"Oh. NOW you choose to wake up."
Bian towered over Harita, her eyes seething with anger.
"…Yeah, well. Somebody had to. On account of your laziness."
She scowled deeply, grimacing.
"What the… The nerve!"
Looking away from the indignant woman, Harita looked to the side. A young boy the age of ten stood by his side.
There was worry in his eyes, which caused him pain, but decided to keep quiet about. It was clear that the boy did not want to talk about it, anyway.
Sighing, he placed a hand atop the boy's head, putting on the best smile that he could.
"Hey, Lieren. How are you doing?"
The boy looked down, then to the side, his eyes somewhat lacking in life.
"…Fine, I guess. I'm doing better than you, at least"
Harita chuckled.
"Is that so? Well, that's good. You're safe. That's all that really matters."
Following his gaze, Harita looked to the side… and shivered.
◇◆◇◆◇
After that, the three decided not to go back to the inn, where their location is but compromised, but to a nearby café instead. Lieren explained what happened after he passed out to his Aegis, explaining how Bian appeared, the unexpected survival of the Mistcaster, his eventual defeat, and the demonic smoke-like entity that almost pierced their eardrums.
Crossing her arms, Bian shrugged, speaking the most important matter of the current situation:
"So what now? We obviously can't return to that inn of yours. You might as well hex yourself at that point. Dozens of people from each alliance are probably just waiting for you to come back there."
Harita nodded. Looking down at the table, he thought about the next best course of action.
"That's true. Who knows what they might throw at us next? It would be better to move someplace else, preferably someplace hidden and aptly secure."
Lieren sipped his tea and joined in on the conversation, raising his hand.
"Umm, I know it's a little late to ask this but... why are they chasing us? We've barely arrived at this town, and neither of us are particularly popular. Wouldn't it be in their best interest to… uh… leave us alone?"
When the two went silent at his words, the naïve boy looked down, twiddling with his fingers. He muttered under his breath:
"…Please?"
Bian sighed and held her head. A deep scowl formed on her face, making her look ferocious and somewhat feral. Her facial expression contrasted deeply with her unique features.
"It's not that easy, kid."
She glared at Harita, which the latter ignored, sipping on his own tea instead.
"Your idiotic friend here, in all his stupidity, killed quite the high-ranking member of the most influential alliance in this city. Joad of the Earth, a Spirit Arts Accomplice with the unique ability to commune with low-level earth spirits and borrow their powers to perform elemental magic with renowned precision. Then there's their go-to-mercenary, Malakith. He wasn't particularly strong, but he was good at his job and did as he was paid to do: stealth and gathering intel. He didn't have any particularly important ancestry or inheritance, just another adventurer living by the coin, doing his best to be alive the next day… until yesterday, when your despicable Paladin here killed him in cold blood."
Harita didn't spare the woman the luxury of regretting his actions, instead choosing to peruse the menu with an indifferent gaze.
Bian gritted her teeth, grinding them irritably.
It was clear from her seething glare and squeezed hand that she did not like the man one bit — despised him, even. As well as she had no choice but to help the man that he hated the most, along with the fact that he cannot hit or betray him, given their agreed-upon Vow.
A look of horror fell upon Lieren's face.
'That man, Joad; Harita didn't kill him. I… I did that. Why did she think that Harita did it? Did… did he do something? What—'
Interrupting his spiraling thoughts, Lieren's Aegis tapped his feet. The man still perused the menu like normal, glanced at him meaningfully for a brief second, and looked back to the menu, as if nothing had happened.
'So he did something.'
Lieren did not know what it was that his Aegis did, or what its effects were, but he was sure that something had been done to alter Bian's perception of last night's event into thinking that Harita was the one that had killed Joan instead of him, pushing all the blame entirely on him.
…Could that have been the reason why had passed prematurely in the battle with the diametric Mistcaster?
Once again, his Aegis had to sacrifice something of his — something of extreme value — because of his own mistakes… just like in the battle with the despicable Witch of Envy where he had lost one of his arms to push out one last devastating blow to Baba Yaga.
Shutting his mouth, Lieren hung his head down, and ultimately chose to stay silent. He took a sip from his tea.
BIan raised a brow, scoffed, then continued:
"Anyway, the HMK Alliance wouldn't keep quiet about that. That much I'm sure about. Though, in my opinion, and judging by experience… they aren't actually mad about your involvement. Instead, I believe they are more interested in your power, that Oath of yours, and the reason why you are here."
She glanced at Lieren, an unreadable expression etched on her face.
"The last of which is rather disappointing."
Lieren closed his eyes and bit his lip.
'...Yeah, I know. I am just a tag-along in this adventure. I may be the reason why he's here, but that doesn't make me qualified to be sitting here... with them… just like everybody else. I'm just a nobody.'
Was it always meant to be like this? To suffer, to be alone, to be exempted, and to have nobody seemed to be such a regular occurrence for him that, everyday, he is constantly reminded of his inability to ever do anything.
He had failed to help the orphanage.
He was branded as an Insig.
He did nothing when the person he looked up to the most murdered his only family.
He lost his first and only friend.
He did nothing but cower when the real world presented itself to him.
He had failed to be of any use when hunting.
He could barely contribute to the fight with the Witch of Envy.
He lost himself and let the being he trust the least take over his body by his own volition.
He lost his second friend.
And now he's nothing more than unnecessary baggage, useless and have no purpose other than to be dragged around and thrown away.
Why is he always like this?
'Maybe… maybe I should just die.'