Conflicting Interests

In the aftermath of the Guy Fly dragon's rampage, all that remained of the village of Helgum was smoldering ash and crumbling ruin, its streets paved with blackened corpses.

Vash hurried through all this death and destruction, undaunted, with Kestrel trailing behind.

"Where to next, master?" she asked.

"Guh! I thought I told you to just call me Vash!" he answered, sheepishly grinning. "But anyway, my current plan is for us to wrap around and find the exit to the tunnel system Zhao was leading us through."

Kestrel looked at him glumly. "To meet with that evil Akira again...?"

"Akira...isn't actually what I would call evil," Vash said, staring contemplatively off into the distance. "His actions tend to lean on the side of villainy, but always with a pure intent: protecting himself and those he cares about, same as any Hero would."