Chapter 3

"Kawai-kun, she's not really in a good state to speak right now, let me explain it to you, follow me." Feyr then leads me into the guardhouse, a small building of stone with one window and a wooden tiled roof. He sits down on a bench, and lays down his lance to lean against it. While he taps his foot on the ground nervously, he thinks of how to open the statement.

Finally, "Okay… where do I begin.. Uhmm, so I'm sure you've been acquainted with Airies parents by now right, ?" "Yeah, Venerate and, Agloria, right ?" He nods. "Yep, exactly them. Well, while you were exploring town, I went up to return a training sword I was borrowing from Trafsing-san… When nobody answered the door, I let myself in, shamefully so of course, but I had to at that point. That's when I saw their bodies on the ground. No blood, no scratches, but for some reason, I could just tell they were dead. It had to be Dunkelheit Magic.." 

A thousand thoughts were swirling through my mind, who would do this, why would they do it, what would we do from here on out, what would I do. .Also, what if Hiroki was somehow caught up in this ? I didn't think it was possible at all since I didn't see him in this area once at all, but being as doped up on cortisol as I was, I automatically assumed the worst.

"You've been quiet for a whole lot, Kawai-kun… Are you okay ?" I close my eyes and scratch my forehead. "Well, no, not exactly. I may not have known Agloria and Venerate-san for long, but I'm still really grateful to them for taking me in while I was on the verge of death.. And letting a stranger into their home to boot.." 

Feyr gives a sympathetic smile. "Well… I won't argue about that… Oh dear, this is bad… not only for the village, for the entire kingdom.. Good grief, looks like I'll be taking a trip to snowflake city…" "What ? Why is it a national disaster ?" "Well, you see, Nenuvis has been at peace pretty much ever since its foundation, so we have to treat even the smallest things as kingdom-wide threats, after all, we don't know what might happen." 

Damn, I thought. I didn't want to make the deaths of Agloria and Venerate-san, but if a single murder was enough to put the country into code red, this country must be really peaceful… or was at least… "Since you're already sort of a part of this, wanna come with me, Kawai-kun ?" 

I wave my hand at him. "Nah. I wanna stay here with Airie, make sure she's okay. I feel somewhat responsible for this." He bares a worried look on his face. 

"Hmmm… I don't know, Kawai-kun… I'm all for you helping out in this… but, you don't know how to fight, do you ? I guess I can have Ruige bring you along… All right. You can go, but please, be careful." My face starts to smolder with wrath. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN ? DO YOU THINK I'M WEAK ?!" "N-no! Kawai-kun you have to understand, you might only hurt yourself, rather than doing any good !" "Hmm. So that's how you see me, huh, Feyr ?" I run out the door, and past the village gate, up the snowy mountain road. I catch the attention of Ruige and Airie, but I'm too fast for them to say anything. 

I keep running and running. The cold air pierces my lungs like daggers, the snow gathering at my feet making it hard to move feels like a ball and chain. Breathing becomes harder and harder, but I don't care. I can feel the frigid, merciless cold wind stinging my body, but I don't care. I keep running. And running. And running. Tears start to run down my cheeks as I sprint forwards through the snowy path, rocks, leaves, twigs, and other dead plants everywhere. Why did I care so much about them ? Is it because they helped me ? Is it because I didn't want Airie to be sad ? But if so, then why? Why would I not want Airie to be sad ? I only met her a while ago ! By the time I reach the end of the path, the familiar sight of the wooden cabin falls into sight. Except this time, there are no lights from within. The door is torn off its hinges, and it's deathly quiet.

Nothing moves except for the snow falling silently from the dark night sky. Frozen in fear, I walk towards the entryway, prepared for anything that might come out of the pitch black interior of the house. 

Before I can step into the house, I hear a familiar voice call out my name. "KAWAI-KUN!" When I turn around, I see Ruige, lance in hand, along with a few other guards. "Kawai-kun ! There you are ! Come on, let's go back ! It's dangerous here." My face starts to feel red with 

discomfort and annoyance in the form of an itch. "Feyr, Ruige sent you here didn't he ? How many times do I have to tell you, I'm fine on my own ! I can handle this!" I spoke so much I was 

coming short of breath. "Look, Sano-san, I don't like that slave driver either, but he has a point here ! We don't know who the killer is, or what they're capable of!" 

Then suddenly, a chilling, yet stinging sensation grazes my cheek. Then a bleeding wound opens. I put a hand on it to try to numb the pain. "Agh! Where did that come from ?" Then when I turn my head, I see him. There standing was the person I'd been looking for since I appeared in this strange world. Hiroki himself. A little bit of relief flows back into my heart. 

"Hiroki ! Hey man! Where've you been? I was worried about you !" He stays silent. "Hiroki… ? You okay dude ? " When I take a closer look at him, his eyes look somewhat empty.. Almost as if he isn't there.." Then suddenly, an aura of purple and black engulfs him, and his body begins to twitch. Ruige pushes me to the side, and gets into a combat stance. 

"SANO-SAN! MOVE OUT THE WAY, HE'S GOING TO ATTACK !" "Move out of the way now, you meaningless lilliputian. I have business with the holder of the shadow ratio fragment." countless tendril-like tentacles of darkness shoot towards Ruige faster than I can register. With a mighty overhead swing of his lance, he manages to repel the tentacles away, but not cut them. "Hmm. I'm impressed by your strength. But it's not enough." 

A shadowy tentacle emerges from the back of Hiroki's head and slices Ruige's arm off. A red liquid sprays from where his arm once was, and he cries out in pain as he falls to the ground. all the other guards, fearing for their lives, ran off. Muttering things li

The blood soaks into the snow like a paper towel absorbing liquids. "G-god damn it… How could I be this weak.." Hiroki shakes his head. "And here I was thinking you'd be a worthy opponent… All humans are the same in the end, I guess.." Then he turns his head to me, his now opaque eyes staring directly at me. 

"More importantly though, it seems the objective is right in sight.. Lucky me.." 

Stop right there !" Out of nowhere, a man lunges forward with what could only be described as a sword formed entirely of shimmering light blue magical energy. He seems to be in his 40s, 

with long slightly black hair which was beginning to go gray. A deep scar sat on his left eye, which for that reason it was forced shut. The other eye was yellow in coloration. His hands were gloved with white gloves. Unfortunately, Hiroki, or whatever is assuming his appearance, completely dodged the strike.

"Ah! Woah there.. Nearly got a strike on me… heheh! I'll admit, you're not bad… unlike those other few pathetic guards who fled at the first sight of a challenge ! You look familiar now that I think about it… Ah!, yes I know exactly who you are! Y-you're Svaerus !" Out of fear, the possessed Hiroki backs up, but Svaerus only came closer. "Tsk. I'll be back, you hear me!?" And with that, Hiroki disappeared into nothingness. With a sheathing motion, the sword of magical energy disappeared.

 "Are you okay young man ?" He stretches out a hand to me, which I take. He pulls me up. I dust myself off. "Y-yeah.. What.. was that.. ? It looked like Hiroki, but.."  "Well, young man, that WAS your friend, Hiroki-san.. It seems however, he was taken by the Chasmic Void…" 

  I raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Chasmic Void..?"  "well, you could say that they're a troublesome group… One that only aims to sow chaos, conquer, and destroy opposing factions.. They aim to do this by obtaining the Shadow Ratios, that which can bring one to the level of a god.. The God of Sanctity, the one who created this vast world.. In short, they're a bunch of no-good hooligans !" He points at me. "And it seems that YOU have one, for some strange reason. Which is why they came here. "

"They probably killed the residents of that house when they realized there was nothing there out of rage… What brutes".. My throat starts to feel… clogged.. "B-b-but, Hiroki isn't like that.. He'd never kill anyone..!" With a stern tone, he says, "You've got to face reality, kid! Those animals will do anything to get what they want ! Even if it means having others do their shadowy deeds for them !" "But, Saverus-san, why would they force Hiroki to do something like that? Why'd they have to dirty his hands ?!" "Well, he probably had one himself.. Naturally, they'd want to keep ahold of him if he had something so valuable.." 

He clears his throat. "Ehem ! Either way, standing around here won't do us any good… We should probably head back down… If I recall, there's a village near the foot of this mountain… We'd better see how things are there.."

After what seemed like an eternity of slow, stumbling walking, we finally returned to Hoarfrost Village. Feyr comes rushing towards us. "Kawai-kun ! You look really messed up… And Ruige too…. Oh gods.. You should take a rest. I'll let you stay at my place for tonight…"

He puts my arm over his shoulder, and drags me off towards the Northern residential district of the village. He dumps me on the bed. "That's enough of carrying you…" He then walks out the front door. "I'll be back, Kawai-kun…" I'm overcome by yawns, and then soon after fall asleep. Several subconscious thoughts drift through my head.. How did that "Chasmic Void" group get a hold of Hiroki ? How could he kill those people ? I know that he was being controlled as a puppet but…

Would I ever be able to see him the same again, even after he's saved… ? If he's saved ? 

the soft pillow pulls away my consciousness for the night…