“This mana density makes no sense.”

“No, it doesn’t. It feels like there’s hundreds of wild ones.”

“I don’t hear or smell anything though.”

Two beasts stared down a forest that would look perfectly ordinary to any normal human. Yet nobody would dare enter it, out of an inexplicable fear of death.

“What’s on the other side of this forest...?”

“A large human town.”

“What? There’s a town in this area? Why didn’t we search there right away?”

“It’s home to the strongest humans in the area. We don’t go there if we don’t have to. It’s our final destination, in case we don’t find the anomaly anywhere else.”

“... Strong humans? Don’t be ridiculous. There’s ten of us. What are they supposed to do?”

“It’s protocol.”

“Screw the protocol. It was established in a different time. Now they are just humans.”

At this utterance, the other beast started growling. “Grrr... Listen to me, and listen well. The protocol is the law, and you will respect it.”

Feeling a whirl of an aggressive aura, the first beast flattened its ears and lowered its head. “Forgive me...”

As the air around them calmed, they looked at the forest once more.

“We need to know what is going on here though,” the leader of the two said, and stepped into the mana-saturated area, which looked like a dense wall of fog to a beast. Even though normal mana wouldn’t usually affect these two, their steps grew heavy as they continued on. “Fascinating... I’ve never felt anything like it.”

“But where is it coming from?”

After about forty meters, their steps suddenly became lighter again, and little by little, the mana fog lifted. Once they were finally out, the two beasts looked around in confusion.

“There’s really nobody here...”

“Maybe that’s the point...” the leader said, looking back in the direction they had come from. “No wild beast would go through this fog. None of them... would approach the town. How curious.”

“You think the humans did this...? On purpose!? How??”

“I’m not sure. But we’ll find out.”

***

“Why did you guys agree to this!?” I asked Tomar and Lilana in exasperation.

“Why not?”

“... Why not!? Are you serious?”

‘I don’t get it. Shouldn’t you be happy?’ Lilana asked.

First thing in the morning, I went to Tomar to talk to him and Lilana. Berla was tightlipped about what exactly these three had talked about, and she seemed to enjoy how not knowing irritated me. I just couldn’t fathom what was happening.

“I should be happy, she says... I... Okay, I get where you’re coming from, but how is this supposed to work!?”

Pacing around the room, I wrecked my brain for a way out of this. I had wanted to reject Berla gently, but she threw my concerns right out the window, and these two had helped her.

“You and Berla will figure it out,” Tomar said.

“But I didn’t want this!”

‘Oh... You don’t like her?’

“Ugh, it doesn’t matter whether I like her!”

“Why didn’t you just say no then?”

“As if I could’ve said no to her!”

Wait... what?

“You couldn’t say no?” Tomar snickered.

I couldn’t say no...

I didn’t understand what was happening to me. Ever since the incident last night, I had felt out of control, and I hated it. Is there another explanation for it? Maybe it’s Lilana! She... she’s a teenager, they’re bundles of hormones! No... this was never a problem before. Continued exposure to mana...? Maybe it affects emotions...? Ugh... now I’m really grasping at straws... There is a very simple explanation.

“I really do have a massive crush on her...”

‘Aww! That’s so cute, I want to hug you!’

“Spare me...”

“Seriously, Miles, why are you so against it?”

“I don’t understand why you are okay with it! Won’t that be awkward for you?”

“I never knew what you were doing at night. For all I know, you two could’ve been a couple the whole time. I actually had my suspicions when you told me about your nightly stroll to the ritual platform in Cerus. Though Riala didn’t quite fit that picture,” Tomar said with a chuckle.

‘Yeah. I mean... it is weird to think about, but we don’t really have to know anything about your relationship.’

“I don’t think it’s such a big deal,” Tomar said. “And it’s only for a limited time after all.”

“A limited time?”

“Before we find a permanent solution for you I mean. That’s still the plan, isn’t it?”

“Right... but if that’s your argument, why didn’t you tell her to wait until then?”

“It might still take a little while, and Berla didn’t want to miss her chance. Especially after just getting you back.”

‘Yeah, she wanted to make a move before we came back here.’

“Wait, what?”

‘She said it wasn’t guaranteed that everything would go smoothly, and that this might be her last chance. Seeing how all of us almost died last night... I guess she wasn’t wrong. I wanted to help her out, you were all so nice to me.’

I knew it... There had to have been something. Granted, we were attacked, but Berla suggested to Lilana that something might happen before Tomar and Reurig had even returned from Cerus. At that point, our plan was different. I was very certain that everything would work out, and Berla knew this. Either she didn’t trust me after all, or she had manipulated them. If only a little.

For a brief moment, I felt good about seemingly having figured it out. It wasn’t exactly a smoking gun, but it was an argument that could work. An argument against this relationship. I celebrated my presumed victory mentally, when I finally saw myself confronted with the ridiculousness of what I had been doing. A nice, young woman liked me, and I liked her, but I was trying my best to prevent this relationship from happening...? I had had my concerns, but she had done away with them. I wasn’t actually opposed to the general idea. I mainly thought about the others, but it seemed like I was the only one to worry about it one bit.

“We... can be together...?”

“Yup.”

‘Yup.’

Somewhere along the line, I had stopped pacing and was now just standing there, staring at the floor. Is this really okay...?

If everyone was fine with it, it came down to my own morality. The problem with that being that I wasn’t exactly the most moral person. They weren’t wrong. Technically, we didn’t know what lay ahead. We very well could all be dead tomorrow, and I wanted her by my side now, even if there would certainly be people who would criticize me for this in my old world. Luckily, there’s no internet here.

“I have a girlfriend...” I muttered, and Tomar grinned at me.

‘Aw, cute!’

***

When we left Tomar’s room, Berla was standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall, a few meters away from the door, and looked at me with trepidation. She had taken me by surprise last night, and she might have been worried that I would not go through with it, which had admittedly still been my intention ten minutes ago.

“Everything... okay?” she asked as we approached her.

I glanced behind me at Tomar, who started grinning again, before I turned back to Berla. “Yea, everything’s okay,” I said. “Lilana, do you... mind...?”

‘Just do it, idiot,’ she said, and I gave the lightly surprised Berla a kiss.

“Happy now?” I asked.

“Very,” she said with a smile.

“Well... we should probably get going,” I said, and we started walking down the hallway, while Berla and I kept glancing at each other. Being distracted could’ve been another argument. Damn it.

Bren and Brie had waited for us around the next corner and started leading the way as we approached. We needed to take care of our newest prisoners and inform the public about what had happened. As if we don’t have enough to do...

Urgent public announcements would usually be made in the main square at noon, preceded by a special bell ring two hours earlier. The attendance would be greater if you announced it a day or two in advance, but we couldn’t really wait. The guards had just lost their only remaining leader, and not only would we need to ensure order, I also wanted to keep everyone in the loop, unlike the previous administration. Both to keep them on our side and to show them how we handled something like this.

On our way through the temple we met Reurig, as he returned from his investigations. “Morning,” he said.

“Hey. Learn anything new?”

He looked somewhat dejected and needed a moment before he continued. “I messed up. I missed them...”

While looking into the guards and the current situation yesterday, he had naturally also checked what the general opinion about us was among them. He explained that he misjudged the situation though, just like I had. After talking to a few more people about what had happened, he learned that some had known that something was brewing. Had he dug just a little deeper, he might’ve learned about Eissen’s plan. We might have been able to nip this in the bud before it happened, and maybe nobody would have died. At least that’s how he saw it.

“Bren... Brie...” he said, turning to our guards. “I’m sorry.”

The two had lost a friend, and they looked a little sad this morning, but they weren’t blaming any of us. “It’s okay, Reurig. Everyone. Really,” Bren said. “It’s not your fault that some don’t see what you’re trying to do here, and we knew what we were getting into. We’ll miss him... but this is important. For all of us. Every single citizen.”

It wasn’t their first loss. Brie in particular had mentioned how she essentially lost her entire family to this job when we first met. I had told them that they would not get attacked by beasts again, and so far that promise had held true, but the fight for this town was a different matter. Even if they don’t blame us though, we do need to do better.

“I promise you, I will do whatever I can to ensure something like this never happens again,” I said.

Brie nodded. “Thank you.”

“Do you know if they were the only ones?” I asked Reurig.

“It seems like there are more who aren’t entirely pleased with how this went down,” he said, “but Eissen and his men were the only ones who advocated for immediate action. Well... and Grym.”

Bren lowered his head slightly. His father was part of the problem, and he must’ve realized that, in the worst case, Grym might end up sharing the destiny of our attackers. I had other plans, however.

“Alright. Thank you, Reurig.”

We were lucky to have him. I didn’t want to downplay the death of a guard in front of Bren and Brie, but I didn’t think he had done anything wrong either, and I would tell him so later. I had essentially tasked him with monitoring the entire town, and it was remarkable how on top of everything he was under the circumstances. Maybe we could get him some help once we got to talking to the remaining agents.

Figure out the guard situation, uncheck. New sub-entry, find a captain. Talk to Berla... check.

After a quick breakfast, we got ready to head out, as the bell that announced that something would happen at noon rang.

“Will you be going out, Lilly?” Bren asked.

“Yes, we’re going to visit your father,” I said.

“Oh...” Bren said, crestfallen.

“We need a new captain,” I continued, and Bren’s expression changed to one of confusion.