“Food’s ready.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

Matthias was handed a bowl of stew. It was still hot, fresh from the pot, with strands of meat, which Nail’s party had provided, and vegetables floating with the small bubbles of the oil that it was made with. The smell was delightful. And the taste… it was equally as delectable but not as good as what Tolg had made with much simpler ingredients.

The two parties sat at the same table. The room was brightly lit by two floating orbs of light cast by Mie and Ujel. There was a difference in intensity, though; Ujel’s spell created a brighter, more stable, and pure light, while Mie’s light source was a fire that flickered intermittently. Despite that, the latter’s performance was still much better than what Matthias, who couldn’t use the fire attribute, could do; his light-providing spell was just an improvisation of lightning-conjuring magic after all, while Mie’s was specifically designed to provide illumination.

However, the caster herself wasn’t present in that room.

“How is it? Kilo makes a mean cook, right?”

“Yeah, it’s good.”

He choked.

“Wait! Aren’t you supposed to take us back? Why are we having dinner here?”

They were still at the repurposed church, eating a meal with the children. Jelyn, who had leftover work at the Pharmacy Guild, took the opportunity and left for a while. She said she would return after a few hours, but Nail told her not to worry.

“The guild didn’t say I had to get you back today. What does it matter if I drag you there tomorrow?” he shrugged.

His party had a mixed look of amusement, understanding, empathy, and surrender. It was obvious that they had their misgivings about the situation. However, what they all shared was that they were generally in a consensus; they all agreed to be there with them, even if Nail had taken some liberties in interpreting his task.

“Why are you helping us?”

The guild was not going to be happy about it. Though they weren’t going to have their tags revoked, they would still suffer some penalty.

“For one, so you guys would be indebted to us,” Nail responded casually with a half-full mouth. “Having a noble owe you one is pretty rare.”

It was fairly common knowledge that a kind gesture made for free was less trustworthy than an exchange of favors. Generally speaking, only the nobility had, in general, the mindset to expect gifts without having to respond in kind. Matthias would be lying if he said that he hoped Nail wouldn’t ask for anything in return. But hearing him say so after everything that had happened, from his friendly interactions with him during his early days to that time, did succeed in making him feel relieved.

“Unfortunately, it looks like I can’t keep that for a better time.”

Nail’s tone of voice lowered. His eyes narrowed with the struggle he faced as he tried to form his words. Finally, after being assured by his team, he spoke.

“Mie wanted to talk to you two. She has a favor to ask.”

He then spoke of what happened after they had left; specifically, what they had heard from the party the guild sent to replace theirs at the cave. The revelation shocked the two into silence. They couldn’t believe what they heard.

“There were no bodies in the cave?”

“Yeah. They said after they had passed you in the forest, they were suddenly attacked by roaming bandits; probably stragglers returning to camp. Your friend there got rid of them when they heard the commotion.”

Manna shrugged in response.

“Anyway, when they got into the cave after parting with her, they looked for the bandits and the bodies as you described. But there were none. Lots of blood in there, though.”

“Wait, wait,” Matthias held up his hand. “What blood? We didn’t kill any of them.”

He couldn’t recall seeing any new bloodstains on their way to the deepest chamber. Of course, there were some dried ones, but from Nail’s words, it was obvious that he referred to fresh blood.

“So you said. And I believe you. Don’t think you’re the kind of guy to lie for no reason. I know the guys that went in, and I don’t think they lied either. But whatever happened, they didn’t see anything inside. Only blood.”

“Didn’t see anyone entering. Unless someone could move all of the unconscious bastards within the half-hour I spent to pick up that party, something else must’ve happened,” Manna interjected. Of course, that was the only reasonable explanation for it. Matthias and Tolg didn’t inspect every nook and cranny of the cave. There might have been another passage they had missed, for example.

Nail nodded in agreement. “And the thing is, they couldn’t even find any corpses. Not even… Mie’s sister.”

----------------------------------------

That was the premise for their predicament as Matthias and Manna stood by the doorway. They saw Mie perched on a broken stool at the corner of the yard.

She sat by her lonesome, with nothing but a fire accompanying her figure. Her countenance was calm, but even from afar, Matthias could feel her emotions in turmoil. It unnerved him greatly. He felt his hands tremble and his knees grow weak. Taking the first step proved to be one of the most daunting challenges he faced up to that point. That would be the first time he was going to face a person who had lost a loved one – and in a way, he was partly to blame for it.

“Come on, dude.”

Manna seemed completely unperturbed, however. She even pushed him from behind with impatience.

“Wait, what do I say?”

“The hell are you talking about? She’s the one who wants to say something. Just listen to her.”

After saying so, she stopped being “nice” and dragged him over to the sulking mage.

Apparently, not even Mie thought that they would come like that. Her mouth was slightly opened in shock as she watched Matthias stumble behind an indignant Manna. But she quickly recovered and returned to her previous scowl.

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“You… you’re here…”

Her voice trailed off, as if in an attempt to convey her mood. But Manna refused to be shaken.

“You asked for us, right?”

Perhaps she had sensed that there was no use in trying to intimidate the latter. Mie’s face softened slightly. She gestured towards the opposite end of the magical fire she had conjured. Manna walked over and sat without a word, followed by Matthias in an awkward gait.

“So, what now?”

Manna wasted no time in trying to get to the point. Her attitude caused Mie’s feelings of displeasure to rise back to their original levels. She opened her mouth with a flushed face but managed to stop herself from lashing out. Instead, she bit her lips and tried to steady her breathing. It took her a while before she managed to calm down. When she opened her eyes, it was noticeably a bit more peaceful.

“Did Nail tell you?”

She spoke to Matthias, despite the dominant manner Manna conducted herself. For a moment, he felt confused. Despite that, he answered almost immediately.

“Your sister’s body is missing.”

He was surprised at himself for being able to say those words without stuttering. Mie nodded in response.

“I want to… “ask” you two a favor,” she said. Though her statement was as if it was a request, the weight she placed on the word meant that it was more like an order. Manna’s brows creased in chagrin.

“You want us to look for her body?”

She shook her head, which elicited a questioning look from him.

“That’s not important.”

“It’s… not?”

“Elves don’t bother with burial rites. The body is just a vessel. It’s the soul that’s sacred.”

Matthias’ eyes widened.

“You’re a–”

“Half.”

She tucked her hair to show them her ear which was normally hidden from view. It was small, around the same size as a human’s. But sure enough, Matthias found that it was slightly pointed at an angle with a better view.

“Those with elven blood don’t rise as undead. Normally speaking, anyway. So, we have no culture of burials or cremation. But since our spirits are more attached to this world than you humans, we cannot pass on if we have any lingering regrets–”

“Does Nail… know that you’re a half-elf?”

Matthias soon realized that he had made a mistake. Not only did he cut her off, judging by the incredulous expression on her face, but it also seemed like he had asked a rather stupid question as well. But thankfully her mood didn’t sour much.

“Of course, he does. Did you think I would hide anything from him?”

For some reason, her statement elicited an almost imperceivable groan from Manna.

“Anyway, that’s not it. What I wanted to say is, if you see the bastard who killed her, then I want you to bring him to me. Alive. If you kill him, I’ll kill you,” she continued. Perhaps his interruption did irritate her more than he thought it did, as her words changed from a subtle suggestion that they didn’t have a choice to a clear order. This didn’t sit well with Manna, whose brows furrowed even further. Before she spoke up, however, Matthias held up his hand to stop her.

“We’ll try. But we can’t promise you anything. If he managed to escape, it would be hard to find him again unless he comes to us for revenge.”

Though he did mean what he said, it was much more likely for that to happen. Leaders of bandit groups weren’t exactly the reasonable kind of people. If someone slighted them, they would try their hardest to get back. The concept of loss or gain practically didn’t exist for them. Though they hated losing people, it was only in the same meaning as having their possessions destroyed. But regardless, he accepted. Something in him believed that it wouldn’t be the last time he would see that murderous wretch.

“Whatever. That’s why I said “if”. In case you don’t see him, I’ll hunt him down myself.”

Though she was looking at him without faltering, her hands were clenched and trembling in rage. It probably took a lot of self-control to stop herself from running out into the woods by herself. Matthias could only imagine what she would do to that man if she ever got her hands on him. Though it was questionable whether or not she could even beat him alone, he knew that emotions functioned as fuel. In particular, fire magic fed off of its user’s mood. Maybe that was why he wasn’t blessed with it. He wasn’t exactly the most passionate person around.

“In that case, I accept.”

“Good,” she replied indignantly. “Now get out of my sight.”

Manna stood up with a snap and turned away with heavy footsteps. But when she didn’t hear Matthias follow, she turned around to see that he was still settled on the ground.

“That’s… it?”

“I told you to fuck off.”

“No, it’s just…”

He sucked on his lip, struggling to squeeze the words out of his mouth.

“Did you expect me to shout, point fingers, and tell you that it’s your fault?” was her sneering reply. “Oh, believe me, I want to do that so badly. I need something to vent, and nobody would care for a shitty low-ranked upstart adventurer like you.”

He heard the sound of steel rubbing hardwood behind him. Manna perceived Mie’s words as a threat and reached for her dagger. But the latter wasn’t intimidated in the least. Instead, it only caused the anger in her eyes to flare up even more intensely. In response to her emotions, the fire between them shook. It no longer looked like a campfire that warmed his body. Instead, it became a small blaze that almost burned his skin.

“What was it? You waited so you could capture some hooded bastard? Where is he? He’s still out there, living life, right? So you returned empty-handed. You let them die under your watch. You risked their lives and lost the bet. I should be applauding you right now. Even that brainless idiot Soleil would have done better.”

“But who gives a shit about everyone else–”

“That was my sister, you bastard!”

Blood dripped from her hands. She had clenched them so hard that her nails had dug deeply into her palms as she shouted.

Hearing her charged words, the blood in Matthias’ body grew cold. In the end, she wasn’t able to reign in her emotions. How should he respond? Should he even say anything? He was truly sorry. But should he apologize? Words tried in vain to form in his head. He was struck with a fear that was all too familiar, yet foreign to him. Meanwhile, his body contorted. His head was hung, shoulders drooped and his torso bent in an attempt to make himself as small as possible. Shame burned his heart hotter than the fire raging a mere few steps away from him.

As he was realizing the consequences of his choice, a long period of silence befell the group. Even the rowdy sounds at the nearby brothels were drowned by the heavy mood that permeated the air. But it wasn’t time that was wasted. It allowed Mie to recover from her outburst, at least. After a while of watching Matthias drown in his thoughts, she pushed a sigh of exasperation out of herself.

“Believe it or not… I don’t blame you,” she said. It was in a way that made one think she was trying to convince herself and not the other party. “Maybe… I would have done the same if my family wasn’t involved.”

She took an old, dirty rag from her pack and wiped her hands. The rough cloth made her flinch when it touched the open wounds. When she realized that, despite having settled down somewhat, her hands were still shaking, another sigh escaped her.

“I already told you what I wanted. Now, fuck off. Leave me alone. I have watch duty to do.”

When Matthias finally managed to gather enough strength to raise his head, he saw that Mie had put on her wide-brimmed hat, which hid her face from view.

She didn’t have anything else she could say; at least, without flying into a rage again. But he also knew that she still had more. Sinking into silence was her way of stating the latter.

Taking her words to heart, he nodded to her and excused himself.

The sight of Manna’s bitter, but smiling face greeted him. She held his hand and squeezed it. But before they left, he turned to Mie one more time and did what he should probably have done since the beginning.

“I’m sorry.”

He received no replies. She just continued staring at the fire in a daze.