Traveling the road was calming. Seeing new scenery, watching other travelers pass by, finding a spot to camp – it was all peaceful. Perhaps because he was old, these feeling seemed to be stronger than before.

On the third day of the journey, they conversed at a steady trot.

"Does it really hold all the knowledge of the continent? And that it is untouched by politics of the houses?"

"Yes, scholars from all over the continent either came from there or wants to go there, Teigen City has been declared free of any continental conflict. Even if the continent burns itself down, Teigen City is supposed to remain untouched. The agreement dates back to the time when the five high houses were still young."

Keagan and Hughie said, respectively.

Russ asked the obvious question: "What if someone decides to attack it?"

Hughie scoffed as he answered, "Then they are fools, those who attacked will never be safe, no matter where they are on the continent. The entire continent will chase these fools and hunt them down. There have been attacks, but none succeeded. Those who tried have been thoroughly destroyed, commoner or lord alike." Hughie spoke with awe in his voice, reveling in the history.

"Have you been there?" Keagan asked. Teigen City is definitely one of the top priorities on his list to visit.

Hughie's awestruck expression faltered. "No," he admitted, "the journey is long. Located in the center of the continent, near the Floating Valley, it's a hard trek not everyone could manage. Not to mention, I've heard that not just anyone can enter the city."

Days of learning the conversing and hearing the language have slowly made him proficient in it, although there are still some words he doesn't understand.

Floating Valley... Keagan had heard of this from the person he learned the language in Eberia, but never received a full description.

"How about this..." His question trailed off as smoke could be seen rising from the distance, within the forest.

The trees blocked his incredible eyesight, though. But then he heard something. He stopped his horse, and Hughie did the same. Russ followed a beat later, his control of his horse still lacking.

"Is that normal?" Keagan asked Hughie.

"I don't think so," Hughie replied.

Keagan then tilted his head, straining to hear the young, whispering voices that entered his ears.

He dismounted from his horse as Russ took the reins. Stepping into the forest, he stopped after traveling a certain distance.

"Come out, I'm not going to hurt you," he called out, waiting for a response. Before long, something moved behind a dead tree, and two figures emerged: children.

They were dirty, tinged with ash. Bruised and disheveled.

Two children, a boy and a girl, greeted him. The boy couldn't have been older than twelve, the girl even younger.

Seeing their state, a frown creased Keagan's face. This, however, made the two children tremble in fear. The older one stepped forward to protect the younger, and Keagan softened his expression immediately.

"Young ones," Keagan addressed them gently, "what happened to you?"

The boy answered after a moment, his voice quivering slightly. "Our village was attacked, my lord... bandits..." He tried to put on a brave front, but it faltered.

"Bandits?" Keagan muttered, his voice lacing with a tone of doubt. "I had already eliminated a bandit camp. Now there's another group of bandits roaming about?"

There are usually two common reasons why bandits form: one is famine, and the other...war.

Keagan crouched to their eye level.

"Come here. I won't hurt you. Have you eaten?"

The younger one, presumably his sister, peeked at him. The fear in her eyes lessened, and for a second, a storm of rage rose inside him to those who made her feel so. He quickly calmed himself down.

Seeing that they didn't move, Keagan beckoned again. "Come," he said, "tell me what happened. I will make sure the bandits pay for what they've done."

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Those words seemed to spark a flicker of hope in the boy's eyes as he slowly approached, along with the girl.

When Russ and Hughie saw Keagan again, he was carrying a little girl in his arms and a boy by his side.

"Find a place to make camp," Keagan said. "They need food and rest." Russ immediately followed the order. They found a small clearing near the road on the side. A fire was lit, and the food they had previously hunted was cooked over it.

"What happened, sir?" Hughie asked.

"Bandits attacked their village," Keagan explained. "Hughie, is there war brewing in these lands?" The little girl, who had been silent, had now fallen asleep on his shoulder. He didn't dare raise his voice louder.

Her brother stood beside him, his gaze never leaving his sister.

This question startled Hughie, and he immediately responded, "Not that I know of. The last great war was 31 years ago, when the three high houses dethroned House Allista. Even then, the southern region was spared from it. There was a rebellion some 10 years ago but it was quickly handled."

Keagan nodded at that and turned to the boy. "What is your name, young one?"

"Ollie, my lord," the boy answered, "and that's my sister, Livia."

When the smell of the cooking meat wafted through the air, Keagan heard the child's stomach rumble. Still, he didn't take his gaze away from his sister.

"Can you tell me what happened, Ollie? If it's too much, you don't have to tell me."

But the boy, eager to tell his story, spoke with anger in his voice…

It was early morning when the shouts of alarm jolted the boy awake. His mother hurried them inside to hide. He heard shouts from outside: shouts of pain, laughter, and screams.

The boy peeked out the window of their house. Suddenly, fire erupted on their roof. With no other choice, he led his sister out the back door. They didn't look back.

Only after they'd run a certain distance did they see the state of their village: burned and bodies on the ground. They couldn't see where their mother was.

The boy wanted to go back there to look for his mother, but with his younger sister with him, he couldn't. When they heard the sound of mocking laughter, they bolted. They ran as far as they could.

Although the story was fragmented and out of order, Keagan was able to understand the gist.

As the story ended, the little girl in his arms shivered.

"Mama..." she whimpered, her voice barely a whisper, before burying her face in his chest.

A faint crack of a twig snapped beneath approaching footsteps entered his ears.

His expression flattened. He very carefully pried the girl's hands off him. He looked at Russ, then at the bedroll tied to a horse. Russ immediately understood.

Soon he laid the little girl on the bedroll.

"Eat and gain your strength," Keagan said to the boy. Then, he stood up and looked at Hughie and Russ.

"Protect them both. I'll be back," he said simply.

"But sir..." Russ spoke out indignantly.

"Protect them, Russ," Keagan said. Something in his tone made Russ gulped and nodded.

"In five minutes... you can follow me to the village. Remember, after five minutes," Keagan added after a pause.

Keagan then looked down at the boy, his gaze complicated. He ruffled the boy's hair and said, "Be strong for your sister..."

The boy nodded silently, seeming to want to say something but couldn't.

"I'll find your mother, don't worry," Keagan said, though he knew her chances of survival were low.

Then he was off to the direction where the smoke was coming.

Enhanced senses were a boon, but too much stimulation became overwhelming. That's why he spent a lot of time training to achieve a form of selective sense. He could choose to hear or smell only what was important in the moment. However, what constituted "important" depended entirely on the context, making it a constant challenge.

Ragged breathing and the sound of footsteps jogging away filled his ears. He could even hear the faint mutterings of the fleeing figure.

When he reached a certain distance, his vision split momentarily as a bird flew in front of him. Through the split vision, he saw a figure trying to run away – a scout.

Without waiting another second, he lunged forward, his speed bursting so intensely that the ground beneath his feet exploded in a spray of dirt. His split vision instantly shared the same view, the face of a bearded man who didn't even have time to react before Keagan swung his fist and knocked him unconscious.

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"Ugh... hells, what?" The man groaned as he woke up, the ground scraping against his back making him realize he was being dragged.

He groaned again, trying to raise his head to see the back of the figure holding him by the leg. "Who... are you?" he asked with difficulty, trying to get his bearings. When he discovered the dagger still tied to his hip, a glint flashed in his eyes.

"Why did you burn a village?" His captor's voice was flat and cold.

"I didn't burn no villages," he groaned in response, minutely shifting to hide his arm's movement.

"Were you sent by someone?" His captor asked again, ignoring whether he had answered or not.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the man stammered. "I'm just a hunter trying to find food..." He shifted his body, resisting being dragged, but it was futile.

"A hunter," his captor repeated. "Is your prey the two children?" This time, the captor turned, his orange eyes meeting the man's

Sweat trickled down his neck. "Aint got a clue what you're talking," he denied vehemently. As his captor opened his mouth to speak, the man seized his chance. In a swift motion, he lashed out with his dagger, aiming for the captor's leg.

A sneer contorted his face as he watched the blade connect with the back of the thigh, only to stop before it could truly pierce the cloth. "Eh?" he muttered, stunned.

Keagan squeezed his grip on the man's legs. A sickening crunch echoed through the forest as the bone was crushed.

"Arrrgghhh!" The man wailed, dropping the dagger in his struggle to free his leg. But his efforts were in vain.

"Doesn't matter, I'll know soon..." Another crunch echoed through the forest, followed by another scream of pain.

Keagan walked with the unconscious scout on his hand. Lost in thought.

Throughout his life, he had made enemies of those who wronged him and sought to harm him or those around him. Each time, he had ensured they paid the price, one way or the other, but one enemy always remained.

Reaching the village, he saw no more than two dozen houses, all burned and bodies can be seen on the ground. Birds circled the ruins. Through them, he spotted bandits – clearly prepared with bows and arrows, as if they were expecting him.

His face remained expressionless, but his eyes darkened considerably, like a stormy sunset.