By the time Lieren closed his book and whipped his head, the sun was already peeking in the horizon. It was an odd, but very comforting feeling: getting immersed in a book so much that he forgets everything else.
It had been a hectic night, with the sudden disappearance of his Aegis, only for Lieren to find him killing somebody… brutally. Everything was hazy and jumbled, with the world passing by like a flash. At the same time, it also felt like a literal eternity.
There was blood. So much blood. More than he had ever seen.
'Do people even have that much blood?'
It was indeed a question. An important one. Something that not many people would even consider to be a question they would ever ask themselves.
And why would they?
It would only complicate things. Some people chose to be complicated. Some people did not. Though most of them liked to keep things simple.
It was easier to manipulate things that way.
"Well, I guess that's enough brooding for today. They seem to be done talking, anyways."
Sighing, Lieren stood up… and immediately sat back down.
"…Huh?"
There was a frozen smile on his face.
Straining his legs, he willed himself to stand, pulling his entire body up.
With an embarrassing thunk, his hind fell to the floor loudly as his legs immediately gave up carrying him.
"Uh… what?"
It was then that he noticed something.
…Actually, why hadn't he noticed it earlier?
"Owwww…"
His legs were numb, the oxygen having been cut off from them from sitting down for too long.
Not that he regretted it.
Frowning, Lieren pushed mana to his legs, augmenting them and momentarily raising his resilience to the best of his capacity.
"I did it!"
Raising his hands victoriously, he smiled brighter than the sun.
He had stood up, and he was very proud of it.
Bian and Harita gave him odd stares.
"What are you doing?"
Lieren blinked, reminded that there were still people in the room with him. Instead of getting embarrassed, he surreptitiously turned his attention to the magic flowing to his legs.
A couple more minutes of this and he will back to his normal. Until then, he just had to suck up the pain and bare with it for now.
Taking a deep breath, he let the oxygen calm his nerves, letting it out slowly and evenly. He did this a couple more times while the two watched, perplexed and subtly surprised.
"Just testing something."
Bian raised a brow. She did not look convinced at all.
"Sure, whatever."
She turned back to Harita, her eyes gleaming serious.
"Back to what we were talking about. The HMK Alliance holds connections spanning the entire city. If they want something known, or somebody, then they have next to no trouble getting it. Especially if the boss wants to."
Harita scowled. Something about this troubled him.
"Yes, yes. I get it. They're smart and know how to use it. The big question is… how do you know all of that?"
Bian's eyes narrowed into slits.
"What do you mean?"
Harita lingered for a long while, eyeing the woman, watching her movements.
"…Nothing. I guess."
He judged that it would be better not to probe deeper and leave the fact unsettled… for now.
It was then that Lieren politely raised his hand and raised a question. Perhaps the most important one.
"Umm, uh, Harita… could I ask you something?"
The man perked up, his eyes widening a little bit and said in a voice more gentle that usual:
"Sure, go for it. You're involved in this anyway. Might as well tell you everything."
Lieren tilted his head.
"I am?"
Then he shook his head. Now was not the time to be asking such questions. Deep down, he knew this would happen in the first place.
Scratching his head, he tried to remember his prepared question. After a second or two, Lieren asked:
"Why are we doing this?"
Then he shook his head, rephrasing the question.
"Uh… I mean… why us specifically? There are other people more suited for this. Not to mention have more numbers and resources…"
He threw a furtive glance at the unfamiliar woman, staring back to Harita. Bian merely raised her brow and corssed her arms, indifferent to it all.
Lieren continued in a hushed voice that only his Aegis could have heard. At least that is what he thought.
"…You wouldn't have needed to make a Vow then. Why go through all the trouble? You could have just asked somebody else."
Harita opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times. He was genuinely confused about what the incognizant boy had just said to his very face.
Leaning forward and beckoning the innocent boy over to him, he waited for him to come, which he eventually did, and held his shoulder, as though he was taking to his own son. Harita did not have his own son, but he imagined the enriching experience of bestowing them sagely advice to be somewhat close to this.
His voice was gentle and mellow, almost melodic as he muttered with a calm and gentle tone:
"You see, Lieren, life is not always good. In fact, most of the time, it isn't. But it does not always have to be that way. Especially for the people of this forsaken city."
He looked outside, his eyes pointing to the rising sun casting its radiant light over the stone hovels and brick houses of the city of New Mireton, the so-called city of the abandoned. Where the powerful eat like kings and the weak die the way they lived: alone and pathetically.
Harita spared a brief glance to his metal crest. It was so quick that even Lieren doubted his eyes.
"As a member of the mighty Knight's Order, I live, serve, and die for my cause. For the reason, and for my purpose. No matter what, even if it kills me. That is the Vow I have made to myself…"
He looked at Lieren's eyes directly, the green luster within peeling away the darkness as if it was merely a curtain blocking the radiant sun.
"…And that is the Oath I have made to you."
A deep silence lingered. One that everybody respected and followed… until Bian noticed something odd.
She turned to the window, where the sun had mostly peeked and was mostly out. There was a cold glint as she cast Manavision, enhancing her eyesight by multiple-fold. As well as allowing her to see ambient mana.
"I… I see. I understand."
Harita released the innocent boy, letting his thoughts sink in. The naive boy was still young, very young. He had no business getting involved with shady matters and dangerous dealings like this. In fact, all of it was well past his league. This place, this reality, this world he had found himself in, is nothing more than lies and deceit. The cruelest plane, with worst people, and the most repulsive characters. If he had to pick which world he would have wanted to be born in, this was certainly the last place he would have picked.
He wasn't, however. And there was nothing he could do about that.
'But that does not mean that I have to make it any worse than it already is.'
Harita had only known the naïve boy for a little over a month. A paltry amount of time by all standards, but long enough to get to know someone. It was only for a second, the infinitesimal amount of it he could process, but he saw it.
The Strings of Fate had been tautly tied on every part of the naïve boy's body, enclosing him in a enveloping embrace. It seemed to swallow him whole, eat him alive, and keep him anchored to everything else at all times, allowing what was lost to return to him.
He was bound to have faithful encounters. Harita himself could very well had been one of them. Whether that be a blessing or a curse, however. That… that he could not know for certain. He has tried, and he has failed at all of them.
The only thing left was to hope. Hope that, no matter happens, that the god of fate will be on his side. If not, then even the devil will do. As long as they could help him.
Just as Harita's mind began to linger, Bian suddenly stood up, her eyes wide open like a manic person. Her voice was loud and strained as she shouted from the top of her lungs:
"Mistcaster! Somebody is watching us!"