To Each Their Own

I assumed we'd be getting more than expected. If there was one advantage that this massacre did hold, it was that instead of only getting the materials rare to this area, we got everything. Banditry was a lucrative business, otherwise, people wouldn't do it. In fact, we probably wouldn't just be getting materials. We should be getting Gears, Astrogears, Fruits, Crossbreeding Guides, and perhaps even some cultivation techniques if we were lucky. This was a very big merchant group after all. But with reward comes risk. If I hadn't gotten the drop on Pecudola, it wouldn't have gone in my favor as easily.

Culdia moved out of my frame of sight and I turned around. I was expecting a huge pile of loot, but instead, I only saw three small sacks that had a space-themed exterior with stars and everything. It took me a second, but I soon recognized what I was looking at, and I also realized that Culdia was right. This was an even bigger grab than I thought it would be.

These bags were referred to as Space Bags. Much as the name implies, they're Astrogears that store things you put into it inside of a separate space, and judging by the number of stars on the outside, they were all of the Coal Class variety. The only downside was that because this was an Astrogear, putting items in and taking them out took Genesis Essence, in the form of Genesis Liquid, but that wasn't much of a limitation for me considering my stash of Genesis Orbs that only grew larger. These bags would normally cost around... one hundred thousand Dschungels each, maybe more, so this put a lot of hope into what was inside of them.

A smile found itself plastered onto my face and I turned around while talking to make everyone feel involved, "This is great. With this, we stand a fighting chance against the Sect Faction. But for now, let's do some cleanup on the bodies. As much as it was in self-defense, I doubt Medisma and Convir would let the public see it that way and I don't exactly want to be convicted of murder right now."

With that, we all moved out and began to tamper with the crime scene. I gave tips now and then, and while it was a little weird for me to know a lot on the subject, I already knew so many other things that it wasn't really out of character. Soon enough the bodies were completely Quis-proof. Though, they were still dead, so they needed a murderer, and who better than a man who couldn't defend himself? Just burn Pecudola's body to ash, make strange wounds on their bodies, and suddenly the story changes.

Pecudola was feeling especially greedy tonight and wanted all of the money to himself. He massacred his underlings and ran away with all the goods. It was a good story, and not farfetched considering the circumstances. Once again, the weakness of this is that one good investigative Fruit could blow it all up. Thankfully for me though, the Fortune Nine Sect had a monopoly on the extremely telling ones, like being able to see past actions, and they were already drowning in work. They might figure it out eventually, but that was a problem for the future me to deal with, right now, I only had to keep on surviving... no, I need to keep on pushing further.

I had many things to do.

I had to take care of Hasrem, keep tabs on Onvima, push the cult further, keep the Sect Faction and Spiravit in check, deal with my own inner turmoil, and get stronger through all of it. It was a lot... but I could do it. I had to do it.

Just one step at a time Ikusho...

One step at a time.

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Spiravit's POV:

I walked through the long, continuous, hall, each of my steps feeling lighter than ever before. It had been what seemed like forever since I had stepped inside this building, although it had only really been about half a year. Now that I think about it, since Quis entered my vision, it feels like life has gotten so much slower and more impactful. It felt like... the last half a year mattered more than any other point in my life. And it really did.

I used to be very... unaware of the situations around me. I wanted everything to go my way, yet I never made the correct moves for that to happen because I was unwilling to sacrifice certain things. I was inattentive. It was strange to think about how far I had come in the past half a year, in the past month even. It felt like... I was finally conscious of my own actions. I suppose for that, I had to thank Quis. In fact, I had to thank him for a lot of things. Unfortunately, he'll have to accept my thanks with a knife in his back.

If there was anything that I have learned over the past half a year, it was that Quis was an enemy that needed to be disposed of. It wasn't as if I was holding a grudge or anything, no, the truth is that I really admire him, but there is a mutual understanding that our kind has come to. We must eliminate anyone who is like us to allow for a smoother journey. For me, that meant killing Quis, for Quis, that meant killing me. Therefore, we were enemies.

With a grin plastered on my face at the thought of the struggle that'll go into killing Quis, my eyes rested upon a door located at the end of the winding hallway. I brought my face to a neutral stance and opened it once I was close enough. As I opened it, sunshine plastered itself onto my face. I blocked the sun with my arm so that I could actually see the scene in front of me. Flowers of all different varieties, bushes that were trimmed into a multitude of different shapes, and a normal-sized picnic table at the center of it all. Sitting at this table was Convir, and an old hag with a cane, one I would never not recognize.

"Yo, how have you been grandma?"

Her mouth twitched a bit, "Yo? Is that how you address your elders? I thought that what seemed like a good change in your domineer might cause you to be a bit more respectful, but I suppose that was too high a hope."

She didn't even turn to say this, but I wasn't offended at all, this was just how she showed love, very strange indeed. I walked over as I talked back to her, "Well, I suppose I could say the same to you. You know, I thought that getting gipped by Quis this many times would have caused you to learn something, but I guess my hopes were too high."

This time, it looked as if a vein popped in her forehead, "Boy, you better sit your ass down before I beat it! I may be old, but I can still beat you like I could in my prime!"

I casually swayed my hand as I sat down, "Yeah, yeah. So, why have you called me here? I assume it wasn't just to yell at me for old times' sake."

She crossed her arms as she replied to my question, "You'd be right in that regard. As much as I've wanted to give you a beating with all the news I've been hearing, we have you here for something more important. It's regarding Quis. I know that you and he were close, and I've also heard from Convir that you know more about him than most others."

I nodded my head, "Yes, that I do. But why does it matter so much? The last time I heard about him, Convir was telling me to give up on investigating Quis. Something about how he had virtually no chance of getting the financial aid necessary for survival?" I said my last sentence with a heavy tone of sarcasm. I hadn't heard any news of him recently, but if there is one thing I'm sure Quis can do without foundation, it's earn money. These two underestimated him in that aspect... no, maybe they didn't. Maybe they made it impossible for them to make money inside of the sect, but that didn't bar the outside.

Medisma clicked her tongue as she reluctantly answered my "question", "You little smart ass. Yes, it's as you think, Quis was somehow able to acquire funds. We still don't have any clue as to how, but this is a bad situation for us. It seems to me that you already predicted this. As much as you are still green behind the ears, I believe you know how Quis acts, so I'm going to put you in charge of your own small special squad meant to stop Quis. The Quis Opposition, or the QO for short."

I smiled a bit. It seemed like my past couple weeks of rambling about Quis, and what would probably happen paid off. I finally had some authority to put an end to him before he grew any stronger. Over the past couple of weeks, I've done nothing other than observe and think of how Quis would act, and from what I know, there was only one way Quis could make a large pile of coin right now.

I smiled, "Alright then, send my members the the Southeastern outskirts of the sect. We have some searching to do."

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Iusus' POV:

"Hmmmm."

I looked at the trees around me as they flew past my vision, thinking. I was still contemplating whether this was the right choice or not. I know I didn't have any real connections, besides maybe Capcis, and I did worry about her a little bit, but it's not like I had any parents to take care of. My mom was still alive, yes, but I didn't consider her a part of our family after what she did. The only thing that made me indecisive was my dad. I know that he couldn't have actually been a Devil, there was no way. Something must've happened, and I wanted to learn what.

But... I wasn't strong enough as of now. After watching that show that Quis put on, announcing his faction to the entire sect, I realized something. We might have been the same age and Class, but he was much, much stronger than me. I wasn't sure why, but I knew that I couldn't compete with him unless I did something drastic. I do sort of wish I said goodbye to Capcis, but she was a part of Quis' faction now, and knowing her, she'd tell Quis right away.

Quis wasn't exactly my enemy, but he wasn't a friend either. I didn't want him to know what I was doing, or more accurately, I didn't want him to know where I was going. I suppose that I didn't really want anyone to know where I was going, this was me trying to start a new life after all, but Quis was the most important to keep away from me. I couldn't judge his actions well enough to know if he'd try to chase after me or not. All I did know was that I needed to get away from the sect. If I did stay, I'd only end up an underling to Quis, and that wasn't what I wanted. So I went through the jungle for a bit, and after a couple of days of searching, I came by a group of traveling merchants.

It wasn't hard to hitch a ride, for some service of course. It was going to be difficult for a bit, and I'll probably have to swap boats multiple times, but I'm sure that soon enough I'll finally get to where I want to be, to where I think I'll fit in best. I could feel my body swirl at just the thought. It had always been my dream since I was a kid to go there, and now I would finally do it.

Neigh!

The horses that were carrying the small wooden space I was in came to a halt along with the following message from one of the merchants, "Bandits! Everyone get into formation!"

"Well, I suppose that means I'm up."

With a kick in my step, I jumped out of the carriage and got ready to kick some bandit ass. This was how I'd been spending the next couple of months, so I had to get used to it sooner rather than later. I was ready to start the second chapter of my life.

To the Mountain Region I go!