Kael's eyebrows furrowed. First, without taking his eyes off Ishnar, he turned to the merchants. They seemed to be just waking up. The man who seemed to be the leader of the group was at least awake, looking at him and Ishnar with widened eyes.
Kael clicked his tongue. Everything that could go wrong was going wrong. But... he wasn't in such a bad situation.
All he had to do was finish Ishnar off before he let the merchants escape. Which he was sure wouldn't take long between the two of them.
So, he turned his focus back to the man in front of him.
Ishnar, from whom he had never heard a word until now, spoke in a hoarse, wheezing voice.
"You are a bearer."
Kael did not answer. Then, Ishnar sighed.
"I understand more or less what your purpose is, and... you are faster than me, stronger too. It's clear you're going to beat me. So... you can be sure I won't interfere. How about letting me go?"
Again, Kael did not answer. He simply gripped the dagger that belonged to Ishnar tightly and narrowed his eyes. He took his stance.
"Tch."
Even though he could not see Ishnar's face, he could guess what he was thinking from the change in his only eye. He was not at all happy with the situation.
"We're eliminating witnesses, huh..."
Kael scanned the man. He didn't seem to have any extra weapons, but he wasn't sure if there was anything hiding under his clothes.
Ishnar's eye twitched even more when he realized that Kael had no intention of opening his mouth. This kind of distraction was not going to work. The boy in front of him... was more professional than he thought.
But he decided to take one last chance. He opened his mouth, then immediately noticed the change in Kael's figure.
He quickly drew his spare dagger from beneath his clothing and swung it in the direction he had anticipated the attack would come from, all the while preparing to flee backwards.
He felt a momentary force on his dagger, then heard the sound of metal on metal. He had managed to anticipate the attack!
But nothing was over yet.
He stepped back with ease, thanks to his preparation, but instead of stopping there, he tensed his foot and swung a hard kick at Kael's tiny figure.
And he managed to hit him!
At least... that's what it felt like.
"Huh?"
He expected the boy he kicked to writhe in pain, but it was the opposite. The silvery glint in his brown eyes was cold, there was no sign of surprise on his face. And... he had not collapsed.
On the contrary, he caught the kick in mid-air and held it between his body and his right arm.
"Ah..."
Kael raised his left elbow, then brought it down hard on Ishnar's leg.
Ishnar let out a groan of pain, but Kael did not stop. Using the leg he had broken, he pulled the man towards himself, this time grabbing him by the chin and pinning him to the ground.
He felt the man's jaw dislocate, but he didn't care. Once he managed to pin the man to the ground, he simply plunged his dagger into his back.
Once, twice... thrice...
Ishnar's body trembled with each thrust, but eventually, his body stilled as his groans faded into silence.
Kael took a deep breath and exhaled, slowly rising to his feet.
He had succeeded. He had defeated all three mercenaries. And... he hadn't suffered any extremely serious wounds.
He paused for a moment, the sharp pain in his right palm reminding him that he wasn't right. But Kael didn't give it much thought.
His cold eyes slowly left Ishnar's lifeless body and turned towards the merchants.
They were looking at him as if he were a creature. No... it was much worse.
Kael's eyes twitched for a moment. But he clenched his fist anyway, reminding himself of the same thing over and over again.
'Stepping stone, this is a stepping stone...'
And so, he took a single step towards the four. The silence in the area was suddenly filled with a sudden startled sound.
"S- stop!"
But Kael did not stop.
"W- why are you doing this?"
The man paused for a moment, his eyes widening.
"Money, because of money... right? Whatever they offered, I'll give you more! I promise!"
If Laen had been here instead of Kael, maybe the man's effort might have worked... But Kael did not know how much money the person who had assigned this mission had paid. So there was no guarantee that the man would give him more.
Also...
This was a stepping stone for him.
Kael's gaze darkened, his grip on his dagger tightened. His expression was even colder than usual, and the silvery gleam in his eyes... intensified with every step he took.
He would kill the four in front of him.
This time... he was really determined.
There was not an iota of hesitation.
"D- don't come!"
The man started crawling backwards. And with him, the other three also started to step back.
They were afraid of Kael, afraid of the 'bearer' in front of them.
How could they not be?
"Why...?"
Kael's eyes shifted to the questioner, the boy just behind the man at the front.
He had had a sweet conversation with him a few hours ago. He had thought Kael would be... someone who would protect him. He had even seen him as a friend who would keep him from getting bored on this journey.
But it had all been a deception.
And Kael... continued walking towards them without saying anything.
He listened to the insults, the curses. He memorized everything. Because... he would hear much more in the future.
Finally... when the merchants turned their backs and ran away... he only glanced briefly at the sky.
A single sentence left his lips.
"I apologize."
And then...
His dagger was covered in blood once more.
*******
Kael looked at the sky for a while. Thinking nothing, saying nothing, caring nothing.
'I did it.'
He had killed four innocent people. Ruined dreams, happy futures. Just... for money. And because he was asked to do so.
But, strangely... for some reason, he didn't feel much.
He thought it wouldn't be like this. He had hesitated beforehand in such a huge way that he thought he would be overwhelmed, maybe throw up a few times.
But he was fine.
Not completely fine, of course.
He knew that he had become a terrible person, that he was now a murderer... that he had the blood of innocents on his hands.
But emotionally, when he should have felt a burden... there was only emptiness. A strange, unfamiliar emptiness.
'Did I do the right thing?'
Honestly... he wasn't sure.
Maybe he could have let them escape. Maybe he could have released them to form a new merchant group in another country. That way, he could have avoided taking an unnecessary life.
But... he didn't. By saying that this was a stepping stone for him, he had indeed taken lives.
But... was that really the case?
Was this really an important stepping stone for him?
Kael turned on his side on the grass, tearing his eyes away from the sky. Clearing himself of his thoughts, he closed his eyes slowly.
He didn't care that he was out in the open, he didn't even care about the dangers that might be drawn to him by the smell of blood. He doubted anyone would come here.
'For now... I think I should rest.'
Right now... that was all he wanted.
Some rest.
*******
Kael awoke to the gentle glow of the sun and the cold winds of autumn.
He had not had a dream or a nightmare. It had been a sound sleep, in fact.
He stood up slowly, then stretched. He paused for a moment, his eyes squinting as he remembered what he had done. And then... he sighed.
'There is no going back now.'
He accepted it.
'No more hesitation, I've already got blood on my hands, I'm... no longer a human.'
And he made a promise to himself.
'So... I will fulfill my purpose no matter what.'
Even if it means taking more innocent lives, even if it means violating morals and ethics.
'From now on, I will live only for myself.'
*******
When he came back to the town, no one looked at him in an extremely strange way, although some people looked directly at him.
He often came back to town covered in blood. After all, he had been out hunting creatures many times. Only... this time things must have gone a bit wrong. At least that's what people thought.
So, without any problems, he made it to the mercenary building. He went inside without a care in the world.
The noisy atmosphere inside the building, as usual, was momentarily disturbed by his entry. Kael was not an unknown person. What had happened with Laen a month ago and the fact that he was now working directly under his care was enough to start rumors about him.
And the fact that he had appeared now, covered in blood, was even more intriguing.
But no one said a word. Not a single person spoke about him behind his back. In fact, after a short time, the usual noise once again dominated the building. Alcohol was raised high, laughter resumed.
In the midst of it all, Kael made his way to the top floor of the building. He arrived at Laen's office and walked straight in without knocking.
Laen was at his desk. Something must have happened to annoy him as his face was a bit sullen while looking at the few papers in front of him. But when he saw the person who had come in, a big smile suddenly appeared on his face.
"Congratulations, Kael."
He put his hand under his chin, his eyes narrowed as the smile widened. Not a single thought crossed his mind that Kael had failed.
He was clearly amused by the situation.
"You too are now a rotten human of this rotten world."
*(A/N:
I will start updating on a schedule from this chapter onwards. The release time will be 00.00 for UTC+8. I will probably upload two chapters per day for a while, but that may change as I'm still not so sure.)*
Thanks for reading :)
After he killed those four merchants, Kael's life... became monotonous.
He kept taking quests and completing them. He kept killing the living, over and over again, to keep himself alive. He was in front of the mercenary building every morning before sunrise for Laen's training.
And... that was it.
Three weeks had passed before he realized what was happening. He was more known to the townspeople now, and everyone was aware that he was a mercenary.
A skilled one, no less.
But Kael didn't take anyone seriously. He ignored all the stares directed at him and focused on one thing.
Getting stronger.
And now... as usual, he was returning from one of the missions Laen had given him. But unlike most of the time, there was no blood on him this time. He only had small stains.
But for him, no matter how small these stains were, they were important.
Because... they were not the blood of a creature or an animal, but of human beings.
At least not the blood of the innocent, but of the truly problematic. It was... something he often used because it was a mentality that kept him from feeling bad, at least a little bit.
The mentality that the people he killed were bad people anyway, they weren't that important.
In silence, Kael finally entered the building of the mercenary corps. Ignoring the noise around him as usual, he went upstairs and entered Laen's room.
This time, the giant of a man was not at his desk but on his couch... sleeping soundly.
Kael approached the giant on the couch with a straight expression. Then he nudged him lightly, his eyebrows raised.
Laen suddenly jumped up. It was so sudden that anyone in Kael's place would have jumped too. But... he just stood there expressionlessly. Then Laen slowly turned his head and saw Kael standing right next to him.
"Oh, there you are. You finished pretty fast this time, huh?"
Kael shrugged his shoulders.
"It wasn't hard to kill a couple of slavers who didn't even know how to fight."
The smile on Laen's face suddenly widened. Kael didn't know why, but... Laen was always like that about these things.
"It was a good idea to have you clean up the waste that came into town."
After that merchant mission, the ones where he had to kill 'people' were all about people who came to town with bad intentions. He knew that almost all of them were bad people and that was why he kept quiet. He could fulfill his mission without feeling much guilty.
Moreover, these missions were also assassination exercises for him. He also improved himself with the creatures in the forest and learned how to move more silently, how to camouflage himself more easily, how to approach his target without being noticed, and so on.
"And now?"
Laen paused for a moment when he saw his eyebrows rise. His eyes went to the ceiling for a moment, thinking. And then... he sighed.
"I don't have anything suitable for you. At least not for today. So... you're free?"
Kael sighed after him.
"Then I'll go back to the forest. You don't mind if I kill a few extra, do you?"
Laen shook his head from side to side. And there was nothing more to say between them.
Kael started to move, as he did in most of his free time, to go deeper into the forest. But then he paused abruptly as Laen shouted after him.
"Ah, but watch out! I hear the Imperial dogs are getting pretty close these days, try to keep a low profile."
Kael raised his eyebrows and turned around. This time, his eyes narrowed slightly as he saw a serious expression on Laen's face. He asked in a calm tone, a little curious.
"They have been quiet since the fall of the kingdom. Why now?"
Laen straightened up slightly, as he always did when he spoke seriously.
"I've heard that they've taken down most of the rebellions in the big cities. They've been putting relatively small towns like ours on the sidelines until now. But now, it's time for them to take control of them, probably."
"I see..."
It was... a bit of a big deal, actually. Because Kael was a little afraid of the Empire. And with good reason.
He had witnessed with his own eyes the massacre that one man was capable of. On top of that, he had the blessing of Arcanoa, even if it had become a curse for him. What if they were looking for it and there was a way to detect it...?
"I'll be careful."
Kael left the room thoughtfully. He went down to the first floor with the same expression, his eyes on the floor and thinking. When he came out, his eyes narrowed.
'I think... maybe I should lay low for a while?
If the Imperial soldiers were hanging around, they were bound to come to town sooner or later. In that case... wouldn't it be more convenient for him to be in the forest?
It was something he wanted to think about thoroughly.
But... he had the small problem of not having much time.
After a short while...
'Staying in the forest is the best option.'
He decided on this.
'The faster the better.'
He quickened his pace. His eyes kept darting here and there. He was looking for a soldier he was sure he had never seen in the town before, a different uniform, or something. It was his greatest wish not to find one.
So he managed to reach a certain point without any trouble. Then, for a moment, his steps slowed down as his eyes focused on a single point.
'The orphanage...'
Then to a spot in the garden.
'Oh, that girl...'
What was her name? Oh, Miny!
She was playing with the children in the garden, who were clearly younger than her, with a big smile on her face. But then she paused, her eyes slowly shifting to the spot where Kael was.
When she saw him, her expression seemed to change for a moment. She looked surprised. But then she quickly recovered, put a smile back on her face, and waved slightly in Kael's direction.
'Huh?'
Kael looked blankly at the girl waving at him. Before he realized what was happening, his own hand reflexively went up and he waved back.
Immediately, the children Miny was playing with also noticed him. Even though they didn't recognize him, when they saw their older sister smiling as she played with them, they too smiled and started waving.
But Kael hadn't stopped walking altogether, he had just slowed down. And so, the orphanage was soon out of sight and behind him.
Kael paused for a moment, then looked down at his hand, still held in the air. His expression changed several times in quick succession, his brow frowning as he slowly lowered his hand.
'Why did I wave?'
It was just a reflex. But... for some reason, it felt strange to see someone waving at him, even smiling.
Laen was always smiling at him, though. But to be truthful, the only thing he could feel against his smile was disgust.
What was different now?
Was it because they were children like him?
Or... was it because their smiles were more genuine?
His brow furrowed even more, a puzzled expression appeared on his face.
'Strange...'
And so he began to imagine a lot of children, accompanied by emotions he could not quite perceive. A warm smile on each of their faces, hands waving at him... as if wishing him a good journey.
Strangely... it felt good, imagining something like that.
But then he paused again. His eyes widened slightly and his expression suddenly turned ugly.
'No.'
He shook his head quickly from side to side. Laen's words echoed in his mind, one by one... with an echo.
"You too are now a rotten human of this rotten world."
And he repeated.
'I will fulfill my purpose, that's it... nothing more. It's good to dream, but... I need to get back to reality.'
With these thoughts, he finally left the town. He had largely put the matter out of his mind and was back to dealing with his current problems.
So, he managed to enter the forest without any problems, without encountering any Imperial soldiers.
And as he always did, he started looking for creatures to hunt. This time, though, he paid as much attention outside the forest as inside... to see if he could catch any changes.
And... he did.
Thanks for reading :)
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