They were sitting at the station. Both curled up, with their heads down. It was the beginning of another day. Kasei wanted to say anything to break this terrible silence, but she didn't know what. She looked at his face, he was terrified.
“Ed...”whispered quietly Kasei, but didn't continue. She stayed silent for a few more minutes.
“No” he finally said. The redhead turned her face towards him. The man stood up and clenched his fists. - I know why I had to feel it.
“Ed...?”
“...Now I know how Peter feels when he takes his patients' lives.” He clenched his teeth. “Now I know what it feels like... to take someone's life. I'm never going to do it again. I'm never going to... I'm not going to do it by killing others. I'll make sure Peter doesn't have to kill anybody either... - He put his hands to his face. - I'll do it, without killing anyone. I will win... honorably. I'm sure Peter wouldn't want me to kill anyone for him... What's gotten into me... I was so angry... I don't even know why... But I can't do it anymore... Mother won't forgive me, if god and heaven really exist... Mother didn't want us to ever have to kill, like she did in wars...”
“It's okay...” Kasei wrapped him in her hands. “It's both our fault.”
“Heh...” He laughed. “I didn't think you'd ever hug me, since you’re a mean woman.”
“...Come on, you idiot!” She let go of him and acted like she was mad. “Where are we even going?”
“I think we should check... Epis.” he answered.
They were still waiting a while, but finally their train arrived. They got into it, paid for the ride and sat down. Ed took out a small notebook from his jacket pocket, which he always carried with him, together with a special little pen filled with ink. He started writing.
Today I took someone's life. I, with those hands that are writing now, murdered a man. I sent him into nothingness... or to heaven? Or to hell? I don't know. But now I know how my brother feels... No. I don't know that at all. He must be killing the people he wanted to save, and I killed someone out of anger. Why? Why did it take control over me?
He was writing, and Kasei was swinging her legs and looking out the train window. They didn't talk at all during the journey, their faces showed sadness. Ed kept on writing, Kasei was only looking at the moving images outside. They didn't even feel the flow of time, as they were still thinking about what happened the previous night. None of them could get their thoughts together. Suddenly the train stopped sharply, and most people got up and started looking out the windows.
“What is happening?” Ed asked when he got up and looked out the window, when he saw smoke and then the building that was on fire. Together with Kasei, they ran out of the train. They ran to the village, the inhabitants were carrying buckets, pouring water from them into the flames, in vain.
“Those damned women!” One of the people, with unique sea eyes, screamed, creating water from his hands and throwing it into the flames. He was a natural water magician. “They’re robbing and setting fire to things again!”
Edward was searching for the source of a water, and after a while he saw a well around which a large number of people were gathered. Edward ran and then concentrated his magic: he picked up the water through telekinesis, people moved away. Ed was struggling: he never carried such a large load, especially liquid, so some spilled on the way. Then, he took a deep breath and threw the water towards the burning building. Some of the water fell on the flames, some on the ground, and the rest on a few people standing by. The water magicians took care of the rest, finally putting out the fire.
“Look, a stranger, how he helped!” one of the village dwellers shouted joyfully.
“He’s a good magician, since he moved the water. What's yer name? Where are ye from?” asked another one.
“I'm Edward of Rebellar.” “Oh, from Rebellor. I heard good people come from there.” Some huge man with a black, lush beard, wearing a red checkered shirt tapped him one the back. “Welcome to our town. What brings ye here?”
“I heard someone saying that something’s happening here. As you can see, he wasn't wrong.”
“Yah.” The black-haired nodded his head. - Iris and Eva, I think that's what they call the vermins. They're making trouble for us! They steal, they burn things! They talk about some diablo! That we'll all be bowing to it soon!”
“Diablo? What’s diablo?” Kasei asked Ed. He whispered:
“The devil, only this man is speaking in a dialect a bit.”
“Yah, the diablo. They're both crazy! Today too, this morning I was going back to the cottage, because I've worked all night, so I has to rest. But naw. Again, they're setting the buildings on fire! I didn't know if they were working with these robbers, but they're stealing, terribly. And something needs to be done. If ye are looking for them, maybe ye can do something with them, don't know.”
“I'll try” Ed said. “How long have they been attacking and what have they been stealing?”
“Hurm...” The woman standing next to him wondered. “Money, more valuable things.”
“It's possible they belong to this particular gang of thieves…” thought Ed. “That would explain the ‘devil’... But that drunk guy over there said they weren't the believers of the Light. We should check it out, Kasei.”
“Okay. We'll take care of this! Where can we find them?” asked the enthusiastic redhead.
“I think they're hiding nearby, since the nearby towns and our Epis are being attacked...”
“We can do it. We have magic.” They said their goodbyes to the locals and started walking. They still heard words like ‘good luck!’, ‘thank ye for yer help.’ It was nice, but it still didn't make them feel better.
“Strange” Ed said. “One day we murder a man, the next we help people.”
“Ed... I know I'm gonna sound weird, but... are you sure we did the wrong thing?” “Oh? What are you talking about?” he turned his head towards her, they were still walking.
“Because... didn't you do it in self-defense? Hemv tried to kill us...”
Ed stopped and lowered his head down. He sighed heavily.
“You know, Kasei... You're right. But... I still feel guilt... even more so because I used you to do it. I didn't have to kill him, I could have paralyzed him, anything...”
“It was my decision to go with you. I was prepared for these kind of things, Ed” she assured and smiled a little.
“You're becoming more and more kind to me every day.”
“I'm gonna kill you.” She threatened. The golden-haired laughed. “Actually, dumbass, we're going nowhere. Why don't you try using the seal?”
“I don't know if it'll do anything. If they don't have a seal, we're not going to find anything... but maybe it's worth a try. If they're talking about a god, there's a possibility...” Ed looked at his left hand, since he had the number eleven seal on it, it appeared suddenly. Then he focused his energy on its’ aura, on the aura of the deity. He felt something nearby, something very similar. He did not know what, but it certainly came from the deity. “And yet it did something.”
“Where are we going?”
“Straight ahead. I'm not sure if we’re going to come across our thieves or maybe another seal, but it's worth checking. At worst, we'll play the defenders of Epis and find these two.”
They were walking when they suddenly saw a house. It was a rather strange view, as there was nothing around, and only from a distance could you see the silhouettes of towns or villages. Kasei looked at Ed, and Ed looked at her. Both of them had surprised faces.
“That’s one hell of an original dwelling” Kasei commented.
“They’re mocking us…” He got annoyed. “If they're really here, how could anyone not find them?!”
“Maybe they were waiting for someone to do it for them.” She shrugged. Kasei turned into the form of a weapon, Ed grabbed it in his hands, and then he slowly approached the building. He opened the door, looked through it, and then he went inside. Suddenly he heard a crackle, jumped quickly to the side, and where he had been standing a moment earlier, a few bags fell. Ed walked up to them, and then carefully touched them.
“Stones. Awesome” he commented out loud. Now he knew he'd have to be even more careful. He looked around the house, which wasn't very pretty thanks to its construction, although some of the elements were like stolen out of a noble house: in the room in front of them, Ed saw a white carpet embroidered with a golden thread, and there was a beautiful sculpture standing against the wall. Ed continued on, taking every step the most careful he could, while looking at the ceiling, and checking if there was anything hanging there that could fall on him any moment.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“I wonder how they can live with such traps in the house...” whispered the redheaded.
“Maybe they put them when they leave, you'll never understand mad people.” He continued sneaking around. He went through a doorway into a room, and stopped on the carpet. Even though he was wearing heavy military boots, he could feel how soft and fluffy the carpet was. He walked further, when suddenly he heard cracking again. He quickly began to run when a few sharp shots flew towards him. One almost hit him in the leg, but the golden-haired one jumped in time, and ended up only with a fairly deep calf cut. He realized that he had lost his vigilance, which he should not do in this situation. He went further, this time much more carefully. At the end of the room was a wooden door, full of scratches and neglected. He used Kasei to press the handle and then jumped away, but nothing happened, so he took a slow step, still keeping the distance, and looked inside. He saw a bed, not a very nice one, but padded with a velvet blanket, and a lot of flammable materials lying on the floor. Ed walked in slowly, still being very careful. He bent down, put Kasei next to him, took one of the bottles. He also looked at other bottles and boxes.
“And?” asked Kasei.
“Oil, gunpowder, matches. This is definitely their home. If only we could find them and find out if they really have anything to do with the game...” He got up and took Kasei in his hands. “Well, we should still tell the people where they're hiding. Maybe eventually the owners will get their stolen things back.”
“Like a that drunkard’s rug.” She laughed.
“Yes, exactly.” He smiled too.
Then two people came into the house.
“Eva, look!” said the blue-haired girl. “Someone was here!”
“Or are they still here? Iris, put the bounty down, remove the traps and see if they took anything!”
Ed smiled even wider, hearing their voices. He didn't leave the room, but leaned against the wall, holding the spear in his hand. Eva and Iris ran, pulling down the traps and yelling at each other. The golden-haired heard one of them approaching the room he was in. As she crossed his threshold, Edward jumped out and stopped the spear blade right in front of her face. The brown-haired girl froze, shaking slightly.
“So what? Wanted to steal some?” he asked with a tone of insult. Eva jumped away.
“Iris, come here!” A moment later, the tiny girl with bunny ears came running. When she saw her, Kasei started laughing out loud. Even when she was under the form of a weapon, she saw and heard things happening around her.
“WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?!” screamed Iris. Kasei calmed down after a while.
“Eddie, I didn't know that the deity also picks insane ones!” the red-haired spear laughed.
“INSANE?!” Iris started boiling and turned into a chainsaw. Eva turned it on.
“No one's gonna mock Iris! I'M GONNA CUT YOU INTO PIECES, BASTARDS!” Eva screamed and started running towards him, smiling. Ed calmly moved aside, so the brunette drove the saw right into the wall. She tried to pull it out, but her blade got stuck.
“EVA, DON'T BE STUPID, GET ME OUT!” Iris panicked. Eva pulled with all her might, she put one leg against the wall and pushed, unsuccessfully. Then Ed grabbed the brunette by the hair and threw her down on the floor. He put a spear blade to her neck.
“Don't move” he ordered. “If your weapon comes up with the idea of turning into the human or animal form, it will die, since it will be crushed by the wall it's in. I guess you care about it, so if you answer some of my questions, I'll help it out. First, why did you set fire to Epis?”
Eva smiled, but her whole body was shaking in fear. Ed was looking at her coldly.
“For fun!” she said. “Our goal is to be much better than this one infamous band of thieves. Arson, stealing, you don't even realize how much fun it gives us! How much adrenaline you feel! We never had anything, but once we saw them, those thieves who rob and steal things from rich morons! We want to be better, and we do it just because we want to!”
“Idiots” Kasei commented.
“I don't think you can do it anymore.” Ed smiled. “If you really don't want to lose your weapon, you'll come with me to Epis and politely hand yourself over to the military. I think they'll know what to do with you.”
“What?” Eva started laughing. “Me? You don't even know what you're talking about, idiot! Me and Iris were chosen by a power from another world! Something you can't even imagine! It will make all the people on earth fear us!”
“Fear? That's your goal?” He lifted one eyebrow. “To make people afraid of you?”
“I think it's rather impossible with such a stupid looking weapon.” Kasei giggled.
“Shut up! That's right! I said that we want people to be scared, to steal, set fire to things because it's all so funny! And now we're the chosen ones!”
“Let me tell you something” Ed whispered. “You shouldn't talk so much.”
He magically raised both her hands, and pushed Kasei away so he wouldn't stab her body on the blade. Eva was wriggling, then number two appeared on her right hand. Ed sighed.
“Is it the deity that really picks the ones to play?” he commented out loud.
“W-wait! What are you trying to do?!” Eva screamed.
“I'll take what you have here” he said quietly.
“So you’re... I won't let you!” Eva kicked him hard in the stomach and Ed lost focus on his magic. Eva then pulled dynamite out of her jacket, lit it up with a match, then threw it into the wall where the saw got stuck. It exploded after a few seconds. She went through the broken wall, took the weapon in her hand and started running away.
“WE'LL MEET AGAIN, YOU MORON!” Eva screamed, running away with Iris. Ed wanted to chase them, but Eva was too fast. He sighed loudly, and Kasei turned into her human form.
“Cowards! Stupid cowards! Stupid-looking cowards! Stupid-looking stupid cowards with stupid desires!” Kasei screamed out at the dust they left behind them.
“Really, I didn't think the deity could choose those people. But they're certainly not easy opponents.”
“But they're cowardly, so we'll take care of them once and twice if they get in our way again! I hate thieves!” “So far, let's go back to Epis. I think there are some things here they'll want to get back.”
They went back. The people were apparently waiting for them. Ed and Kasei were carrying some of the things they found in the hiding place which, as it turned out, all belonged to the villagers.
“There are more in that house. Turns out that they were hiding there. You have to go straight on the road I came back from. And I'm sorry, I couldn't catch them, they ran away.
“No, no! Ye have nothing to apologize for!” said the black-haired man with a beard. “We're grateful we got something at all! And it's because of ye, my boy.”
“Are ye staying here, or are you going home?” one of the women asked.
“No, I have to go to the capital. I have a lot of things to do.” He smiled.
“Oh, dear boy, we'll give ye money for the train ticket!” People started pulling gold coins out of their pockets and then giving them to Ed.
“But you don't have to!”
“We must, we must!” A happy woman nodded her head. “Ye went and ye scared those thieves away, ye must have some kind of compensation for that! Well, then go, because yer train is about to leave!”
They patted him on the back, thanked him, told him to come over next time. Ed walked away with Kasei, they stopped on the platform. Next to him stood a mother with a small child and some traveler.
“It was quite nice, wasn’t it?” started Kasei. Ed looked at her. “You help, and then people thank you for that.”
“Hah, it’s not the first time we fought with thieves, so what's wrong with helping. And now at least we’ve got some more information.”
“Yeah. But where to next?”
“To the capital, we have to ask Arthur for help. And finally, get some sleep...”