"Cough, cough!" Cole choked on his chocolate and attracted the attention of the rather skinny young man.
"…Ah? It's you!" He said as he began to approach the seated Cole.
"Oh, hey… We meet again, it seems." Cole spoke awkwardly as he averted his gaze, wiping his mouth with his fingers.
"Indeed, I was so frustrated I couldn't thank you earlier, so it's a great coincidence to be seeing you here." He voiced, his tone and expression seeming brighter.
"Okay… and?"
"Order something to eat, it will be on me." The young man said, raising his hand to get the bartender's attention.
"Ah, Eliran, you're back already? Seems you've got roughened up again."
'Oh, this guy's name is Eliran, huh.'
"Oh please, don't make me remember… But then again, that's why I'm treating… erm?"
Eliran looked at Cole with thinned lips as he realized he didn't know his name, "Cole." He filled in the missing name in Eliran's sentence.
"Yes, Cole. That's why I'm treating Cole since he saved me from some threatening thugs. Like, they literally pointed their blades at me as they asked for money. I guess they were keeping me in check for numerous days to target me like that right when the Haare started."
"Why are you so surprised they would point a blade at you in this day and age, where we can say that the world has already ended?" The bartender kept going at it back and forth with Eliran, a sense of casualty between the two filling the atmosphere which made the lone Cole a little uncomfortable.
"Just because mass destruction has occurred throughout the whole of Goldenvale, Kalor– if not more, we are still living daily. Using magic–which mine turned out to be useless–for daily tasks such as even chores now, let aside those people that are using it for wrong."
Hearing Eliran's words, Kalor simply shook his head, "Eliran, you're too bright and innocent for this world. Have you seen what's happening out there on the daily?"
"I have. Of course I have! And that's exactly why… we must do something about it."
'Oh?'
It happened at that moment that Cole noticed a crack in Eliran's bitter expression.
"Hey, come here with me." Instantly, Cole stood from his stool and pulled Eliran from the back of his neckband towards the gate of the inn.
"Huh?"
"Stay safe out there." Kalor voiced one last time as he turned back to what he was doing.
***
"Kgh!?"
Cole pushed Eliran against the wall instantly and held his Feather Blade just centimeters away from his throat, daring to slice through at any given moment.
"So, what's the deal with you?" Cole asked, his eyes slightly squinted as he scanned Eliran's expression.
'Fearful.'
'Scared.'
'Defenseless.'
'Or that's what he's wanting to make me think.'
"No," Eliran shook his head, "What is the deal with you!? You pull me out here and dare to kill me when you saved my life just earlier!"
"Sigh, and? What if my whim is now to finish you off instead of the thugs earlier."
"W-What…"
With a shake of his head, Cole sighed.
"Hah. Can you drop that act, please, it's really annoying when you know it's fake."
"Huh? What act?"
"Aurgh, and this kid now acts like he doesn't know what I'm talking about. The facade, man, the facade." Cole groaned in exasperation and annoyance.
"I-I got no clue what you're talking about!"
"Look at you, don't you feel cringed out by yourself? I know that you're intentionally shaking your body and shivering your voice. It's noticeable when you come across different scenarios where people really are afraid of you." Cole sighed out and then, what he was only pushing in hopes it was true, did indeed surface.
A huge and wide grin etched itself onto Eliran's thin face. "Aha, I guess you really cannot fool an experienced murderer."
'Murderer…'
"I'm no such thing as a murderer. Simply doing what I must to keep myself alive."
"Yes, yes. Justifications, excuses, pretexts, etcetera, and etcetera. What you're doing for yourself is right and what the others are doing for themselves is wrong. Doesn't it sound like that?"
"I think you don't realize your own position that your life can be taken at any given time from my hands." Cole voiced with an authoritative voice.
"So, now what? You know that the persona is false, now what, are you going to dice me? Slice me? Or peel me?"
"What are your motives?" Cole asked.
"Pfft- The irony. Kg–"
The moment Eliran was about to mock Cole for asking such a question when he clearly as the upper hand, the Feather Blade drew a very small arc on Eliran's throat, a small trail of red streaming down his collarbone.
"Are you a good guy, or a bad guy? Who are you with?"
"Sigh, what are these questions you're making? Typical things a child may ask. But anyways, I shall tell you. I'm a good guy for myself, my family, and my residence. A failure, an annoyance for the branch families, and a curse for the previous head of the family."
"Curse?"
"Yes, they state that it was my fault that my father, Darius, who was supposed to be the King of the Kingdom of Goldenvale, is now dead. Thus, I've been banished from the main family, with only my mother, who was a concubine, giving me a pouch of golden coins to live off of them."
"..."
Taking in the story Eliran just spoke, processing it carefully, and seeing if he missed any details, Cole still didn't let go of the blade. Instead, he deliberately asked another question.
"And, what is the real reason– the true cause of your father's death?" Cole inquired, keeping his attention unwavering.
"Now, I also wonder if you're with that side or not–" With a punch to his jaws, Cole halted Eliran's sentence.
"Speak, I said." Cole spat in a low voice, "What is the real reason?"
"Hmph. It is King Corvus Aurum Goldenvale the Sixth."