Red was expecting something like this to happen, but when it finally came out of Hector’s mouth, he still couldn’t help but be surprised.
Allen, too, seemed taken aback. “We’re really leaving? Just like that?”
Hector nodded. “We are. Though we will need to make preparations.”
“But we can’t just-!”
“Enough.” Hector cut the young master off. “I’m sure you have plenty of complaints, but I won’t discuss this until we have everyone gathered here. Go gather the other two.”
Allen nodded and walked off with a frown.
A few minutes later, Goulth and Rog entered the meeting room. The hunter seemed in good condition considering the circumstances, with no signs of his undead infection apparent in his body just yet. The blacksmith, though, had a pale and sallow countenance, indicating he hadn’t slept for who knew how long.
His face lit up in surprise once he spotted Red in the room. “You’re back!”
The youth nodded with a frown. “I am.”
Goulth seemed to want to say more, but he fell silent instead and walked to a seat around the table.
Soon enough, they were all sat around the meeting table, with Hector at the head. The elder was wearing a far more severe expression than normal as he regard the rest of them.
“As I said before,” he started. “We are leaving this town.”
“We are?” Rog raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
Goulth also seemed surprised, but he looked too tired to express it.
“It is no longer safe here.” Hector said. “Well, it hasn’t been safe here for quite some time, but up until now, I still had the confidence of protecting you all as long as you stayed in town. This is no longer the case.”
“Is this because of Orvin’s murder?” The hunter asked.
“It is.” The elder nodded and looked over at Red. “The kid read the crime scene perfectly. The killer was most definitely someone around the Peak of the Lesser Ring Realm and skilled in assassination arts. Not only that, but the Baron is also completely unable to track their presence inside the town. Do you understand what that means?”
Rog frowned. “They can kill us even inside of town?”
“Indeed. This is no longer the sanctuary it once was.”
Allen scoffed at this. “So what? Are we just supposed to run away and leave the Baron to his own means?”
“I gave him my advice. Even if we stay, there’s nothing we can do to stop what is coming, and the only thing we will accomplish is to get swept up in the tide.”
“And you don’t even hesitate to run? Is there even any point to our supposed alliance?”
Hector glared at the young master. “I have done more than enough to repay the Baron for his kindness, even when my trust was betrayed more than once. If you’d liked to know, though, I don’t intend to abandon him.”
Domeron frowned at this. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that I will stay behind to help him while the rest of you flee.”
A wave of surprise ran through the room at this.
“You’re going to stay behind?!” Rimold stared at the elder as if he had gone insane. “Why would you do that?”
“Because I have made an agreement a long time ago to support him and his town in times of crisis.” Hector said. “I intend to stand by it, as much as I’m sure that might surprise some of you.”
Allen, above everyone else, seemed completely shocked by the revelation. This went against everything they knew about Hector, who only concerned himself with the good of his sect on most occasions.
In fact, Red didn’t really believe the reason the elder gave for one second, and judging by Domeron’s expression, neither did he.
Rog grunted. “So you’re going to die here?”
Hector scowled at the hunter. “Who said anything about dying?! I will help him deal with the situation over here as long as it remains manageable. Once it spirals out of control, I will just leave this place.”
“How can you be so sure you are going to be able to leave?” Rimold seemed skeptical. “What if they kill you, too?”
The elder scoffed. “The only reason I’m worried about acting is because of you lot. As long as I don’t need to worry about protecting you, then I will be able to act freely and no damn assassin will be able to hold me back.”
“That’s a terrible idea.” Domeron shook his head. “The imperials have been paying special attention to you, and they most likely know about your Deep Sea Sword, too. If they act against you, then you won’t survive.”
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Hector seemed angry at the swordsman’s words, and Red noticed his fluctuation waver for a moment. “What do you know about my strength? Not even you have seen me go all out before, Domeron.”
“Maybe so, but I know the enemy you are dealing with. They won’t leave a margin for error.”
The elder frowned, glaring at the man. Domeron, however, didn’t turn away, meeting his gaze without hesitation. It was evident that the swordsman’s protests had taken Hector by surprise. It didn’t seem like the elder disagreed with his words, but rather that he didn’t want them to be brought up in the first place.
Before the argument could go any further, though, Rog spoke up.
“I’m not going.”
Everyone around the table turned to stare at the hunter in surprise.
Hector frowned. “What do you mean you are not going?”
The hunter shrugged. “I don’t feel like it.”
“You bastard! Do you think this is a joke?!”
“No, but I am already dying anyway. I’d rather do it somewhere I know.”
These words made Hector be at a loss for words. The anger and insults he had been preparing to throw the hunter’s way died in his throat. It seemed only now that the elder realized the weight of what he was asking Rog to do.
Red didn’t know how long the hunter had lived in this town. The story of how he met Hector was unknown to the youth, but he was under the impression Rog lived here even before the elder established his sect.
This was probably the place he had grown up in. It was the forest he had learned how to hunt in, that he had explored throughout his entire life. It was the only thing he knew his entire life.
“… If you stay here, I won’t be able to focus on my duties while trying to protect you.” Hector said.
“No one is asking you to protect me.” Rog shook his head. “You just worry about your own problems and I will make myself useful in other ways.”
The elder frowned. “How exactly will you do that in your state?”
The hunter shrugged. “I’ll just throw myself in front of your enemies. My life should buy you a few seconds, at least.”
“You…”
“I’m not going anywhere either.”
Another voice spoke up, this time belonging to Goulth.
“You too?” Hector stared at him in anger.
Goulth laughed. “What, do you think I would be okay with just abandoning you? Have you forgotten what I promised you when we first met?”
“I didn’t intend to have you sacrifice yourself for me when you joined the sect.”
“Maybe so, but without you, I wouldn’t be here today, would I?” The blacksmith shook his head. “Besides, I’m still a master blacksmith, you know? Even if I can’t craft artifacts, I can still be useful for the Baron and the town.”
The elder expression worsened. “And what about your disciple?”
“Him?” Goulth looked over at Red. “He has learned everything I could teach him already. I can rest easy knowing my legacy will live on in his hands.”
The youth frowned at this. The implication seemed to be that he was going to be running away while his master remained behind.
Hector sighed at this. “You will probably die if you stay behind.”
“Maybe so, but at least we will die serving our sect, won’t we?” Domeron spoke up.
The elder snorted. “Why won’t you let me just do this one thing by myself?”
“You said you can’t concern yourself with protecting your own sect members, right? So if I remain here, you can rest easy in the knowledge they will be safe.”
“And what about what you told me earlier? Do you think that if I can’t survive what’s to come, you will be able to?”
Domeron smiled. “I have the element of surprise on my side. They might know about what you can do, but they certainly don’t know about me.”
The swordsman's hand rested on the hilt of the sword by his waist, causing Hector to frown.
“That’s right, old man!” Allen slammed the table with his fists and stood up. “None of us are abandoning you!”
Hector’s expression fell. “No. They can make their choice to stay, but you are definitely going.”
“No way! Do you expect me to just leave while the rest of you risk your lives fighting against the Empire?!”
“I expect you to do exactly that! It’s your responsibility to make sure the sect lives on in case we die!”
Allen gritted his teeth in anger, but before he could say anything else, Hector waved his hand at him.
“Stop being childish!” he said. “You are the future of this sect and the whole reason we have fought so hard for so long! What do you think Narcha and Eiwin would say if they knew you wanted to risk your life like this?!”
As soon as these two names were mentioned, it was as if the air around the room changed. Allen’s expression paled, and it seemed as if he couldn’t believe what came out of the elder’s mouth.
In more than seven years, this was the first time that the elder mentioned the two women by name. No one in the room seemed to know how to process it.
“Listen to me, Allen.” Hector stared at the young master. “You have a responsibility to the people that raised you up to what you are today. The people that sacrificed themselves so you could live and one day see the glory of our sect returned to what it once was. You have a duty to them, and to throw your life away in stubbornness is to betray all the hopes and expectations they placed on you.”
Allen trembled at these words.
Hector looked over at Red and Rimold. “The two of them are going with you, too. If we don’t get out of this alive, you three will be what remains of our sect, and you have a responsibility to protect each other and to make sure our name lives on. Do you understand?”
Rimold, who had been quiet for a long time, seemed to have an enormous weight lifted off his shoulders at this. The rogue still had an important reason to live, and seeing all his older companions offer themselves up to stay behind must have made him feel conflicted and ashamed.
He nodded with eagerness, tears gathering at the corner of his eyes in relief. “I-I understand!”
“And you?” Hector looked at Red. “Do you understand?”
The youth hesitated. “… I do not want to go.”
“Shut up, you brat!” Goulth stood up and glared at Red, his apparent exhaustion completely gone at the moment. “You will go even if I have to tie you up and shackle you! Do you understand?!”
Red frowned. “You can’t beat me in a fight.”
“Really, do you want to bet on it?!”
“Enough!” Hector interjected. “Kid, do you still remember the thing I gave you back then?”
‘The heron medallion.’
“I do.” Red nodded.
“Then do you remember the duty I gave you?”
“… I do.”
Hector gave him an arrogant grin. “You always proved to be up to the task when we needed you… Now, I’m asking you to not disappoint me.”
The others seemed confused at this conversation, but Red knew what the old man meant very well. His duty to protect Eiwin, Narcha, and Allen, to serve his sect from the darkness, something he had already failed before he even had the opportunity to step up. Now, Hector wanted him to keep by his word for the only one that remained behind.
“I have promised to protect all of you to someone else, too.” Red said.
That someone else was no longer in the sect, but his promise to her was still very real to the youth.
“You have already done your best on that front, kid.” Hector said. “Without you, all of us might have died ten times over. Now, I’m asking you to protect the future of this sect.”
The youth was silent for a while. He looked over at all of his companions. His master and Domeron were staring at him with looks of conviction, while Rog just nodded with his usual expressionless face. Allen, on the other hand, still seemed uncertain, and it felt as if whether he would go along with the plan or not all depended on the answer Red gave.
‘In the end, it always comes down to these promises…’
The youth nodded. “Fine, I’ll go.”