"Hey I found them!" A voice calls out.
The footsteps he heard were a group of rescuers who were lead here by Emma. They uncover Max and get him up.
"Another one over here, he's in terrible condition but he's breathing!" They carry over Ray and Kaito stands up smiling.
They manage to wake Max and Terra but Ray is still unconscious.
They're all escorted safely, the people wrap them in bandages, and hand them warm drinks.
Terra smiles at Kaito. "I can't believe you're seriously a D ranker. A multiple element mage, and you can kick ass?!" She shouts as she pats his back.
Max nods too. "I must agree, I was certainly looking down on you, but you came through for us in the end. I apologize." Max says. They get up and Max shakes kaito's hand.
"I must make a briefing on this and send it back to our guild leader. But it was an honor." Max says. "I apologize we can't do more for you, but we must return to our guild hall." He says.
Kaito nods. "It was great working with you too. I got a new skill out of this and learned a bunch!" He states happily.
Terra messes with Kaito's hair. "Alright little buddy, we'll see you around!" She says happily before they depart.
With everyone gone Kaito is left all alone. He sighs and begins walking back to the town. The pain of his wound still with a fresh sting.
After a while he painfully wobbles back into town.
-----------------
As the city buzzed around him, Kaito's heart weighed on him. Amongst the murmurs of the crowd, he caught snippets of conversation. "Isn't that the loudmouth newbie?" a mocking voice reached him, followed by laughter. "Looks like his head really was too big for his own shoulders," another added, each word a pinprick to his already battered spirit.
"Knew the kid was all talk."
"Looks like he ain't cut out for it after all."
"Kid should pack it up and go home before he gets himself killed."
Yet, despite the ridicule, Kaito found himself silent—a departure from his usual loud self. Pain, both physical and emotional, made him not feel like arguing. As he settled onto a nearby bench, he winced, realizing the pain was more than just skin-deep.
With a sudden downpour, each drop a cold reminder of his solitude. He clutched Lucky gently, tucking him as the rain drenched everything he wore. "It's gonna be a cold night," he murmured, resigning himself to the storm's embrace.
In the relentless rain, his thoughts spiraled back to the battle, replaying his futile attempts against the Graith. A sigh escaped his lips, acknowledging a bitter truth, he couldn't have won alone.
People rushed past him, indistinct blurs muttering and laughing, utterly indifferent.
As he sits alone Kaito couldn't help but feel lonely.
While thinking, Nyla's face surfaced, and with it, a sense of longing for understanding. He pondered the space between him and the world, from the townspeople now to those villagers long ago. Was it true that he would have to be alone?
As the rain continued, Kaito wanted to distract himself from the thoughts, but each attempt led him back to his loneliness. Then suddenly the rain had stopped..
"You know you're gonna get sick if you sit in the rain like this, right?" The voice was gentle, piercing Kaito's despair. He looked up into the kind eyes of a boy his age, an unexpected beacon of warmth, that he needed more then this boy had knew.
The boy stood over him, sacrificing comfort to shield Kaito from the rain. His kindness was a lifeline in Kaito's storm of doubt. "Come with me," the boy urged softly. "It's no good for you to sit here alone."
In that brief moment, amidst the laughter and the jeers, amidst the self-doubt and the rain, a single act of kindness sparked hope in Kaito's heart.