“Home?”, asked John, “I don’t have a home...”, he added and looked towards Orph, “Unless you mean the orphanage...”

“About that...”, said Orph, “I may have destroyed it...”, he added.

“What do you mean you destroyed it?”, John exclaimed in shock. He sighed, “Well... it was mostly filled with bad memories, so I am glad... in a way...”, he sighed again.

“Why? Were you planning on taking over it...”, Orph smirked and pointed towards the principal’s body, “Since he’s dead?”

“I have dreamed about seeking revenge and destroying the place myself...”, he replied while sighing. He looked at Orph and patted his shoulder, “Thanks for saving me.”, he smiled.

“It was a team effort...”, said Orph.

“That is was... Thank you all!”, John replied as he looked at everyone who came to save him there.

“No... the kingdom has failed you... we only did our job...”, said Dave as he looked at John. He then went deep into thought before adding, “I will try my best to find you all a means to live.” and pointed towards the whole group.

‘And I know a place where you can live... at least for the time being.”, said Orph.

“But... Where are the others?”, he added.

John looked down on the ground, “Sold...”, he sighed as he closed his eyes and looked at Orph, “They were sold... I don’t know where, but they were sold...”, he sighed again, “I guess I was lucky...”

“It’s not your fault...”

“It was none of your fault...”, John looked at the principal’s body, “Can you leave his body to rot?”, with anger in his eyes.

Dave sighed, “I can’t do that...”

John looked at Dave with anger in his eyes and kicked the principal’s body with full force, “Alright.”, he calmed himself, “Alright... Everyone has their beliefs...”, he sighed.

“Are you alright?”, asked Orph.

John nodded, “I’m sorry.”, he sighed.

“It’s alright... It’s understandable.”, said Dave as he ordered the royal guards to take care of the body. John couldn’t take it anymore and went outside of the cave. With Orph and Eric following him.

“Why are you following me?”, scowled John while looking at Orph, with eyes that could kill.

“I don’t know...”

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John sighed, “I’m sorry...”, he looked at Orph with sadness in his eyes, “I don’t how to feel, now that I’m finally free...”, he laughed. “The number of times I’ve dreamt of revenge...”, he looked up in the sky as he smiled, “Those are some beautiful stars... they appear even more beautiful when you’re free.”

Orph and Eric nodded but didn’t speak, they let John soak it in and calm himself. Soon, the royal guards came out of the cave alongside Dave carrying the body out, and started to dig a hole.

“Burial huh?”, said John.

“Dave buries every dead body he could...”, Orph replied as they all looked at the process.

“This Dave...”, John held his tongue and looked at Orph, “He’s interesting.”

Orph smirked, “We never really learn much about him at the orphanage but...”, he let out a laugh, “He’s considered to be the best knight in our kingdom.”

“The best knight?”, John couldn’t help but laugh.

“He is very strong.”

“I believe you...”, John stopped smiling as the royal guards kept digging, “It’s just that he’s the pinnacle of what we studied but he was never mentioned...”, he sighed again as they watched the rest of the burial in peace.

After the burial, Dave came to the center of the camp and asked for everyone to join him.

“We will discuss this when we reach the capital.”, he looked around, “The royal guards will take everyone except the knight cadets to the capital.”, he looked specifically at the cadets, “We all have a different place to go to...”, he smiled, “Think of it as a holiday.”

Orph said his goodbyes to John, as he went alongside Slav and the royal cadets back to the capital.

“Where are we going?”, asked Eric.

John smiled, “To a county. I hear they have snow at this time of the year.”

“Snow?”

“I’ve never seen snow!”, smiled Cess.

Dave laughed as he led them toward their destination.

Sometime after, in the slave camp

“Sir.”, a soldier opened the door to a carriage as a man came out of it.

“There’s no sign of them?”, asked Esting.

“No, sir.”

“Hmm...”, Esting wondered, “Interesting...”, as he looked at the cave filled with magic stones.

“Did they run away?”, asked the soldier.

Esting looked at the soldier and thought for a while in silence before breaking it, “No... Probably not... They’re probably dead.”

“There’s dried blood on the cave, sir.”, said another soldier coming out of the cave.

“The village has burned down...”, said another soldier following the previous one.

Esting sighed, “I’m afraid I was right.”

“If they were alive, they would’ve contacted me by now.”, he sighed again.

“Looks like I’ve lost two comrades...”, he added as he looked up in the sky.

“What about the magic stones, sir?”

“Leave them be... This area is compromised.”, Esting smiled, “But! Don’t worry!”, he added and giggled, “There’s a lot of magic stones to be found here!”

He walked to his carried and looked at the soldier near him, “Release them.”

The soldier complied as three giant ogres came out of a caged carriage.

“Food?”, asked one of them.

“Yes. Food. You’ll find plenty if you go there.”, said Esting while pointing towards the jungle nearby.

“Food!”, the three giant ogres went away, obeying Esting and never looking back.

The soldier opened the gate of the carriage as Esting sat down, “To our destination, sir?”, the soldier asked.

Esting nodded, “This ought to be fun.”, and smiled as carraige went forward.