Ike woke refreshed and light. He stretched, yawning wide, then closed his eyes again and snuggled into the bed. I want to stay in bed forever. Beds are so nice. Dear gods, I love beds.

Sunlight played over his face, warming the back of his eyelids to a translucent pink. Unable to remain asleep any longer, he cracked his eyes open and sat up.

Wisp snoozed in the other bed. She sprawled wide, taking up more room than her tiny frame suggested she should. All the covers laid on the floor.

Ike snorted at her sleeping face. He climbed out of bed and walked to the window. A small balcony stood beyond the glass. He gently pushed the sliding window aside and stepped out onto the balcony.

A gentle morning breeze whispered through the aspens. The world fell away before him. Low clouds shrouded the valley in mist. From here, the mountain he stood at the pass of appeared to push out of those clouds and hover in the sky, without any roots at all.

He let out a sigh. Peace. For the first time in a long time, he felt peace. The world was quiet. Gentle.

“Psst!”

Ike ignored the whisper. He stared out into the sky, taking a deep breath.

“Hey!”

He turned in the opposite direction, gazing down at the valley.

A rock flew toward his head. It passed through his aether field.

Ike snatched it out of the air. He turned, narrowing his eyes.

One of the black-robed mages clung to a tree branch. They waved him over.

“No,” Ike said. He tossed the rock back at them. “Get out of here.”

“You’re human, aren’t you?” the mage asked.

Ike looked at him. He turned away.

“Wait, wait! I don’t know how you tricked the foxes, but wait! Please, listen to me!”

Ike went to enter the room, but paused. If I know what their goal is, I can maybe finish this whole thing out sooner. Maybe they just want an ancient vase or something, who knows? “What do you want? Not you. But your whole group.”

The black-robed mage looked at him like he was stupid. “To wipe out the foxes. They’re monsters. They need to die.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Ike sighed. He rolled his eyes and turned away again.

“Hold up! You’re human. Why aren’t you on our side? Are you a monster sympathizer?” the man asked accusatorily.

“I’m not an anyone sympathizer. Don’t assume I’m on your side because I’m human. I’m on no one’s side. Get in my way and I’ll end you. Stay out of my way, and I’ll ignore you.” He paused, then looked over his shoulder one last time. “Right now, the foxes have done far more for me than any humans have. What makes you think I’ll automatically side with the humans, when humans have done nothing for me?”

The black-robed man stared at him. His brows wrinkled. “Huh? But… you’re Rank 2, right? How… that’s not possible, to do that alone. You must have had help.”

Ike laughed. “Sounds like weakling talk. Fuck off. Leave me alone.” He stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

He truly did not sympathize with the foxes. They ate humans. He couldn’t side with them. But he didn’t side with the humans either. Killing monsters to eat or to level up was one thing. Killing them to extermination for no purpose other than to exterminate them was another. Between the foxes, who killed humans for food, and the humans, who killed foxes for the sake of killing them, he had to pick the foxes. After all, humans ate monsters, monsters ate humans. He couldn’t singlehandedly villainize monsters or humans, when both committed the same crimes to one another.

Humanity had done little for him. Monsters had done more. He hadn’t gained anything from being a human, not in all these years. Maybe someone with a proper upbringing would automatically side with the humans. But for Ike, who’d spent his childhood in the slums and become a mage against the will of most other humans, he didn’t feel anything in particular when someone said, ‘for humankind!’

He shrugged to himself. “If they weren’t idiots and offered me a real reward, maybe I would have helped.”

“If who?” Wisp asked, sitting up. She yawned and rubbed her eyes.

“The black-robed guys came by. Tried to get me to join their side for free. I said hell no, pay me.” He paused. “Wait, no. I didn’t say that last part.”

“Damn. Should’ve. We could’ve gotten paid to eat foxes,” Wisp said, clicking her tongue in disappointment.

Ike snorted. “You still haven’t given up on that?”

“Of course not! Foxes taste heavenly. You don’t understand,” Wisp said. She sighed longingly, then sat up. “Wait, is that guy still outside?”

“Maybe? It hasn’t been long.”

Wisp ran to the window. She looked left and right, excited, then sighed. “He’s gone.”

“There’s always next time.”

“Is there?”

Ike thought for a moment. He pursed his lips. “I did tell him to fuck off.”

Wisp sighed. “What a waste.”

Ike laughed. “He probably wouldn’t have talked to you. He struck me as a human-only kind of guy.”

“Oh, really? What a fool. I would’ve agreed in a heartbeat. Silly short-sighted humans…” Wisp shook her head.

Ike’s clothes laid piled up at the entrance, neatly cleaned and folded. He pulled them inside and ducked into the bathroom to swap the foxes’ robes for his usual gear. He strapped his sword to his hip and hung the wolf pelt off one shoulder, folded outward so it appeared as a normal wolf pelt, with the invisible side on the inside of the fold. Wisp joined him a second later. The two of them headed downstairs, where Mont waited. The man wore the same exact clothes he’d worn yesterday. They were no less strange than they had been the night before.

“Welcome! Come, follow me. I’ll show you to where the vein used to be. If we’re lucky, there will be a simple blockage for you to dig out there, and that will be all,” Mont said.

“That would be nice,” Ike agreed. But it’s never that simple, is it?

Ha. If I got recruited to be someone’s hard labor, that’s fine. Easiest Unique skill ever.

“Wouldn’t it?” Mont agreed with a smile. He gestured them on. This way!”