The Path of Ruin

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.