Ethan kicked the inn's door open as both hands were full of bags he collected from the debtors.

After Twin Rivers, he went back to Indran with Clara. He successfully convinced Madame to sell the book only to Clara but it came with a price. The madame innkeeper changed a little bit to the initial deal, asking Ethan to do two more jobs for her. She got to sell the book safely without trouble to Clara with a good amount of gambers while she asked for more jobs for Ethan. It was an absolute win for her.

Compared to the force Ethan used, the door opened quite slowly with a squeaky creaking sound as the hinges were rusty. He shook his head in disappointment as he looked at the neglected state of the poor inn. "Where did all the money go?"

The inside was as usual. Creepy and dark as there were not enough candles to light the hall. A few gloomy customers, who were eating shabby stew which was the only food the inn served, were all there was to it. Some tables were dusty as they were not used for a long time and people keep avoiding them. The corners of the roof were full of cobwebs, the spiders may have been filling their stomachs better than humans.

He walked up to the second floor where the madame's room is. The stairs stooped lower with each step he took. "She didn't repair these stairs too. Where does she use all those money?" The poor state of the inn became a mystery when he found out how much the madame made.

Ethan found her in the room busy with her ledger. He dropped the bags on the desk. A loud clanking sound filled the room as the coins hit each other and the desk. Madame raised her head and glared at the ill manner of Ethan. Ethan did not care. He does not like her since she charged Clara a lot of gambers for the book without a discount. He believed it was wrong of her to charge the same amount when Clara, logically, owned half the book. He thinks the madame is a dishonoured greedy businessperson.

"Here are your gambers from Calling's household. I believe I am done."

She did not reply. She carefully put her ledger back in the drawer, and then she reached out to the bags and checked if there was the right amount of money. She counted them until she was satisfied. While she was counting, she asked Ethan if they resisted.

"Little bit. Not much of a fight though," replied Ethan. "*Tsk those people. You should have seen their faces when they asked for loans. They were begging on the ground. I hate those kind of two-faced people. I should raise their interest for the trouble."

"But you weren't the one who fought them."

"So?"

"..."

Ethan gave up his reasoning with her. He should not have said anything in the first place.

The more he lived through, the more he got tired and detested the world. "So this must be the curse Mrs Borger gave." He thought to himself.

"Anyway, I am free of bounds now. I have officially become 'Ethan' of Indran. ... What should I do now?"

Ethan lay on his bed leisurely and thought of his future plan. Nothing came out after thinking for a while. He had nothing to do. Nothing he wished to, nothing he dreamt of. He felt empty. A void.

He was not always like this. He had it all back then when there was Leila. He will become a Templer, then he will marry her. They will settle in Easton where he will create a beautiful and loving family with three kids_ two sons for Leila and the youngest_ daughter for him to spoil.

As he thought about how he will never get it anymore, tears flowed unconsciously. He could not stop it. "Leila." He wailed her name. For a while, he repeatedly wailed her name.

Then he caught a whiff of familiar smell so he got up from bed and grabbed his sword.

"Relax. I would have killed you if I wanted. I was waiting because I didn't want to interrupt your trip to the emotional lane."

A person came out upside down of the window and entered the room. It was Clara. She continued, "Is this what you always do at night?" She mocked Ethan.

He grunted and turned away. "What are you doing here? Do you think it is fine for a woman to enter the room like that?"

"No. And it is not fine for a man either. He could get killed, unless it is a friend."

"I am not your friend."

"Aww~ Don't be shy. We lived in a jungle together for two days. You even gave me half the book. I don't know what to call that other than 'friend'."

"It is called cooperating and I was honouring our deal. Nothing more."

"Fine. We are not friends if that's what you want. Anyway, I have a job for you."

"I never said I will work for you."

"Oh, you are not working for me. I am informing you that there is a job suitable for you. Think of it as returning the favour."

Ethan contemplated for a while. For now, he wanted to keep some distance from Clara. He believed he was getting too close to her. It would be a lie if he says he is not getting attached to her. She is a pretty woman and a good partner to fight alongside. He enjoyed the time he cooperated on a mission together with her. When she was in his company, he rarely thought about Leila. He felt he was betraying Leila, breaking his oath.

"Are you taking the job too?" He asked her.

"No. They asked me but I have taken up another job so I am giving it to you. They ask for the best so I figure this job is suitable for you."

"Alright. I will take the job." He decided to take it since she would not be going with him. Although he did not like taking favour from her, it was better to have something to do than idling. He had been rolling in bed and wailing without it.

"Cool. You are my recommendation. So don't mess it up and tarnish my name." She tossed a copper to him. He caught it with one hand. "You must have a memory problem because you keep forgetting who won that dual."

After Clara left, Ethan was lost in thought. He decided to live like a fallen leaf, letting the wind carry him where it should be. But what if that wind is Clara? With Clara, he feels like he is enjoying his life. He promised Mrs Borger that he would live a miserable life until the end.

He sighed lifelessly as he was not sure what to do. For now, let the wind carry him be.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

He took out the coin Clara gave him. It was not like any coin he had seen before. On one side was an angel with horns. The other side was a devil with a halo. "What a weird joke."

The next morning Ethan grabbed the jerky and smoked fish from the kitchen for the journey. He already told the errand boy to feed Rings before dawn so that he could ride in first light. The destination was a country house near Gambit City. He needed to reach there in three days so he had no time to waste.

Signard was sad when he heard Ethan was leaving. He thought of Ethan as his reliable older brother. "Hey Jeff, give my brother one more fish. Come on. The man is going on a long journey. He needs more than that." Signard told the cook. "You will come back again, right?" He asked Ethan longing voice. "Well. This is my birthplace, so," answered Ethan ambiguously.

Ethan was happy to finally leave the desolate place where menus usually are rat or rabbit. The only thing good there would be moonshine. It is smooth to drink. Because it was stored below the desert sand throughout the night, it gave a sweet and chilling taste when it went down the throat.

"Let's go, Rings. We have no time to waste. We are going back to Rode dukedom." As if it understood his words, it turned to the fastest lane which leads to the Gambit city. Ethan had been taking the east coast road since the first time he came to Indran. Yet Rings knew the imperial route, which they never took, is the fastest. Now that he had a new identity, he could take the imperial route without worry. "Good boy." He lightly brushed Rings' mane in praise.

They travelled across the dusty plain of Sousa, green grassy Midlake and grey mountainous Rode dukedom. They crossed the entire kingdom from the south to the north within two and a half days. Ethan reached the destination in no time due to Rings' absurd speed and power.

"You are a true marvel, Rings. You must be tired now. I will treat you to the finest grass and sweetest carrot after this." He affectionately patted it as he promised to treat the tastiest meal for the amazing job it had done. "See that windmill ahead. It is where we are going. I am sure you are familiar with it. That's where you dramatically came in rescue to me."

As if Rings understood him, it neighed cheerfully.

As he reminisced about the past, Ethan found out that he had many things to be thankful to Rings. From the first day they met, he saved Leila thanks to Rings, they faced a mantila together, and it even saved him from Sir Faün.

Since they had already reached on time, they rode into the country house leisurely. It was the same country house near Gambit where he took out an apparition and saved a boy in his last trial. He wondered if that boy still worked here. He was excited if he could meet the boy again.

The main building looked neat and comfy, unlike the last time. The cobwebs were clear and the windows were repaired.

An old man dressed in tidy clothes welcomed him while the rest of the workers in tattered clothes stared from afar. The old man asked Ethan the reason for his visit so he showed the coin.

"Welcome warrior. Master is awaiting with the rest at the barn. Please hurry."

When Ethan reached the double-deck barn, he saw a middle-aged man full of jewellery sitting in the middle of the crowd. A bunch of his servants were standing behind him with their axes. Ethan sensed that they seemed kinda aggressive toward him and the two other warriors who were there on the quest.

"You are late." A man in tattered clothes who looked like the leader of servants grumbled at Ethan. To avoid an unnecessary fight, Ethan ignored the man and stood beside the other warriors.

"Do you have the coin?" The man in silk clothes asked Ethan for his identity so he showed the coin. The man checked the coin and smiled contently.

"I asked for the best so I trust the men in front of me are the best. Kill the monster inside this barn and I shall reward you handsomely. Of course, only the best will be rewarded. You know me. The one who comes back with a head will take all. The rest will be given only one-tenth of the reward. It is fair, isn't it?"

Ethan looked at the other two. One of them was a gigantic guy with a huge hammer. Ethan did not even want to imagine how it would be for the man to travel with that heavy thing. Another one was a handsome man with an exotic look. He had a spiky mace on one hand, another at his waist, with a shield carried on his back. His face is not the only exotic looking, even his shield looks weird. It is a very long wooden shield with a man's width. Its surface is as flat as a table with the top curved inside.

What's the use of it, Ethan wondered. Wooden shields became obsolete since the era of monsters and spells.

"Sure." answered the big man to the employer. "I do hope you will accept a flattened head. Haha." The big man showed his confidence. However, what the handsome man said made everyone think a lot.

"You do know they disintegrate into ashes when died, right? We can never bring the head back."

"Then.... ... The one who did a killing blow."

"Okay. Let's be honest with each other. We are all honourable warriors after all," said the big man.

The handsome man also accepted the term but Ethan was skeptical about it. Especially he did not trust those servants who were coming along with them. If the man asked for the best, why would he make his servants who aren't the fighters go inside? They also outnumbered them two to one.

Ethan agreed on the term as he did not want to make a fuss and the other two also seemed to notice their intention. Ethan and the two made a silent conversation through their eyes. "The bastard has no intention to give us bounty. We must work together so that they can't steal our kill." The three made a secret alliance on their own.

The barn looked the same as before. Again, they blocked the door with stacks of hay so that the monster would not escape. He could still find the traces of a blessing and hexes used to stop the apparition. Smells of animal faeces and dung could still be noticed from outside.

While the servants were removing the hay stacks, Ethan asked them if they knew what kind of monster was in there. They looked at each other confusingly then they shook their head. It was ridiculous that no one knew or saw it. However, their expression did not look like lying either.

They readied their weapons as the last block of hay was removed. With Ethan on the right, the Warhammer guy in the middle and the shield on the left, they entered the barn where an unknown creature ravaged.