The once-autumnal hue of the morning the group was greeted by moments ago slowly moved away from them. They are not that far away now. About half an hour of driving was the cost of seeing a dense forest in the distance. It was quite away from the main road, however, so Gris had to turn and go off-road for a while. Luckily, the Beaver was outfitted for this rudimentary task. The versatile mobile fortress, with the tinkering of Henwales’ R&D, can drive through the cold, snowscape to the most humid of climates.

As they neared the wall of trees, Gris thought of where to park the vehicle in a way that it will be hidden.

"Hmm… I guess it's time to test it, then~" His voice spelt excitement. Whatever it was, Gris was enthusiastic about it.

Everyone looked through the windows. The grass became denser until they touched the rim of the forest. Gris, still in his driver seat, scanned for possible places, preferably flat, to park the Beaver. After scanning the area, he saw a small patch of rocks in the distance. It was small, but it fit most of the vehicle to enable steering in case of a sudden retreat.

"Alright." He said as he turned off the engine. He turned back to the others.

"Should we recon?"

"Wait… What about Sora? He still hasn't recovered yet." Enna asked.

"I'll stay here. I'm not of use to recon, anyway…" Wizbette volunteered, ushering a nod from Enna.

"Hey, Gris? Do you have any plans to hide Beaver?" Gen looked at Gris, who was exiting the driver seat.

"I do, for particular occasions such as this. Let's get out first."

"Fein?"

"Let's go."

One by one, they exited through the metallic door on the vehicle's side. Every thud of their boots made a crunching sound from the stones scattered across. There was a small pond on the side of the car, but except for the moss, and minute traces of critters taking a sip at it’s clouded, greenish waters, there was nothing of note there.

Gris was the last to exit.

"Wiz, will you stay here?"

"I will. Don't worry about me though. I'll call if something comes up." She smiled.

"Okay. Take care of Sora, then."

"Mhmm!"

Gris closed the door, leaving Wizbette behind in the central room.

"Is she going to be alright in there?" Mido asked, to which Gris answered.

"She may not look like it, but Wiz can handle things herself. Besides, she volunteered to stay behind. With this, however…" He grabbed a medium-sized gem from a satchel he brought with him. It glowed a faint midnight blue and was supported by a metallic band on its center. Placing it onto the vehicle's surface, he called out an incantation.

"Grantor, reach out and release what's within."

Chromatic Seal: Invisibility.

The gem melded with the alloyed surface. It sent ripples throughout the vehicle, and slowly enveloped it in tonal energy that bent light and made much of the Beaver unseen to the untrained eye.

"Hmm… It actually worked!" He placed both hands to the metal and still felt its warm touch. Whatever that was stored in that gem, it successfully hid away their vehicle.

Gris took the band that was left unmerged and placed it on his hand like a bracelet. "Right! If anything happens, this will show us the way back here." A blue gem inserted on it glowed brilliantly.

"Wow. I've never seen that ability before…" Peram and Vivace were astonished. Gris just laughed.

"We've got to go. Come." Fein was already a few meters away from them crouching on the side of a tree. They were too busy looking at Gris to do his work.

"Right!"

Rendezvousing with the captain, they scanned the dense area in front of them. The area they parked in does not have any definite entrances or roads leading to a still-distant village. If they went a little further down the main road, they might have seen such traces, but doing so straightforwardly defeats the purpose of this covert recon.

"If Sora was here now…" Gen looked at Vivace, who timidly denied contact with him.

"I have a feeling Sora would be of great help here. But for now, let's stick to who we have." Mido assured him. Gen slowly nodded.

As they inched further and further inside the forest, they soon realized that they are already in between the trees. The glow on the bracelet on Gris' right arm started to wane, signaling that they were already far away from the vehicle.

"Still no signs of people… How dense is this forest?" Gen complained, sifting through the grass and vines, and constantly bumping on Enna, who was also getting annoyed by the second.

"Stop squirming! Are you ticklish, or what?" Enna whisper-yelled.

"Ah, here we go again. Enna—"

"Shh!" Fein gestured them to stay low.

"Hear that?"

They were faint, and can easily be mistaken for animals, but they heard a very distant echo of voices. Yelling. Amidst the chirping of the occasional birds and rattling of crickets, it was uncertain, but Fein was pretty much convinced.

"We might be near. Keep your guard up."

With every few meters or so, their pace became slower as they neared the source. Every crunch of leaves under their feet can be heard, so they had to be very careful. Their visibility became darker as the trees became denser, and as they go, the voices stopped. Still, they have to push forward.

"Hm? Where is it?" Fein eased in through the bushes they're on.

"Footsteps!" Vivace whispered. Everyone did not move an inch. There were footsteps not far from them. Setting up a perimeter, the seven stayed on their toes. Luckily, the bushes were tall enough for them to go unnoticed, and their uniforms blended well in the dark.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

It went silent. For a while, the ambiance of the forest around them took over their ears.

"Hey." A coarse masculine voice echoed from the back of Vivace, who was behind Peram. Everyone quickly turned their heads. A pair of arms covered in leaves reached out to the girl.

"Ahh! Help!!" Due to her petite figure, she was easily grabbed by whoever it was by the hip using their slender arms, taking her hostage. They pointed a crossbow to the group. Vivace squirmed on their grasp, slightly suffocating from the ghillie the man was wearing. He was quick. Even if they were cautious enough, they still did not expect him to ambush them from behind.

"Are you all hiding from someone?" He had a thickly accented voice, but it was a bit slurry.

"Is he an enemy?" Mido turned to his colleagues.

"Obviously." Gen gritted, ready to bash him in.

Before they could take any action, the squirming Vivace mustered up and took initiative.

"Grantor, help me alter the world in my favor. Let my tone dissipate heat and freeze my target!"

"What are you…"

Boreal Touch.

She slowly froze the man's ghillie, starting on the chest. The freezing temperature seeped inside his apparel as he screamed for help.

"No… No! V-Vassals?!" He yelled as he tried to take off his suit, letting Vivace escape from his grip.

"Make him shush!"

Peram, who was the closest to both of them, took action.

"Grantor, let my ring push through with unrelenting force."

The Ring!

With his left arm, he punched, briefly coalescing the ring on his finger into a glowing circle before impacting the man. The pressurized air within the center of the ring concussed his head with a heavy blow. He was thrown a meter away before falling to the ground.

"Haah… Who… was that?!" Vivace huffed, panting from both surprise and usage of her ability.

"You caused quite a commotion." Gen scoffed, seemingly not impressed with their defense. "Luckily I'm here, though." His right arm was reaching up, holding a thin, pulsing shield made of tones.

"That was quick thinking, Gen. There was room for errors, after all." Fein pointed out.

"W-We're very sorry!" Vivace bowed. She was surprised to hear her voice slightly bounced as if there's a dome that's reverberating it. "Did we make too much noise?"

"Hm. My ability can manifest into a shield that absorbs sonic energy. You could call that a soundproof shield, though. But I'm sure I stopped your screams and that guy's yells in time."

"So…nic?" She leaned her head, confused.

"Ah, never mind, kid. Let's carry on." Gen said as he retracted his ability back.

Fein and Enna inspected the man. Reaching out, they slowly opened his hood, revealing his face. He was a middle-aged man. He had a wrinkled face, and a bruise on his jaw, likely from the impact of Peram's ability. He was not moving, but when Enna checked his pulse and breathing, they were still functioning.

The two pondered for a while.

"Hmm… Not a zombie. I see." Fein commented as he rummaged through the man's icy chest. The leaves of the ghillie suit were all frozen, and as they tore it, the ice reached until to his shirt.

"Captain, is this just a hunter? I thought for sure he was one of those… 'zombies.'" Enna kept her eyes on the man.

"He had a rumbling voice, but he's old. He smells, but it's likely alcohol. And his skin is not rotten. I have yet to encounter such 'people' before, so I don't know their specifics. But his presence here alone means some people might be living here. His clothes and equipment are that of a hunter's."

"There's nothing else to check on?"

"Take any weapons on his pockets. Take his suit, also."

"Understood."

Enna went to work. She stripped the man until to his pants and shirt and set aside equipment she found on his person: A knife, some bitten-off pemmican, a cloth-covered canteen that reeked of alcohol, and arrows for the crossbow and the crossbow itself. There were no items that can help them trace where this man came from. In hindsight, one can say that he's just a hunter, and happened to pass by them sneaking.

But why would a lone hunter sneak behind them and aim his crosshairs at the party?

"Let's tie him up here, and I'll interrogate them after," Enna suggested as she dragged the man to a nearby tree and searched for any substitute for a rope.

"Vivace. Your ability is pretty destructive, don't you think?" Fein looked to her as he propped up the unconscious man.

"Do you think so?" Vivace squatted, still panting.

"You froze a whole building, managed to scratch most of my face, nearly cost one of my colleague's ability to walk, and here, you nearly killed this man by destroying his insides through freezing. Have you done this before?"

"I... I…" She stammered as she slowly sat on the forest floor, cross-legged. "I don't think…"

"There's no reason to go deeper, captain. She's still young to face it without someone at her side. Thankfully, you're there, Peram." Enna consoled as Peram helped her made a crude rope out of the nearby vines.

"Vivace and I… and the others. We've resorted to extreme measures in the past." Peram grunted as he tied the vines to the man's feet and hands. "I cannot trust you yet, though. To talk about it."

Enna secured the ropes. "It's okay. We understand. Fein?"

"If it's killing innocent people and being unregistered mercs, then you'd be rogue Vassals already." Said Fein.

"But—"

"But I'm not the judge of that. At the very least, we aren't. We follow orders, not make them. We act under what's on our jurisdiction, but that's it." He sighed and stood up from the pile of equipment he placed.

"Everyone is forced to take one-sided decisions, one way or the other. If we've met some other way, I would've seen a different side of you two. But you're our asset. It's our responsibility to protect you until the case is done."

"Right. Thank you, Sir Fein."

"Yep."

As almost everyone was busy, Mido gave company to the now-timid Vivace.

"Hey…"

"It's not that… I had… We had no choice, okay?" She whimpered. She might have remembered something she did from her past, haunting her. With Mido only stimulating her urge to talk, he can't help but try to give sympathy for her.

"Vivace, was it?" He knelt with her. She nodded but looked straight to the ground.

"I'm not a child. So please, don't comfort me."

"I lost friends too."

He said the designation 'friends,' but in reality, he did not remember a single face from his town, nor his relationship with them. Only scant memories of what he did back then. But even those are not enough to piece together.

"You? But you have them. So many of them." She pointed to the others. Gen and Peram were guarding the vicinity, Fein was busy dismantling the equipment, and Enna was awkwardly slapping the man in the face repeatedly. Gris went a bit farther, exploring the dense area a bit for the man's old footprints.

"It's true, but these friends saved me. The others did not make it. I am the one that’s left." He clutched the phoenix medallion hanging from his neck.

"Oh… Were they killed?" the girl said the word ‘kill’ as if she is acquainted to it.

"Yeah." He got her attention. Mido sat across her.

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay! Really…"

"How did you overcome that? That… high wall."

"Huh? Oh. To be honest, I don't remember them that much…"

"So, they weren't your friends, then."

Mido sighed. He always knew, right from when he was saved, but when Vivace said it to him, he felt a wash of melancholy intervene in his thoughts. All these days, his mind carried hate against those who destroyed his town, and justice for all those people lost. But are they truly lost to the world? He might be the last surviving townsman of Mido, but he cannot even picture in his head the people he is bringing justice to.

'Am I just blind?'

"No, kid." A booming voice reverberated from his ears.

'Huh?'

"…Mom said you remember who your friends are because you cherish them… Their names are one thing, but memories are the best to remember."

Mido's eyes stared at Vivace. He was deep in thought for a moment, and for that moment, he heard the voice speak to him again. But that was it. No conversation. Instead of the waterfall of knowledge and context that he wants from it, only a droplet fell.

"So that's why… I want to make Pierre pay. He is selfish, greedy, and… murdered them, just for his own good."

"You're still young… And you're too focused on revenge already."

"They did not deserve it. A proper death was not given to them. So, whatever it takes, I will see to it that Pierre will not get away with this." She clutched her hands tightly.

"We're the same, then." Mido reached out to her head and patted it slowly. Her soft, beige hair bounced as he tapped. He gave a neutral smile to her as she raised her head.

"We'll press on. But don't let revenge blind you. If we finish this case, and we part ways, don't stray too much from yourself. Walk life as normal as you can." Vivace was timid as she sat across him, eyes closed as Mido's warm hand touched her hair. This side of her is the complete opposite of what Mido fought just the night before. There, she was fueled with hatred for Pierre, and it stands to say what undeserving tragedies can do to people as young as her.

"The world offers new chances. If you must, take it."

"Mhmm. I will try to." Vivace hesitated to smile, but when she did, Mido felt something rewarding about it. It was the first time he saw her smile. Even if it was a crude one, Mido knew it was all she needed.

"Thank you… sir… what was it again?" She wanted to ask for a name but could not seem to put it into words. She touched her chin as she looked at him.

"Mido."

"Mido. Right." She stood up, and he followed after.

Vivace clasped both of her hands.

"Mido. I will try to remember your name."