"...I'm sorry, I don't mean to scare you. You know him better than I do, just… help him out if you can. I'll see you later." Ajax starts jogging out of the alleyway as well. He was wearing a cloth mask back when he was dealing with all of those people at once, but now, he changed his appearance somewhat so he can blend in.

"Hey! Are you going back to Prisca?" Sigvor asks. He keeps jogging while answering.

"No, not yet, Shaula is going to be guarding her for now. I'm going to stay out here. I need to get to the bottom of what's happening out here. Those creeps with the rings seem like they're planning something else."

"Are you sure you can get by in this area? Haven't they seen your face already?"

"No, I was masked up, don't worry. But…” Ajax stops as he considers what could happen if they suspect him and try to catch him or anything. “Nah, it's not like they can do anything to me anyways."

He shrugs his shoulders. Sigvor is slightly unsettled by that last sentence he spoke. She always knew he was powerful, but he himself seems to think he's invincible. She decides to keep that fact in mind when talking with him in the future.

Ajax leaves the alleyway and as Sigvor jogs out herself, she doesn't see Ajax anywhere.

"Wow, he's pretty cool, isn't he…"

Sigvor sees Dzan walking on the sidewalk slowly. He catches up to him and walks alongside him. They walk in silence for a bit, neither of them wanting to break it just yet. She considers what she wants to ask him.

"So… Ajax is going to stick around here, keep an eye out for those guys with the rings."

"Alright." Dzan nods.

"Do you… want to head back to the square?" Sigvor asks.

"Hm. Not yet. I just want to stop and think for a bit."

"Oh? About what? You never seemed to me like the thinking type." Sigvor laughs, but Dzan doesn’t join him. He’s being quite serious right now. Sigvor’s face turns serious as well, accepting the mood he’s setting.

"Just some stuff. I'd like to continue lifting pouches again, I think I've had enough of playing hero for today. Seeing Ajax fight twenty people all at once… You know, some of them had their swords out within a second of the grenade going off… He could have gotten really hurt. He purposely shifted their attention, their killing intent, to him by taunting them too."

"...Yeah, he did do that, didn’t he…”

“He asked me to use the grenade too, a-and he didn’t even hold his ears or cover his eyes when I threw it behind that instigator with the ring! What a fucking guy… I’m going to try not to do anything that crazy for a while, especially with a guy like him around. I know he’s strong but… I’d still like it if I didn’t see him get hurt.”

Sigvor agrees with Dzan. Though unlike Dzan, he feels like he can trust Ajax to handle himself. The way he dodged all of those attacks was quite a sight to see, even from a distance. He wasn’t just reckless.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Though, she can understand why Dzan is nauseous towards Ajax’s foolhardy behavior. Perhaps it’s like seeing an experienced climber scaling a cliff side with no harness.

Sure, you can tell they’re a professional, that they’re strong and nimble. But, wouldn’t it only take one slip, one misplaced arm or leg to fall to their deaths? Now imagine if the professional climber is your friend. Just one successful strike could have slowed him down or ended his life.

Wait… Did Dzan say he’s going to continue lifting pouches?

Sigvor is quite surprised that Dzan is back to pickpocketing for the rest of the day; he still hasn’t gotten enough?

”Dzan, what's… what's going on? Is there something wrong?"

"Hm? What’d you mean?"

"You've just been through a crazy situation, you know? You look pretty messed up, pretty stressed. Don’t you think it’s time to slow down instead of continuing to lift shit? Normally after a hard day of thieving, you actually know when it’s time to call it quits. Why are you so… I mean, your head’s clearly fucked up, you know? Am I wrong?"

"I… I can't really… no nevermind, forget that. I'm fine, really. I just need to take advantage of the area while I can."

He doesn’t continue. She still doesn’t know what’s going on with him and she doesn’t want to ask again. He’d just push her away or, worse yet, start keeping even more things to himself.

Sigvor is still carrying Dzan’s coinage. It was much more annoying carrying Willia with all those coins on her too. Luckily, the crowd was shouting so loudly, nobody paid attention to the jingling sound she made when she ran.

“By the way, Sig… when you carried that girl away, did she try to stop you?”

“Hm? Well, at first she struggled a bit, but I’m not a lightweight.” Sigvor, though not as strong as Dzan, is capable of exceptional athletic ability. In order to escape people chasing you and wanting their money back, you’ll need to have some physical ability.

“So you carried a struggling young girl and all my money… You’re doing a lot to help me and I wonder if I even thanked you.”

“...Are you dying or something, Dzan? What’s with you, really?” Sigvor isn’t even joking. Where did this somber Dzan creep out from?

“No, I’m not dying. But, I will say, thank you, Sig. I know I can always count on you.”

Dzan stops walking and Sigvor pauses next to him. He looks over at the crowd of human supremacists. Today has been quite a long day for both of them.

***

Ajax walks near the crowd of remaining human supremacists and listens in on the various conversations. While he was fighting the people in the center of the circle as a distraction, he was careful not to create any long lasting injuries. He doesn’t need that on his conscience right now.

His eyes focus on a group of humans talking while tending to the few scrapes and bruises he inflicted on them.

“Fuck… Did you see how fast that guy was?” One man says as he touches his sore shoulder. Ajax can hear the man speak as if he was standing right next to him.

“Are you sure he was human?” A woman asks him while taking a look at his injury. She’s not a healing mage, though she does seem to know basic first aid, at least Omicron’s version.

“His hands didn’t have any claws, those were human nails.”

“Ha, how could you even see his hands with how quickly he moved them?” Someone else says. “Though, I did get a look at his teeth, they weren’t draconid-sharp or anything, I think… So, it’s a fucking race traitor then.” The group stops speaking, their faces frowning in anger.

Ajax can’t help but smile a little at that. But, that’s not what he should be focusing on. He continues scanning the crowd, looking and listening for the two people he’s searching for. A brown haired woman and a blonde haired man. They pretended to be siblings when he encountered them.

Well, they could still be, I guess. Fuck, they’re not here.