Most Wanted

-Year 994, Midgard, City of Cagliamola-

I walked through the markets with a shopping list in my hand, it had been a few days since the attack and Alan was recovering from using magic, so I was the one doing the chores in the meantime.

I quickly verified the bag hanging on my shoulder with Rubrum and some coins inside. Alan insisted that I take her with me in case something bad happened; I refused at first, even though Rubrum and Noir were friendly.

I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable having a magic book with me at all times. I've no idea how to deal with magic! Those who understand it should deal with this kind of thing!

I saw a crowd standing in front of a wall, talking nervously, as I walked. What is happening there? I heard bits and pieces of conversation as I approached curiously.

"Aren't those two…"

"Why such a high reward…"

"Poor children…"

"Who cares? I'll get the reward myself…"

"What's going on here?" I asked loudly, getting the crowd's attention.

They all turned toward me one by one, some looked away ashamed, others widened their eyes in surprise, and a small part stared intently at me. The crowd slowly parted and what I saw in the wall nearly stopped my heart.

Wanted posters, with Alan's face and mine, I had a bounty of 250 gold coins and Alan had a bounty of 500 gold coins. I stepped back scared but stopped suddenly upon feeling someone grabbing my arm strongly.

"You, come with me!" A man screamed in my face.

"No! Let me go!" I screamed back, trying to break free, but his grip was too strong. 

Before the man could react, a red glow came out of my bag and a red bolt hit him in the chest, sending him convulsing to the ground.

"She knows how to use magic!" One woman in the crowd screamed, pointing at me.

"Witch!" Another man screamed.

Finally, the crowd ran away from me and I ran towards home without thinking twice, picking two wanted posters on the way.

-Alan and Rose's House-

"I'm so bored!" I screamed mentally as I lay on my bed, reading a book. 

I don't have much to do now as Rose insisted that should I rest, I'm not as hurt as I was before, but she wasn't open to an argument. 

Putting the book aside, I stared at the ceiling, thinking about something to do. Noir slept on the shelf after watching me relentlessly for days, I ordered him to rest but promised to wake him up if I needed anything and Rubrum was with Rose.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of the front door slamming, taking me out of my thoughts. Did Rose come back early?

"ALAN!" Rose screamed, entering our bedroom and nearly knocking the door off its hinges.

"Is there a problem Rose?" I asked worriedly, getting up quickly upon seeing her scared face.

Rose ran to the bedroom window and closed the curtain, then went to the living room, closed the curtains on all the windows, locked the front door, and returned to the bedroom.

"Rose, what happened?!?" I asked, holding her by the shoulders.

"Here, Alan, check this out!" She exclaimed, handing me two papers and I couldn't believe what I read.

I read it several times, believing that my eyes deceived me, but the fifth time, I realized that it was true. 

The posters said the following.

"Wanted for the use of magic without the Lord's explicit permission, both individuals are extremely dangerous. If found, keep your distance and report to the nearest local authorities."

-Caerula, Lord of the Land of the Seas.

"OPEN THE DOOR!" Someone screamed, bagging on our front door.

"We need to get out of here, now!" I screamed to Rose, throwing the posters away.

Rose nodded, and together we ran around the house taking just what was necessary and putting everything inside bags and my backpack.

I opened the bedroom window and helped Rose to jump it, when I had one foot out the window I realized I had forgotten something, Noir. I ran to the bookshelf and grabbed the grimoire.

"Noir wake up!" I screamed, shaking him.

"Wha… Lord Alan… What's going on?" Noir asked me, sleepily.

"YOU THERE, STOP!" A group of guards screamed, knocking on the front door and entering our house. I quickly locked the bedroom door and the guards tried to break it down 

"Noir! We need to flee now!" I screamed, running towards the window.

"Yes, Lord Alan!" Noir replied, floating beside me, and together we jumped out of the window, and ran through the streets of Cagliamola with Rose accompanying us.

"THEY ARE RUNNING AWAY!" A guard yelled, pointing at us through the window; soon there was a group of guards chasing us.

Rose and I turned right and entered the alleys of the city, left, right, right, left, left, and went straight on, but there was a problem, we reached a dead end. I have an idea; I just hope I don't get hurt too much this time.

"Noir tear down that wall!" I ordered the grimoire while pointing to the dead end.

"As you wish!" Noir replied seriously, creating a Dark Hand, closing it into a fist, and punching the wall, destroying it in a shower of stone.

I dropped to my knees breathing heavily after having my energy drained; it wasn't too bad this time.

"Alan! Why did you do that?" Rose asked worriedly, helping me to my feet.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" The guards shouted down the alleys with the sound of their steps approaching us.

"Don't worry about me, we need to run!" I yelled, pushing Rose forward.

We crossed the collapsed wall and ended up on the main street of Cagliamola with the exit straight ahead, so we ran down the street pushing people out of the way.

"Get out of the way!" Rose yelled, pushing a woman aside.

"I'm sorry!" I screamed, pulling a man back.

The exit was close but guards blocked it with the one who questioned us at the inn leading the group, making us stop as the guards behind us approached.

"I'm sorry about that boy, but for the sake of this town I'll have to arrest you!" The guard said, drawing his sword.

I looked around, analyzing our situation before speaking to Rose.

"Rose when I say it I want you to close your eyes, understood?" I asked the girl beside me.

"Yes." Rose replied, giving me a determined look.

Therefore, I breathed deeply and yelled.

"Noir, punch the ground with all your strength!"

"Yes, Lord Alan." Noir answered, creating another Dark Hand, this one being bigger than before, and punching the ground ahead of us, creating a dust cloud and blinding the guards.

"Rose, now!" I yelled.

Rose closed her eyes and I grabbed her while using my other arm to shield my eyes, I ran forward without worrying about what was in my way, I bumped into something and heard a scream of pain, but I didn't stop. 

I saw that I was outside the city with Noir right behind me when I removed my arm from my eyes,

"Rose you can open your eyes now." I said to the girl, and she did as I said.

"We escaped?" Rose asked, looking around.

"Not yet!" I replied, looking back and seeing the guards leaving the city.

We ran towards the forest around the city and kept running until we were sure that we weren't being followed.

-Forest-

We stood in a small clearing, setting up an improvised camp for the night. I made a stone circle and I put some sticks and dry leaves in the center, now I just needed to light it.

"Miss Rose, allow me." Noir said politely, floating beside me.

It seems that Noir noticed my problem as he approached the bonfire and fired a small magic shot, lighting it. Meanwhile, I took a coat from one of our bags and approached the fire to warm myself.

Looking around our camp, I saw Rubrum beside me, she hadn't done anything else since we escaped, and Alan leaned against a tree, breathing heavily with a hand on his chest.

Will he end like this whenever he uses magic? What if the moment comes when he can't take it anymore? Who will fight in his place? Getting up, I approached Alan while breathing deeply.

"Alan?" I called, stopping in front of him with my hands on my hips. 

"Yes?" He replied, looking up slowly.

"I want you to teach me how to fight!" I exclaimed, leaning towards his face.

Alan jumped back with widened eyes and open mouth.

"Where did that come from?!?" He asked surprised, looking around nervously.

"I'm tired of just watching you almost die every time you use magic!" I answered, pointing directly at his face.

"Rose I don't think…" 

I didn't let him finish.

"Don't talk to me like that, look at yourself. It looks like you're going to faint at any moment, I'm tired of being useless so teach me how to fight!" I demanded, crossing my arms and staring at him angrily.

"HAHAHA! Okay, I promise I'll teach you, but let's rest for today, we had too many problems in just a few hours!" Alan laughed, covering his face with one hand.

"Do you think so? I didn't even notice!" I said sarcastically.

"Here, sit by my side." Alan said, ignoring my answer and patting the floor beside him.

I returned to the bonfire and picked up Rubrum before sitting next to Alan with the magic book on my lap, Noir floated to our side right after.

"So the Lords are looking for us, and they've put a high bounty on our heads, I'll be frank with you, if someone manages to capture us, that person won't have to work for the rest of their lives." Alan said, patting my shoulder while smiling from ear to ear.

"Wow, how encouraging." I replied sarcastically while rolling my eyes.

"HAHA! Don't worry I've a plan! The original idea was to leave Midgard, to a place where the Lords have no influence. At first, I thought about sailing to Egypt, China, or crossing Midgard until we reached Russia."

"I have no idea what those places are."

"The Land of the Ancients, The Land of the Dragons, and the Land of the Blizzard respectively. Egypt, China, and Russia are what the people of my Land call these places."

"I understand. Why don't we go to your land?" I asked.

"Do you want to deal with people turning into salt statues or monsters?" Alan asked, raising an eyebrow.

I didn't answer and looked away ashamed, it was a stupid question.

"Also, Japan, or the Land of the Rising Sun, call it what you like, is going through the Edo period, the borders are closed to everyone, nobody gets in, nobody gets out. The only way for them to open the borders again is at the gunboat diplomacy."

"Oh! I didn't know."

"Don't worry about that. Back to the original subject, the original idea was to leave Midgard, but due to the size of our rewards, this is almost impossible. People will keep an eye out in case we show up at some port, not to mention the guards that will patrol the place. "Alan said, taking a map out of his backpack.

"So I plan to go to the Land of the Forests, where most of the non-human population of Midgard lives. The Land of the Forests is huge with plenty of places for us to hide, and most of the non-humans that live there are neutral toward humans, except for the Lord of the Land of Forests and his men. They hate the Lord. So what do you say?" Alan asked smiling.

"Well, I've nowhere to go. So let's go with your plan." I said smiling back.

"Nice, Cagliamola is in what was once Spain, close to Cathedral City, we are in a forest close to Cagliamola. If we go west we can cross the border between Cathedral City and the Land of the Forests, reaching the region that was once known as Italy." Alan said, dragging his finger across the map while I just nodded.

"Who knows? Maybe when we get to Italy I can show you what's left of Rome, the Coliseum must still be there. And the best part, I might end up meeting beautiful elf girls in the Land of Forests." Alan said with a dreamy look.

"Dream about it, you virgin." I said smiling and slapping his shoulder.

"Why do you have to doubt my dreams?" Alan asked giving me an annoyed look.

"Because they will never come true." I replied smiling.

"You'll see, I'm going to find a beautiful red-haired elf, we're going to live together in a beautiful house in a village full of elves, we're going to have two children, red-haired twins, I'm going to wake up next to my beautiful wife every morning to the sound of my daughters running to our room and calling me daddy."

"Dream about it." I responded again while laughing, only to choke when Alan shoved a loaf of bread into my mouth.

"Eat; you're less annoying when you're eating something." Alan said taking another loaf of bread from one of the bags we brought.

"How much food do we have left?" I asked between bites.

"We won't have to worry about hunting our food for a while." Alan replied, looking inside the bag.

"It's not that bad, if we have to hunt I'll just let you fight a bear with your bare hands." I shrugged.

"Do you want me to die, by any chance?!?" Alan asked with false anger.

"How did you know it?!?" I sighed surprised.

We stared at each other in silence before laughing.

"HAHAHAHA!"

-Next Day-

SPLASH!

"AAAHHH!" I woke up startled with water running down my face, looking up, I saw Alan with an open leather canteen in his hand.

"Why did you do that?!?" I asked annoyed before getting up quickly.

"I've been calling you for a while, but you haven't woken up." Alan replied in the same tone.

"Why are you wasting our water?" I asked again, taking a piece of cloth from one of the bags and drying up my face.

"Don't worry, there's a river just ahead." Alan said, pointing towards the forest.

"What time is it?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"4 a.m." Alan said, looking at a black rectangular object in his hands.

"4 a.m.! Why did you wake me up so early?!? And what is that in your hand?!?"

"If you want to learn to fight we need to start as soon as possible. And that is my cell phone." Alan said, pointing the cell phone at me.

A strong light came out of the object, blinding me. I saw a small painting of myself with wide eyes when my vision came back.

"What is that?" I asked surprised, looking closer at the painting.

"It's a photo, this little device in my hands is a marvel of the technology of my land, it can record moments with photographs, play music, take notes, and communicate with people at a distance."

"So it's magic?" I asked curiously. All of this in that little box.

"Yes, it's magic. Here take it!" Alan said disappointedly, throwing me an apple. 

I quickly caught the apple and ate it.

"When you're done, we'll begin your training."

I nodded between bites.

-Forest-

"Let's start!" I said to Rose standing in front of me.

"What are we going to do first?" Rose asked.

"Punch me with all your strength." I said, approaching Rose with open arms.

"Why do I need to learn to punch? Isn't it just pulling your arm back with a clenched fist and then hitting someone as hard as you can?" Rose asked confused.

"I'll be honest with you Rose; a badly thrown punch is more likely to hurt you than your opponent. I say this from experience." I said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Seriously?"

"Come on, punch me!" I exclaimed, returning to my previous position.

"All right, if you insist." Rose said hesitantly.

Rose closed her fist, pulled her arm back as far as she could, and threw her arm forward. I easily stepped out of the way and tripped her legs, making her fall flat on her face. Rose quickly got up and glared at me.

"Did you understand what I said? Your punch was sloppy; if I were someone trying to hurt you, I would have done it by now. Let me show you how to hit someone properly."

Rose stepped away from me and stared intently at my actions while nodding to my instructions.

"First of all, the power of a punch comes from the lower body." I said, putting my right foot forward and my left foot back. Rose mimicked my movements, but it was still sloppy.

"Now I'm going to teach you how to clench your fist properly. Close your hand tightly, placing your thumb over the other fingers, and resting it over your middle finger. Squeeze your hand tight to avoid getting hurt when you punch, and keep your wrist as straight as possible." I said, doing the aforementioned movements while Rose imitated me.

"If you punch with four fingers over your thumb, you can break a bone in your hand. Ideally, hit the opponent with the knuckle of your middle finger, keep your thumb over your middle finger to protect it, and hold it in place. You got it?"

Rose nodded.

"Tell me, are you left-handed or right-handed?"

"Right-handed."

"Ok!"

"Place your dominant hand, against your chin and lift your free hand. Bend your elbows and lift your right hand, bringing it close to your cheek pointing up. With your elbow close to your ribs, raise your left hand in front of your body at the same height."

Rose repeated my moves, she learns fast.

"Okay, now bend your knees slightly to generate strength and balance. Every punch in the fight must start with a leg movement."

"Now I'm going to show you how to land a punch."

I turned my left foot and left knee inward, lifted my heel in one motion, and turned my left foot and knee toward my imaginary opponent, rotating my hips and chest toward the opponent. 

I stretched out my fist and, swung it inward as I struck and let my left arm follow the movement, hitting the imaginary opponent with the joint of my middle finger.

"Now it's your turn, start!" I said to Rose, stopping in front of her, and raising both hands with open palms.

Moreover, she did just that, the punches were slow and sloppy, but she would learn in time.

"There's something important I need to tell you, nothing is stopping us from fighting dirty. What do I mean by that? We're not heroes and we're not in a martial arts tournament so there's no reason not to cheat. So if you want to get the upper hand in a fight, hit your enemies in their weak spots, kick a man in the balls, punch a person in the throat, stick your fingers in someone's eyes. You got it?"

"Yes!" Rose said with a determined look, puffing out her chest.

"Okay, let's continue!" I replied, returning to the position with open palms.

"Start!" I regretted saying those words, as Rose decided to take my advice seriously and kick me in the balls.

"SON OF A BITCH!" I yelled, bending my knees and grabbing my family jewels in pain.

"HAHAHA!" Rose laughed from the top of her lungs.

"Let's see if you like this!" I placed the index and middle fingers of my left hand in a V position and stuck them in Rose's eyes. 

She stopped laughing and screamed in pain, rolling on the ground with her hands covering her eyes.

"AAAHHH!" Rose screamed.

"HAHAHA!" I laughed tasting my sweet revenge.

-On the Next Day-

"Lord Alan, are you sure about it?" Noir asked me worriedly.

"I don't know, Noir." I replied, shaking my head in doubt.

"Can't we walk around it?" Rose asked, looking to the source of our worries.

We found ourselves in a difficult situation, as we hid among the trees, looking at the city ahead, Fool's Marsh. 

If we crossed the city we would reach the border between Cathedral City and Land of the Forests faster, but we run the risk of being found, if we go around the city and take another route the chance of being found will be lower, but it will take us longer to get to the border.

"Lord Alan, isn't this the town where the men who hired the criminals to capture Miss Rose live?" Noir asked surprised.

Noir you had to open your mouth! You fucking… I breathed deeply, trying to calm myself, and looked at Rose, who stared at me with anger and disbelief.

"Explain it now!" Rose demanded, pointing at the city ahead.

"Well, do you remember when I made up the excuse to the guards that the bandits wanted to take you away?" I asked, measuring my words thanks to the touchy subject.

"Yeah." Rose replied, crossing her arms while stomping the ground.

"It wasn't completely a lie, the brothel bosses hired the tugs to kill me, and take you and the money back." I said hesitantly, worried about Rose's reaction; I didn't want her to think it was her fault.

"They did what?!? And why didn't you tell me anything?!?" Rose demanded, approaching and staring me directly into my eyes with burning anger.

"Rose, we were attacked; you saw a man's severed head, met two magic books, and slit a man's throat, all of this in just one night. You would have liked it if I told you the reason why they were there?"

"No." Rose replied, averting her gaze.

"Just as I thought, we're going to camp here. Tomorrow we'll decide what to do." I answered, picking out things up and walking away with Rose beside me.

Therefore, we went deeper into the forest and set up camp, Rose was quiet all this time and this worried me.

-XXXXXX-

I woke up with a bad feeling, looking around didn't find Rose anywhere, and my baseball bat was missing too. 

I quickly got up and ran toward Noir and Rubrum who slept together next to a tree.

"Noir, Rubrum! Wake up!" I shouted, shaking the books.

"Lord Alan! Are we being attacked?" Noir screamed, floating immediately with Rubrum shining red beside him.

"No, Rose disappeared, I think she went to Fool's Marsh, we need to find her!"

"You can count on this humble servant, Lord Alan!" Noir answered politely, floating beside me. Rubrum's light intensified, it looked like she wanted to help too. 

I quickly packed our things, leaving everything unnecessary behind, and ran towards Fool's Marsh with Noir beside Rubrum and me inside my backpack. Looks like we'll have to cross the city.

-Fool's Marsh-

I ran through the alleys of Fool's Marsh, thinking about what I was about to do. I know it's stupid, but since Alan told me the truth, I couldn't sleep peacefully. On the way, I couldn't help but wonder.

Why? Why did my mother sell me? Why did the bosses go through so much trouble to find me and bring me back? Why can't they leave me alone? Why can't I have a normal life?

Here it is… I stopped in front of the three-story building too big to be a normal brothel. If I remember correctly, the rich frequented it. I walked to the front door and knocked.

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

One of the bosses opened it, specifically the one with the crushed nose. He quickly widened his eyes upon seeing me.

"You!" The boss screamed, raising his fist.

"Yes. Me." I replied emotionlessly.

I immediately swung the metal club that Alan always carried toward the man's balls with all my strength; I heard a wet noise and the boss bent over screaming in pain. 

I didn't stop there, I swung the club again, hitting him on the side of his head, and throwing him to the ground.

I approached him slowly, dragging the club across the floor. I put my foot on his chest and raised the club with both hands, bringing it down on his head with all my strength.

I didn't stop and kept hitting him, blood splashed on my face, but I didn't stop, the club was smeared with blood, but I didn't stop, teeth flew out of the boss's mouth, but I didn't stop.

"Please stop!" The boss screamed amidst all the knocked-out teeth, swollen lips, and blood running from his mouth.

BUT

I

DIDN'T

STOP

I beat him for a long time until the boss stopped moving, I put my ear close to his chest, and I didn't hear his heart beating, great.

I stopped to look at the dead man with his face smashed in. Was this what tormented me for so long? He died so pathetically, killed by a little girl. I'm disappointed.

Looking around for the next boss, I saw a counter full of liquor bottles with a shelf full of bottles behind it right at the entrance of the brothel. 

I saw my reflection in one of the bottles. You know, I never looked at myself in a mirror, I never considered myself beautiful, but most of all, I was ashamed. Ashamed of what would be looking at me on the other side of the mirror.

Well, today for the first time in my life, I saw my reflection and I regretted doing it.

A girl with messy white hair, empty pink eyes, and a bloodstained face stared back at me, pathetic. I also saw the reflection of someone behind me, the boss with the broken jaw.

He grabbed me by the back of my shirt and threw me towards the counter; I hit the shelf right behind it, breaking wood as bottles fell beside me towards the floor.

The boss ran around the counter and came towards me. Looking to the side, I saw that the club was out of my reach, but there was something else I could use as a weapon.

The boss grabbed me by the collar and lifted me to his face, looking at me angrily, and I returned the glare with an emotionless one.

He pulled his fist back, ready to punch me, but before he did that, I took out the broken bottle I hid behind my back and slashed his throat.

The boss let go of me and panicked, trying to cover the cut with his hands, but it wasn't enough, and soon he fell to the ground choking on his blood.

"What's all that noise?!?"

The last boss showed up, the one with a broken leg, he tried to run when he saw me covered in blood and the two dead men, but he couldn't go far due to the crutches he used.

I calmly walked towards him and kicked each of his crutches, making him fall flat on his face. He started to crawl away, but I grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him towards me.

"Wait!" He screamed scared for his life.

I lifted the broken bottle with my right hand and pierced his left eye.

"AAAHHH!" He screamed from the top of his lungs, echoing through the brothel.

I removed the bottle from his left eye and stuck it in his right one.

"AAAHHH!" Once again, he screamed. 

I ignored the screams, and I kept stabbing until he stopped moving, he must have died some time ago, but for some reason, I didn't stop.

"AAAHHH!"

A female scream interrupted me; one of the prostitutes came out of her room, probably to check the source of the noise. Suddenly, the doors of the other rooms opened too.

"What did you do?!?" She asked backing away scared. 

I approached her with the bloodied bottle raised and more people left their rooms. Will I have to kill them too?

"ROSE!" Someone screamed behind me.

It was Alan; he entered the brothel, opening and closing his mouth while looking at me. I couldn't identify the emotion in his eyes. Worry? Rage? Disgust? Happiness? I can't say it.

"Rose? Are you okay?" Alan asked worriedly while approaching me carefully. 

I didn't answer and just approached him. Suddenly, Alan ran past me and hit someone behind me.

Turning around, I saw one of the brothel customers on the ground with a broken nose and a bottle in his hand. Probably to hit me on the head.

Alan then turned to the prostitutes and customers in the hallway and screamed.

"Get out of here now!" Alan demanded, pointing at the exit.

No one moved, probably too scared to react, Alan then approached the counter, raised his fist, and yelled as he hit it.

"I SAID NOW!"

The central part of the counter was smashed and the left and right sides were ripped off the floor. The clients and prostitutes ran past us and out of the brothel with this show of strength.

Alan then picked up one of the bottles that were still whole, uncorked it, and gulped it down, and then he dragged the bodies towards the counter and spilled drinks on it, the bodies, and on the floor of the brothel, keeping the remaining bottles in his backpack.

"Noir, can you come over here for a minute?" Alan said towards the exit of the brothel.

"Yes, Lord Alan." Noir replied, coming through the door.

"Noir, shoot there please." Alan answered, pointing at the counter.

Noir did just that, and soon the drink caught fire; spreading through the bodies and would soon spread to the floor.

"Rose, let's go." Alan said seriously, leaving the building.

I didn't answer and I picked up the metal club along the way, offering it to Alan.

"Keep it; you need it more than I do."

I nodded and the three of us walked out the door, locking it behind us.

We walked away from the brothel and watched through the windows as the fire spread. Alan then turned toward me and gazed at me emotionlessly with part of his face lit by the fire. I returned his gaze with the same tone.

"Do you know what you did today?" Alan asked.

"Yes."

"You regret it?" He asked again.

"No."

We stared at each other in silence.

"Do you want a hug?" Alan asked, opening his arms.

"Yes." I replied, hugging him.

"Please don't do this again." Alan whispered worriedly.

I didn't answer I just hugged him harder.

"MY GOD!"

"FIRE!"

"BRING OUT THE BUCKETS!"

People screamed in the distance.

"We need to get out of here! Noir, Rose let's go!" Alan said running away, and I followed him soon after.

In the end, we crossed the city and only stopped running when the sun rose.

-XXXXXX-

"Here." Alan said offering me one of the liquor bottles he took from the brothel.

"You? Offering me a drink? Weren't you the one who said I couldn't drink until I was older?" I asked, uncorking the bottle and sipping it. Great, it's cheap booze, my favorite!

"Considering what we did today, drinking alcohol is the least of our problems." Alan replied, opening his bottle and sipping it too.

"Rose, what happened? Why did you do that?" Alan asked after drinking.

"I was tired. I wanted to run away from that hell, until I finally did it, only for them to come after me. I just wished they would leave me alone, so I decided to get over with it." I replied.

"And how do you feel now?"

"I don't know. It's like a weight left my shoulders, but at the same time, I can't believe what I've done. I wondered if I would be able to kill someone, today I found out that I can." I replied, drinking again.

"Me too. I discovered this when I arrived in Midgard."

"Alan? Will this get any easier? Kill, I mean."

"Pray it doesn't. I recommend not thinking too much about it, but remember, you aren't alone in this." Alan said, pointing at himself, then Noir and Rubrum who rested near a tree.

"Thanks." I answered giving a small smile.

"You're welcome." Alan replied smiling back.

That night we ate and drank until we fell asleep. What I didn't know was the consequences of our actions that day.

-Land of the Seas-

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

"Come in." Caerula replied, putting on makeup in front of a mirror. Caerula saw that it was her butler by the reflection in the mirror.

"Lady Caerula, the criminals have been spotted in the town of Fool's Marsh." The butler said, bowing politely.

"Yes and…" Caerula asked with disinterest.

The butler then gulped before answering. 

"Well Lady Caerula, they set fire to the brothel in Fool's Marsh that was financed by you."

"They did what?!? Increase their bounty, but I want them alive, do you understand?!?" Caerula screamed, turning abruptly towards her butler.

"Yes, Lady Caerula!" The butler said, quickly bowing and leaving the room.

"Those bastards, they destroyed one of my 'Fountains of Youth'!" Caerula complained to herself, looking at her left hand, which aged slowly.

Caerula then rang a bell and a maid entered her room.

DING!

"Yes Lady Caerula?" The maid asked, bowing down.

"Come closer!" Caerula ordered, covering her face with her fan.

The maid did as her Lady said, but unfortunately, she didn't notice the cruel smile that Caerula hid behind her fan.

END OF CHAPTER