Mundus and I loaded the barrels on a carriage and set off. It was just the two of us, sitting in the driver’s seat as the carriage rolled through the streets of Glorenstein.

We headed straight outside. Neither of us exchanged a word.

The carriage came over the gates of the city. Two guards were standing at the post, inspecting everyone that went out.

I had been here a whole month, and of course, I had made friends with them.

Immediately, I put on a smile and a friendly face and greeted the guards.

“Mundus! And, it is… oh, the Professor? What is going on?”

“Sick party that day, professor!”

I was a little surprised that one of them was there. But what could I say?

It didn’t look like Mundus was in any shape to talk, so I took the lead.

“We’re heading down toward Parna town. Going to drop this alcohol off. Should be back before midnight.”

The guards only glanced at the rest of the carriage. Both I and Mundus were very trustworthy.

Maybe Mundus was even more so than I was.

“Got it. Party there too?” the guard asked, and I grinned.

He let us pass through the gates and off the carriage went.

The smile on my face wiped away just as quickly as it had come up. I turned toward Mundus.

“You have a lot of connections, Ethan,” he said.

“Friends… are good, I guess.”

“Friends? Wasn’t everyone a chess piece to you? Someone to ‘capture’?”

I didn’t say anything, I only stared ahead.

“There’s always some way to use everyone, isn’t that right?”

I wanted to deny it. Say it was all genuine. But how could I? To say I had no other intentions would be a lie. I had different motives, everyone did.

Did that make the connection worthless?

I didn’t know.

“You know, Ethan?”

The further we went away from the city, the more vigor Mundus’ voice gained.

“What is it?”

“These eyes of mine. People said it was a stroke of luck that I inherited the humans’ eyes.”

Mundus whipped the horses.

The trees started to grow denser as the city walls became smaller and smaller.

“It was no luck. It was a curse. I was cursed by these eyes.”

His words, his actions, they were not of those that a dying man would hold.

I see. He had strengthened his resolve.

All this time, I was worried about saying things to him, but not doing so now would just be disrespectful.

“Magic…” I muttered. “Luck, fate, it all follows the laws of nature. You give something, you take something.”

Finally, I turned to face Mundus for the first time.

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“What did those eyes take?”

Mundus whipped the horses again.

His hands were trembling, ever so slightly.

“My mother wanted me to be educated. Live a normal life. But it was impossible. As long as both of them were around, it was impossible.”

A child of two demiurges.

What kind of life must his childhood have been?

“She taught me herself, whatever little she could. Stole some books if she got the chance. It was such a long time back…”

I only listened to his words.

“It made me curious, a bit rebellious. Even though they warned me. Over and over to not go outside. To not meet with people, I did not listen. I was just a child back then.

“It was the worst. I met a band of merchants. Humans heading into the city. They saw me and thought I was a lost child. One of them. My worried mother chased behind me, and they discovered her.”

I pursed my lips.

I had seen the treatment demiurges received all the way on the frontlines.

“Villagers with pitchforks, guards with their spears, anyone and everyone in that town chased my mother and father down.”

Mundus grit his teeth as he spoke. His hands which were trembling from fear a moment back now quaked with rage.

“I can still see that day, Ethan. The way they all put my parents on stakes and pelted them with stones until every part of their bodies bled. They scorned them, and then eventually burned them alive. I can still hear her screams… But do you know what I hear more?

“It is the way the people called her a ‘kidnapper.’ They thought they were bringing me justice, that my parents had kidnapped and stolen a human’s child. All because of these… fucking lucky eyes.”

We were almost at our location. I could see the carriage close by.

But my ears were still with Mundus. Lending him a listening ear was the least I could do.

“And what then? What after they brought me ‘justice’? Those fuckers all abandoned me. They left me on the street, and then kicked me out calling me a beggar…”

The carriage slowed down. We had reached a wide clearing in the forest path. The road would fork down the line, one toward Parna and the other toward the borders.

Mundus brought the carriage to a halt.

He dropped the reins and turned toward me.

“I took in every demiurge child I could find when I grew up. The ones behind are the result of my life of struggle… I wished to open an orphanage, Ethan. I thought I could live with kids who had lost their parents, and make a safe, happy place for them.”

But that dream was being stolen too.

Neither of us said anything more.

Now was not the time.

We got off the carriage and moved to check the new one. It was a little smaller than Mundus’, but it would do the trick.

“It’s good, how did you get it?”

“I brought it off a caravan going the same way.”

Mundus and I moved back to the first caravan. He pulled the curtains away and started pulling off the lids of some of the barrels.

He had hidden the kids inside.

Two of them, seemingly the oldest, cautiously looked at me and took to the head of the new caravan.

“Ethan, let’s move them.”

I went over and carried the barrels filled with rations and supplies to the other one.

We had to destroy this caravan to avoid every suspicion.

“Lan, do you have the map?”

“Yes…”

One by one, Mundus started talking to every child. He went over to them and hugged them tightly. He was not crying, not trembling, not anymore.

I reached into my pockets and pulled out a pair of glasses. There wasn’t a way to get sunglasses here, but stained glasses worked.

“Synac. You’ll be driving most of the time. Always wear the robe and keep yourself safe, okay?” Mundus patted the oldest boy’s shoulders. I went over and handed Mundus the glasses.

“These…?”

“They are made from stained glasses.”

Mundus handed it to Synac.

“The ones you will meet there are all this mister’s friends. Take, take these glasses and keep them with you.” Mundus, like a father to his child, put the glasses on the boy. “Hide your eyes until you get there. Always keep them hidden.”

Time was running out.

Mundus said his goodbyes to all seven children, and I took a step back.

“And this…” Mundus pushed a final barrel toward the children. “All of you are strong kids, tonight, no one will cry, okay?”

The kids nodded gently.

“T-there is… some alcohol in this. Synac, Lan… Keep this safe for me, alright?”

The two eldest kids nodded.

Mundus finally moved back with a smile.

“It is time to leave.”

The kids kept staring his way, and he waved them off.

“Synac, go.”

At Mundus’ words. The wheels of the carriage finally moved forward. The boy at the front whipped the horses and slowly, they started moving.

In the blink of an eye, the carriage made a distance between us.

As it went further from sight, I stepped away from Mundus and reached into my case.

I pulled out a sword, a pure white blade that had lasted me for years, and tossed my bag aside.

Slowly, Mundus turned toward me.

He wore a smile.

Right.

He had hardened his resolve.

“Ethan…” he said. “I will ask you again. Why do you do this?”

“It is because…” What was there to hide now? “I wish to see a world where both sides are at peace.”

“Is it an ideal? Those always fall through, Ethan. Dreams, just stay dreams. I am proof of that.”

I shook my head.

“It is not an ideal. It is a vow.”

Mundus nodded.

The night had deepened.

The tumultuous day was coming to an end.

The fog that had covered the city since the morning was finally starting to lift.

“Ethan… I… I really…”

His chest swelled. He took in deep breaths.

“I really don’t want to die,” he said. “There is only one way… I will kill you here and go chase after the kids…”

A friend.

A demiurge.

“I am sorry, Mundus.”

I sighed and raised the blade.

“I can’t let you chase them. I promised my friend.”