With all our strength going to our legs we run into the night, leaving behind the screaming of people and crackling of fire, the only noice breaking the silence of the night being our heavy breaths. We didn't stopped running until we were outside our inn. Entering through a portal we sat in silence as the both of us caught our breaths.

Estelle: What happened back there? What were you thinking!

"I couldn't. I just couldn't let him live anymore."

Estelle: Why! What changed all of a sudden?

How can I begin to explain it, what do I say? That I saw all the ghosts of his victims and lost control. Estelle has accepted quite a few things that I have told her but that's also becuase I was careful in feeding her the right information, this goes to far.

Estelle: You 'saw' something didn't you?

Of course she could put two and two together, it doens't take a genious to reach this conclusion. I misported my shoes, sat on the bed and rested my forehead on my knees while Estelle grabed a chair.

Estelle: You said that there were people behind that door and then when we found no one you run off. What did you saw?

"Are you sure there was no one in there?"

Estelle: Yes, after you disappeared I checked again, even going inside, and the room was completely emtpy.

"I did saw something. Just like I see you, Eliza or everyone else, to my sight there stood people."

Estelle: Spirits...

"Most likely."

Estelle: That's... I don't know how I would react in that moment. I guess that I would also do something similar to you.

Then what's the fucking point. It woudln't matter as much if I was alone but Estelle was with me. She followed me, entrusting her life in my hands and how did I responded? by 'losing my mind in the moment'. Unacceptable, how can I even call myself a demon if my mind is so easy to bend. I need to do better.

Estelle got up, approaching the bed. Before she could touch me however I opened a portal behind me and subsequently fell through it. The exit was close to the window, facing the ceiling and to 45 degree angle so when I came out the other side I could just strerch my legs to touch the ground.

"Mistakes were made, there were far to many points were I could have acted better. Still today we took our first step in this campain of ours and I do not plan on stopping yet. I have but one question for you, are you with me?"

Estelle: YES!

"Then I require a haircut."

Estelle: Pardon?

"Grap a knife."

Estelle: RIght now? You want myself to do it?

"Indeed so, let's get it over with while the night's stll young."

Estelle: Even if you ask me that I don't know how to cut hair, if you remember I have never cut your hair before.

"It is all good, for you don't need to posses the knowledge required for the profession, a steady hand is more than enough."

Estelle: What gotten into you all of a sudden, you sound weird.

"Am I the leader or not, shouldn't I carry myself with more passion."

Estelle: Too much 'passion' and you will soon be leading only yourself.

I chuckled and she followed. Then came the haircut, it didn't even took her five minutes to finish and the result was both clean and breezy. Now all that was left was to inspect our spoils. Well from what Estelle told me, she managed to find five pouches of fran double the size of her palm and three books. Putting aside the money, that I will make sure to put in good use later down the line, she picked up the first book and under the light of my fire she started reading it. At first out loud but the further she got into the text the lower her voice went becaming quiter, beraly a whisper. If only I still had my eyes, even just to spare her from that text. She couldn't bare it anymore, dropping the book from her hand she doubled over puking on the carpet.

I rubbed her back with my hand as she let everything out.

Estelle: Kill. We must kill all of them.

And thus the world became a tad more dark.

"Worry not, their death will be quick and decisive."

Estelle: No I want them to suffer, to know of the pain they caused.

"When an opportunity to rid of your enemies presents itself take it, lest you end up like me."

Estelle: I... I need some time.

Without saying a word I took my arm off of her and sat down in the nearest chair while she fell to the ground. We sat in silence for quite a while, personally I'd prefer it if we continued but in the first place it wasn't about me. She needed to figure out things for herself.

"Should we go for a walk?"

Estelle:...

"The cold air and night sky can help clear the mind. It sure beats this stuffy and smelly room."

She got up, so in responce I opened a portal to the outside. On the other side she dragged her feet across the street getting further away from the inn until she noticed something.

Estelle: Aren't you coming?

"It is not my road to treck but know that no matter what end you reach I'll be waiting for you right here."

I don't want to become poison to you. You need to reach your own conclusions.

Without saying anything she turned around and walked out of realm into the night. Time passed as I leaned against the inn's wall, all the while cold air hitting my newly exposed scalp, manifesting and collapsing portals, around a hundred and fifty portals later a presence walked into realm, one I was overly familiar with yet strangely altered.

"How are you?"

Estelle: Don't worry, I'll survive. Now let's get back in, I did left in the middle of reading.

"Just so you know, there's awlays tomorrow."

Estelle: If there really was one then you would have said so when we returned to the inn.

After that flashy display of power time was of the essence, she was right on that. Willing the portal to the room she spoke again.

Estelle:... Don't try to protect me again, please.

"I know, it's just that even the best of steel will break under enough pressure."

Estelle: Do not forget to follow your own advice, okay.

"Do as I say, not as I do."

Estelle: Then let's get back to it.

We moved back inside and as Estelle was about to grab the vomit covered journal a thought creeped in my mind.

"Wait, leave that aside for now, we still have two more to go through."

Estelle: I said that I'm fine, I can read it.

"Yeah but that's a journal of that creep's personal activities, we need either a ledger or a journal detailing the group's activities, so let's at least check the other two before picking that one up."

Estelle: ...Right. I didn't thought of that, you're right.

As she read through the other two books we came across the information of their base of operations here in the capital alongside several new names to add to the list, all 'bigshots' that a countryside comte wouldn't normally meet. All in all a worthwhile harvest.

Estelle: Should we go after their hideout?

"Tomorrow. For now go and take a nap."

Estelle: You can't seriously expect me to sleep after what I read tonight?

"I actually do. As much as I don't want to admit it I'm getting tired myself and I don't think it's any better for you. Also we may know the location of their main hideout in name but what we don't where that location is within the capital so if we just start running around in the streets like headless chickens we'll only end up tiring ourselves further without achieving anything of substance."

Estelle: Even so time is of the essence we can't just sit around on this matter!

"Even so what happened tonight will either force them to relocate which damns us since by the time we actually find the place we'll walk in an empty building or it'll force them to lay low and wait the storm away, which I find most likely to happen and buys us time to rest up and act later."

Estelle: Why would't they move? If I were in their position I'd hide my tracks if I knew I was under attack, not stay in place.

"If I knew someone was after me I'd go after them myself. But the point is they don't. When they realize that it was an attack they'll still have to figure out if it was aimed at the individual or at the organization. So in that case what would you do?"

Estelle: Try to figure out my opponent, what they're aiming for?

"Right and the best way to do it is by appearing to maintain the status quo."

Estelle: Isn't that the same as saying they will do nothing? I find those thoughts to be akin to wishful thinking.

"And exaclty that is the trap they are going to set. If they realize the books are missing they'll know what we know and what we were after. With them knowing and counting in our 'success' last night they'll use their base as a trap to get rid of us by making appear as if nothing's happening."

Estelle: So we'll use the fact that they know that we know for what exactly? What's the point of walking right into their 'trap' as you said?

"War. We are going to declare war on them.

Estelle: 'Declare war', isn't it too brutish a way to put it? I mean sure we are but isn't there a nicer way to say it?

"I am saying it as it is. Today and tomorrow, this is the easy part. After they confirm that there is an emeny threatening their operations they'll stop at nothing to crush them, us, treating it any lighter will cost us. I personally don't intent on backing out so it's very much war, a race to annihilation from this point forward."

Estelle: I see...

"Look if you're not going to sleep then train your magic, what you did was amazing but at the same time it took to long, you need to work on that."

Estelle: I know that yet...

"What bothers you, please speak to me."

Estelle: I... This destructive power, after using it today, seeing what I can do, just thinking about the ruin I can cause makes me want to cut both my hands.

"Afraid of the destruction you can cause... You see destruction but the other side of the same coin. In a finite enviroment there cannot be creation without destruction, a natural order. Instead of seeing it as ruining the old look look at it as creating something new."

Estelle: Once you break something there's no turning back, it becomes nothing but trash.

"That may be so for me, for Eliza, for your family, for the rest of the world but you, you are different. You don't 'break' or 'destroy' as you put it, much rather reshape what you touch, like a sculptor who takes a slab of stone and turns into an awe-inspiring statue give them a new form, new meaning. That is your magic, your power, now how you want to use it is up to you, no one can or should tell you how to use it."

Estelle:... I think I'll call it a night. Should... should I tack you in?

"Thank you for the offer but I can do that it myself. Goodnight.

The both of us walked around the vomit spot as Estelle exited the room while I took her place in the bed, sitting at the side of it.

They say that hindsight is twenty over twenty but anyone who looked back on tonight would agree that it was a disaster. I managed to comproside everything, put Estelle in danger by underestimating our opponents and was absolute useless when it counted. To pinpoint the exact moment where my mistakes started would be a long line of "If only I did this or that..." each going further back in time to a single question.

"Can I even do this. Do I have what it takes to see it through the end?"

Those questions of course don't matter at all. It doesn't matter if I can do this or not, if I will ever achieve anything. I simply hate them, their system, the participants, the practices, everything about them and I refuse to continue sharing a world with them for a moment longer than needed. I'll burn it all, all of them, everything they built, that they treasue and if I fail and end up burning myself I'll make sure to burn laughing. That being said if I end up burning Estelle and Eliza will most likely burn with me and I want to avoid that as much as posible. That's why I have to do better Every detail, everything, I can't miss anything from now on, all information no matter how small, think every posibility, cover all the angles, leave no openings. I call myself a demon and now it's high time I really start acting like one.