“Hm. I wonder how Draco is doing,” John muttered as the group continued down the tunnels.

They’d been going for about a day, stopping only to fight monsters or harvest special ores. They were settling into a comfortable rhythm. Danjo pointed out what he needed, and then Fate and Prota stood guard while John mined. This was more often than not followed by complaints of slave labour, but they never really stopped to help him. After all, they finally had a chance to make him do his fair share of work.

“Phew,” John panted as he wiped his brow. “Seriously, this is getting kind of heavy. C’mon, Fate, you don’t have an inventory or something like that?”

“A what?”

“You know. Some kind of subspace dimension or something. Surely you have something like that, right?”

“Does it look like I have a storage ring on me?” Fate said, showing his hands.

“A what?”

“...seriously.” Fate just stared at John with tired eyes. “Why would you bring up an inventory?”

“Dunno. It’s just common in scenarios like these.”

“I don’t know what kinda… you can’t just keep throwing out guesses and hoping you’re right, you know that?”

He took the bag of materials from John and put it into his cloak, and when his hand came out, there was nothing there.

“...but I was right, wasn’t I?”

“You’re not getting anything out of me,” Fate grumbled. “Let’s keep moving.”

Danjo looked at Prota, who seemed bored. He didn’t dare ask John or Fate about their arguments, and so the only person who seemed sane enough to answer his questions was Prota. But Prota wouldn’t answer him, so all he could do was infer based on her expression, and it seemed that these kinds of discussions were common.

Other than that, though, the trip downwards hadn’t been too bad. Danjo was still afraid. It wasn’t like he was going to be immune to fear after one speech, but there was a new flame in his heart. He had a goal. As long as he kept that goal in mind, he could keep going.

Meanwhile, John and Fate had already switched to a different topic.

“Hey, so you’re comfortable with killing, right? As long as it’s not unnecessary? Then how about we kill Draco? Come on, please?”

“That’s needlessly killing.”

“He’s tried to kill us. Surely that’s a good enough reason, right?”

“...there’s also the consequences of killing a noble, you know?”

“If we do it here, no one will know…”

“His subordinates?”

“You’re boring.” John sighed. “Fine, whatever.”

They were still walking down the tunnels when Fate held his hand up, motioning for everyone to stop.

“Hey. Did you hear that?”

John frowned and shook his head. “I’ve got the hearing of a normal person, remember?”

“Listen.”

Everyone stopped and strained their ears. Danjo and Prota could hear it. The sounds of fighting. Suddenly, there was a loud cry that even John could hear.

“Let’s go!” Fate yelled, bursting into a sprint.

“What? That was clearly Draco’s voice!” John panted, following.

“We can’t just leave him to die!”

“Of course we can!”

Fate looked at John, still running.

“If everyone besides us leaves this dungeon dead, we won’t escape unscathed. It’s not about being kind, John. It’s about using your head.”

“I- damn. Goddammit,” John cursed. Fate was right.

The group burst into the large room Draco and his party were in, where they were fighting some kind of purple monkeys with large sharp claws.

“What the- you!” Draco snarled as he pushed a monster away with his fire. “How are you here?”

“What do you mean?” Fate yelled as he leapt into the fight, slashing at another of the monkeys. “Did you think we were dead?”

Draco’s mouth shut suddenly at the question.

“Fine! Just help me out!” he yelled, despite the fact that Fate was already on the path to doing so.

Prota was helping, too, but John and Draco didn’t have much to do. John pulled his pistol out, but the monkeys were moving so quickly that he couldn’t get a good bead on any of them. Ultimately, he and the dwarf were useless here.

“What the hell are these things?” he yelled.

“Savages! Monkey mana beasts, they’re extremely intelligent and have acidic properties! Don’t get hit by any of their attacks!”

John gulped as he looked at Danjo.

“Hey. Let’s leave.”

“But-”

“Fuck your growth period! Right now, we can’t help them. We need to get the fuck out of here before we die!”

Before Danjo could argue, John picked him up and ran out of the room.

“Prota! We’re fine! Go!”

Prota looked over and saw John leave through a tunnel. She nodded. If he wasn’t fighting, then he’d probably be safe.

She turned her attention back to the savages.

“Hey, you remember, right? Chant your spells. And make sure to only use fire and ice,” Fate muttered as he bumped into her.

Prota didn’t really want to chant, but Draco was nearby. If she was going to use powerful spells, she had to blend in. There were eight savages attacking the group, with three dead on the ground, presumably having been dealt with by Draco’s party. Now, Fate and Prota had joined the fray.

It was a pretty even fight.

However, unlike the rest of the group, Draco had no solid experience in real combat. Despite his proud demeanour and strong ego, he was trembling as he chanted spell after spell, mostly missing his enemies anyways.

“Young master! Watch out!” Elena yelled, shoving him out of the way of an attack with a gust of wind. However, it was a little bit too late.

Just a tiny bit of acid grazed Draco’s leg, but it stung. Granted, it wasn’t a large amount of pain, but it was pain.

Something Draco was used to avoiding.

“Ah… ahh… ahh!!!”

Draco’s eyes bulged as he got to his feet. At that moment, a savage was leaping at him, far away, but getting closer. Draco’s head whirled around. Nearby. That girl was nearby. He didn’t even remember her name, but he did know one thing.

“You!” he yelled, grabbing her. “Protect me!”

Prota’s eyes widened in shock as Draco grabbed her arm and flung her in front of the attack before sprinting off into another tunnel, presumably the one they’d come in through.

“It’s only right that you lot die instead of me! I’m outta here!” Draco yelled as he disappeared into the tunnels.

Time seemed to slow down for Prota. The acid in front of her. It wasn’t magic. It was a liquid. Could she stop it? She didn’t know. She could feel the blood pumping through her veins, energy coursing through her body, begging her to move, to do something, to-

“Move!” John yelled, ploughing into her. The acid skimmed across his back, creating an awful sizzling sound as he burned through his skin.

He grit his teeth, somewhat muting his cries of pain, but both of them were alive. Prota quickly froze his back as he got up, tears streaming from his eyes.

“Fuck me,” John cursed, pulling his shotgun out. “That’s it. I’m done with this shit.”

Marcus, Draco’s knight, stared. “What is-”

“Hey. Your employer just tried to kill us. I’m going to be very honest here. I’d also like to kill him. So please shut the fuck up, say nothing about what you see here, and stay out of this. Got it?”

Surprisingly, Marcus and Elena did as John requested and stepped back. It seemed that they, too, were shocked by how blatantly Draco had abandoned his saviours to rot.

“Prota.”

The small girl looked toward John, waiting.

“Go.”

“...?”

“You’re free. Do whatever you want.”

Prota’s eyes sparkled with excitement. This was what she’d been looking for.

She closed her eyes as she pictured her newest spell. Frost and flame began to gather in her hands, ice in one and blue fire in the other. There was a horrifying screech as the beasts began to sense the energy, but Prota kept going.

“Fate!” John yelled as his shotgun blew the head off a savage. There were only four left, but they were now wary. They clearly weren’t sure what had happened, but the loud sound was more than enough of a deterrent.

“A little help?”

“I’m a little busy here!” Fate yelled as he parried another spurt of acid.

John grunted as a savage flew towards Prota, arms and claws stretched out.

“Yeah? Fuck you!” he yelled, pulling the trigger of his shotgun.

Fortunately, despite knowing that the thing in John’s hands was dangerous, it couldn’t dodge in time. There was a spray of blood as the monster’s head got clean blown off by the spray of pellets that exploded out of the barrel. Draco’s attendants could only watch in shock.

However, their shock would only grow as Prota’s spell finished. They had almost forgotten about the large concentration of mana that had been gathering in the small girl’s hands.

“She… she didn’t chant,” Elena muttered to herself.

“What? What circle spell magic is that?”

“Maybe… fifth circle magic… it’s hard to tell,” she continued to mutter, eyes open wide. “I’ve… never seen a spell like that…”

Marcus’ eyes shot wide open. Chantless magic. New spells.

Who was this girl?

No, they were all impressive. That masked boy had incredibly impressive swordsmanship. It was a bit rough, but it was clear that he’d been trained properly. More than that, his instincts for combat were top notch. Moreover, he was casting at the same time, making him a battle mage. Battle mage. They were looking at two genius mages here, a combined talent unseen or unheard of in ages.

The other boy, the taller one, him, too. Wasn’t he manaless? Despite his lack of strength, he wielded the weapon in his hands like a rod of death, spewing fire and metal at the monsters like some kind of crazed lunatic with nothing on his mind but chaos and carnage. Marcus stared in amazement. How could anyone so weak be so intimidating? So bold?

“Go,” Prota muttered as she threw her completed spell forwards.

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“Fate!” John yelled. “Dodge!”

Fate only needed one glance to see that the battle was wrapping up. He threw himself to the side in time to dodge the spell flying into the middle of the battle.

There was a massive explosion. Ice spread everywhere, freezing everything in its path, quickly followed by a massive explosion that shattered the savages to bits. Blue flames burned on the ground as frozen flesh and shards of ice scattered everywhere, leaving an gruesomely artistic scene behind. Unfortunately, the savages hadn’t been grouped tight enough. Of the three remaining monsters, one had gotten away.

“Fate!” John yelled, but Fate was already on it. In one swift stroke, he dashed forwards and swung, cleanly slicing the head off.

“Shit, that burns,” John gasped as the ice on his back started to melt. He didn’t want to look, but it was probably a really bad wound. “Fate, you wanna…”

“John, you-” Fate started, but then saw the wound on John’s back. “Oh.”

He hurriedly pulled a potion out and tossed it over to John, who quickly drank it in one gulp. He visibly shuddered as his skin and muscles began to mend, the relief immense.

“Haah… fuck. What did I tell you,” John complained. “We should’ve just let that little shit die.”

Marcus quickly snapped out of his state of stupor.

“I thank you for coming to our assistance, but I cannot let you-”

John pointed his shotgun upwards, pushing the still hot muzzle against Marcus’ chin.

“Please shut the fuck up. I cannot believe how incredibly skill issued you people are. Seriously.”

“What?”

“You all suck. Simple as that. You fucking suck. You can’t deal with this shit? I have two literal children with me and they did a better job than you. You call yourself a knight?”

“That attitude will not-”

“I do not give a singular fuck about my attitude. You understand? I am very comfortable with killing both you and the mage right here. I just ate shit to these things when I shouldn’t have had to. So let’s just leave each other alone before I do what those monsters were going to do in the first place. Got it?”

Marcus gulped as he saw the look in John’s eyes. There was no doubt. The instant John lost any sense of reason at all, he would pull the trigger. In fact, there might be no reason in that head in the first place. There was just a thin suggestion of sanity that was holding something else back.

“...fine. I hope we do not run into each other again.”

He started walking off, but then paused and turned back. Elena paused too.

“However, since the young master is gone… I truly thank you.”

With that, the two left.

“Hey. That guy’s not so bad.”

“He’s a bot.”

“A what?”

“He just does what he’s told. I should-”

“There was literally no reason to kill him!” Fate yelled. “Seriously! Stop!”

John waved Fate away. “Yeah, yeah. Go get Danjo, and let’s get the hell out of here.”

Fate sighed as he turned to get their companion. “Hey. Thanks for holding back.”

“...yeah. No problem.”

John swore he could see Fate smile, but he must’ve been imagining things. Fate, however, wouldn’t have been smiling if he knew what was going through John’s mind at the time.

“I’m going to kill that little shit. I really will. I don’t care anymore.”

The image of Draco throwing Prota in front of him to save his own skin was burned into his mind. Draco. The little bastard was so cocky. So confident and proud, but couldn’t hold his own when it mattered most.

He had no qualms about sacrificing another human life to save his own.

“...well, it’s not like I can die,” John muttered as he calmed himself down.

~~~

“They didn’t die?!” Draco yelled.

Marcus and Elena had found their master sipping tea in his residence. He’d been healed, gotten washed up and changed, and was now relaxing in his room.

“Seriously… those cockroaches won’t go away no matter what I do! How did the mercenaries not get to them?”

“Sir-”

“Not only that, they had the nerve to see me in that state! I had everything handled! How dare they try to help me!”

Draco’s attendants remained silent. They couldn’t say anything. Draco’s father was especially fond of Draco, so they couldn’t discipline him or rebuke him. They were there to follow his orders and protect him.

So, even though they didn’t like it, they had to listen.

“That girl should’ve just died! How did she survive in the first place?”

“Her brother came back at the last second and saved her, sir,” Elena explained.

“The manaless brat?”

“Yes.”

Draco’s face turned red as he heard the news. “Not only did they interrupt me, but a manaless fool was there as well…? Something less than trash was there?!”

He clenched his fists as rage burned through his body. “I have to get rid of them… no matter what…”

Suddenly, there was a loud commotion downstairs. There were voices yelling, the clattering of armour and footsteps, all outdone by the sound of footsteps stomping up the stairs.

“Hey! You little bitch! Get your ass out here!” John yelled as he kicked Draco’s door down.

Prota was silently following him. He wouldn’t have been able to make it in otherwise, and she wasn’t exactly pleased at having been used as a sacrifice either.

“You… you dare?!” Draco roared.

Prota’s eyes began to glow as she held one hand out towards Marcus and the other out towards Elena. She wasn’t attacking, but she was prepared to do so if necessary..

John stormed up to Draco and picked the young noble up by the collar.

“Get your filthy hands off of me! How dare a peasant such as you touch a noble-”

“You shut the fuck up. If I hear another word come out of your dumbass mouth, I’m going to shove my gun up your ass and blow your entire upper body to bits, got it?”

“You can’t-”

“I can. Wanna see me do it?”

John pulled his gun out and pointed it at Elena, who’d been secretly preparing a spell.

“Not a move. I’m not going to hurt him.”

“But you just said-”

“Potato, potat- oh. Hm, if that’s in writing, then that doesn’t quite work, does it?”

The two attendants couldn’t move. Draco was under threat of death, and if John said he wouldn’t do anything, then their best move was to not move at all. John lowered his arm and sighed.

“You think I didn’t know? Those mercenaries at the mansion. The mercenaries in the dungeon. Do you think I’m stupid?”

“You’re a peasant! Of course-”

“Peasant this, peasant that, shut the fuck up! I’m not even from this world! Where I come from, peasants don’t even exist! The closest thing we have are salary wage slaves, which- well, they’re basically the same thing.”

“Wh-”

“I’m getting distracted. Listen, I swear to god, there is no singular existence more annoying than you,” John growled. “You’re skilled in exactly one thing, and that would be pissing people off. Were you dropped on the head as a child? Or did they feel the need to lobotomize you as soon as you were born?”

Prota yawned. John was spewing a lot of nonsense. But she understood what he was saying. John was literally pissed off. Draco had done something drastic enough to get John’s real emotions flowing. He’d done something even death and torture couldn’t do.

Seriously? How was that even possible?

“I’m gonna give you one opportunity. Apologise to Prota. Right now. For trying to kill her.”

Draco looked at John in the eyes.

And spat.

“How dare you!” he yelled, breaking free from John’s grasp. “You dare to touch me? To demand an apology? She should be honoured to-”

Draco didn’t even finish his sentence. John pulled Draco forward right into his fist and drove his arm forward like a pile driver. A loud cracking noise followed, accompanied by a spurt of blood gushing from Draco’s nose. John picked up the young noble and threw him down to the floor, kicking him in the side twice before kicking once more in the head, knocking him out.

“C’mon, Prota. Let’s go.”

He kicked the fallen door on the way out and left the mansion.

~~~

“You did what?!” Fate yelled.

“I did what I wanted. Be grateful I didn’t kill him.”

“Are you insane? I’d like to do that too! That doesn’t mean I’m just gonna go and do it!”

“Yeah? That just means you got no balls. Coward.”

“I’ve got a brain, that’s what I’ve got!” Fate sighed. “John, seriously. I’ve messed with people, but I know when it makes sense to mess with them! You’re just suicidal!”

Prota blinked at that one.

“This doesn’t affect you, Fate. Just forget about it. What’s next?”

“You can’t just change-”

“I can, so we’re going to ignore it. Ok? If we have to deal with it, we’ll deal with it. Drop it.”

Fate sighed. “The boss wants us to go into one more dungeon to throw the group off track. If we go into a completely unrelated dungeon, they might think we’re just trying to prepare, but the next dungeon will be the one they think is the one.”

“Is Danjo ready?”

Everyone looked towards the dwarf.

“Um… not yet,” Danjo said. “I’m still having the materials processed and prepared.”

“That’s fine,” John sighed. “You know what you’re doing, right?”

“Wh- of course!” Danjo cried out indignantly.

“Then it’s fine.”

Danjo was looking at John with wild eyes, still amazed at how brazen John’s actions had been.

“Mr. Quarta,” Katheryn called out. “Mr. Albert would like to see you.”

“Good luck,” Fate snickered.

John flipped Fate off as he climbed the stairs. As soon as he opened the door, he was practically blown back by Albert’s yell.

“Are you insane?!”

John shut the door as he sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I got the whole song and dance from Fate, so let’s drop it, alright?”

“I can’t protect you if the Wynton family decides to come after you!”

“Wynton…”

John frowned. That name… sounded familiar. Why?

“You still can’t tell me who hired you?”

“...fine. The Wynton family. They want to get rid of the “demon child.” That’s her beside you, isn’t it? It’s a shame you got caught up in this business, but… look, I don’t really know what’s going on, but I’m getting paid, and that’s good enough for me.”

“Oh. Right. Well, if I’m already on their hit list…”

“What?”

“Nothing. Seriously, you’re all so sensitive about this. I’ll behave, so let’s just let it drop, alright? That good enough?”

Albert grabbed John by the shoulders rather roughly.

“Promise me.”

“Yeah, yeah. Seriously, you need to loosen up a little.”

“The other main staff members know about it, so don’t go causing trouble, ok? If they catch you, they’ll stop you.”

John just grimaced as he nodded away like an obedient little schoolboy. Inwardly, he was still extremely pleased with himself.

~~~

“Sir.”

Breaker entered Doctor’s office with a piece of paper in his hands. “Our spy reported again.”

“Oh, did they? What news do they have this time?”

“They think they have a new way of eliminating the enemy.”

“Oh?”

“It’s very risk free, too.”

Doctor took the piece of paper from Breaker and scanned the contents.

“Interesting… very interesting. I wanted them alive, but as long as the girl is alive, then it’s all good.”

“Shall I relay that information back?”

“Mm… yes. If any of them can be captured, that would be wonderful. Tell our man to carry on.”

“Aren’t you worried that he’ll be caught? You’ve been asking him to do more and more recently.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I have more than one spy.”

“You… you do?”

“It would be wise to not underestimate me, Breaker,” Doctor grinned. “I always have backups.”

“Noted.”