I ran across the cobblestone floor, looking through every street, peeking through every corner and searching through every house. But there was no one to be found. My breathing had grown ragged, and pain surged through my legs. I crashed against the walls of an alleyway. My body slouched down on the floor, exhausted from all the pointless running.

"There's no point in doing this," Hephy sighed deeply on the comms. "Scarlet's long gone. I don't know how he did it, but that bastard had completely disappeared from my sight."

I slammed my fist against the wall and gritted my teeth.

"What am I supposed to do…?"

"Isn't it obvious?! There's only one thing we can do. We have to kill Dober to get her back!"

"But I don't want to kill anybody…I made an oath not to."

"Screw that damned oath! Scarlet's going to die! You hear me?! What's more important to you?"

I get it. I don't want Scarlet to die. But I also don't want to kill Dober. There aren't any options left for me. Hephy's been yelling at me nonstop to choose the former, but I just can't get myself to break my ideals.

I can't find Kangal, so there's nothing else I can think of. This is hopeless.

Hephy's right.

A familiar cat-eared figure formed itself in front of me. Her appearance split into two halves, black and white, such as her hair and clothes. On her right eye was the color of darkness, and on her left shined a bright azure. But this time, she had worn something a little more elegant, sporting a hooded fur coat. Yet she still didn’t bother covering up her bare legs.

It's been a while since Gray had manifested herself before my eyes.

There's no point in pushing yourself to follow these idealistic delusions. No one's going to praise you for sticking to it. You aren't going to be a Hero at the end of this. Why do you try so hard to keep them? The solution is obvious, choose what matters most to you. Is it the oath you forced on yourself or the girl?

I can’t choose. Deep down inside, I want to believe there is another way out of this. There has to be another choice. I just need to think outside the box.

Well, I guess there’s not much you can do at this point. Take a rest inside one of the buildings nearby. Only then can you decide what your next move is going to be.

I planted my hand on one of the ledges of the wall, using whatever strength I had left to lift myself upward. My legs quivered as I moved them forward.

“Lars! Above you!” Hephy warned me.

I slowly lifted my head upwards. My eyes widened and my chest rose with a shudder. The worst case scenario has become a reality. On the roof was the dog-masked sniper. The same sniper who had been hunting us down with his wind bullets. Why did he have to be here, of all times?

“White!”

I pointed my sword towards the sniper, but my hand was shaking, unable to grip its hilt properly. The sword fell from my hand, and my legs followed soon after. I was on the floor again, laying defenseless against the enemy. The figure jumped down from the roof and used the power of the wind to soften their landing.

“Lars, get up! He’s going to finish you! Hurry! Do something!”

“Wha….”

My eyes closed against my will. I forced myself to open them again, but this time, I was suddenly in a different place.

The floor beneath me felt soft, and a little warm, completely unlike the cold cobblestone floor I was laying on earlier.

This feels too familiar.

“Get up, Lars. You can’t lay on the tatami mats forever. We have a lot more training to do. Don’t give up now,” a man’s voice spoke.

I looked up and saw a wooden blade pointed in front of me, wielded by the figure of a man in dark blue robes.

“You’re never going to be a Hero if you’re like this, Lars.”

Master…..?

My eyes opened once more. This time, I was in an entirely unknown place. I laid in a rather comfy bed, looking up into the wooden ceiling. As I leaned over to the side to check my surroundings, I came face-to-face with a little girl.

“Ah.”

The girl was startled to meet my eyes and quickly turned away to run for the door. Before she had gone completely out of sight, I noticed that she had a slave collar on her neck.

Now, she had left me all alone in the room. Looking around the small area, I realized the place was….naturally decorated. The brick walls were all covered with Glowgrass, lighting the place up with a verdant hue. Glowflowers were also present, standing out amongst the plants with colors of red, yellow and blue. I could not help but stare at the sight of their beautiful shine. It was not too bright, just right enough to lighten up the atmosphere.

Where am I?

Before I could think of anything else, the door opened again. I thought the girl decided to come back, but when I saw who entered the room, my heart leaped out of its chest. The dog-masked figure appeared before me again, but this time, their eyes didn’t have that intimidating verdant glow. I was only a second away from summoning White. However, I noticed the same little girl from earlier, with her hand tugging on the masked man’s pants.

“W-Who are you?” I asked.

The masked man patted the little girl’s head and sent her outside. He closed the door right after, and it was only the two of us left in the room. I didn’t know what to feel about this situation. The man hadn’t spoken a word, leaving an awkward silence in the atmosphere.

“Um, why did you bring me here, uh…sir?”

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Looking closely at the masked figure, I noticed that his hips were strangely wide for a guy, and their chest area seemed a little too prominent….

Oh no. I did it again.

This is the second time, Lars.

“I’m a woman,” a muffled voice spoke inside the mask.

I felt my face warm up. “Sorry.”

The room went silent once again, which was starting to make me feel uncomfortable. I tried asking another question, but she interrupted me.

“A swordsman, a lone wanderer,

In a quest to save his partner.

He who has fallen under,

Has finally awakened from his slumber.”

“Um…..what?”

Did she just make a whole poem out of me?

“What is your name?” she spoke normally this time.

“Lars. What’s yours?”

“My name is Spitz.”

Spitz…where did I hear that name before….? Wait.

“You’re the leader of the Rus Gang, Spitz?!”

“Indeed I am,” she nodded.

I flinched away from her and extended my hand.

“White!”

The magical blade manifested before Spitz, pointing the tip directly towards her neck.

“What do you want from me?!”

“Relax. I’m not interested in anything from you.” Spitz appeared unfazed before the blade and moved away.

She grabbed a bowl of liquid on a table and handed it over to me.

“Drink. It’ll help you recover your full abilities.”

I stopped for a moment to reassess the situation. If she really meant any harm, then she would have already killed me in my sleep. There’s no reason for her to go so far as to pick me up in the middle of the city when I passed out. I should at least consider getting to know her first before jumping to conclusions.

After I had made this realization, I accepted the bowl.

“Thank you.”

She picked up a chair and sat next to my bed.

I quickly sipped in all of the liquid, only to meet up with a bitter flavor that left a lasting impression on my tongue. I nearly gagged out the medicine, but Spitz handed out a glass of water, to which I was quick to accept.

“You should have warned me first,” I said.

“Apologies.”

I placed the bowl and glass on the table and took a deep sigh. I stared into Spitz’s mask, observing its sharp fangs and pointy ears. Its eyes were hollow, but too dark to see anything inside.

“Is it alright if you take off your mask? It’s a little intimidating,” I said.

“Sorry, but I cannot do that,” she shook her head. “This mask is my identity. It is who I am, and it is what shaped me to be the person I am today. If I take it off, no one would take me seriously. Without it, I cannot be Spitz.”

“Fine by me. But I’d like to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“Are you an ally?”

“It depends which side you’re on.”

I winced. “You tried to kill us the first time we met.”

The masked girl shook her head. “I was trying to get your attention. If I was actually trying to kill you, both of you would have been dead by now.”

Figured that might have been the case.

“You know, that isn’t the best way to get someone’s attention,” I scratched my head.

“Maybe not, but it’s the fastest and safest way. I can reach out to you from long distances in an instant and scare any soldiers away.”

Now that I think about it, she does have a point. Even if it threw me and Scarlet the wrong way, it was all actually a blessing in disguise. Those gunshots would scare most people away, which also meant that we encountered far less enemies throughout our journey. At least, up until Chihua found us. That was the next thing I was curious about.

“You were watching us the whole time, right?”

“Not exactly,” Spitz laid her legs on the bed. “But I saw enough to understand most of what happened.”

“If that’s the case,” I held my chin. “Then why didn’t you intervene sooner?”

Spitz looked away from me and didn’t respond. She appeared to be thinking for a little while, tapping her mask as she delved deep into her thoughts, then she finally gave her answer.

“I couldn’t get myself to trust you both yet. I needed to see what you guys were all about. But I had a change of heart after seeing you leave that warehouse looking completely beat up. What exactly happened back there?”

“I challenged Dober to a duel.”

Spitz flinched on her spot. She placed her legs back down on the floor and scooted closer to me.

“Why would you do such a thing?”

“He agreed to step down as leader if he lost to me.”

“You’re a madman. No one’s ever beaten Dober in a fight. I appreciate the attempt, but trying to defeat that man alone is a death sentence. In fact, you’re pretty to survive-No.”

It’s hard to tell from her mask, but her tightened fists and perked-up chest suggested that she was frustrated about something.

“Kangal. He was the one who saved you,” she took a deep breath and relaxed her arms. “Let me guess. He was the one who captured your partner, am I correct?”

“Yes-” I stopped and raised an eyebrow. “Wait, did you not notice him taking Scarlet away?”

“The man’s a tricky fellow. He’s extremely hard for me to track. His water magic allows him to move around unseen. If he wasn’t, I would have captured him by now.”

Her choice of words were rather odd from what I’ve seen from the Under Sectors so far. This made me think deeply, causing me to fall silent for a couple of seconds.

“Hmm…” I rested my nose on my finger. “Did you just say, captured? Don’t you mean you want to shoot him down with that sniper of yours?”

Spitz shook her head. “It’s pointless. Killing the leaders won’t make a difference. Killing anyone won’t make a difference. New people will simply come and take their place, fighting all over again. It’s all just an endless loop of war and betrayal. I’ve seen it happen time and time again.”

My eyes widened as I listened to her words.

Looks like you finally found someone who shares your views.

“W-Wait. You mean, you don’t kill people too?”

“I’d prefer not to. I don’t believe in killing.”

“Then we both-”

BOOM!

A loud explosion echoed from above, causing the room to rumble with specks of dust falling off.. There was something I’ve been wondering about from the very beginning. The sudden noise outside made me remember.

“Where are we? And what was that explosion outside?”

“These are one of my many underground safehouses. I lend them to people in need of protection and shelter and do my best to provide food for them. As for the noise outside,” Spitz stood up and started walking away. “Excuse me for a moment. It seems there is some trouble outside.”

“Let me come with you,” I got up from my bed.

“Just get some rest, I can handle it just fine.”

“No, you’ve already done a lot for me, please. Allow me to help you.”

Spitz looked to the side, then sighed.

“Fine. Let’s go.”