WOW, how is this so good? This meat is incredibly delicious and tender. It’s far superior to anything I’ve ever eaten; not like I ever went to some high-end restaurant in my old life, but I’m sure this could have easily rivalled them. However, this beer isn’t anything to write home about.

Leif may have been a moron, but he was right about food. Wolpertinger hintern was delicious. Wait, what even is it?

“By the way, what is this?”

“Oh, it’s just a wolpertinger’s butt.”

PTUI.

THE WHAT? WHAT DID HE SAY?? WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS MAN.

“Hey! Why did you spit it? Are you allergic to wolpertinger?”

“I’m afraid to ask after hearing the butt part, but what the hell is a wolpertinger?”

“It’s like a horned, winged rabbit with talons. Actually, do you know what’s a bunny?”

“Of course I do. I’m not stupid.”

“Well, you didn’t know what’s a wolpertinger so.”

“sigh... Whatever.”

Now I’m regretting eating it. I love rabbits. I guess I’ll just stick to the mashed potatoes and veggies.

We planned to leave early after finishing our meal and head to church first thing in the morning.

Leif decided to take a slight detour via a dank alley along the way to the church.

“Are you sure we should go through here? It doesn’t look safe.”

“Hahaha, have you no faith in me, little man? I’m the third strongest member in the party!”

...

“Doesn’t that mean you’re the weakest?”

“The weakest of a strong party means I’m still strong.”

“THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS. But sure, I’ll trust you. Those can’t just simply be vanity muscles, I guess.”

Wait, he’s a thief. THOSE MUSCLES ARE JUST FOR SHOW. But still, he does seem reliable. But why are we taking this route?

The church was relatively close, its summit just barely in sight.

Where are we going?

“Is there any particular reason why we are taking a detour?”

His normally cheerful expression had become solemn.

“Let’s just call it a gut feeling.”

It was so unbecoming of him to be this serious.

Something strange is definitely going on. Did I get too relaxed? Did I grossly misjudge his character? What if he’s simply played me, and he is about to kill me. Maybe I can yell for some guards. Fuck should I start running right now?

"AAAAAGH. HELPPPP. SOMEONE HELP ME”

HUH?! SOMEONE’S SCREAMING AROUND THE CORNER.

We dashed in its way without saying anything.

Shouldn’t we be running in the opposite direction? I won’t get separated from him in this gloomy alley, that’s for sure.

The stress was overwhelming. My heart was on the verge of bursting through my ribs.

Immediately before turning the corner, I noticed a mirror standing just at the right angle to allow me to see what was behind it. 3 thugs were surrounding a tearful woman.

Her right sleeve was torn to shreds. It must have been in the effort of undressing her...

Are these bastards trying to rape her?

“LEIF, WHAT’S GOIN-”

As I started spiralling and quickly turned at him, he was quietly whispering something. After a quick moment, he released a yell.

"HVERGELMIR GIVE ME STRENGHT."

HVERG- WHAT?

His daggers were soon unsheathed. A gloomy mist had settled over his feet.

What’s up with this breakneck speed? Is he fast or just teleporting from place to place?

His body seemed to appear someplace else every time he took a step.

WHAT. HE STABBED HIM. WHAT THE FUCK. WITHOUT EVEN TRYING TO TALK FIRST?

The blade pierced through the man’s neck in an instant.

The body hit the floor soon after Leif removed his blade.

“You’re going to regret that, playing hero and for what,” said the man in the rear.

WHAT’S GOING ON? SUCH A COLD REACTION TO YOUR FRIEND DYING. Shouldn’t he be sad or something?

What the fuck is going on in this town? Where the fuck are the guards.

While the closer thug tried to unsheathe his blade rapidly, the rear thug was quietly whispering something, but he was too far for me to hear.

Is he reciting some sort of spell? Why do they always do it under their breath?

Leif had already impaled the thug’s hand with one of his throwing knives before he could reach his sword.

“FUCK, MY HAND AAAAGHH, IT HURTSSSSSS. FUCK DO SOMETHING, FYNN. HELP ME. I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU BASTARD. AAAA.”

WHAT NOW? WHAT IS THIS WORLD? IT KEEPS GETTING WORSE.

The blood that had begun to stream from his hand hardened and formed a shiv around his palm.

Is that blood magic or something? Am I the only one surprised?? How is Leif so composed in this situation?

The rear thug’s skin had turned to rock once he was done chanting, and then reached for the floor with both of his arms, causing the earth to tremble and fracture as his hands shone a yellow light.

The fracture crept its way to the wall by Leif’s head, forming small spinning drills that fired at him. Leif had teleported once again by the thug in the front, but he was prepared. He was about to swing his bloody shiv in his direction, but Leif deflected instantly.

“WHAT DO WE DO, FUCKING EVASIVE BASTARD, FYNN? WE CAN’T HIT HIM.”

HE’S SO STRONG.

“SHUT UP AND KEEP FIGHTING, LUKA. SWING YOUR SHIV AT HIM. HE CAN’T DODGE ALL OF OUR ATTAC- WHAT’S OUT. HE’S THROWING A VIAL AT YOU; IT MIGHT BE SOME POISON DON’T LET IT TOUCH YOU.”

“SHUT UP. I SAW IT. FOCUS ON ATTACKING HIM.”

He swiftly turned his shiv into a shield and put a halt to his vial.

Fuck, his attack failed.

“WAIT, MY BLOOD, IT’S DISSOLVING. I CAN’T KEEP IT SOLID ANYMORE. WHAT DID HE DO?”

Leif took another stride forward, but I was able to get a good look at it this time. A shadow travelled from where he took a step to where he appeared next.

To move, he must transform into a shadow. WAIT. This is that shadowstep spell. WOW, THAT IS INCREDIBLE. How did I see this, though?? Since when have my reflexes been this quick.

“FUCK I CAN’T DO IT, FYNN, DO SOMETH-”

He stabbed Luka’s temple with his blade ruthlessly.

All this blood... I’m gonna throw up.

The girl is also shaking, but she doesn’t even look traumatised. She must be cold with her shirt half ripped.

“DIE, YOU MONSTER.”

Fynn decided against utilising magic any further. He must have been confident in his rock armament.

Leif evaded them with ease no matter how much he swang his fist. His daggers, though, continued bouncing off Fynn’s rocky flesh.

“YOU CAN’T KILL ME, JUST GIVE UP AND RUN.”

They’ve reached a deadlock.

“THAT’S NOT WHAT WE PLANNED. HELP ME.”

Who is he talking to?? Is someone waiting to ambush us?

But judging by the lack of any response. He must have fled after seeing Leif killing his companions.

“Shut up and die already scum.”

Leif returned to the first guy and grasped his bleeding wound with his shadowstep. His arm was entirely engulfed by the corpse’s blood floating around it. He returned after finishing and grabbed Fynn’s face.

Blood immediately coated his face and began to slip from the fractures.

Fynn collapsed to his knees after grabbing his own neck. Angerly attempted to grab the blood and yank it away in vain.

Is he choking??

He exhaled deeply as his skin returned to normal, but Leif was waiting and struck his eye with a throwing knife.

“Scum took a lot longer than I anticipated. Miss, I apologise for keeping you waiting so long and for having to witness everything,” He stated as he swiftly removed his green hooded cloak and draped it over her.

Wow... That’s not the side of him I expected to see. When did this idiot transform into a cool, silent hero that coldly kills thugs without hesitation?

“T-thank you, sir, for saving my life.”

“HAHAHA, don’t worry, we were just on the way.”

And he’s back. Also, we weren’t. Why is he lying? Did he know?

I knew they were rapists, but fuck, he simply slaughtered them with such ease and without a second thought.

It was one thing to hear about how awful the world is. But now that I’ve seen it firsthand...

I’m sure it was the same on earth. But since I had never experienced war in a first-world nation, all those wars and deaths were just statistics to me. Fuck...

At the very least, these people were evil, but I’m still trembling. What am I gonna do when it’s innocent people dying. I need to get away from these horrors.

I can’t stay here with the foul odour of blood and the gruesome scene.

“Hey, sorry, but can we leave? Let’s accompany this lady to her place now.”

“T-thank you. But don’t worry, you’ve done so much already.”

I only stood there but sure.

“Wait, Clay, I need a second first.”

He retrieved his throwing knives, cleaned them, and put them in his harness before going through the thug’s stuff.

“SO, what’s your name, lady!”

“My name is Eleonor Schmidt. What’s your’s, hero?”

“Leif Thorvald, and he’s Clay Azazel. Glad we were here to save you.”

Kill me. I should have not picked such an edgy name...

“It was so scary. They just came out of nowhere.”

“You should avoid deserted places like this when you’re alone, miss.”

“The little one is right, miss. I’m almost done checking. They don’t seem to be carrying anything valuable on them. They have an emblem for a party of 4, though. With this, we don’t even need to pay a tax to increase our party’s size, and we can sell our 3 member emblem for some aurei HEHEHE.”

I’m glad laughing Leif is back. Killer Leif is so unsettling.

“Excuse me, Sir Clay, Leif said it’s a 4 men’s party. Could you check around the corner for an ambush?”

“Yeah, you’re right. We shouldn’t take any chances. I’ll be on watch.”

“Seems clear here. Doubt any other freak would walk in such a desolated place alone anyway.”

WAIT…

DON’T TELL ME.

THE PERFECTLY PLACED MIRROR TO CHECK BEHIND THE CORNER, THE 4 MEN PARTY AND THE LADY WALKING ALONE IN SUCH A DESERTED PLACE.

FUCK. I HAVE A BAD FEELING.

I whirled around to see Eleonor, who had taken the blade from one of the bodies and was about to stab Leif.

“LEIF, BEHIND YOU, ELEONOR IS ONE OF THEM. IT’S AN AMBUSH.”

HOW DID I NOT REALISE IT EARLIER, FUCK, HE MIGHT DIE BECAUSE OF ME.

Oh wow, nvm, those reflexes are out of this world. As soon as I said it, he struck her neck with his filthy throwing knife. He killed her only because he trusted me, which is almost terrifying.

“NOW, MY CAPE IS ALL STAINED.”

“THAT’S YOUR FIRST REACTION? We have more significant issues right now. What do we do?? You just killed four people.”

“They were adventurer hunters, filth who kill other adventures for aurei. They would have slaughtered more people if we hadn’t killed them right now.”

“...”

“Well, I took everything useful I could find on them and got my throwing knife back. Let’s get started.”

“Should we really just leave them here? And where are the guards in all this? How have we not seen any yet?”

“Little one, stop worrying so much. Let’s go wash my cape and knives first, then let’s finally head to the church.”

“But, but, I have so many questions.”

“Hahaha, I’ll answer them on the way. Follow me already. You’re falling behind.”

“DON’T LEAVE ME ALONE IN SUCH A PLACE. I’M COMING.”