.

“He seems on edge all the time.” Allen explained. “Even after Hector explained that there was no need to be too alarmed, he still didn’t relax. We tried speaking to him, but he refused to tell us what was wrong.”

“We thought that you would have some better luck in reaching him.” Rimold said.

Red nodded with a deep frown. “I will speak to him about it.”

Domeron was staring at the youth with a curious expression, but he didn’t say anything about it.

With no other urgent matters to discuss, the four of them sat around the meeting hall table, waiting for the return of Hector. The elder only came back a few hours later.

He entered the hall with a severe expression, which wasn’t entirely uncommon for the old man. Still, Red could tell that this time something was different.

His gaze passed over everyone in the room, then he took a deep breath.

“We are leaving this town.” Hector announced.