The next step was to send a letter containing the report back to the Reaper. Since she was wanted alive, he would most likely send someone to pick Katarina up.
Of course, they didn't plan on ambushing him there, because it was not likely he would show
up which was why Katarina would infiltrate his hiding location and Sai would teleport to her side using the bracket she gave him.
"Here goes nothing." Robert wrote the report and folded it neatly. After a minute or two, the letter vanished into thin air as it was teleported away.
"I just hope he wouldn't think this is too much." He murmured as he looked at Katarina who was still bleeding and was in chin closer to death.
He and Sai planned to stop her when she suggested it but when they heard her reasoning, they reluctantly allowed it.
According to her, she said there was a high chance he would notice it if she used magic to create an illusion so she had no choice it to put herself in a state near death.
"Well, it's not like I'll die from this so don't worry." Is what she said and though he knew she was just trying to lift the mood, Robert couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.
"Got it." Sai responded as Robert was lost in his thoughts and Robert looked to find something that he knew he did not have.
Absolute confidence in the girl he trusted.
Worry would have had to be there but trust was paramount as he knew her and knew she would never overestimate or underestimate herself.
And Katarina felt the same way about him.
That was something Robert knew he could never have with her. It was a certain something only the two of them could have.
And that pained Robert.
"And they claim they don't love each other." He muttered.
"Good work." A voice rang out as a black robes man appears in the room.
Robert shook as he didn't even sense anything, not even the man's presence or any sign of magic being activated.
Not wanting to reveal his surprise, he kept his face facing the ground and spoke,
"I thank you for your kind words. As you can see, after the sacrifices of my fellow comrades, I was finally able to I capacitate her."
"I see." Reaper raises Katarina and put her on his shoulders without any regards for her injury and Robert felt his blood boil as the severity of Katarina's wounds increased.
Though he knew she was most likely going to recover, emotions aren't things that follow logic and Robert clenched his fist in an attempt to calm himself down.
"I'll deliver the payment to you later." And with that, the Reaper vanished.
Robert held his breath as seconds ticked by and when he saw that there was no sign of him coming back, he heaved a sigh of relief and was about to signal for Sai when he saw the boy sitting on the ground eating a slice of roasted chicken.
"That was the Reaper? I really doubt it." He said in between bites and Robert stood there with his mouth agap.
"Y-you... You were here the whole time?" Robert squeezed out as he couldn't believe the nerve or this guy.
"Yep. Back to what I was saying. That wasn't the Reaper." Sai nodded and said.
"What do you mean?"
"His life force was too weak. Plus, it seemed that he was weaker than you."
"Eh?"
"It was most likely some sort of clone or something. Either that, or the Reaper is a sham. Which I doubt." Sai used the napkin that came along with the chicken and cleaned his fingers.
"Where did he even get it?" Robert was sure that after the mayhem in the city, the people would have been in too much of a panic to do anything.
"Well, I'm leaving here to you." Sai raised his hand and injected a little mana in the bracket Katarina gave to him.
"I'm off."
...
I found myself in a small, dark cave.
It was surprisingly neat and clean and a bed and toilet were out in the centre.
On the bed, I found a girl with bandages all over her body resting with the eye closed.
Of course, it was Katarina. Looked like the Reaper or whoever picked her up patched her.
"Wait..." But I left almost the same time he did. This work doesn't look like something that can be done in the little time I spent before coming here.
"What's going on?" I muttered and bent down and placed my hand on Katarina's head and began healing her.
Pale green light flowed from my fingertips and I focused my attention on her wounds and gently healed them up.
I might be able to speed up the process but it would cause a lot more pain and the wounds may leave scars.
Because of my reckless healing when I was younger, I have faint scar marks all over my body but most of them weren't visible at first.
And I'm better at healing myself than others.
"Wake up~ it's time for breakfast." I called out and was replied with a finger flick.
"Oww... If you're awake, then say so." I said grudgingly. The flick itself didn't hurt but I suffered emotional damage from it.
" I was awake while you were healing me. I was just a little too injured to talk." Katarina said and lifted her hand to the bandage and was about to take them off and paused midway.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing... Just turn the other way a little."
"Okay...?" I did as she asked and began wondering what was going on when the answer clicked.
"Ah..." Okay, I'm killing the Reaper if he's a male.
"You can turn around now." I replied by turning my body and Katarina flinched as soon as she saw my face.
"Err... Did anything happen?" She asked.
"Nothing. I'm just finding ways to alter reality with magic."
"You're a healer."
"Or use magic to inflict the worst pain a living being can suffer."
"You're a healer."
"This and that are two different things."
"Ehh?"
Well, I wasn't planning on telling what got me worked up. I'm hundred percent sure she would laugh at me.