He had wondered why the city guard had started to monitor him initially. Apparently, it wasn’t a mere fluke that he and Lar ended up confronting them directly. Dammit, he’s the one who put us in all of that danger back then?

“Eventually, the queen’s own loyal knights began to ask for information regarding you. I told them everything I knew and they told me they’d do everything in their power to keep my daughter safe and I also made it clear to them that she had nothing to do with whatever it was that you were up to. And what did they tell me? They told me they’d not touch a single hair on her head.”

“And then that day came.” The more he spoke, the more he wanted him to stop. “They asked me where she would be and whether she’d be out enjoying the festivities. I told them that she would and where you both would be.”

Memories of that day flooded his mind. Him standing there in the crowd enjoying the moment with Della. A day of pure joy and hope. Then he felt reminded of Lar rushing to him to push him out of the way only for the queen herself to end up killing all of those people and Della.

He had never expected her father to have played some role in that event. The thought never even crossed his mind.

“Why are you telling me this?” he asked struggling to maintain his composure.

“Because I knew there would come a day when I’d take my own life if I didn’t do something. I can’t bear the thought of knowing you’re alive and likely still beating yourself up for what happened to her. Her blood is on my hands. Not yours. You’re completely innocent.”

This was the last thing Kiran expected to encounter today. For Della’s own father to reveal himself and then hand this over to him. It made his mind and body hurt in a way he thought impossible.

He didn’t even know what he was to say. At this point, what was there to say? This man was responsible for Della’s fate.

“Justice is an important thing,” Adam said. “I-I am guilty of a most heinous crime by trying to get you killed with the result of her being dead. I can not be spared of this. You must be the one to kill me.”

“What?”

He went to his knees suddenly. He pulled out a sword with tears streaming down his face. “I saw you as a grave threat to my sweet sweet Della. Since the day you entered my inn, I wanted you gone. No, I wanted you dead. That’s why I reported on you. I wanted them to carry out the task I was too afraid of handling myself. I now know that the price of pursuing evil means evil being returned thrice-fold. I ask that you give me what I am most deserving of.”

He was eager for Kiran to grasp onto the sword and slice him down. That was what he wanted more than anything.

And a part of Kiran wanted to do just that. He could just grab it, and slice right through his neck. It wouldn’t take but a few seconds and a little bit of effort on his part. He wanted it. He couldn’t live with himself after the decisions he had made.

“I was mistaken,” he continued to say, “but I cannot take back anything. You must…kill me.”

Kiran took the sword and pointed it at him. The man looked into his eyes and closed them with a slight smile. This was what he wanted. He wanted to pay for the injustice he wrought upon his own family. His actions led to his daughter’s death, and for causing anguish in Kiran. He knew what he did was wrong, and desired justice for his evil.

Perhaps Kiran taking his life like this was warranted. He doubted anyone would deny him this opportunity. Many knew he loved Della. He had taken on the mantle of getting revenge on the queen for murdering her so he was more than willing to go above and beyond to tear anything down that would bring her to that horrid fate.

At the same time, who would he be, to kill her father? The thought terrified him. He tossed the sword across the dirt road and saw the man open his eyes appearing afraid.

“What are you doing? Y-you must! You must kill me!” He began slamming his fist on the ground and crying.

He was a pathetic old man that maybe deserved bad things happening to him. At the same time, it appeared justice had been levied towards him already. He was clearly in his own personal hell.

“I’m glad you told me all of this. You’ve helped fill a few holes that were left unfilled. Now stand.” He gestured for him to get up. He did so slowly.

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“I don’t understand. Why aren’t…”

“Killing you would be the opposite of justice. Can’t you see? The pain you’re in is the punishment. You know what you’ve done and now must pay for it for the rest of your life.”

“Pay for it…” he said quietly. “Yes, I think I see what you’re getting at.”

“You still have a family. You owe it to your wife and your children to give them the best lives imaginable. You also owe it to this town and its people to do everything for them as well. If you want justice for yourself, then do just that.”

Kiran wasn’t doing this out of forgiveness. He was doing this out of the belief, that killing people didn’t seem to work as well as he once thought. Killing the queen had forced their exile and death of so many people. That was just one example. Killing Adam certainly wasn’t going to benefit anyone. If anything, it would make things so much worse, especially considering how much of his family was still around. For their sakes, and Della’s, killing him would be the worst possible decision he could ever make even if a small part of him wanted to do so.

“I will do as you say,” he said with absolute resolve.

“Good. Your debts are undeniably mountainous, but I know you’ll pay it all off.”

Adam nodded his head in complete agreement. To think that just minutes ago, he was on his knees ready for Kiran to kill him. He was likely forever grateful to be pulled out of the spell he had put on himself and given a chance to pursue a different and far better path.

With little more needing to be said by either of them, Adam walked off allowing Kiran to let out the biggest sigh he had ever experienced before in his life.

Am I making a mistake just letting him go like that? He’s guilty of a grave crime. There was little doubt in his mind that he made the right decision. So long as he lived, he could work to pay for all of the wrongs he had done.

Adam would have to suffer every single day of his life knowing what he ultimately did. Now he had to live a life to make up for it.

Later that same day, he found himself in a temporary tent located outside of the town. Lar stumbled in giving him a strange look. “What’s the matter?”

“I ran into Della’s father today.”

“What? No kidding.” She took on her human form and put on a simple garb to cover herself to a sufficient degree. “What’d he say to you?”

“I’ll tell you about it later.”

Yorais came in contorting her fingertips in a specific way to cause several lamps to light up. An orange glow also entered through the tent due to the evening sun.

The yellow-eyed sorceress spread her palms out across a piece of parchment on a wooden table. “I’m glad you two came here.”

“What exactly is it that you need? I wanted to take a nap,” Lar said with a yawn.

“Your nap will have to wait. I wanted to let you both know that I am planning on joining this adventurer of yours. For the long term.”

“I thought you weren’t interested,” Lar said.”

“My plans have changed. While I would love to remain in this domain, I believe it’s important that I join your journey. The third domain is quite treacherous. Lar certainly knows all about that.” Judging by the way they both looked at each other, that was certainly true. “But it will still be some time before I am ready for us to venture forth. My advice for you both would be to settle in for a while. Prepare yourselves, but also enjoy the time that remains.”

“You know me,” Lar said, “I’m all about enjoying myself.”

“And you?” she said towards him.

“I’m in complete agreement. I’m actually planning on building a home out here if you can believe it.”

“Have you, ever built anything like that before? Oh, wait, sorry. What a silly question to ask. You still don’t remember much from your previous life so you likely can’t answer that question.”

“That’s fine. But no, I don’t have any experience with building things generally, but I’m sure there are plenty of people here who’ll be more than happy to lend me some assistance. I’m also certain that I can get Lar to help out a little too.”

“I can’t think of a more miserable thing to do. I suppose that I can be the one carrying buckets of water for you so that you don’t pass out. Otherwise, I’ll gladly leave the building process all to you, mister.”

Yorais pulled her hands behind herself. “Then that is all settled. We will need to figure out who all shall be joining our adventure to reach the first domain, but in the meantime let us set aside such thoughts and instead enjoy ourselves.” She reached the tent flaps and gestured towards it. “Shall we go and have some fun with the others?”

Kiran didn’t know what his future would hold for him. He knew it would likely be treacherous and thrilling in many ways. So many questions remained. So many unknown aspects of this world that remained a mystery.

If there was one thing he did know, however, was how pleased he was with the way things had turned out overall. Even learning about Adam from earlier, did little to dissuade him of that fact.

For now, at least, the grand adventure that awaited him would have to wait a little while longer for him to carry on. Everyone needed to rest, prepare, and settle in before he and others would venture forth once again. Given that, he had no choice but to enjoy himself properly for now and be at peace for as long as it would last.