Daggers clashed.

“Good!”, said Ban, parrying Slav’s attacks.

“But this isn’t how you’re going to win!”, she added while laughing.

Slav noticed Ban trying to throw a dagger at her and moved back, but the dagger never came, Ban moved forward and kicked Slav.

Ban started laughing and said, “You fell for it again.”

Slav groaned and sat down while frowning.

Ban went near her and spoke, “What’s wrong?”

She sat down beside Slav and patted her head, “Is this about Median?”

Slav nodded.

Ban sighed before speaking, "I understand what you feel...”, Ban took out her daggers again and looked at her reflection on the steel before continuing, “...But this is what is good for him.”

She got up and rubbed the dirt from her body, “You know he barely survived... He’s weak. This is what really is good for him.”

Ban gave her hand to Slav, asking whether she’d like help getting up. Slav accepted the offer before speaking, “You sure?” with tears almost rolling down her eyes.

Ban smiled and rubbed the dirt from Slav’s body too, before speaking, “Have I ever lied to you?”

Slav nodded her head saying no.

“Good.”, said Ban.

“Who knows, maybe when this whole Knight problem of ours gets fixed... He’d get back to his position.”, she added.

Ban patted Slav’s head and continued, “You’re doing great by the way!”

She smiled, “Now run along. Go help Ogre in watching them and making sure they’re safe.”

Slav smiled and nodded before running back to the mine.

Dit saw all of this from the corner.

Which Ban just noticed.

“You scared me...!”, she said in shock.

Dit came forward.

“How do you keep doing this?”, asked Ban still somewhat in shock, looking down sighing.

She looked up and saw Dit’s expression and asked, “I know that look... What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...”, Dit replied. He looked towards Ban again, “It’s... It’s just that I fear... fear that we’ve gone too far.”

Ban sighed and hugged Dit, “Is it because you’re scared, Little brother?”

“No...”

Ban patted Dit’s back while continuing to hug him, “It’s going to be alright.”

She let go of the hug and looked at Dit, straight into his eyes.

“I get being scared of them... of him... I’ve met him after all but trust me. We’re going to be fine”

She patted Dit again, moved away and faced the other side, and sighed.

“It’s you and me versus the world brother, it has always been that way... and it will always be that way.”

“Any news from the new Duke?”, she asked before sighing again.

Dit nodded in disagreement, “No. I doubt the new Duke would be willing to trade with us... considering it was him that... destroyed the previous Duke, at least according to that Principal”

Ban turned her head and looked back at Dit before speaking, “I guess we’ll have to sell these materials to other countries then.”

She walked over and continued, “And yes, I do mean both of those materials.”

Dit looked at Ban with shock, “What do you mean? The Orphanage has been destroyed; we don’t have a source of getting new slaves...”

“Then we will get a new source.”, said Ban while laughing, interrupting what Dit was saying.

Dit sighed and replied, “so you want me to keep a lookout for this?”

Ban nodded in agreement, “Yes, you and I both know how bad this kingdom is, for what it did to us.”

Dit saw anger in Ban’s eyes, as soon as she uttered those words. Anger which, still hasn’t subsided but instead ignored, like how it was ignored now by her laughing again.

“I know you’re smart Dit, I’m sure you’ll be able to manage...”

She patted Dit again and said, “Take care and trust me.”, before leaving him on his own and going back to her main tent.

The words that Ban spoke and the anger which Dit saw reminded him of the past that he’d like to forget, but that past, those memories can only be ignored. He tried his best to do so, but the emotions he felt back then came rushing back, alongside those memories.

“How many years has it been?”, he muttered to himself. He walked over to the cliff and saw the village far away.

“Fifteen or sixteen years?”, he added.

He closed his eyes, letting the memories rush in and take over.

"Little brother... Dit"

A familiar voice.

"Elder sister? What are you doing here?", replied Dit.

"What am I doing here? Can I not be here?", replied Ban, giggling.

"No-I mean..."

The giggle soon turned into laughter, "Aunt Carer is looking for the kids. Dinner's ready."

Ban smiled and held Dit's hands, pulling him towards her, and ran to the village orphanage.

"I'm hungry... Are you not?"

Dit smiled as well, and replied, "I am!"

They both ran and giggled.

Dit opened his eyes, tears almost running down. He closed his eyes again and wondered where they would've been if those happy days continued.