Closing Old Wounds

Behind the curtains, there were 3 people, Bones, Kyle, and a third person whom Leus didn't recognize

Everyone stopped talking and looked at Leus.

Kyle quickly got up and walked to him

"I knew you'd come back, Saint"

Seeing Kyle wasn't really a pleasant experience for Leus, he looked exactly like Kenton ...

It made him feel both nauseous and hurt at the same time, and he still felt a bit guilty about how things ended up.

Leus didn't know what to say, so the place was silent for a minute

Eventually, Leus looked down and said in a low voice

"Sorry"

Kyle quickly replied

"Sorry? Saint, without you I'd have died"

Bones added from behind

"We'd have all died, you saved our lives kid"

"But Ken-"

Kyle interrupted him

"Nothing could have been done about my brother, Bones explained to me that he was already dead by the time you came."

Bones added

"Kid, Kenton's death is sad, but honestly, if what has happened wouldn't have happened then we would have been all dead the next day.

We never expected The Butchers to team up with The Gizmos and attack, if they'd have attacked after you left, we'd have been wiped out.

What happened to Kenton is a blessing in disguise, you saved his only family and also avenged him.

Leus, you should be proud of yourself.

Death is normal, Accept it."

Leus looked at Kyle and asked

"Do you also see it this way?"

Kyle nodded

"Of course, I owe you my life, Saint"

After hearing that, Leus felt a lot better.

He felt as if a big weight was lifted from his chest, and he no longer felt guilty about what happened.

When the third man in the room noticed that, he got up and offered his hand for Leus to shake it

"Glad to meet you Boss, I'm Nathan, an ex-Protector.

I see that you got a lot to talk about with Boss Bones and Kyle, so I'll take my leave now, but we will meet again soon."

Leus looked at him for a second then shook his hand

"Nice to meet you too, Nathan."

Nathan looked at Bones and Bones nodded in approval, then he opened the curtains and left, Leaving Leus confused.

When Bones heard the door shut he said to Leus

"Have a seat, you need to catch up"

Then he gestured with his hand to Kyle to bring Leus a drink.

Kyle went to bring a drink and Bones started explaining.

"After you essentially eradicated The Butchers and The Gizmos W-"

Leus interrupted Bones and asked

"Who are The Gizmos?"

"Oh? You don't know?"

For a moment, Bones wryly smiled

'Eradicating a gang without even knowing its name'

'Powerful people are truly scary'

Then he nodded

''I guess it makes sense, You are not from here and you left right after what happened ..."

Bones took a couple of seconds to organize his thoughts then started again

"The Gizmos are - I mean were, a gang of Mercenaries.

They used to collaborate with other gangs for a price.

We do not know exactly what happened since no one is left to interrogate, but our assumption is that things went like this:

First, The Butchers noticed suspicious activities going on regarding you, so they sent someone to investigate, and through that, they somehow found out that you're capable of using magic.

Based on that, they decided to torture and kill Kyle and Kenton for information, The Butchers did that alone because Kyle confirmed that the ones who broke into his house were only members of The Butchers.

After they found out about the Holy Water and that you can attack, they used that information to hire The Gizmos.

Normally, The Gizmos would have never joined The Butchers since that would have been too risky for them, but I guess the Holy Water was too enticing.

While they were agreeing on the details we attacked them, and you know the rest"

It took Leus a couple of seconds to process everything Bones said, and then he asked

"So ... The Gizmos didn't have anything to do with Kenton's death?"

Bones nodded

"They joined after The Butchers knew about the Holy Water, not before.

That's what we think at least."

"I see ... Too bad for them.

I guess they were just unlucky. Anyway, it doesn't matter, you can continue."

Bones found Leus' reaction strange

'Isn't he too young to be so .... nonchalant about murder?'

'How did Scar even get to befriend a guy as powerful as this ...'

'Fate is definitely on our side.'

Nevertheless, Bones didn't voice out his thoughts, and Kyle came and brought the usual drink to everyone.

Kyle and Bones clinked their drinks with Leus and Bones continued

"So, after you eradicated both the groups, a huge area was left without Protectors, So we - actually just me - came up with a plan.

As you know, Scar's original goal was to expand our territory, so we did just that, but in a peaceful way.

We left the corpses as they were and called nearby Protectors and Gang Leaders to the location.

And damn, It worked perfectly!

The gruesome scene of two gangs' mutilated bodies in the heart of their territory terrified everyone who saw it."

Bones paused the pointed at Kyle

"Our cult leader here, started telling stories about how - "

Bones pointed at Leus

"Our great partner won't ever tolerate any misbehavior or trespass over our new territory.

Those who disagree have three days to move, and those who oppose us will face the same fate as the corpses in front of them."

Bones took a sip of his drink and his face twisted

"I really dislike this tea ..."

Then he continued

"Anyway, After scaring them just a bit, we convinced them by explaining that the territory was too large for us to handle alone.

We invited them to be our allies, promising fair treatment and even more earnings since we'd control a bigger area together."

Bones asked Kyle to refill his and Leus' drinks.