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“What’s the matter?” I asked as I plopped down on my bed. So soft!

He looked around the room for a moment before answering.

“First, I'll tell you about our cover story. I wanted Freya to listen too, but you’ll just have to tell her tomorrow. She seems scared of me anyway,” he said.

“Nah, she’s just scared of nobles in general. Or maybe of adults.”

He shrugged.

“So, I am the son of a fairly well-off Merchant in the capital. Your father was his cousin, and he died in the war when you were six. When you were ten, your mother died of sickness and my Merchant father adopted you since he was the only remaining relative. When you grew up, he noticed your sturdy physique and after testing you and seeing you were suited to fighting, he decided to train you into a warrior so you could help him and then me when I took hold of the company.”

He then pointed at Freya. “She’s the youngest daughter, and she’s been sick until recently, that’s why she’s so thin. She’s shy around strangers, since she’s been inside most of the time.”

“Before departing, we were importing exotic fruit from the other parts of the continent. After our father died, and seeing the increased difficulties of international trade due to the civil war, we decided to relocate to the safest city we knew of, Caldris, and find new opportunities there… and this is all. No need to overcomplicate things,” he said, while taking out a map.

“Is everything clear or should we go over it a few times for you to memorize?” he asked me.

Does he think I am that dumb?

I then just repeated everything he said again, to show him I memorized everything.

“Is that fine for you, boss?” I asked, sardonic.

“Yes, it’s fine,” he responded seriously while looking at the map.

“What are you doing?” I asked curiously peering at the map. I never saw one before.

I can’t understand a thing.

“Trying to find where we could get attacked by bandits so that we can avoid those zones,” he said, still looking at the map. “We’ll have to travel for longer and in difficult terrain, but it’s best to avoid pointless conflicts.”

I was a bit disappointed since I wanted to see how I would fare against bandits — though it was a reasonable choice. We were only three, and one couldn’t fight, so it was best to avoid any type of fight at the moment.

“If there’s nothing more then, I will leave you alone,” I said, ready to try my hand again at absorbing mana.

“Wait,” he said suddenly, lifting his gaze from the map, “I have one more thing to say.”

I raised an eyebrow.

And what were you waiting for before talking? I thought, baffled.

He paused for a few moments before answering.

“I apologize,” he said, lowering his head.

…

I think I’m starting to get used to surprising developments. Too many of them packed together these days.

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“Why are you apologizing?” Reason aside, only the fact that he was apologizing to a commoner, and former slave, was already surprising, if not alarming.

“I have acted out of character this morning. The last year has been hard, and I had thought that I could relax for a while in the dungeon. The sudden explosion rattled me quite a bit.”

I gave him a skeptical look. Who goes into a dungeon to relax?

He got the unasked question without me saying anything.

“I know that the dungeon is not a relaxing place, but it should have been safe!” He said getting a bit worked up.

Whoa, what's up now?

“There had been no events for months, there should have been no one inside the cells, and no one would attack there. Why would they??? Instead, I found someone in the cell right in front of mine, a game was announced just a week after I got there, and then an explosion!!” he got up and started pacing around.

Did he just suddenly snap, out of nowhere?

“I thought it was an attack aimed at me, so I was desperately trying to get away and find someplace to hide, but then I found you, and you told me it was just an unrelated attack I got caught in. I struggled to believe it, but I was desperately hoping that you were right — while also cursing my misfortune.”

“I didn’t see you as desperate,” I said when he paused to take a breath.

He stopped walking a few steps away, looking back at me. He then took a few breaths to calm down, before continuing.

“I was trained to maintain my composure at all times, to make rational decisions even in the direst of situations, and I later got the related Skill too. I tend to push my emotions back too much in such circumstances, though, and I sometimes make choices I would never make with a clear mind. I certainly wouldn’t have involved both of you in my problems otherwise… that’s why I was apologizing,” he said, looking guilty.

Well, that seemed a bit out of character from how he behaved in the dungeon. I just didn’t know him enough to spot it.

“So, how much trouble are we in?” This was the really important question. It should be reasonably threatening if he was feeling so guilty as to spill it.

He mulled over my words a bit.

“That depends,” he ended up saying. “As I told you before, I should have been able to direct my pursuers somewhere else. And if things go as they should, they will probably think I am dead.”

“Ok, but what if they find us? And what if we part ways here?”

He hesitated.

“It’s highly probable that, even if we part ways, they will eventually find you and interrogate you. People here have seen us together after all,” he said, looking away. I didn’t think that the “interrogation” would be a simple exchange of words, judging by his expression. “Of course, if you can move around more stealthily than me there shouldn’t be a problem, but you don’t look like a subtle man.”

He’s not wrong.

“If they find us together, they will just try to kill me — I’m their only objective, after all. The issue though is that they won’t care about collateral damage, so if they consider it convenient they won't mind killing you too.”

Well, I already knew someone would come to attack him, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise.

“What’s their strength?” I asked curious.

Maybe it wasn’t too high, and we’d just have to worry about poison and explosions. Not that those are actually easy to deal with.

I never had to deal with assassinations, so I was out of my depth here.

If they weren’t too high level and came out from the front, though, I would just welcome it. I always loved a good fight.

“Sorry, but I prefer not to say,” he said, then adding right after, “I know that you don’t trust me, and while I feel sorry for involving you in this I’m also not willing to share too much information with you. What you already know may already attract them if you let it slip and the voice spreads. Just know that if they do catch up, there won’t be any way for you to fight back. Knowing wouldn't make any difference.”

Mm, that leaves an option, though.

I stood up and walked to the foot of the bed where I left all my things, then grabbed my sword and swiftly drew it while stepping toward Zeph. He tried to dodge, surprised, but my sword tip pointing at his neck stopped him.

He was silent for a few moments before asking, “What’s the meaning of this?”

Shouldn't it be obvious?

“If what you said is true then there’s an easy way to ensure my life won’t be in danger,” I said nonchalantly, “I just need to kill you and ensure that they find your corpse. Then they won’t have any reason to find me.”

“Will you just kill me then?” He again asked calmly, as if he didn’t mind the sword pointed at his neck.

“Hahaha, you seem awfully calm despite the situation,” I laughed.

“You were quite honest there Zeph, and the gesture is appreciated, but you were the one that brought us this trouble. And besides, you should know that people won’t always reciprocate,” I shrugged, “I had to make similar choices before, and I always chose my life over the others, despite my affection for the opponent.”

I then stared at him in the eyes.

“So, tell me, why shouldn’t I kill you?”

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