"The first ones were taken," he said, shaking his head. "But after that, not all who entered the forest were dragged there."
"You sent people…" Miu accused him.
"No," he replied almost as fast. "They went willingly."
"Then why didn't you stop them!" she yelled, slamming a fist onto the wooden table.
The action seemed to make him flinch a bit, but his expression drifted back to the calm melancholy he had before.
"And what would you have had me do?" he asked softly, almost in surrender. "Chain them to their beds? Lock every door? Post guards at every road while people begged to follow after their loved ones?"
"Yes," Aren said flatly.
"Easy words from someone born with power."
"...You don't know anything about me."
"No," the old man admitted. "I do not, but I know what you are."
"Mystics, people who can grow stronger the reason the whole world spins around. For us, there is nothing…you even have a word for us, don't you?"
Aren remained silent.
"Blanks."
