A man with a gray coat hid behind a tree, as he observed three relatively young men with mostly purple uniforms, covered by their windbreakers.
The trio walked towards a cave, hidden in a forest, under the sunlight of the unknown, bright entity.
However, weapons appeared on their hands as soon as their eyes fell on a seemingly normal human male, wearing a black overcoat.
"The fuck is that guy wearing?"
"Must be a stuck-up fool, thinking he's royalty or something."
"Is this the sort of man Reynald wants us to deal with? Even if it's training…"
A frown appeared in Reynald's face, in spite of the gray hood's shadows concealing it partially.
The one with the dark overcoat glanced at the trio, before he disappeared from his spot.
"Eas-Heh?!"
Appearing in front of the lead, he punched one in the stomach and grabbed the second one by the neck, casually.
The flung body crashed into a tree, neither of which broke… somehow.
The old man laid down behind a large bush, and activated a magic circle, creating a small, colorless barrier that wrapped his body with shadows.
"That's more people to interrogate, it seems," casually said the human, as he glanced at the last guy, who held a bright, massive red club in his hands.
The purple one dashed ahead, and attempted to slam his weapon into the stranger's skull…
He let out a sigh, and grabbed the club with his only free hand, before kicking the wielder straight in the chest.
"I guess that's that," he muttered, before releasing the third guy, and knocking him out by lightly bashing his head against the ground.
He manifested a brown, down-to-earth sledgehammer, and placed it down on the ground.
"Time to car-… Ugh, nevermind. You smell too bad," he uttered, glancing at the wet pants of one of the humans.
With that in mind, he carried the three men by dragging one of their feet, and placed them on the topmost part of the handle, next to the sledgehammer's thick, grounded head.
And he walked back to the cave. With the people in tow.
The brown, fertile head of the weapon dug out some of the ground, while it withstood the dead weight of the humans.
All of this happened while the gray man stayed there, his heart shook with horror. 'T-that… W-w-was that a fucking Grade 1? D,did I just see a Grade 1 in action, and… live to tell the tale??'
Not too long after, Randall came back to the cave… and two minutes later, the hooded man sneaked away from there, leaving the crew behind without remorse.
'I-I must report this to the innkeeper. That woman…Yes, she HAS to pull some strings.'
She had to.
… Anyway, back to the passed out trio, and the man who had reached the cave.
"I'm done," stated Randall, recalling the brown sledgehammer. The three bodies resting on it fell helplessly.
"Three more…?" Muttered Jean, eyeing the three passed out individuals.
The captive leader widened her eyes as soon as she recognized the three passed out individuals... All of which worked under one of her bosses.
She recalled some of the times they were mentioned by the manager of her branch. Specifically, their high kill count…
Shivers ran down her spine, after seeing the three of them in such a shape, as if they were beaten down like ragdolls.
"Yes. The more, the merrier." He replied, while putting the awake ones back to sleep temporarily again.
Jean stood there, observing the whole situation. "What should we do with them?"
Hiyoshin, who remained mostly unresponsive for the most part, blinked.
"Logically, we should hand them over to the authorities," vocalized Randall.
Someone's gaze turned slightly cold as soon as she heard those words.
With a tinge of hesitation in her voice, Jean agreed. "It's probably for the best… They will be able to catch the others, using whatever information they can get out of these…"
Hiyoshin clenched her fist, and spoke up. "No."
Both humans turned to look at her, only to meet the beast's bloodthirsty gaze, and her shaking paw-hands.
"They must die," coldly declared Hiyo, while glaring at the passed out humans.
"We're not killing them," brashly answered Randall.
"... Why? Why do you want to keep them alive? Do they deser-"
"Information. We get them and interrogate these sacks of shit, and we might just find where their friends are… Which would allow us to bring down the whole network, opposed to a few cogs in a clock."
The beast-human hybrid stood there, seemingly frozen. Until her mind seemed to regain a shred of clarity.
"I-I shouldn't have spoken… Sorry!"
Both humans looked at her. One, who felt curiosity. For she had never seen her friend acting like that.
As for the other one? He averted his gaze earlier, but he remained wary… And deep in thought.
…
A few hours later, the sun fell, and the moon slowly started to peek out of the horizon.
Randall and his crew handed over the people from earlier to the town's captain, who thanked them for their help.
"You see, these people are part of a bunch of bandits we've been having issues with, so potential leads are always welcome…"
Hiyoshin lowered her eyes, hidden by the hood. Along with her thoughts.
'I don't think they're just bandits… Bandits aren't exactly slave traders, after all,' voiced Randall in his mind.
With that, they dropped off the… eight people, and the orphan beast.
"I hope he finds a home," commented Jean, who thought about the boy.
And they headed back to the inn…
Upon entering, the innkeeper greeted Jean enthusiastically, but gave Randall a half-assed one. And well, she outright ignored Hiyoshin.
They went up the stairs, and made their way to the room they had. With Randall entering first.
The two girls did cover his body and head with a blanket, though, before placing him down on a bed.
"Do us a favor, and stay there for a moment while we change clothes."
"Alright."
Five minutes later, they said it was over. So he got rid of the blanket.
A bunk bed without sheets found itself opposing the one he currently laid on, all of which rested on top of some yellow-ish, woolen rugs. Hiyoshin, wearing a knee-long white shirt, found herself lying down on the wool-covered floor, a dead expression printed on her face.
Meanwhile, Jean sat on the top bunk bed while writing down something in a book. Her downcast crimson eyes remained glued to the paper. And yet, the long sleeved gray shirt she wore almost stole Randall's attention.
'Right, I still have to get back at them…'
Though, he looked at his two companions, and… Oddly enough, he didn't really feel like doing so.
They both looked focused, in their own ways.
The panda-woman's gaze, glued to the ceiling, emanated a strange sense of… Something.
Frustration, for being unable to do anything?
He couldn't figure it out.
As for the human, her upright posture revealed years and years of training and education, both drilled into the depths of her mind. The gentle smile behind her rigid body reminded others of the kind soul that lay within.
A neat handwriting adorned the blank pages, with Jean maintaining the writing's quality effortlessly.
"Is there an issue, Randall?" She inquired, curiously, after spotting him staring at her.
"Oh, it's nothing."
Soon after, they all prepared to sleep. They had eaten dinner a tad earlier, after all.
And, around half an hour later, the trio fell asleep…
But well, not for long.
In the middle of the night, Jean silently got off the bunk bed, and left the room.
She wandered around the town for a while, finding multiple ruined buildings and stacks of materials, such as wood and stone. Luckily, the few wounded she met when she and the others arrived weren't there anymore.
Eventually, she stumbled upon a small sector of the town's walls, partially broken.
She sat down on the grass, and kept her eyes on the structure, for a while.
"Something's off with the wall, Jean?"
"Eek!"
She jumped in fright, only to spot Randall right behind her. "Really, you… ahhh."
"Did I scare you?" asked the mischievous man, as he sat down by her side.
"Yes, you did."
He smiled, and spoke away. "Good. Consider it my revenge, for leaving me bedless for a night."
She rolled her eyes, and ended up staring at the wall again.
"... Jean, do you still feel guilty?"
"Guilty…? Over what?"
"Danpold."
… Her expression turned grim, while memories of the burning town resurfaced in her mind akin to a makeshift boat in the ocean.
Seeing that, Randall released a sigh. "I understand you want to help, but we can't do much reconstruction in one night. Especially without screwing up any potential plans the actual townsfolk have."
The woman's fist clenched, and her fizzled eyes diverted from her companion's, instead opting to focus on the ground around them.
"Rather, maybe we can do something else to help."
Her ears perked up, and a spark appeared in those crimson eyes of hers. "Go on."
"There's a monster nest or something like that nearby, right?"
"No, not really. One of the key nests is located between the northern borders of Weildener, and the demons' territory, while the other one is…"
Her thousand yard stare told him all he needed to know.
"Somewhat far from here. We'd need a few days to arrive there, even if we rode our horses."
Her voice sounded dejected, as those words came out of her mouth.
"… Nevermind then."
And like that, the hope in her heart snuffed out entirely.
The man lifted himself up. "In that case, we should go back. Lamenting won't do much to help these people, but getting a good rest to put in extra effort tomorrow will," he told her, as he extended a hand in her direction.
After staring at it for a second or so, she took a hold of his hand, and got up from the dirt.
***
[Randall's POV]
As I glanced at Jean, whose mind probably found itself focused on the towns we've visited so far, I couldn't help but be focused on something else.
'I sure didn't expect to end the day with hand holding.'
The warmth brought forth by her slender hand… I almost managed to forget what it felt like.
Amidst the storm of thoughts pouring down in my mind, I ended up looking at my side, only to spot the woman staring at the hand. Not even a second after, our eyes met.
"..."
"..."
… Her expression remained neutral, as she looked away.
'This… Well, I wonder if this calls for a celebration?'
As I lightly cheered in my mind, our hands remained together, in an act that many would have considered to be plainly enviable.
… Like this, we arrived back at the inn, and snuck through the window. The same one I left through.
'Is this what being a runaway teenager in a movie felt like?'
She got on the top bed, while I laid back on mine.
"Sleep tight."
She muttered something, and quickly drifted off to sleep.