After we left the house, we were approached by a woman with short red hair. She looked angry.
"Tch...so now we gotta babysit him?" She said as she motioned to me.
"Easy now, Kesia. He's our friend, remember? You don't wanna upset him again, right?" Kronos said.
"Upset...?" I said.
"You and her had a nasty argument before the dragon fight. Lucky you're such a forgiving type of person, right Mizik? You don't really hold grudges. So you saved her life," Kronos said.
"Sure...I guess..."
"Wow. You really outdid yourself. You're kind of a villain aren't ya, Krow?" Kesia said in surprise.
"Oh shut up... I don't have to explain myself to you again."
"What are you people talking about?" I asked.
"Nevermind that. Hey Kesia, you got the amulet?" Kronos said.
"Sure... Just slap it on him and call it a day," Kesia said.
She tossed a necklace to Kronos and he caught it. Then he turned to me.
"This is the amulet of purity. You wore this in the past to deal with that nasty curse of yours. Put it on," Kronos said.
It was a strange looking amulet with seven emerald gems set in the center of a piece of ornate silver. It was on a chain.
I took the amulet and put it around my neck. Immediately, it glowed slightly. I started to feel weakened for a moment. Then it stopped.
"What the..."
"Feeling weak? That's understandable. The amulet has to weaken you for the curse of detach itself. Don't worry, when its over you'll be back to your old self!" Kronos said with a smile.
"..."
I couldn't quite place my finger on it...but I would have sworn that I saw their power increase by a small margin as soon as this amulet drained me. Since I could see magical threads, it was like watching my power flow into them directly...especially Kronos.
But I didn't think they would steal my strength. They were my friends, after all...
Kesia shook her head and Nasumi looked away. The lot of them looked nervous.
"A-anyway! We have a job to take care of some bandits outside town. You game, Kesia?" Kronos said.
"Sure, whatever..." She said.
"Wait...is she...?"
"Yep. Position 2. Kesia the Red. You can call her-"
"I'll stick to Kesia," I said quickly.
Why would I bother with nicknames?
"That's fair. Kesia, please try to get along with Mizik this time around, olay?" Kronos said.
"Whatever..."
"Now...let's get to work!"
* * *
We walked for a while until we began hearing cries for help further up the road.
"SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP US!!!" A voice screamed.
Kronos looked at us and nodded.
He bolted forward and the rest of us followed quickly.
We soon arrived at a startling scene...
A carriage had been surrounded by armed men. Three people stood between them, terrified for their lives. A man, a woman, and a child.
Although...there was a fourth person lying dead next to the wagon.
"STOP RIGHE THERE!!!" Kronos shouted.
The bandits looked up and seemed nervous all of a sudden.
"We're with Blue Skies Adventuring. Step away from the wagon or else."
"Tch...bastard adventurers!" One of the bandits said angrily.
He grabbed the little girl and held a dagger against her throat.
"TAKE ANOTHER STEP AND I'LL MAKE HER REGRET IT!!!" He shouted.
"MOMMY!!! DADDY!!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!"
The girl's father ran forward and was immediately cut down by two bandits. He lay on the ground barely moving.
"Dammit! If we don't so something-"
Without waiting for Kronos to finish, my body began to instinctively move on its own.
I teleported to the middle of the group and pulled my sword from my inventory.
The black scimitar glowed brightly as I sliced three bandits to ribbons.
I immediately conjured several lightning bolts and fired it into a group of them. They were turned to ashes by the intensity of it.
"MIZIK!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?!? THEY TOLD US TO CAPTURE THEM ALIVE!!!" I heard Kronos shout.
But I ignored him. There were more pressing matters.
"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!! FINE THEN!!! THIS LITTLE GIRL GETS TO DIE BECAUSE OF YOU!!!" The bandit leader shouted.
I instantly turned my attention to him and teleported to the area directly to his front.
My face was mere inches from his as I watched his expression turn from angry defiance to pure terror.
He had raised his dagger to try and stab the little girl, but...
...lost his head in the process.
As his body fell limp, I grabbed the little girl and projected an energy barrier around myself, and her parents. I unleashed a blast of magic targeting the rest of the bandits. They were incinerated where they stood by the bright blue magic.
As soon as it was over, I looked down at the little girl.
"Are you okay?" I asked simply.
Her expression was one of pure horror and shock.
A moment later, she fainted.
"Huh...?" I managed.
"MY BABY!!!" Her mother screamed.
She ran forward and caught the girl.
I stood up and walked away.
"Nasumi, her father might need healing," I said.
"R-right!" She said nervously.
Nasumi bolted to his side and crouched down. She began healing him quickly.
Meanwhile...Kronos approached me. He was absolutely livid.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!? I SAID NOT TO KILL THEM!!!" He yelled.
"As in...don't kill those responsible for harming innocents and corrupting society...?" I said with uncertainty.
"No, you idiot! We have a job to take those bandits in ALIVE. Also...YOU TRAUMATIZED A LITTLE GIRL!!!"
"I'm still not quite following. I did the natural thing. I killed them before they could hurt anyone else. The little girl is safe now and her father will live."
"She might never recover from this!!!"
"She's fine, physically. She can sort herself out on her own. It's better than being dead, isn't it?" I said.
"Why is it that murder comes as naturally to you as breathing? Most people would hesitate before taking a life!" Krono said angrily.
"I don't follow..." I said.
Killing in this situation is normal...right? Someone is attacked, so I kill the agressors... That way, they can't hurt anyone else ever again. Isn't that the best way to do things...?
"Let me spell it out for you. DO. NOT. KILL. UNLESS. ABSOLUTELY. NECESSARY. GOT IT!?"
"But...that situation seems pretty necessary-"
"I don't wanna hear it! We would have been able to deal with that easily! With Kesia's runes, Mako's barriers, and my leadership, this would have gone perfectly smooth!" Kronks said angrily.
"You should try having some faith in your allies, Mizik," Kesia said.
Garen and Mako were looking at me with unease.
Mori had gone off to pick flowers. She was disinterested, it seemed.
I felt a rising feeling of anger in my chest.
"Mizik, you can't just kill people because the situation looks bleak. Isn't that a sign of weakness?" Kronos said.
Weakness...weakness...weakness... Weakness...weakness...weakness... Weakness...weakness...WEAKNESS!?
My head began to hurt horribly for a moment.
"You didn't forget, did you? Remember...remember...remember..."
I heard a woman's voice on my head as I clutched my ears. There was a terrible ringing in them...and suddenly...
"Progenitor OS: Command Heal."
I heard Nasumi speak in a gentle tone.
My pain began to disappear and I looked up to see Nasumi's kind expression.
The others...Garen, Mako, and even Kesia looked nervous. Kronos seemed ready to fight and Mori was nowhere to be seen.
"Honestly, Kronos...why are you so hard on him?" Nasumi said gently.
"Because...ah...aren't you upset? He killed like twenty people back there!" Kronos said.
"Of course I am... I don't like killing... I hate bloodshed and death. But isn't he just misunderstood? I mean...after going so long without any real means of survival... Suffering so much...isn't his reaction understandable? Try to have a heart, Krow," Nasumi said sternly.
"He looked about ready to explode."
"It's fine. He wouldn't hurt us. Right, Mizik?"
"Yes... Kill you all. We'll kill you for what you did... Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! Ahahahaha!"
"Shut up! Get out of my head!"
A strange female voice spoke in my head. Violent and crazy nonsense. These people were my friends. I would absolutely never harm them.
"Right, Mizik?" Nasumi said again.
"R-right... I would never hurt you all. You're my friends. Sorry...my head was hurting again. I guess Im still recovering from the fight with the dragon...haha..." I said.
I tried to laugh and sound natural. But it was so emotionless that it sounded almost robotic.
And then I began wondering what that meant. What was a robot? Where did I get that idea?
None of this made sense, suddenly...but I felt something like a fog fall over my mind.
And then...everything felt fine.
"See, Krow? He's perfectly fine. Have some faith in him," Nasumi said with a kind smile.
"..."
Kronos said nothing. And moments later, Mori emerged from the woods.
"Well, it's too bad we couldn't bring the bandits in. So sad! But at least they won't be a problem anymore, right?" Mori said.
"May their souls find rest in the afterlife..." Nasumi said.
"We should report to the Duke that the job is finished...even if I don't want to..." Kronos said.
"I'm sure he will be reasonable. We'll still get paid, Krow," Garen said.
"This is Duke Oswald we're talking about. The type of man who would step over starving orphans to save a single coin at a buffet," Mako said.
"Well...we can still try..." Garen said dejectedly.
"Alright. Everyone except Mizik help these people get their wagon back together. Once that's done, we can go back to Lorelei," Kronos said.
"Sir!" The rest of them said.
"Why not me?" I asked.
"No offense, Mizik, but between murdering our targets and scarring the little girl for life, you've done quite enough."
"..."
I couldn't say anything to that. For the first time, I felt a deep regret for my violent actions begin to form in my chest.
But...not because I killed them. They deserved that, actually.
I was more upset that I had inconvenienced my friends.
"I...I just wanted to help... Why is he treating me like a criminal...?"
"You ARE a criminal in his eyes. You always will be."
"Who are you...?"
I began talking to the voice in my head. The voice of a woman who was clearly crazy.
"I'm hurt that you don't remember me! I was your biggest fan. Still am! I'm [----]. Nice to talk to you again, Mizik!"
"I didn't quite catch that. What's your name again?"
"[----]."
"All I heard was static..."
"Aww that's boring. Oh well! You can count on me to help you out of this mess. I'll be around~!"
"Mess...?"
I couldn't tell what she was talking about for the life of me. Still, I was certain that this 'dragon' I fought before had done some severe damage to my head.
Regardless, I prepared to be yelled at more by Kronos...