Dorian looked at the destruction, leaning against the barrier, while Arvanys lay on the ground and their other companion, who had joined them for a while as they bought things for their contractor, kept watch.
"Raul, how are things? Have you sensed enemies approaching?"
"Not yet."
None of them thought about getting involved in that fight, which to them was a waste, seeing as the guards were doing a good job. At most, they would step in if attacked.
"I want to get out of this useless mission already."
The three of them had met in a mercenary guild, and on a whim the guild master had sent them on this mission: to buy things and confirm who had stolen the belongings of their employer.
"So boring."
Seeing Arvanys get up lazily, Dorian approached. They had only teamed up for this mission today since that aquatic dungeon, and they hadn't really talked. He wanted a conversation to kill the boredom, so he spoke coldly.
"It may be boring, but it's a mission, so it has to be done."
"Even so, it's boring. Actually, since that dungeon nothing has been interesting and no one has been as easy to talk to as Kael."
Dorian nodded. Since that day, finding someone easy to talk to had been hard. Of course, it was partly his fault too, because most of the time he answered coldly, unintentionally pushing people away. Raul seemed interested and asked a question while keeping watch around.
"Who is Kael?"
"Well, a really crazy guy with red eyes, obsessed with fighting and wanting revenge on his mother."
"He also looks like the type who goes looking for trouble whenever he can, and always says he's the strongest."
"Are you sure he's like that?"
The two were confused and looked at Raul because of the strange question. Seeing him staring at something in the distance, they approached.
"Why that question?"
"…If he's like that, then I've found him."
"What?"
On top of a roof of a distant house, someone was thrown down by a water spear piercing his chest.
"Really? Is this the best you can do? If that's all, then just tell me already where the strongest among you is."
The boy above was the exact description they had given, and both recognized that magic and the red tone in his eyes, unique to a human. They even thought their eyes were deceiving them since he wore the clothes of that strange cult, but when they saw him killing people wearing the same clothes, they were sure he had gone looking for trouble.
"We only spent a little time with him, but we already know how he is."
"What an idiot. Let's give him a hand, Dorian."
The two jumped onto the nearest roof and ran toward where Kael was. Seeing this, after being surprised by the crazy boy's skills, Raul quickly followed.
"You told me he was crazy, but I didn't think he was this crazy."
Fighting against three opponents, Enrico in his disguise crouched down. Since he had just switched places with the clone, it was easy to leave the shop claiming he was going to the bathroom, and he came immediately to where the rookie mercenaries were. To catch their attention, he engaged in a fight.
'I have to get back to the bathroom soon. Good thing they were nearby.'
Seeing them approach, he put Kael's characteristic smile in his eyes and kicked the opponent's leg from behind, unbalancing him. Creating a spinning blade of water in his hand, he cut the opponent in half.
'Now for the other two.'
Preparing to defend against the remaining two, he created two spears in his hands, but before anything could happen, they were bound by chains and then pierced and killed by snow blades.
"It's been a while, Kael."
"Oh, what are you two doing here? Came to enjoy the fun after seeing the chaos too?"
"You really are crazy for fights."
They introduced themselves to each other, and then Enrico jumped down, seeing someone from the cult heading toward the shop where the civilians and others were. Arvanys, right behind, saw him chasing an opponent and sighed.
"What did you come here to do?"
"Don't talk to me for a while."
"Why? Did I annoy you?"
The hood covered his whole face, and he didn't answer, making her wonder what she had done to irritate him so much that he wouldn't respond. Meanwhile, Dorian shook his head, thinking she was colder than him. The four of them engaged in the fight below against the cult.
Spinning his water spear, Kael blocked a wind-charged kick. Spinning it again, he cut the opponent's chest as he tried to run. Raul appeared above him and summoned a fist of bones that crushed him.
"You're just a bunch of circle ones, and you think to enter a lost battle? That's pretty idiotic."
"Shut up, you have no right to call our determination idiotic."
"He wasn't lying."
Receiving a fire kick to the face, that hooded man had his head smashed into the ground. As he tried to get up, a second kick smashed it further, then came a third and fourth.
"Are you mercenaries? Thanks for protecting this shop."
"Well, we weren't really protecting it."
Seeing the golden-haired boy, they looked back to what seemed to be his companion—a girl with two braids—approaching behind him.
"Isn't this the guy who helped us? Thank you so much."
The three turned to Kael, who ignored everything, seemingly looking for another opponent. The girl stopped and looked down, even sitting on the floor, hugging her knees sadly.
"What's your name?"
"Enrico Solcren Ferreira."
"Enrico? We've heard that name before…"
Kael's head turned toward Enrico as he gave a smile. You could say he was planning a new story in their eyes, and for that, he would need both his real identity and his disguise.