Red waited in his room until night arrived, to avoid the incessant questions of Domeron and Allen. Thankfully, though, none of them came looking for him, and the youth managed to pass these hours in peace. He still kept an eye on his companions through his crimson sense, but none of them tried to leave the sect during this time, and no one from outsiders came spying about either.

He even tried to extend his detection range in a few directions, too, but he didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. If there were people spying on them, Red was unable to spot them, even with his power.

‘Is Rickard in town right now?’

The youth had half a mind to go wandering about and use his crimson sense to search for the bandit, yet he knew this was a stupid idea. There was no telling who was an imperial agent in the streets, and it was likely that Red would be spotted and targeted even if Aurelia could hide his spiritual emissions.

In the end, he needed to come to terms that his part in this fight was probably over and there was nothing he could do to help his companions in their plan. Yet, no matter how much he tried, there was a part of him that still refused to accept this outcome.

For all the talk about knowing his own limits when facing against an overwhelming opponent, Red just felt an enormous sense of hesitation at abandoning his companions and accepting defeat - and it wasn’t solely because of the promise he made to Narcha. Before he could spend any more time struggling with his own inner thoughts, though, he sensed two fluctuations gathering in the main hall.

They were Domeron and Hector.

‘… Are they waiting for me?’

The youth thought they would have called him before starting to talk, but since no such thing happened, he felt confused. Were they speaking in private before calling for him? Did they have something they wanted to hide?

He decided to check it for himself.

He exited his room, trying to make as little noise as possible. He knew how perceptive Hector was, so he didn’t think the man would fail to notice him. Still, Red tried to approach the building and listen in through one of the windows.

‘I can’t hear anything.’

He was uncertain if this was because the duo wasn’t talking or because Hector had blocked the sound waves from leaving the room, as he always did when he wanted to discuss secretive information. The youth came to terms that he wasn’t going to be able to spy on them, and instead approached through the front door.

He knocked on it.

“… Who is it?” Domeron’s voice came from behind the door a few seconds later.

“It’s Red.”

Another long pause, and Red felt a slight change in Domeron’s fluctuation.

“You can come in.”

This time, it was Hector who broke the silence.

Red opened the door and walked inside. The first thing he saw was Hector and Domeron sitting at the meeting table, staring at him. The swordsman had a frown on his face, while the elder looked as cranky as usual.

The youth immediately felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere.

“Were you discussing something behind my back?” he asked.

Hector snorted. “Were you spying on us?”

“Yes.” Red nodded. “I was under the impression that all three of us were supposed to have this discussion, not just you two.”

Domeron sighed. “We weren’t plotting your demise, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Then what were you doing?”

The swordsman fell silent and exchanged glances with Hector.

The elder pointed to a chair by his side. “Just sit down and I’ll explain.”

Red nodded and sat on the chair across from Domeron, while Hector remained at the head of the table, as usual.

“Does this have to do with what you were hiding from the others earlier?” the youth asked.

Hector frowned. “Why do you think I was hiding something?”

“It seems strange to me that you would put your life on the line in this town for no good reason.” Red said. “We already went through this in the past, and you told us before that you wouldn’t hesitate to leave this town behind for the good of our sect.”

The elder grunted. “I had a change of heart when I saw how pitiful the baron was.”

The youth frowned and stared that the old man.

Hector sighed. “Fine! While I wasn’t lying about feeling pity for the Baron, there was another reason why I chose to stay behind. It’s part of the reason why I wanted to speak with you, not only because of the dagger you found.”

“We should address that first.” Domeron interjected. “It’s the more important issue.”

The elder nodded and looked over at Red. “Do you have the dagger with you?”

The youth nodded and pulled the weapon out of his pouch before putting it on the table. The skeletal hand was still attached to its handle, as he didn’t plan to fiddle with the dagger before Hector could see it.

The elder looked at the item with a frown and, displaying rare hesitation, grabbed the dagger to inspect it.

“Did the hand come with it?” he asked.

“The dagger was in the hands of a skeleton. His bones were very strong, and it took me a lot of effort to cut the hand from the rest of the arm.” Red explained.

“You are not wrong.” Hector said. “These bones are very sturdy, so they must have belonged to a strong cultivator in life.”

As the old man spoke, he started to pry apart the skeletal hand from the dagger. It took some effort, but what was impossible for Red was accomplished in no more than ten second by the elder, and soon enough Hector had uncurled the bony fingers from the dagger, separating them from each other.

Finally, the dagger was displayed in full, though there didn’t seem to be anything hidden in the area where the hand was previously covering. Hector turned the blade around in his hand with a frown.

“This dagger… It’s even more durable than the hand.” Hector said. “I can’t tell for certain, but it seems to be as sturdy as the Deep Ocean Sword.”

“That strong?” Domeron seemed surprised.

His reaction was warranted, considering the sword was apparently one of the signature treasures of the Ocean Bearer’s Sect.

“Is it made out of bone, too?” Red asked.

“It seems like it, but I’m no expert.” Hector shook his head. “If it is made out of bone, though, it certainly gives credence to the theory that this might have been fashioned out of the skeleton of a cultivator near ascension.”

The youth already knew this might have been a possibility, but getting confirmation from another source was still useful.

“Either way, tell me what happened.” Hector said. “How did you acquire this dagger?”

Domeron and Red exchanged glances.

They both started to explain the challenges they went through during their journey. The swordsman also told Hector about how he had revealed his Spirit of Slaughter to Red, which caused the elder to frown.

Domeron told most of what happened with a lot of detail, which the youth didn’t complain about, though when it got to the end of their journey, the responsibility to explain things fell onto Red. He tried to explain the bizarre sequence of events that occurred, including his omens and the encounter with the ghost possessing the dagger.

Of course, he didn’t reveal the existence of Aurelia or the more sensitive details about what happened on the trip, but he didn’t lie either. Instead, he just chose to brush over how some things happened, such as how the ghost died or how he knew where to look for where the dagger was. This lack of details made Hector upset, something that was evident by his expression, but to Red’s relief, he didn’t demand answers, either.

“So, you’re telling me that another ghost might be looking for this dagger?” Hector asked. “A ghost that is capable of using terror to kill an entire village of people?”

The youth nodded. “I chose not to mention this to the Baron earlier, but yes. It is also entirely possible that this ghost will still be looking for this dagger.”

“So the ghost of a possible near-ascension cultivator might be seeking this dagger and you still chose to bring it back?” The elder frowned.

“Yes. Perhaps if I knew what was happening… No, even if I knew what was happening, I would have still brought it back.” Red said.

An item and opportunity like this wasn’t something one came across often. Even in this time of crisis, the youth still believed it was worth the risk.

Hector sighed. “I suppose I can’t blame you, considering I was the one incentivizing this kind of behaviour in the first place. Still, you do know the kind of danger this represents, right?”

“I do.” The youth nodded.

Red at first planned on studying the dagger in the safety of town. Seeing as the ghost wasn’t too confident in attacking him head on, he thought that at the very least he would be afforded some security as long as he remained inside the settlement. Obviously, this was no longer a possibility, and now Red was hesitant to bring it along with him, considering it could make him a target as they fled the sect.

“I would advise you to keep it here so I could sell it as soon as possible, but… I can’t guarantee its safety here either.” Hector said.

“Can’t we sell it to our Crystal Sky Sect escorts?” Domeron asked.

The elder shook his head. “This is not the sort of item that we should sell in the open, even to someone from a sect. They are merely repaying a favor that they own me, but it doesn’t mean they won’t be greedy when something like this appears in front of them.”

“We don’t have the opportunity to sell it in the black market either, though.”

“Indeed.” Hector nodded and looked at Red. “I am about to suggest something you will probably not like.”

The youth could guess what was coming. “You want to keep the dagger here, right?”

“I do. I plan on hiding it so it can be recovered in the future, but even then I can’t guarantee an invading force will be unable to find it.” the old man said. “Still, I think bringing this with you right now is not a risk worth taking.”

Red sighed. “You can keep it.”

The youth thought it was a shame to lose such an opportunity, but he was not yet so blinded by profit to throw caution to the wind. His only hope was that Hector would have some way to sell the dagger before everything went to chaos, but that was wishful thinking on his part, it seemed.

“If I do make it out of this alive, I will bring this dagger with me.” Hector said. “If I don’t, you can return here in the future to collect it. Hopefully, no one will have found it by then.”

Red nodded. This was as good of a compromise as he knew he was going to get.

“There are other matters I would like to talk about regarding this little trip of yours.” Hector gave both of them a meaningful gaze. “But compared to the problems at hand, I can’t bring myself to care that much.”

Red was relieved to hear this, though when put into perspective, he would have found it unreasonable if the elder decided to press him on his secrets instead of focusing on the matter at hand.

“Now, to the thing you mentioned earlier.” Hector said.

The youth’s attention was piqued. “You mean the reason you are staying behind?”

“Indeed.” The elder nodded. “Truth is that I spoke to the Baron, and he managed to negotiate a deal between me and the Crystal Sky Sect.”

Domeron didn’t seem surprised at this, meaning he probably already spoke about the matter with Hector earlier.

Red, however, was confused. “I thought they owned you a favor.”

“They do, but this deal is separate from it.” The elder said. “They had no issues bringing our sect to safety, but I decided this was a good opportunity to acquire some extra benefits on top of it. All I needed to do was to offer to help them protect the town, something they were in dire need of considering their forces were already stretched thin dealing with the consequences of the Blood Moon.”

The youth hesitated. “… What extra benefits are these?”

Hector smiled. “I asked them to sponsor the growth of both you and Allen for the next three years. That is to say, during that period, you can consider yourselves as Guest Disciples of the Crystal Sky Sect.”

Red was at a loss at this revelation.