After glancing one last time at the succubus back, Libertas shook his head. He feared that they didn't have much time. He gazed at the two groups. The turmoil inside had been soothed by the monkey-brothers and the villager chief. He waved his hand at them to notify them that he was ready to speak. They saw it, and as such, they steered the attention of the two crowds to him.

Libertas gaze switched between the two crowds. Guilt was hiding deep in his eyes. Hesitating, he thought back. Gradually resolution filled his eyes, dispelling the guilt. He spoke, "I am sorry to have woken you all up in the middle of the night. Who wants to leave with me, will depart with me now. Who wants to stay, stay, and who wants to go down their own path, can do it now."

A man suddenly shouted, "I don't want to go with you. Can I now go to sleep again?"

"Yes, everyone who isn't willing to follow me can go to sleep again. But before that, please let me tell you, a troop is marching in our direction, and I don't know their intention. Trust me, I didn't lie. You can leave now."

There was short turmoil in one group. They clamoured and debated before they quickly dispersed back to their home. The village chief and the elder glanced at him, doubtful of the verity of the information. After a short futile discussion between themselves, they too left for their home.

Soon, most villagers were back in their home. Only a small part of the humans remained. Even then, most of them didn't belong to this village. The rest were young ambitious men seeking for the fortunes at the journey with him. None from the beast-men left.

Libertas gazed at the rest. He then took a deep breath before he continued to speak, "You have decided to come with me. Then are you aware of the hardships? Wandering in forests. Marching on plains. Climbing up mountains. Crossing through rivers. All these hindrances may stand in our path, and maybe even more."

Looking around, Libertas saw no leave. He sighed, "Then go, pack up. Take as few as possible, and take only as much as you need. We will soon depart!"

Later, a group marched out of the village. There weren't any carriages travelling with them, they were left behind in the village. At the front of the group were Libertas, Igor, the monkey-brothers, and a little beast-girl. Libertas sighed while throwing one last glance at the village. Igor patted on his shoulder, "Your Excellency, don't worry. I will be there protecting you. There won't allow any harm to be done to you as long as I am by your side."

"Thanks, Igor, but-"

The little beast-girl interjected, "Stop it! No buts! He is protecting you, there is no need for buts. Aren't you happy? Just be grateful, no buts! Do you understood?"

Seeing her angrily berating, the monkey-brothers patted her fiery red hair to calm her down. It did help, as she pouted, then harrumphed before she gazed into another direction as if she disdained to look at Libertas. Soon the group entered the forest.

"Hey, look!"

"Fuck, what happened?"

"To hell, there is a fire at our village."

"Luckily, I left with the group."

"Damn it. Weren't the most elders left behind."

"Curse you, my father is there!"

"Wait! I will come with you! My grandpa is there too!"

Hearing the shout from behind, Libertas turned around. Clouds of smoke covered the sky. Under it was a blazing flame brightened the night sky. Gradually, devouring a village, leaving a trail of ash behind. Libertas had a bad premonition. Was this done by the troop? As if to confirm it, the troop walked out of the burning village. Seeing some of the villagers had already run off to the village, Libertas shouted, "Stop! You can't go! You will only die! You wouldn't be able to save anyone."

Some didn't care and continued to run to the village. Others cursed and rushed to Libertas. Igor and the monkey-brothers stepped forward, blocking their path to Libertas. Due to that, they couldn't reach Libertas. They could only shout and curs at him.

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"Fucking lowlife. Didn't you already know the troop were coming?"

"You shitty arsehole, fight like a man! Don't hide like a coward!"

"Do you fucking know what you have done? You killed a fucking whole village!"

"My father, my mother, my brother, my friends. It was all and only because of you that they are now dead!"

"Fucking hell! Why the hell are you still alive? They are all dead and you still dare to live? Scum like you should just fucking go die!"

"Why the hell is in this fucking world only fucking injustice? How can we live with the fucking devil beside us? Shouldn't evil like you be dead? Or better, not even be born!"

"What fucking right do you have to live? None! You damned others to death, and you want to live! Dream on!"

Igor frowned. Looking back, he saw Libertas looking down at his feet. Involuntarily, Libertas bit on his lips. The resolution in his eyes slowly faded away, and was gradually replaced by pain. His new will to live was slowly but surely gnawed away. The entire body shivered. His hand constantly twitched, and his throat tensed up. It was almost like as if he suppressed the urge to forcefully strangling himself to death. The little beast-girl clung on his arm, hiding behind him, shivering. Igor looked back to the angry men. Taking a deep breath, he shouted aloud, scaring the angry men.

Igor raised his hand high, then continued yelling, "Are you all retarded?! Didn't he tell everyone a troop was coming whose intention was unknown? He is only a child! What could he do? Are blaming all this really on an innocent child? As he told you a troop was coming, none of you believed him! And now, are you truly targeting him as the scapegoat? A disappointment! Who taught you this? Your parent wouldn't be proud of you bullying a little child!"

"Fuck-"

Igor slapped, "Shut up! Don't curse in front of children! Are you still trying to blame the child? Every single one of us do mistakes. Some more, some less. And this was our mistake, not his. He told us, we didn't believe it!"

"Fuck you! I don't fucking care!"

The one slapped by Igor cursed again, but instead rushing at Libertas, he gave up and walked away. The others stared dazed at him until one looked back at Libertas and apologized. Swiftly, one by one, they recovered from their daze and apologized.

"Don't mind him. He was always a jerk. Sorry about that."

"Aren't you embarrassed?"

"We are sorry."

"I apologize."

"Sorry. I was out of my mind."

"Boy, it's my fault. You saved us, don't mind what we have just said."

Libertas looked up, his expression twisted in pain. The nails of the little beast-girl were digging into his flesh. He didn't notice it until now, as he was lost in his mind. As he tried to shove her hand away, she trembled harder and the nails dug deeper into the flesh. Her eyes were tightly closed. Libertas' hand froze for a moment, then he placed it atop he head, gently stroking through her hair.

A mocking smile appeared on Libertas face. Didn't he want to live? Why was he now wallowing in self-pity? Couldn't he remember the reason why he desired to live? He wished to enjoy life to the fullest, to live free and unrestrained. Was wallowing in self-pity a part of it? Definitely not!

Libertas gazed up, to stare back into the former angry men's eyes. A defiant glint flashed by in his eyes. He spoke composed, "I appreciate your apologizes, but we don't have time for this. They burned down the village, this can't possible means anything good for us. We need to go now."

Libertas raised the little beast-girl to carry her like a princess in his arms. He nodded for the last time at the angry men and walked further into the forest. Igor and the monkey-brothers glanced at each other and then sighed. Swiftly they coordinated the disorganized group to follow them deeper into the forest.

The former angry men frowned. However, they still followed the group as they didn't know what else they should do. Grumpily they wandered at the end of the group while they muttered under themselves. The one slapped by Igor was with a group of four. However, they walked particularly slow, a lot slower than the others. As such, they hinged behind everyone.

A, "Isn't he to conceited? Who does he think he is? The fucking King?"

B, "Did you see how he looked at us? I tell you, he disdained us!"

C, "Don't think too much, he is only a kid."

A, "Yeah, an innocent kid who murdered our family and friends!"

C, "Calm down man. Didn't you see the armoured men walking out of the village? It was them, not him."

A, "Fuck, how could I? My fucking family and friends died! How could you be calm?! Oh, I remember. Weren't you that outcast we bullied years ago? I bet you are happy now, huh? Now we are like you, without any family or friends. Happy? Fuck you!"

C, "Shut up! I have believed you have changed, but now, it seems to be only a delusion from my side. See you never again."

A, "Tsk, who wants to see you again?"

B, "Disregard him, he is only a bother like always. Hey, did you see that sword of the one who slapped you?"

D, "Yeah, to hell! I bet he would even have killed us if we were in some secluded alley!"

A, "Pah, isn't he just a dog?!"

D, "Yeah, no. He is even lower than a dog!"

B, "Hey, wait a moment."

A, "What? Do you now want to be like that shitty outcast?"

B, "No, turn around! Doesn't it seems the armoured men are chasing up to us?"

D, "What? How can it be possible?"

A, "Fucking hell! Won't they soon reach us if they run like this?"

D, "What should we do?"

B, "Should we tell it to the others?"

A, "To hell! No! Lets us just get our arse the hell out of here!"

D, "Roger! Let us go now!"

B, "Quiet now! The others can't notice us or the hell will break out here!"