"So, do you need some help burying them?" Redd asked as he looked at the two dead people. Just the mere sight of their unmoving corpses truly stung Redd's heart. Looking at corpses was never and will never be easy for him, that was for certain.
"I can bury them myself. But, you can help. We're friends after all!" Shade exclaimed.
Nodding his head, Redd crouched down and slowly lifted up one of the two dead people gently before he carried him to the hole and put him inside with ease. Shade watched this sight with a stupified expression.
Then, he approached Redd and started touching his arms and shoulders. The boy watched this weird behavior with confusion. Eventually, Shade stopped and nodded his head.
"You're really strong, Redd."
"Hm? Am I now?"
"Yeah! You look like a puny weakling but you sure pack some muscles."
"Thank you?"
"Hahaha, don't worry! Anyway, let's continue."
They then buried the second corpse and filled the holes with dirt to the brim. After that, Shade brought two wooden tombstones and pinned them on the graves.
"By the way, why don't you put their names on the tombstones? Why the numbers?" Redd decided to ask after a while. He was really curious as to why Shade actually did that.
However, the quirky young man seemed hesitant to respond.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"No, no, it's not that. I just thought that… If I used numbers instead of names, I could preserve my sanity till I finally bury the last one." He replied.
Redd was completely frozen in his place as he looked at Shade with a questioning gaze.
"When the illness hit the village, most people died in the first two days while the rest were bedridden for a longer while. So, I had to bury them myself while taking care of the sick. I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle it mentally if I carved the name of each person I knew. Each name carried a precious memory for me. They were all a bunch of idiots, but they were kind idiots. I really loved them, you know. They were my family. I couldn't handle carving their names into wood… I really couldn't."
"..."
Redd was speechless. He seriously regretted asking Shade this question. To think that such a weird secret turned out to be even more tragic than he could have expected.
But, Shade seemed to realize the solemn atmosphere he created with his words so he quickly chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"Ehem, anyway, I think this is well and done." Exhaling a long breath, he glanced at the vast land filled with tombstones with a sad yet vibrant smile.
"This village was surely a big one." He murmured.
"Yeah. You did a great job."
The two stood there for a while before Shade suddenly wiped his tears that threatened to spill out before he turned around and exclaimed loudly.
"Let's leave!"
"... Ok."
The two then started walking out of the graveyard while chatting.
"By, the way, what's up with the chains around your body?"
Redd tried to ignore them but they were seriously too eye-catching to ignore. They were basically Shade's biggest feature that made people look at him. Taking a closer look at the chains, they were wrapped around his torso and arms.
Their color was a slightly bluish-black with small blue veins that penetrated the rings of the chain like the veins of blood a human body would have. Redd was certain they weren't just some normal chains at all.
"Oh, these? Thes-" As Shade was about to explain, his eyes suddenly looked ahead of him with a serious expression.
Redd also had looked up, ignoring their conversation. Ahead of them appeared the looming silhouette of the man Redd expected to see at any moment. Butler had arrived.
"Oh, hey, tall gu-"
Before Redd could even finish his words, the quirky boy next to him had suddenly dashed forward at top speed, surprising the young boy. Closing the distance between him and Butler, Shade suddenly extended his arms forward.
Without any prior warning, the chains wrapped tightly around his arms launched forward at top speed. They swayed and danced in the air like venomous snakes, flying toward their targets. The blueish veins shone with a great light as the chains connected successfully with Butler.
*BANG*
The collision was very loud, sending a small cloud of dust in the air.
However, what happened next shocked both Redd and Shade. Butler had surprisingly grabbed the two chains with his bare hands.
'Those chains lashed out powerfully! They could've cut an arm easily yet he caught them with ease!' Redd particularly understood how amazing what Butler did.
As for Shade, he simply clenched his teeth as he tried to pull the chains away. But, the tight grip on the chains was immovable.
"Hnng! Bastard, let them go!" Shade's face frowned angrily as he suddenly exploded with Aether. Then, he dashed forward and jumped in the air. At the same time, the chains wrapped around his torso exploded forward with great momentum, aiming for Butler's head.
A normal human would never have time to even react to the first attack let alone the second one which was stronger and more lethal. Without waiting for the attack to end, Shade wanked his arms down, sending a wave across the chains toward Butler.
'A triple attack! That's amazing! How can tall guy dodge that?!' Redd's thought of stopping his new friend vanished at this sight. The fact that these chains were a weapon completely captivated him.
However, his captivation wasn't long-lived as the next second something shifted.
"Wha-" Before Shade could even react properly, he suddenly felt a powerful strike that knocked him forward. His eyes widened for a second before they closed completely and he fell forward, unconscious.
Butler had suddenly appeared next to Shade and struck his nape. However, before he could fall face-first on the dirt, Butler grabbed him.
"Did he accept?" He asked Redd with a calm expression and unwavering tone. In fact, during this whole ordeal, Butler's expression didn't change at all as if this was nothing.
"... Yeah, he did."
"Let's go." The man didn't add another word as he turned around lifted Shade on his shoulder and started walking back to the ship.
Meanwhile, Redd watched from behind, not knowing how to react. Seeing this overwhelming defeat was shocking as much as it was eye-opening. It gave him a sense of how powerful people could be in the outside world.
'I couldn't even see him move. That's absurd…'
Butler was lightning quick and extremely efficient, not wasting a single breath. Compared to him, Redd felt like he was a toddler, learning his first step. His ego and amazement at his own power were hit.
But, he didn't feel down at all, in fact, as he watched Butler walk away, his smile widened. His competitive spirit flared.
"If I work hard, I can become like that in the future! It's definitely possible!"
Many would feel crushed by this inferiority, but not Redd. He would find motivation even in the most unlikely of things.
So, with more determination and longing for the future to come faster, he followed after Butler with a smile. Walking through the dead city, an unbelievably tall man carrying an unconscious chained young man and a cheerful boy made their way back to the gigantic ship.
Everything started and ended before the sun even fully rose above sea level.