Perhaps as was to be expected, the Barong estate became quite tumultuous once Gabriel and the others returned. Arioch knew that there was no point in trying to hide the truth from people, he would have to report everything to the Imperial Family. The existence of the claw would serve as an excellent excuse to hand out titles to the people they wanted to keep close so the citizens would find out sooner or later.

But perhaps as was to be expected, they were more shocked by the corpses that had been brought along. The claw was a story, an event they hadn’t seen or participated in. But the corpses, they were right in front of them, tied directly to them. Comparing the two, it was easy to see which one would affect them more.

"Contact their families. Tap into the estate renovation budget and calculate an appropriate amount of reparations that we can provide to each family. Calculate it for a monthly basis, not a yearly one. Put Wolton’s share aside and use it to build and run another official orphanage. Contact the children he took care of and gave jobs, I’m sure they’ll accept jobs regarding constructing or running the orphanage."

They had rushed back with all their might after the first night, but there was no rest for Arioch, who had to give out orders the moment he came back. There was always more to do, always something new that needed his input. The aide he addressed naturally got to work straight away when he got the order, walking away with quick steps.

"…"

Arioch remained behind as the corpses were being unloaded, each one gently placed down within the chapel, close to the statues representing the gods they worshipped. His shoulders were heavy, almost slumping as he stood there.

"…"

He allowed himself another deep breath. For but a moment, he felt as if he saw the entire chapel freeze and crumble around him. He could feel the cold wind on his skin, the sensation of a sword in his hand, the narrowed vision of his helmet. But when he exhaled the breath, it all faded away and his gaze landed on the statue directly to the right of the entrance.

"They’re yours now, Lord Akarash. They’ve done enough, so please let them get some rest."

It was hardly worthy enough to be called a prayer, but what else could he say in this situation? Akarash was the god that responded to the fewest prayers, but he was still the one in charge of providing wayward souls with passage into the afterlife he set up for them.

He left the chapel after giving his short ‘prayer.’ The knights that weren’t carrying the dead had already gone to get checked up by the estate’s doctors, those with the worst wounds were even getting checked right there by the gates of the estate. Everything was abuzz. They had launched a signal flare while they rushed over, that was how they could have doctors ready by the gates the moment they arrived.

Naturally, this also meant that everyone in the estate knew that something dreadful had happened before they even arrived and sprung into action accordingly. There were even some citizens gathering outside the gates, having been close enough to see the flare. They were clamouring in front of the closed metal bars, some among them probably had a family member that was a knight here. And then there were the two people in front of him.

"I can give you their addresses, but I cannot guarantee how they will react. No, well, I can guarantee that they will likely make your wounds worse."

Gabriel and Alice, the two were waiting for him in front of the chapel. Teresa had been sent back to her room to prepare for their departure, which Alice guessed would happen within the next day or two, depending on how fast the news reached the Vritara house and the Imperial Family. Caine naturally had to do the same, even the Woodime family would get hectic soon. But before they left, there was something Gabriel wanted to do.

"I’m expecting it. I feel like that’s what I would do at least."

Gabriel had gotten patched up a bit, both on the way back and when they finally returned. Both his hands were in casts so he could barely move his fingers, the doctor had nearly slapped him when he saw how casually he was moving his shattered hands. His chest was covered in thick bandages, which were naturally hidden beneath his clothes. His face had a few plasters and minor bandages, and his thighs and parts of his shin were covered in thick bandages.

There wasn’t much bleeding after Nergal finished chewing up the talons, but the wounds were still there so they had to get covered so that they didn’t get infected. Wrapping his chest was also supposed to help with the broken ribs while the bandages on his legs were supposedly there to prevent his cracked femur from actually breaking. He was, as the doctor so nicely put it, ‘messed up more than a foal that got run down by the stallion.’ And yet he was planning on aggravating those wounds just a bit more before he left.

"Very well then, I did my part by warning you. You’ll have to carry the rest of the responsibility yourself."

Arioch pulled out some paper and a pen from his pockets as he spoke, jotting down a few lines before he handed it over. Gabriel naturally accepted the note. Well, Alice accepted it for him, which contained two addresses and some names. After he handed over the list, another heavy breath escaped Arioch. He could see one of his aides hurrying over.

"It seems my presence is required. If I fail to meet you again before you are called back to the duchy then I will see you at the investiture."

He turned towards the approaching aide once he finished speaking, the bags beneath his eyes growing ever deeper as he stepped away. Gabriel and Alice were left behind, both of them looking at the list.

"The bakery’s the closest one so it ought to be the first one."

Gabriel memorised the addresses on the list before Alice folded it and stuffed it into his chest pocket. His pace when they walked away was slow thanks to the bandages on his leg, but Alice didn’t mind and stuck to his side while keeping pace with him.

They received a few looks as they walked, a subdued whisper occasionally coming from the smaller groups. Some of the knights that had come back had clearly started to mention what happened within the mountains.

A seemingly abandoned lady that was much stronger than she first appeared, utilising all three of the newly discovered magic affinities while also wielding two powerful spirits. And then there was her knight, who previously was only known for his rabid way of fighting during the first sparring matches. A strong spirit, two affinities on the Divine Star, strength to match it… it was a juicy topic so it was inevitable that it would get people talking.

"I’ll be honest, I don’t think you need to do this."

The people around them would occasionally look and whisper, but Alice ignored them completely as she spoke. The names and addresses listed on the note that Gabriel requested from Arioch, she knew what they were.

"Probably not, no. But those who were left behind deserve to know for who and why they died."

Gabriel didn’t flat out reject Alice’s point of view. Going to visit the families of the three men that died for him, delivering the news of their death and why, with his way of doing things there was really only one way it could end. The Barong estate would also be handling it on their own by sending out official notices and periodic reparations to take care of the families. But still, part of him wanted to do it himself.

"Yes, they deserve to know, that’s true. But I don’t believe that you need to be the one to deliver the news. I can understand how you feel, but at the same time I don’t think that you should feel overly guilty for their deaths and wallow in it. It was a chaotic battle where more than just a handful of people died, it is nonsensical to try and claim responsibility for some of those deaths."

Alice had no intentions of denying Gabriel’s feelings of guilt. No, he had only just started to feel emotions so she had no plans of denying any of them just because they didn’t suit her. But she also didn’t want him to get overly immersed in the first emotion he felt after he started to open up, that was how people destroyed themselves. But well, the way Gabriel saw it was a bit different.

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"It’s not nonsensical. And I wouldn’t say that I’m wallowing in the newfound sensation. No, it may be because I don’t know much about emotions, but I’m still looking at them from a logical standpoint rather than just feeling them. That’s why I’m doing this."

Yes Gabriel was feeling emotions for the first time, properly experiencing them and understanding his place in the world. But when it came to things you didn’t understand, how would you look at them when you first started to experience them? Simple, you looked at them from an angle you already understood, and in Gabriel’s case this was cold and hard logic.

"Alice, how many people died after we had our talk?"

The talk they had in the rain. Gabriel could still see the colours it birthed. The violet and red that Alice gave to his world, the blotch of blue that he splattered onto the sky. That talk was the final nail in the coffin for the tool, it was the birthing cries of the man known as Gabriel. When it was over, three people had died, but how many died afterwards?

"One. That brown-haired fellow that was missing two fingers."

He wasn’t particularly noteworthy, but Alice happened to see his death so she remembered it clearly. Gabriel had promised them a way to beat the claw so they fought carefully while Almanar lured over some demons. But even so, one person died because of the smallest gap in their defences. And it was this number that Gabriel thought of when he thought about those three people.

"Yes, one person. Just a single person died after we had our talk. If we hadn’t had our talk and just started battling again right away, what would have happened? Sure, one of the three that died during the talk might have been the one to die instead, all of them might have died, or none of them might have died. But Ifs, Buts, and Mights matter very little in life. I chose to talk with you rather than fight, and as a result three people died while fighting. That is the reality of the situation. I know this, so my body knows that it must feel guilty about it. It’s not a comfortable emotion, but I am still happy to have it. But because I now know that it’s not comfortable, I will do something to alleviate it. It’s not the best of reasons, but its the best I can do right now."

Gabriel was feeling it, but he was still working on understanding and dealing with it in a normal way. As such, he could only handle it the way he knew at the moment, even if that may make others, his old master in particular, say that he wasn’t dealing with it properly. After all, what good was guilt if you only acted on it because it was annoying to have and not because you actually regretted what caused it?

"You’ve started to become stubborn, haven’t you?"

Alice spoke as if she was pouting, but the corners of her lips had turned up in a wide arc and there was a light spring to her step. The past Gabriel would definitely just have gone along with her words and given up on whatever he had been planning on doing. This was much better, even if it meant that he didn’t go just go along with whatever she said.

——

The bakery was indeed rather close to the Barong estate so Gabriel and Alice didn’t have to walk for too long, at most two hours with their slowed pace, before they reached it. Things in the area were relatively calm and quiet so it didn’t seem like the news from the estate had reached them yet.

Knock knock

Alice knocked the wooden frame of the open entrance, the scent of fresh bread tickling their noses before they even walked in. The bakery was empty, probably because most people had already bought breakfast and gone to work, but there was a woman behind the counter that greeted them cheerfully.

"Welcome to the path of yeast resistance, what tickles your fancy today?"

The woman looked to be in her thirties, dimples on the side of her mouth as she smiled. Her brown hair was tied into a bun and kept in place by a net, her blue eyes narrowed slightly due to her smile. Morticia Eigon, sister of Murak Eigon. She was smiling brightly, at least for now.

"I have come on behalf of the Barong Estate. They’ll deliver an official notice later, but I wanted to come in advance. Your brother, Murak Eigon, he passed away while out on an expedition, I came to give my condolences."

Gabriel broke the news to her, Alice pulling out the ring that Arioch had taken from Murak while he was talking with Gabriel. The moment Morticia saw the ring, she froze. Gabriel could almost feel the air around her get colder, the tips of her fingers unconsciously scraping against the wooden counter she was standing behind.

"Mura… He… He died?"

The words fell from her lips with a stutter, almost disbelieving. But she had to believe them, she could see the ring he always carried on him. That ring was the last thing they had from their parents, something they gave him for his tenth birthday, just a month before they passed away.

She was just standing there. Her nails were scraping against the wood, small shavings gathering beneath her palms. The rest of her body wasn’t moving, she was just standing there. Her breath was caught in her chest, her eyelids weren’t even trembling, much less blinking. She was in shock, her body and mind struggling to catch up with the situation.

"There was an unexpected beast at the very end of the expedition so a lot of knights died before we could take it down."

Gabriel recognized her state. Some of the people he worked with in the past occasionally looked like that when their families were taken hostage, or when they received a mail with parts. He’d also seen family members react like that when he delivered the news, it was a sight he had already become all-too familiar with, body and mind trying to deny their new reality.

"Did… Did he at least die for a good cause?"

Comfort, she was desperately seeking comfort in whatever way she could. If he died for something good, like saving another knight or their young lord then that would at least mean something, right? Right? It had to mean something then, right? But…

"No. He died because I started to talk in the middle of the battle. He died so that I could finish my conversation."

Gabriel did not lie. It wasn’t that he couldn’t, Alice was the only person he never lied to. But he chose not to lie here, they deserved to know the truth, no matter their reaction.

"…!"

Morticia’s body seemed to react faster than her mind, her hand clasping the nearest thing and swinging it with all her might. In this case it was a small wooden plaque that had her most popular items carved into it. Gabriel didn’t dodge so it smashed directly into the side of his face, shattering and leaving splinters in his face.

He remained standing as Morticia heaved, the reality of what she just did catching up with her, his words settling in. Her eyes were bloodshot, her tears had already started to fall. Her arm swung out again, smashing the broken plaque into Gabriel’s face again, more conscious this time. She was heaving, unable to utter words as her chest felt too clogged and warm. Gabriel allowed her to swing the plaque for a third time before he lowered his head.

"I know it doesn’t mean a thing to you, but I am deeply sorry."

What good would an apology do her? Would it bring her brother back, would it undo the past? No, an apology would only help Gabriel, it wouldn’t do anything for her.

"Get…Out! Get out! Get out get out get out! Get away from me!"

She finally managed to get out some words, her voice scraping as her vocal cords were getting torn. She clutched the plaque with one hand, her other clawing across the wooden counter until blood leaked out from the base of her nails.

Gabriel simply lowered his head again and bade her farewell. One was done, but morticia wasn’t the only one.

Next came the husband of Altair Serosh, Kaervon Serosh. He took the news… as well as one could hope.

"Get out. Leave my sight before I do something I’ll regret…"

He managed to hold himself back after the second hit, but the first one had already broken Gabriel’s nose so who could say how much good that restraint did.

The last of the people mentioned in the note were the ones related to Wolton Delgar. His family was already dead so Gabriel could only break the news to the street kids that Wolton had been taking care of and giving jobs over the years. They reacted as one would expect, some broke down into tears while others refused to accept the situation and tried to run away from reality.

Two of them struck Gabriel after he forced them to understand reality by giving them the pendant that Arioch rested on Wolton’s chest. They were just kids so they were a lot weaker than the adults that had already struck him today, but their fists were filled with just as much sorrow and fury, just as much pain.

In the end, Gabriel delivered the news to all the people on the list, aggravating his wounds a bit more each time. But it was done. As for whether or not it did help to alleviate his guilt, logical or emotional, only he would know.

They returned to the Barong estate once it was finished, and as expected, Arioch had already reported everything in the hours they were gone. As a result, the Woodime and Vritara families had sent over express notices to Alice and Caine. They would have to return posthaste. With that, whatever both sides had planned at first, their time in the north had come to an end, it was time to return to their own territories before they were called to the capital. The noble society was calling to them.

———

While Gabriel and Alice were dealing with those who ended up left behind, the Yverial empire was still in the middle of its own uproar. The citizens of one of its more distant cities were currently all gathered outside the city, swarming so tightly that they looked like ants. Ahead of them was a small hill of demons that had tried to assault their city out of nowhere, they were like a tide that had just suddenly burst out from the earth. They were all looking at the muscular young man sitting atop the corpses, an almost unearthly fanatical light in their eyes.

"Saint Arthur!"

"Saint Arthur!"

"Saint!" "Saint!" "Saint!"

"Saint Arthur!"

"Thank the gods for Saint Arthur!"

They were practically screaming as one, their voices drowning out just about everything else. Arthur looked at them with a smirk as he sat atop the corpses, his flesh wriggling and his bones creaking as he chewed on the demon meat that he tore off of a limb he had plucked from one of the corpses. His dark golden hair hung down loosely, splattered with blood, while his violet eyes surveyed the people shouting for him.

"Don’t thank the gods, thank me! Your gods are just petty squabblers who dislike an uncontrollable show! There’s no point in worshipping them! So worship me, and lets march together! To the Earhart Empire! To the lands beyond! Let’s take it all! We deserve it! You deserve it! I deserve it!"