Chapter 30 might be delayed tomorrow.

-----------

I watched. I watched as he grew. I watched as he suffered. I watched as he made himself. I watched, because I could do nothing. Soon, I will no longer watch. I, will end his suffering... once and for all.

-----------

The room grew hotter, as my sister and I cower in the closet, I hear a voice. I tune everything out and focus on it, the voice is my father's.

"...inen...sha!" again and again he would shout.

"Dad! We're in here!" I scream.

"I-it h-hurts." Aisha sobs.

Then I see it, two silhouettes, different from the other ones. As they inched closer I could make out the soot covered face of my father, I start to shout. But before I could, my father asks a question directed to the person.

"Who are you?!"

I see the stranger's arm shoot out.

--------

I slowly open my eyes. The room is cold, the blankets barely did anything, they're as thin as paper. I look around, Henry lies on his side, facing the wall. The clothes I wear are a simple light colored shirt and brown pants. I have a piece of cloth hugging my face to hide it.

The dream that I just had, it was another memory. The one that lead me to believe in an arson. The person that I sought to find. That goal changed, however, one year ago. The day I acquired the right to properly wield the black blade.

I shake my head, I'm on a mission right now.

Although I say that, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one awake right now. I don't really know how people can sleep so long, at the sixth hour, I'm usually always up. The reason for that is because my master always woke me up at six, "That was enough sleep Rainen, go train." and so, I developed the habit.

Do I even need those two to complete this mission? I could very easily leave the room right now. I dismiss the thought, I shouldn't leave them here, I don't even know which orphanage or how many are here. Orphans huh. I wonder what kinds of kids he adopts, what does he do to them?

Knowing only two orphans, I can't say much. Aron and Maia were both good kids. It's a wonder why they're not adopted yet. I only went to their orphanage once, since I bought them ice cream, maybe I should visit again.

"Con... grats." Henry mumbles.

What a weird thing to say while sleeping. I crawl closer to Henry, eager to hear what he's saying.

"...sis."

Oh, something to say to his sister. interesting, I hope wonder what it is. But wait, would listening in be an invasion of his privacy? He didn't try to take my mask off at night, I would've woken up if he tried, another little something I picked up when I trained with my master.

It's probably not something he wants me to hear, so I stand up, put on just the black jacket/cloak and open the door. I peer around the corner, the coast is clear. I step out of the room, Hannah's not awake yet. The things that I can do in this town is a little limiting, I can't go to far, if I do Henry, Hannah, and I might miss each other later on. The mission might be put on hold while we look for each other.

I should just stay in the dinning part of the inn. I slowly descend down the stairs, a little disappointed by not being able to do a morning jog. I would do a few sit ups but my back still feels the sting of the giant's attack, push ups aren't out of the question though.

The main room is almost empty, only a few men and women are up, all of them stuffing their faces with a morning meal. The sun shows evidence of appearing soon but is still unable to be seen. The light dyes the room a weak blueish color, some orange, yellowish leaves fly by, with the silence of the morning the leaves make a scraping sound as it touches the ground, being pulled along by the wind.

I like it windy, it's a wonderful feeling when the air blows past one's face.

"Sir," I turn, expecting to see the boy from yesterday. Instead a teenage girl stands there. "would you like breakfast? For those with a room it is only one copper for some eggs and bread."

Not the worst deal I've ever heard, most of the inns I've been at didn't even serve food in the morning. That's probably credited to the fact that they were cheap and we only needed a quick place to rest. I touch my stomach, I'm not feeling particularly hungry, I sometimes don't even eat in the mornings. I did miss dinner last night though.

"Sure, I'll take you up on the offer."

She shows a courteous smile and leads me to an empty table, "It'll be here soon."

I feel into my pouch, the money I paid for the inn didn't take too big of a toll on my purse but I can't go spending too recklessly. I take out three coppers and wait for the girl to come back.

"Here you go."

She puts the acceptable meal on the table. I drop the coins into her hand.

She stared at her hand for a moment, probably wondering if she should say something about the extra coins.

"Um... sir. You've overpaid." she reluctantly holds out her hand.

"The two extra coppers are for you." I say while breaking off a piece of the bread.

"Th-thank you sir!" she says it slightly louder than she obviously meant to.

I nod. Even though other people don't usually do it, I did it because my master always had. I pull down the mask to take a bite. She leans to the side a bit, probably to see my face. I didn't think of it before but this is a good time to eat. I won't have much chances because I have to hide my face from the other two.

"Is there a problem?" I ask her.

"N-no, sorry..." she turns her head away slightly. "Um, I was just curious what you looked like."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Showing her shouldn't be a problem, it might even make her day, although I think the tip already has done that. I turn to her as I pull down the mask again.

"P-pretty good." she mutters under her breath. She turns around and scurries away quickly when I raise my eyebrows.

After I finished my meals and listened around to pass the time, I get up and head back to my room.

Both of them should be ready or awake by now, if not I'll wake them up. I can't stay here for too long, I have to make it back before Monday.

I step into my room where Henry is, he lays on the floor, rubbing his eyes.

"Awake already Thirteenth?"

"I just ate breakfast."

"Huh. Make sure to go wake Hannah, she's probably still asleep."

"Okay." I make my way to her door, just next to ours. She has the keys to the door so I can't just open it. I clench my hand into a fist and rake my knuckles across the door. "Hannah. Are you up yet?"

Footsteps, she's coming to the door.

"Oh, what a pleasant surprise." she's wearing a black night gown. "You've come to play?" she asks crossing her bare white legs.

"Quit playing Hannah! Let's get going already!" Henry yells.

"He's no fun. I'll be out in a minute." she starts to go back into her room but stops. "Unless you want to help me get dressed?"

I smile underneath my mask and close the door on her.

---------

"The orphanage should be somewhere in the middle of the town." Henry says while walking down the sidewalk.

Not many carts or wagons went down the roads like the city. The people freely crossed the streets without worry. Eight thirty and the town's beginning to liven up. The men and women start on their daily activities and the merchants set up their stands. Interested men and women stand by, browsing their wares.

"Any descriptions on the guy?" I ask.

"Well, the report says he's only fifty. Not old, but not young either. He has long brown hair tied in a pony tail, a short scruffy beard, and is quite tall at six feet four inches."

"There aren't too many men who are that tall. It shouldn't be too hard finding him." I say.

"You're kind of there." Hannah says.

"In height?" I ask.

"Yeah, just missing four to five inches."

The three of us made a somewhat odd bunch. Henry and I were similar in height, he being only a little bit shorter than me, Hannah being the shortest out of us all. Our ratio of two guys to one girl didn't help us, neither did our odd clothes. We would be easy to label as outsiders.

As we continue to walk into the heart of the town, I step on more rust colored leaves. They crunch as I put my weight on them, there's a lot of trees planted in this town. Autumn really makes this place a sight to see. Normally it would seem like any town you could find anywhere but the dying leaves really gives the place a majestic feel. It's like things are coming to an end.

"So, how do you know Carlyle?" Hannah asks.

"I assume you're asking me. He knows my master, they're friends."

"Were you accepted into the group because of your master?" she asks. Henry continues forward without saying a word.

"It was certainly a part of it." I say. "But Carlyle fought me and said I was interesting."

She nods, "He likes to recruit oddballs, take Henry over there. Henry asked him to join after beating him up during an operation."

"Pfft. He was impressed by my skills too."

"Uh huh. When he first came, he couldn't even beat a single one of us in a fight." she says.

"Because it would always be stopped by Carlyle." he says. "I remember getting you to almost submit but you were saved by him." he sticks his tongue out.

"Hmph! I still didn't lose."

"Yeah, sure." Henry wears a triumphant smile.

"How good are you two with magic?" I ask.

"We both know at least one expert tier spell." Hannah says.

I see, so the twelve are around that level. If it were to ever come to a battle of magic I'd lose instantly.

"Are yo-" Hannah is cut off by Henry.

"We're here guys." he points to the church like building. "Let's go in."

The inside of the large building isn't very interesting, save for the carvings on some of the walls. Multiple stone pillars support the structure, the floor is carpeted red. Further on, many chairs face towards a chalk board, a few children hide behind the workers and nuns as we walk in.

"Welcome to the orphanage, are you here to make a donation?" a nun asks us.

"No, we've come to look for someone. He goes by Heclan." Henry asks.

"Heclan? He isn't here right now. If you're looking for him he lives in the outer parts of the town."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He lives with his adopted children in a small cabin in the forest."

"Thank you."

We turn to leave.

"Wait!" the old nun calls out after us. "May I ask why you're looking for him?"

Henry and Hannah look at each other and nod.

"We were sent here to escort our friend over here." they point to me.

"Oh! A friend of Heclan, how wonderful!" she takes my hand. "Please, have a seat." she motions for us three to sit.

"Thea, please fetch some tea."

"Right away." the worker swiftly turns on her heel and goes into the kitchen. Within seconds, as if they were expecting guests, she comes out with the tea. Do they always have some prepared just in case someone came to adopt?

With the tea poured and ourselves seated, we chat for an hour.