The Path of Ruin

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.)*