After getting some herbs, bandages, and other medical supplies, Inu headed to get some alcohol with which to clean the wounds on Liv's neck. He walked into a tavern and the noise fed the flames in his mind.

'Once Liv recovers, she'll insist on getting back on her route that seems to lead to the capital. She doesn't know I understand her intentions. Even though we've grown closer, there is no way I can get her to back down. And eventually, she will meet the Hexa again. I can't—'

"What?" Inu asked, being shaken from his thoughts.

On his right, a drunk man laughed. "Ain't you that Inu Aomon? Big guy like you wearing some neat robes in a place like this."

Inu felt as if cold water had been poured on him. "Wha— No, you've got me confused." The last thing he needed was leading the Hexa to Liv after going through all sorts of trouble to get as far as them as possible. He looked at the man behind the table. "Could I get a bottle of your purest alcohol?"

The man nodded and looked through some bottles.

"No, I'm pretty sure I've seen you before. I was there. The Eastern Purge."

Inu went still. "Oh, I'm sorry about that. Horrible happening. Still, I'm no famous man."

The drunk laughed. "Oh, well. I guess you my drunk brain be playing trick on m'self.

Inu gave a laugh and bought the bottle the man handed him before tapping the drunk on the shoulder and taking his leave.

He walked out and the noise almost disappeared, but his mind was full. He couldn't figure it out. Any of it. The Hexa. The Shadow. The King. Liv. Each one could cause so much death, so which side was he to take? What danger all of them posed to the world.

Inu heard the tavern door open but paid it no mind. He needed to think.

"Hey, you forgot something," the drunk said as he stumbled up to Inu.

"What's that?" Inu asked, turning.

Then a knife was slammed at his chest. Inu looked down, the knife trembling painfully for a single drop of blood.

"Let... go," the drunk managed to say as Inu's hand constricted around his wrist. Then his grip went loose and the knife fell out. "Let go. Let go! Please, let go." The drunk agonized.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Inu let go, not having meant to cause any pain.

The drunk fell to his knees, holding his wrist as he let out pained moans. "...alive?" the drunk said inaudibly with his head down

"Sorry?"

The drunk raised his head. "Why are you alive?!" he yelled, spit flying from his mouth. "You, in the frontlines. Why did they spare you but not my family? My family rejected the other gods! You should've died. And now you keep company with the King."

Inu's face fell and he trembled slightly as he crouched down. "I'm sorry. I know I deserve death. I wish it would have come then. But there are people I can save. Decisions only I can make."

The drunk tried picking up the knife, but Inu took ahold of it first, warranting a glare from the drunk. "They say you're like a saint. Inu Aomon, the Wandering Philosopher. An apostle of the Love Gods sent here to save us mortals." The drunk leaned in so close that Inu felt spit hitting his face when he hissed his words. "But you're a monster. How can you live like that? Your life, one big lie."

Inu went from a crouch to his knees, mirroring the man opposite him. "I suppose that is it," Inu picked up the knife. "I am a monster." He gripped the knife harder and took it closer to the drunken man. Then he loosened his grip and opened his hand. "So go ahead. Kill me if you think that is what it will take to clench your fury."

The man slowly moved his hands to the handle. He gripped it. Inu took his hands. Then the blade moved. Closer and closer to Inu's neck. Then it touched and the man seemed lost. Inu closed his eyes.

The blade wouldn't go through. But perhaps the man would find peace if he chose to spare Inu.

Gradually, Inu lowered his hands. The blade stayed at his neck, a trembling coolness spreading from its edge. Slowly, it grew more distant. Inu couldn't feel the blade any longer, but he still didn't move.

Suddenly, he heard it. The sound of death. He just didn't feel it immediately. But even after waiting it didn't come. Then he heard a gurgling sound. He opened his eyes as the horror dawned on him.

"No, no, no," Inu rushed forward. It was too late. The man had slit his throat. "Why?" Inu asked in despair, not only from the man's death but his life. And for a man to kill himself after seeing reason was the ultimate testament.

The man's eyes stayed open, gazing at Inu with a tired look. He didn't care to be a part of this world any longer. Inu remembered a time when he would have done anything to save the man. He would have stained his hands pointlessly to try to stop the bleeding and prayed for the man's good fortune. But now... The current Inu just watched as the life faded from the man. After the man was sick of looking at him, his eyes rolled back and his eyelids closed.

He was dead.

He didn't deserve to die, but the same went for his wife and children. And millions of other families in history. Maybe it was the nature of this world that only those who didn't deserve to die did so. Maybe this world wasn't the middle ground the Gods suggested it was. Maybe it was something else. Maybe they were already there.

Hell.

Inu stood up, his hands clean. He looked at the corpse beneath him, a pool of blood forming all around. For a moment he asked himself a question he never got rid of. The uncertainty was insufferable. Maybe he was supposed to die in his very own pool of blood that day when he was still so innocent.

Then he heard a scream. He looked back, his mind screaming at him, 'Liv!'