“You can’t leave!” Yasia protests what she just learned. I don’t know how to answer but she continues anyway.

“If you leave, I… What would I- I do?” She says as the tears start to escape and pour down her cheeks.

“We- we were supposed to get married! I was so happy! Why are you leaving!?”

“I made an enemy out of some powerful people, Yasia. I have to leave. If I don’t, the entire village would be in danger.” To be honest, being released from this obligation is probably the one thing that can be some relief.

Yasia almost tackles me into a hug, which is really awkward since I am still holding Kassa.

“I- I won’t let you leave!” She says as she holds her tiny arms around.

“Sorry.” I say. The fact that I was only recently convinced myself helps sow doubt as to whether I really should leave, but I remain firm. “There’s just no other way.”

“Then… Then… Take me with you!” She yells. I am troubled. Kassa is fit and pretty strong, Patir is nothing special, but has trekked with me to the dungeon and keeps up there without issue, but Yasia is a girl who has spent most of her time indoors. I don’t think she will be able to join me on the long marches.

“Sorry, Yasia, but a wandering life like that is just not a place for a girl like you.” I say to hear. I can’t see her face, but I feel my shirt slowly getting wetter.

“If.. If you leave me here… I’ll kill myself.” It took me by surprise. I feel lost now. I certainly don’t wish for any harm to come to her, but it feels like she is holding herself hostage.

“What… Why?” I ask her. She backs away from me. She took my sword.

“If you go, I have nothing…” She stares at the sword. “I… All I can remember being my future is marrying you. I bragged about it… Dreamt about it… Planned for it…”

Now that I think about it, my going along with the flow has let to this. I am responsible for this girl to feel that way. I curse my past self for not making himself clear and taking a distance. Fuck. How could I be so stupid.

Yasia raises the sword with trouble, starts moving it towards her neck. “Wait!” I say, and the sword falls down aided by gravity much faster than she could ever raise it. It even seems like she is even exhausted from lifting it.

“I… You can come…” I feel horrible about what I am about to say. “I’ll marry you… in five years”

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I try to keep my own sense of morality by lifting the age of marriage up to the standard that is somehow still in my head, but now it feels like I will be raising a teenage girl to be my wife and an air of disgust rolls over me.

I thought Yasia would take issue with the extension, but she first looks surprised, then smiling and tackles me once again.

“I… uhhhhhh, thankyouthankyouthankyou.” Her reaction makes me feel even worse. I should go die… Ah, I guess I can’t…

At this moment of time, Patir returns. He has gone beyond my expection and is pulling a cart.

“Uhh, am I interrupting something?” He asks. I slowly shake my head.

“Great idea bringing the cart, my friend.” With this, if I just move all of them in the cart, moving should go a lot smoother.

“Right… So what’s with her?” Patir says and points to Yasia. I once again can’t see her, but I feel her raising her head towards me. Guess it’s on me to answer.

“She’s coming with us…” Patir’s eyes widen a little in surprise, but then gets a smirk on his lips. “Guess you couldn’t leave such a cute girl alone, huh?” He says and laughs a little. It does some damage though.

We load the cart up with girls, one unconscious, the other filled with snot and tears, and leave the village through the main entrance by the road. A little bit away, we will have to pick a direction. Won’t do to run straight into the duke’s territory.

“Where are we going?” I ask Patir.

“I think northeast?” Northeast should be towards the Republic I remember hearing about.

“Any reason?”

“Well, for the Silvestri girl.” He says as his eyes quickly dart to the unconscious Kassa in the cart.

“Huh?” I don’t know what he is on about.

“Oh right, I got the guys going to trade in the city to gather rumors and stuff. Never hurts to be informed of recent events, you see. Seems that during the war, third class citizens in the north were given the choice between fighting and gaining their freedom or working as always while remaining third class. Seems that included Silvestri.”

“You mean, there’s a place Kassa doesn’t have to hide?” I ask.

“If the rumors are to be believed.” He simply answers. I hope they are.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I ask. Patir should know I wanted a place for Kassa to stay, but he didn’t tell me.

“Ah, forgive me, but I felt that if I told you, there was a good chance you would leave. And I wasn’t prepared to go back to poverty again… Not after these last couple of years.” I look at Patir. I am a bit mad, but I feel he is genuinely remorseful, as he lowers his neck in apology. I sigh. All of this could maybe have been avoided.

“By the way… Was a grim spectacle you put on show for us… You okay letting the young ma- the nephew of the duke run? I mean, he was the one who sought to hurt Kassa in the first place.” I look along the road we just stepped off of. True, if I ran, I could probably chase him down and kill him. But I shake my head.

“I regarded him as a danger from the start… We deliberately sought to hide Kassa from him… What made me so mad… So angry, was that people I had come to trust, people I put in work for and relied on me, people I saw everyday… That those people betrayed us…” I think back to Yosana and the priest. Fucking traitors. But at the same time, remembering the scene of their death makes me melancholic.

“Think I am all out of a thirst for blood, for now.” I say. I then direct my gaze back to Patir.

“What about you? What happened to the plan? And how did you know that guy?” I ask Patir. He chuckles a little in response.

“Right, allow me to tell you the story of the great fool Patir!” He started the new topic.