“So, when I caught them, they didn’t sound apologetic in the slightest. Said they were just ‘farming’ for cores. If someone killed one of your daughters and then told you they were just ‘farming’, what would you do?”

Nico shook his head while trio ate. The stars were out but the moon had yet to appear. Just as Theo predicted, they paid for their food with stories. After Theo recounted some of his past as a raider, he began asking Nico questions.

“Obviously, I wouldn’t be a man if I didn’t kill them. So, I did. Ha-ha-ha!”

“Ha, ha, ha…” Theo attempted to laugh along.

“But the next time I returned to the surface, their friends caused a huge scene. I was locked away for a while, and then…Well, you can guess the rest.”

Nico pointed to the black ‘X’ on his forehead.

“Absurd is what it is. My daughter was weak and so they hunted her down. They were weak and so I hunted them down. Why do people have to throw a fuss about it? I’ll bet that every single veteran has killed someone at some point. They’re strong after all.”

“Y-Yea…” Theo forced himself to agree.

“So, how did you become an outlaw?”

Nico and Mavis stared at him intently, but Theo looked away.

“That’s not something I want to talk about.”

“Well, whatever.” Nico acquiesced quickly, which caused Mavis to visibly deflate. “If you have that brand, then I doubt that it’s lighter than murder.”

“It isn’t.” Theo nodded hesitantly. “But you still haven’t answered my most important question. How did you get your…children…to follow you?”

“Ah, that’s a simple story. I used to be a famous animal breeder and trainer. I’ve sold beasts in every country on this continent. Eventually, someone asked me to train monsters. I was interested, and when I came across these dire wolves, I fell in love.”

“So…you aren’t using a magic tool?”

“Ha-ha-ha! Of course not.”

“Shit.” Theo thought.

“Wow, that’s incredible!” Theo said.

If there was a mind-controlling magic tool, then Theo could potentially break or steal it. Fighting nine dire wolves and one experienced raider was suicide. Theo wasn’t surprised that everyone had abandoned this area. No matter how much trouble he caused, even veterans wouldn’t be in a hurry to antagonize Nico. Now that Theo knew Nico’s wolves followed him out of loyalty, he had to give up on searching for a weakness. Apparently, Nico’s only flaw was his gullibility.

Paranoia was considered to be a good trait in a raider. For an outlaw, it was a necessity. Theo could believe that Nico brought them here to share stories around a fire. However, he also knew that Nico could order their deaths with a snap of his fingers. This kind of power imbalance was something that Theo couldn’t ignore.

Theo yawned.

Even though Theo couldn’t ignore this disparity, he couldn’t ignore his own body either. After eating his first good meal in who knows how long, Theo was ready to turn in for the night. If Nico wanted to kill them, then there was no reason to wait for an opening. The middle-aged outlaw had a perfect chance when Theo and Mavis were surrounded, but he gave that up.

Theo rubbed his eyes.

Their food wasn’t drugged. Both Nico and Theo had been extremely wary of the other’s tampering. Even so, Theo couldn’t help but lie against the log that he’d been resting on. The exhausted raider glanced at Mavis. The slime stared back at him through its mask and nodded slightly. Theo wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed that Mavis would wait for Nico to fall asleep.

Satisfied, Theo finally closed his eyes.

“It seems your knight has fallen asleep.” Nico observed. He chuckled quietly. “You haven’t talked much. I’ll bet he asked you not to.”

Mavis froze up for a moment and then gave a curt nod.

“Well, I’ve already had a good time. If you don’t want to talk, then that’s fine.”

Nico smiled in a fatherly way.

“If you do have anything to ask, though. Feel free.”

The middle-aged outlaw waited for a moment and then prepared to stand up. It was at that moment when he heard a divine voice.

“What is outlaw?”

“An outlaw…?”

Nico was understandably confused. He looked at Mavis, but the slime stared back with undisguised interest.

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“An outlaw is a criminal. Someone who committed a serious crime, like killing or plotting against their country. Normally, we’d spend our lives rotting inside a cell. Instead, Outlaws are given an ultimatum. Return with a precious treasure worthy of our freedom, or live without civilization and its laws. We’re essentially human monsters.”

Mavis didn’t respond and Nico shifted uncomfortably. There were many words that the slime hadn’t understood. However, it had grasped the overall message very clearly.

“Outlaws, like Theo, can’t go to surface?”

“No.” Nico replied bluntly. “Apparently, this brand will cause us intense pain if we go near a town or city. I’ve never bothered to try, though.”

“Can’t go without treasure?”

Nico nodded. As a trainer, he was nothing if not patient.

“Theo has no treasure.”

“I’ll bet. That’s why you’ll have to head further down. You won’t find anything worth your freedom in the second or third layers. Personally, I’d rather just live in this dungeon forever. The fourth layer is hell.”

“I do not want to live here forever.”

Mavis was lacking in language skills. It was naïve and it had a kind nature. However, Mavis was not stupid. The slime had noticed that Theo was hiding something ever since they first met. It had spied on hundreds of raiders, and none of them were as ill-equipped as Theo had been. Mavis had decided to trust Theo despite this, because the human seemed genuine in his desire to reach the surface.

But there was only one reason why an outlaw would want to return to the surface.

“Outside Naraka, you…sold…monsters?”

Mavis paused on the word ‘sold’. Almost as if it was saying something foreign.

“Yea, I did.”

“All monsters on surface are…sold?”

“Of course.” Nico knit his brow. “In my opinion, monsters are just like any other animal. And on the surface, the strongest animal is man. Humans keep plenty of animals as pets for luxury or practical reasons.”

“What is pet?”

“Er, pets are kept animals. They do what their owner tells them. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Like wolves?”

“No.” Nico replied adamantly. “These ones are special. I would never sell them. They take orders from me because they trust my leadership. It’s a completely different relationship.”

Mavis clenched its fists and Nico suddenly stood up.

“Ah, I get it. If you want these wolves, then you’re making a huge mistake.”

“I do not want.” Mavis’s blunt refusal shook Nico.

The outlaw looked up at the sky and then sat back down with a thump.

“Well, you’re out of time anyway.”

“Why?”

Mavis followed his gaze, but obviously the spectacle was more than six meters away. Even so, it could see that something was dying the ground around them in a bloody red glow. The forcefield above the second layer was pulsing crazily. It was now fully visible, blocking out the sky like a malicious red sea. The eye of this storm was the moon. Mavis could not see the forcefield, but it felt an overpowering presence above it. Something rattled the slime to its core, causing its ‘heart’ to beat in time with the forcefield’s distortions.

“A blood moon.” Nico explained. “I’ve noticed a lot of raiders running around recently, so I figured it was coming soon. Maybe it’s because we’re connected to the outside, but the second layer has ‘events’ like this every few months.”

Mavis fell to its knees and clutched its head. The dire wolves began to howl.

“Every monster in the second layer will be affected by this light. Under the blood moon, they become far more aggressive. It’s a dangerous, yet potentially profitable time for raiders. Monsters will run out of their dens and actively search for humans to kill. Raiders can fight more in one night than they normally would in a month. Assuming they survive, of course.”

The wolves began to glare at Nico and lick their lips. They raised their hackles and growled fiercely. Meanwhile, Mavis slowly inched towards Theo. The slime’s hair was twitching furiously. Nico stood up and walked towards the nearest wolf.

Dire wolves were extremely similar to wolves found on the surface. They had white fur, four legs, a bushy tail, and an excellent sense of smell. The two major differences were their size and intelligence. The tallest dire wolves stood just below two meters. In terms of length and weight, they were essentially horse-sized canines. Dire wolves were also very intelligent pack hunters. Their mix of physical prowess and bestial cunning made them apex predators in the second layer’s forests.

“Greedy child.”

Nico slapped the wolf’s nose and the beast recoiled. He pointed at Theo’s sleeping body.

“Your meal is over there.”

“You…why!?” Mavis exclaimed.

“If I don’t feed them a little, then they won’t be able to control themselves. Monster meat won’t satisfy these children during a blood moon.”

Nico looked down at Mavis and smiled casually.

“I enjoyed listening to you two, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to save your lives. If you’re strong, then you’ll survive. If not, then you’ll die. That’s all there is to it.”

The dire wolves quickly formed a circle around Theo and Mavis. The slime plunged its hand into Theo’s pack and pulled out a piece of glowing crystal. Theo had made sure to grab some extras before leaving the first layer. Mavis clutched the crystal and channeled as much mana as it could muster. A blueish glow suddenly engulfed the campsite. The wolves stepped forward, unfazed.

“Stay…away!”

The crystal grew even brighter as Mavis raised it into the air. A faint series of pops and cracks could be heard. The crystal seemed like it would break even before Mavis threw it. Ultimately, the slime was faster. It threw the crystal into the ground and a blue light swallowed everything. Nico, who had been watching from a distance, took the blinding light like a brick to the face. The wolves howled in a pitiful manner. Their heightened senses couldn’t handle the sudden brightness.

Mavis took advantage of this chaos to grab Theo and flee into the woods. The slime couldn’t run while carrying him, but it didn’t need to. Theo had woken up because of the crystal’s explosion. Mavis led him by the hand just like he’d led it back in the first layer.

“What’s going on?” Theo yelled. “Why is the sky bleeding!?”

“Blood moon.”

A myriad of howls and snarls erupted behind them.

“Monsters…become…aggressive.”

“We need to climb a tree.”

Theo made a B line for a large ironbark tree and Mavis grimaced inwardly. The slime couldn’t argue as nine streaks of white closed in on them. Mavis abandoned its human form and shot up the tree with incredible speed. It lowered a few tentacles down to pull Theo along as he climbed. They made it to a point where the wolves couldn’t reach, but Theo wasn’t finished.

“We need to get higher. Once they can’t see us, then we’ll travel across the treetops and leave this part of the woods.”

The pair kept moving upwards until they could see the sky clearly. Theo whistled in amazement as he gazed up at the blood red moon.

“I’ve heard about the blood moon before, but I thought it was just a myth. We really do have bad luck. Don’t we, Mavis?”

Theo turned back just in time to see a tentacle rushing towards his head. On his narrow branch, Theo had no way of dodging. Mavis’s mask stared up at the horrific sky while it sent more tentacles to constrict Theo. The outlaw struggled, but fighting only made it harder to hold his breath.

Once Theo was completely trapped, Mavis finally turned to look at him. Even though Theo couldn’t see the slime’s face, he felt a cold gaze sweep across his person. The pair stared at each other for a moment. Theo’s mind raced as he thought about how to counteract the effects of the blood moon. Then Mavis finally spoke, and he realized there was no point.

“You…deceived…me.”