Those bandits were from Seraphis Kingdom of all places? Hearing this revelation, I felt my heart sink. Have things already intensified back there? Kael exchanged a quick look with me.

  "Do you have any more details you could share?" I pressed.

  They both nodded. "They've begun to set up camp in the east part of the forest."

  One of them pointed behind them, signaling east.

  Kael looked in the direction, already noticing a pillar of smoke rising past the covering of snow-covered evergreen trees. He sighed softly and thanked the two men. Before Kael walked forward, I abruptly grabbed his arm.

  "You're not gonna help his wrist?" I pointed to the scorched wrist of the white-haired man.

  Kael looked back at the injury, groaning softly as he turned around, gesturing for the man to walk towards him. Suddenly, a dagger appeared out of nowhere, cleaving down to sever the hands from the man's wrists. He yelled in pain, falling backwards as his crimson blood stained the pure-white snow.

  "The injury was beyond repair, I'm afraid."

  I looked away, a wave of nausea crashing over me as blood spurted from the open wounds. The other man reached into his sack, taking out a large amount of gauze to tend to the injury.

  "Y'bastard! What the hell was that—" His head exploded like a watermelon, sending blood and brain matter across the pale-white forest.

  I could only watch as this happened. Kael surprisingly took a step back, raising both of his hands. "That wasn't me, but cutting off his hands was."

  "I-I don't care what the hell that was!" I reached up to slap Kael across the face.

  "Why the hell did you cut his hands off? Those injuries were able to be tended to!"

  Kael didn't immediately reply, falling silent. He looked at the headless body and the man without wrists. His face had gone pale, and he was sweating profusely—he had fallen unconscious from the blood loss. I rushed over, closing my eyes tightly as I grabbed the gauze used to tend the wounds. I continued working on the bloodied stubs until the blood had stopped seeping from the injuries.

  "We're taking him back to Clifton whether you like it or not!" I felt my hands trembling violently, an unnatural, yet welcoming surge of anger filling my body head to toe.

  "You've hurt too many people..."

  Kael remained in that state where he didn't say a thing for another minute or two, watching as I slumped the man over my shoulders. His body was cold and limp, yet I could tell my body heat was doing a decent job at keeping him warm.

  "Alright, let's get the livestock back... shall we?" Kael stuttered, stepping back and turning around.

  I immediately took notice of how Kael was acting now. He wasn't his usual, sarcastic, stern self. Now, Kael seemed to be exemplifying some kind of vulnerability or backlash from what he had done. After all, Kael's mental and emotional state palpably shifted the moment the other man's head exploded before his eyes. I looked back at the headless corpse, noticing how it was already being welcomed by the earth, swallowing itself in a gaping hole of moss, fungi, and dirt.

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  "When we find those presumed bandits, I want you to not blow up anybody, I don't want any burning, stabbing, murder, or mystical abilities. We negotiate, and if it goes downhill, then we'll consider... Other methods."

  After a small moment of walking, Kael's expression slowly shifted. He looked back at me, a small smile creeping up the corners of his lips.

  "I see you've begun to grow some balls; you shouted at me and slapped me in a matter of moments."

  "I didn't want to, but you were just being stupid. If I wanted to, I could run back to Clifton and tell the village you're a damn fraud," I replied, rolling my eyes.

  "Why don't you?" Kael looked back at me. "You just said you could, yet it seems like you're considering other options."

  I fell silent, scoffing. "We're here to negotiate with alleged 'bandits' from Seraphis Kingdom to get us some livestock back, but to soil someone's reputation. You do know the moment I first came to Clifton I could've begun hollering about how you made me kill a few men, used the image of my dad to provoke me, and turned into a monster to kill a wolf and give me its meat."

  Hearing this, Kael clicked his tongue and chuckled. "You were barely awake, whining about your gunshot wound. At that time just days ago you were a pathetic slum who just lost everything close to him. Now, I'm already seeing ample progress regarding your... emotional changes.

  "Before, you were a boy desperate for agency, desperate for friends, and desperate for acknowledgement. You didn't know what you were doing when you drank that potion, but now you've grown powerful—now you have your agency, your friends, a new life, a new beginning tainted with promises of prosperity."

  Kael suddenly paused for a moment as if sensing something amiss. His hands folded behind his back, rolling the knife in his palm back and forth, back and forth again. He sniffed the air like an animal for a few seconds, taking in the flavorless, bitter-tasting air. His lips parting only a few millimeters as he spoke in a low voice.

  "Shinso... he knows."

  "What?" I paused, freezing in my tracks with the bloodied old man on my back. My mind raced as my grip habitually tightened around his thighs.

  "One of my agents told him that you're alive, that you're... different, that you're here, living well. But... I don't know if he's coming back or not."

  "I-I thought you'd stop talking about him..." I sputtered, unable to contemplate what Kael just said.

  At that moment, Kael looked back at me, smiling. "I'm beginning to... reconsider my initial course of action. Perhaps we could bring Shinso here, and he can marvel at what's happened to you. After all, you're stronger, you're better now... you're more deserving of his affection."

  "What about the rest of my friends?"

  The crimson-haired man sighed softly, his smile twitching. "Only Shinso; we don't want it to look like a trafficking operation. My organization is callous, not riddled with buffoonery."

  "But..."

  I looked down at my current appearance, taking in my ink-black hair tied into a ponytail that draped down my right shoulder, my light-colored shirt and pants, and my pale skin. I looked completely unrecognizable.

  "What if Shinso doesn't—y'know—recognize me?"

  Kael turned around to face me, patting my head in an almost affectionate nature. "A person isn't dictated by appearance, but by what's inside them. Shinso will know exactly who you are the moment he sees you again."

  He stepped forward. "Though, your eyes look... a little different then when I first saw them. They're harder, a little colder... but that's a good thing. You haven't turned cold; you've merely matured and grown up. You haven't cried yourself to sleep, you haven't whined or complained... it's the first time in a while I've seen someone smile so often."

  I chuckled sheepishly. "T-thanks..."

  Suddenly, a whooshing sound echoed in the forest. Kael's body flipped around, immediately shielding me with stretched-out arms. At the edge of the forest, a figure appeared—countless figures upon closer inspection. They were all clad in thick winter gear, head-to-tie in thick garments meant to keep one warm. Additionally, they all carried rifles in their hands.

  It took me a moment to register the origin of the whooshing sound; a warning shot had been fired in our direction. I turned around, seeing the small silver bullet lodged in the snow.

  "Don't act rashly." Kael's voice carried an edge of warning as he stepped forward. Just then, he glanced in my direction.

  "You wanted to talk, so I insist you speak. I'll cover you if it goes adrift."

  I acknowledged his words, sighing shakily as I stepped forward. My hands trembled slightly as I made my way forward.

  "Take him," I said as I handed the handless middle-aged man to Kael.

  Following that, I looked back to the countless men and women, sighing as I raised my hands in defense.

  "You're from Seraphis Kingdom, correct?"

  One of the people—a man with long brown hair and a chiseled jawline—nodded as he walked forward.

  "Yes, we are."

  "Good... I'd like to ask why you stole some cattle and livestock from an innocent village."

  The man suddenly raised his gun, fingers twitching over the trigger. The end of the gun was pointed directly to the center of my forehead.

  "We're starving back home, and we're not gonna let a couple of fannies take our food away! The markets are almost empty back home and we couldn't bear it!"

  I looked back at Kael. "Isn't your organization working on the issue?" I purposefully projected the question so everyone could hear it, hoping it would enable a reaction from the Seraphis raiders.

  Kael nodded as he said with much confidence. "Yes, you will all reap benefits from the Ebon Veil Syndicate. As we speak here, my agents have already landed in the kingdom, working feverously to improve the crops and the issue around them."

  "The issue?" The long-haired man stammered, lowering his rifle slightly. "This famine... came out of nowhere."

  "It did now?" I inquired. "What else do you know?"