Ray came out of the library very depressed or even devastated. He was sure that if he could not find any mention of magic here, then there was no point in going to the royal library either. Yet such a phenomenon would be quite noticeable if it existed among people. At the very least, it should have found at least a passing mention in the books.

For a while, he wandered aimlessly through the corridors of the manor, catching the glances of many servants on him. They only whispered behind his back, but he did not even try to make out their words. Now the guy was only worried about the fact that even in the capital he could not find anything about a strange creature that lives in the middle of the forest.

“Though it's hardly surprising. They know little even about the ordinary animals of Pharos, to say nothing of the creature that lives in its very depths.

At some point, Ray stopped. The rays of the sun, which had begun to slope towards the horizon, gently fell on his face through the huge opening of the window. His gaze shifted straight down from the fiery celestial globe. The guy looked somewhere to the west.

Pharos could not be seen from this distance, but Rey's affinity for that forest was too strong for the question of visibility to mean anything.

“Maybe we should look for something in another capital, since this country is so useless.”

Ray stood like that for a while longer, enjoying the scenery, until his eyes, which had been slightly clouded before, gradually cleared up.

“There is nothing to think about it. If there is nothing, then so be it.” Resigned to the hopelessness of the current situation, Ray looked around.

He had no idea which part of the estate he was in right now. Fortunately, the layout of the building was not complicated and, having reached the stairs, the guy found an exit to the courtyard, where he sat down on a small bench in the shade of a tree. Now he wanted to think about how exactly it should be done, since nothing could be found in Rondal, and the war was not yet planned. There was no particular reason for him to stay in this house. Comfort did not appeal to him, and he was not going to allow himself to rest or just sit back. At least until he takes revenge, and after that ... The guy did not have time to look so far into the future, but he was sure that when the burden of anger fell from his heart, it would be easier to resolve this issue.

Thinking it over again, he realized that the only thing that could perhaps delay him a little was a pair of purple eyes that seemed to see right through him. In fact, it didn't even matter that much. Yes, Lifina was a beautiful woman. If Tessa was beautiful and a slight inexperience only added to her attractiveness, then the minister had a special mature charm that attracted and fascinated no less ... Or maybe even more.

The thought made Ray shake his head in displeasure.

"Women…"

The voice in his head sounded slightly forced, because the guy understood that he really had a weakness for the opposite sex. Perhaps it was the echoes of a past life. The life of a man who devoted himself to art. A person to whom beauty was not alien in any of its manifestations. Only now there was nothing left of “that” young guy, and only some stupid echo haunted him even in another life.

After thinking it over again, Ray came to the conclusion that he could not do anything about it, and he did not really want to. Still, what would be the point in a new life in the free world, if even here he limited himself to carnal pleasures? He had about the same opinion about such things as morality, ethics, morality ...

The guy internally laughed, because he understood that none of these concepts applies to him even remotely. But he did not even feel the slightest remorse. Maybe because he felt stronger than other people, or maybe because his conscience burned down along with the bright hopes that filled the heart of “that” person who appeared in this world. Left somewhere deep in the forest, inside a small wooden hut, on a torture table that had time to soak through his blood and suffering.

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Ray turned his head to the west again, but this time the anger didn't get the better of him. He looked towards Pharos with the certainty that the day of his revenge, and therefore freedom, was near. So close that the guy could already feel that pleasant warm feeling with which his hands would be covered with the blood of a hated creature, with which he would tear out a still beating heart from his chest covered with bandages in order to crush it, tear it to shreds, and with it everything holding him back. fetters.

It was in this state, with flaming anticipation and expectation of reprisals, that the minister caught him with her eyes. Ray was so forgotten that he did not even hear her steps and came to his senses only when the woman herself turned to him.

- What are you thinking about?

Hearing a slightly pleasant female voice, the guy reflexively turned his head. Lifina stood three paces away from him, looking attentively straight into her green eyes. Ray heard her question, but now he noticed something else - the woman was alone, without a bodyguard.

It seems that the minister understood the reason for his silence, so she decided to clarify this point:

- An hour ago the news came that Griham's wife and daughter were seriously ill, I can't say anything more specific, but he went to them.

The guy's eyebrow went up when he heard the reason for the bodyguard's absence.

- Left his mistress without protection? The tone wasn't caustic, but Lifina still didn't like the remark.

- Not. A man like him... I myself ordered him to return to his family.

Rey just nodded at that, looking back in a direction only he knew.

Lifina, following his gaze, suddenly sat down beside him. And sat pretty close. At least closer than an aristocrat would be supposed to sit.

“I told you about Griham, but you never answered my question. – she noticed, turning her head to the guy.

He just continued to look beyond the horizon.

- But I didn't ask you anything.

There was an awkward silence.

In the end, Ray still turned to the woman, who looked at him with the same interested look. The guy did not understand what caused such an attitude. Perhaps it was because he was being too free with her. Gratitude was a less likely reason, but Ray definitely put his own appearance at the very end of the line, because for a woman of such status she hardly meant anything. Although, he did not understand a woman's heart so well. He didn't really understand himself either.

Looking into his clear eyes, Rey nevertheless spoke:

- I was thinking about murder.

He carefully watched the woman's reaction, but she showed neither disgust nor fear. Nothing at all. Although, most likely, she simply very skillfully concealed her own emotions.

- Do you like to kill? Or was it someone specific? - a very strange question for the minister of the country sounded.

But even more, he struck the guy with the fact that Ray could not give an answer to him right away.

"Kill?"

Lifina noticed a slight hesitation in her interlocutor's gaze, so she patiently followed any change that happened to the guy, every, even the most insignificant body movement.

"I kill to get souls... to get stronger." A thought flashed through the boy's head. She sounded sensible, but not at all convincing. Maybe this could serve as a momentary excuse for himself, but when the question was put directly, Ray could not come up with an answer. At least not so fast.

A few more seconds passed. The silence dragged on. Lifina patiently waited, and the guy cautiously, but calmly, recalled ... He himself did not understand why he was doing this, attributing everything to his past mood, inspired by unsuccessful searches. Maybe deep down he wanted to think that he was wrong, because a minute pause was enough for him to make sure that the woman was right.

But Rei could not name the exact moment when the change took place inside him. Once he escaped, killing was a necessity, since it was the most efficient way to gain strength, but remembering the murdered manor guard, the guy realized that he was taking lives not only for this reason.

“Probably, it happened back in the forest. At some point, hunting and the truth was no longer a test ... Now the game has simply changed. ” - thoughts flowed calmly, washing away all doubts in a smooth stream. The guy did not even for a second think about the unnaturalness of his thoughts. However, this world itself pushed him, and so much so that it was impossible to resist, and Rei was not going to resist.

To live in a new world, limited by the rules of the old ...

"What nonsense" - thinking so, the guy again met the eyes of Lifina.

- You're right twice ... - after a second of silence, the guy finished the sentence. “I’m a mercenary, it can’t be otherwise.

Only the minister realized what the man sitting next to her was trying to say. Ray looked west again and no longer saw the strange smile that flickered across the woman's face.