After that night, Gagu went off to bed, leaving the cup we made with the tome’s magic to me in a smile he hadn’t showed me before; it was a lot more daring, like he was fully trusting me in keeping his secret. But...I couldn’t keep a secret like that. Yugashi was the one who kept me around and if I agreed, I’d be throwing that away. On the other hand, Gagu was...my ‘’friend’’, right? Right…? Nah, he was too nice to classify as one; he’s more of a lackey or something along those lines at best, considering it was me.

The next morning I woke up, feeling the now usual pile of sweat on top of me, like someone had spilled a bucket of water on top of me. It sounded like training was going on outside, but they seemed more vigilant and violent, judging by the fact that they were actually fighting one another rather than the dummies, or so it sounded. ‘’Old man~! What’s for breakfast?!’’ I opened the door leading outside of my room, the same room he’d placed me in a few weeks back after finding me, yawning as I closed it behind myself.

‘’Please, I beg of you, leave me and my students alone…!’’ That familiar, old-ass voice rung strongly in my ears. ‘’This has never happened before!’’ Is what went through my head, but that’s a weird thought to have anyway. I rushed down the squeaky hallway, still in the dress he liked to call pajamas, when it didn’t feel like it at all, opening the door to the outside. As quick as I’d thought I would, I froze. All of them, each and every one was lying down on the ground, crawling away at a patchetic pace. ‘’Hika, Garao!’’ I yelled, rushing over to the two of them who were thrown on top of each other like pieces of paper, crouching down and helping them to sit up.

‘’Hear this, old man, i’ve been travelling for quite a while in search of someone to add to my little group i’m making. Are there your best students, or doesn the beastman count as one?’’ A tall woman with the blackest hair, wearing a skimpy and annoying-looking tank top and shorts asked Yugashi who was begging with his head down, shaking evidently as he refused to answer her question. ‘’Please, do not hurt them any further… They’re but child--’’ ‘’Ha? I couldn’t hear you since you’re so damn quiet!’’ She yelled at him as she sprinted over faster than my eyes could register, picking up Yugashi with her one hand.

I couldn’t do anything, but I noticed something: the old guy was buying us time, he definitely was! But, Klira and Gagu were nowhere to be found, so I couldn’t leave with these two on my back like that. ‘’What kinda master puts their children out there and watches them get demolished by a stronger foe? Not a good one, because I’d do that. Which one of the kids is your strongest fighters, old man?’’ She asked him once more as I watched her grip his throat with her spare hand, causing him to wheeze in pain.

‘’S...top!’’ ‘’Cut it out!’’ I tried to force the words out, but they stayed inside my mouth, as if chained and pulled back with an anchor. ‘’Where are the other two…?’’ I spoke to them quietly, watching as I saw the life leave their eyes suddenly. ‘’Calm it, beastman…’’ She turned towards me, holding something that resembled the tome Gagu showed me the night before. Hika and Garao squirmed like puppets pulled by strings until I watched the two of them pass out in my hands, not able to hear their breathing at all. ‘’I control the lives of everyone in this temple right now; the old man’s and those two dead kids. Wanna join my list? It’ll be fun…’’ She dropped Yugashi down, leaving him to sulk down in his pathetic state.

‘’You bitch! Why?! You coulda talked to him and resolved it properly!’’ At that point, I felt like it was all of Yugashi’s influence talking and not me personally. ‘’I tried, but when I went ‘Give me one of your kids,’ he wouldn’t comply.’’ She replied, sounding almost annoying by him.

‘’Well no shit! Why’d you even come to a barent place like this, anyway?!’’ I stood up, holding tightly onto Garao, unable to carry both of them. ‘’I got a report sent to me, by someone in here. More specifically, to the thieves guild. ‘We’re being attacked by a vicious beastman’ or something. What are we, fucking heroes…?’’ She answered my question almost effortlessly, as if she didn’t even care about the blood she had spilled all over the temple grounds and the two lives she took on a complete whim. But even then, my brain refused to let that reality in, so I forced it out, hoping it was some bluff and the two of them were still alive somehow… But obviously, they weren’t. It was probably something she did with her tome. ‘’Then, why the hell are you hurting them?! I’m the bea… attacked...vicious?!’’ My eyes widened in an instant as I understood the situation. In the corner of my eye, I caught Gagu peeping from around the corner of the building, looking somewhat...satisfied? Happy…?

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‘’And since I’m coming to a temple, might as well look for someone passable to be one of my underlings, or something. But I guess I gotta take care of my job…’’ She turned towards me, stared me down and grinned with malice. I dropped Graou, falling back on my ass like the coward I turned out to be. ‘’But, I didn’t do anything! Ask the old geezer! Ask him!!’’ At that point I was desperately begging her to let me live, just more indirectly than people would, but… ‘’No can do. The guy let out his last breath a few seconds ago.’’ Her words took a few seconds to process as I looked over, finding Yugashi lying down motionlessly. ‘’Even if you didn’t do jack shit, the world’s a cruel place. I believe…you’d be better off and happier not having to deal with these people, anyway.’’ ‘’No, hang on! Gagu! Gaaaagu!’’ I began yelling for him, hoping he’d come out and help me, hoping that he was hiding out of fear and nothing else and that expression was just the cause of stress, but he did nothing, except silently move his lips. This was also something Yugashi taught us: Understanding each other by reading each other’s lips. It was hard, since my vision was going blurry due to adrenaline, but I made it out clearly.

‘’That’s why you can’t surpass me. Sorry.’’

Was it jealousy, was it hatred, was it fear like everyone else, or was it just for his own fun. Was it a side of Gagu I hadn’t seen or hadn’t noticed. I didn’t have time to think about that anyway. He pulled his head back behind the wall, leaving me with a small smile. There was a long stairway leading away from the temple behind the building; it was probably where he was going, with Klira presumably. The bitch began talking under her breath as she began staring daggers at me; she wasn’t about to offer mercy to me. My breaths began to feel heavy, I had goosebumps, my saliva was gathering faster and my vision began to get filled with black. ‘’Gagu...why…?’’ That was the last thing I thought before I found myself in complete darkness. Why? Why?! I didn’t do anything, did I? I didn’t even hurt them. It was their own problem, not mine. I couldn’t even see my own arms or legs, my toso or my nose. It felt like I was just floating in a dark place, nothing in sight.I can’t remember how long it lasted, since I gave up after the second minute, but the blackness spread out; it was like waking up again.

My eyes felt puffy, my feet numb. My face felt in pain, as well as my body. ‘’Good morning!’’ The voice of that woman was the first thing my ears took in after waking up, making me gasp. ‘’You did kinda good back there; you tore up my skin a little; quite the accomplishment when it’s me we’re talking about!’’ She kept talking to me in a calm, soft tone, mixed with the same, vicious and relentless one she used back at the temple. ‘’Where...the fuck are you taking me…?’’ I realised she was carrying me on her shoulder, holding me with an arm bearing a scar on it, looking like it was made by...me. ‘’Well, I was told to deal with a beastman, so I did. I was looking for someone to add to my squad, so I found one.’’ She spoke quickly. ‘’I’m not following you anywhere, dammit…’’ I was hellbent on disagreeing, but I realised it: We were nowhere near the village. In fact, I could see the end of the desert on the horizon. ‘’’Course you’re not following me, I’m carrying you, so please be a good boy. The fact that i’m taking you in after you scratched me should make you feel happy, at worst.’’ I didn’t get it at all. Why was it happening to me, why did they have to end that way, why isn’t she exhausted, or at least sweaty? All of those were questions I couldn’t find the answer to.

‘’You kept screaming ‘’Gagu’’ and the like. It was funny until you attacked me; then it just became pitiful, but it was still surprising, so you passed you sly bastard!’’ She began laughing openly and seemingly joyfully. ‘’’Fuck you, and go die in a hole!’’ I yelled at her, that being the only thing I could do. ‘’Kinda rowdy, aren’t you? I’m Hiona, your new master, dear beastman. It’s (not) nice to meet you.’’ It almost felt like that physically hurt her to say. ‘’What is it you want? To kill that Gagu guy, to kill me? Both? If I hit the spot on at least one, tell me your name, so we can have it confirmed, ‘kay?’’ ‘’It’s Clous.’’ I told her. ‘’Gotcha. If you’re working for me now, i’ll halfa get you a tome, won’t I… But after I get you one, you’re picking what to prioritize and what to use in general.’’ That hit me like a brick. A tome for me? That same...thing she and Gagu used? A weapon for killing? She’s gonna give me one? ‘’What if I use it to kill you on the spot? Won’t that be a problem?’’ ‘’It won’t be. ‘Cause you won’t be using it as a weapon, or so i’m guessing from the way you act. You don’t seem to like relying on external sources. If you were to throw something at me, maybe even one of the dead kids, you would’ve stood a bit more of a chance.’’ She hit the point straight on.

‘’In any case, be prepared for pain, since from today onward, i’m your master, Clous.’’