I was having a smooth rest, but when late afternoon arrived, I was interrupted. Apparently, something happened to Hartwin. Although it was not him exactly.

At the moment we were all in my room.

Why does it have to be in my room?

Whatever, we had a more pressing matter concerning our comrade. I was sitting on my bed with slightly ruffled hair, staring at Hartwin. He was sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, his head lowered. When he first arrived, he was absolutely distraught, with signs of tears on his cheeks. Even now he was the same, except he was holding back his tears.

The rest of the gang — Velar, Taneva, and Nira — was here as well. All of us were waiting for him to gain a bit of composure and look at us. The moment he raised his eyes, I decided to ask, assuming he was ready to talk.

"What exactly happened?"

"Mayumi is dead… killed."

Mayumi, the name of the girl he gave an instrument to. I resisted the urge to sigh, of course he would be devastated. Death truly was a sudden thing.

"How was she killed?"

"In an alleyway, stabbed in the abdomen. The instrument I gave her was nowhere to be seen."

Then could the reason for the murder be just theft? Perhaps Mayumi resisted, and the thieves just struck her dead? Or perhaps they could have been planning for more?

"Is that all they did to her?"

Hartwin pointed a puzzled look at me. "What do you mean?"

"Aside from stabbing her, from stealing, anything else you noticed happened to her?" I was asking if she had been violated. Such an outcome would not be surprising in a place like this.

Hartwin seemed to have realized what I was trying to ask. "... No, nothing else. Everything else on her was intact."

It would seem that the attack happened in a place where there might be too many eyes. And moving her would be pretty difficult. That was why, instead of doing anything else, they just killed her. Be quick with it.

"I see. Did she have any coins on her?"

Hartwin shook his head. Just how desperate could those thieves be to kill a girl who could only have a small amount of coins? But I suppose there are people who would kill for a little bit of money.

"I see… What happened after you found her body?"

"... The soldiers arrived, but they were completely useless. There were no culprits to catch."

"I doubt they'd even give the energy to try and find them," Taneva said.

He could be right, or they would just half-ass it. In short, we couldn't rely on the soldiers here to get justice for the murder of a friend's friend.

"And where is her body now?"

"In the refugees' compound, they have a small morgue. I brought her friends and fellow villagers to her." He let out a long, trembling sigh. He covered his eyes. "They said she was only out to perform. She was getting very good too…" He rubbed the tears coming out of his eyes. "She was a sweet girl… This is not fair, Princess."

"Not fair?"

"How could a girl so innocent, so undeserving of suffering, perish just like that? Without even a chance to achieve her dreams."

"..." That was something I could never answer. For even I suffered the death of someone who didn't deserve it. But… "The world is always unfair."

"... This place is cruel… terrible. Always in chaos." He clenched his fists, crumpling the fabric on his legs. I sensed anger rising within him. "... Even the most promising bright flower… wilts and dies in this land of blight…"

I let out a sigh. "This place has no mercy for the weak."

"... If she had been born on the continent, she might have lived a longer and better life."

"Perhaps."

"And the people who did it… They're monsters. How could they do it to her…?" A teardrop fell to the floor. "They cannot be left alone… They must get what they deserve."

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I raised an eyebrow. "What are you trying to say, Hartwin?"

He directed a powerful gaze into my eyes, despite the tears that drenched them. "I want your help."

"... Hartwin… Do you wish for revenge?"

"Yes."

This was so surprising to me. The fierceness in his eyes, it was something I had never seen in him before. The rage, the hatred. To think that even Hartwin could make such a face. It was almost intriguing. Hartwin had always been the most casual and happy among us. Just how far could such a person go?

"And you want our help?"

"Yes. I need help in finding them."

"And when we do, what's going to happen?" I narrowed my eyes on him. I wanted to hear what his words would be, how strong ‌a commitment his voice would have.

He held out his sheathed rapier. "They will all die."

"Who will plant the blade into them, Hartwin?"

"I will."

"Are you sure? If we do, you will spill their blood. We will do nothing but find and immobilize them. You shall take their lives. Will that please you?"

"Yes."

"No matter how much they beg, no matter the age, no matter their circumstances… You will finish the job."

"... I will."

"... Why go this far?"

"They deserve it."

I leaned back and inhaled, glancing at Taneva, Nira, and Velar. "You guys in?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Taneva said with a pump of his fist.

Velar firmly nodded. "If a friend asks for help, I will."

"I will hunt the ones who hurt Hartwin." Nira clenched her tiny fists.

I nodded. Everyone seemed very motivated. I was the same way, of course. Hartwin was part of the crew after all. He asked for help, and he would never be satisfied without getting his revenge. He would never move on unless we found the ones who killed his friend.

Then I shall grant his wish.

I'm all for revenge. Well, this might be fun as a little distraction on my part. Perhaps I'd feel something, getting revenge for an ally, but I doubted it. But it can't hurt to try.

"It is decided. Tomorrow morning, we shall hunt down the people that took your friend's life. For tonight, you must rest and calm your mind, Hartwin. You're a mess. I want you to be at least slightly collected when we go."

Hartwin nodded, and he stood up. I glanced at Velar, implicitly expressing that he should go and attend to Hartwin. He needed a friend right now. And there was no way I could do that. He needed one of the fellow boys.

Once they left, Taneva turned towards me. "That's something, huh? How are we going to find them?"

"You're an immortal, I thought you'd have gotten a skill in tracking."

"Hm, of course I can track. I'm asking whether you have a plan. You're the leader here."

I frowned. "Words go around, Taneva. Believe me, it might turn out to be easier than we thought."

He shrugged. "Killing them, huh? Let's hope we won't get into trouble with the authorities of this city."

"Not like they would care about criminals dying or having infightings, right? In these lands of violence, their death will be just like any other day."

Just like what happened to Mayumi.

Tragic as it may be for our friend, in the whole of the island, it was only statistics. One death among many. Sadly though, for the culprits anyway, they just had to fuck with a group that had monsters in it.

***

It was morning.

I went down to the inn's lobby, now wearing my full gear. Here, I saw the rest of the group completely up and ready for a fight. I glanced at Hartwin, and judging from his tired eyes, he hadn't had a good complete sleep.

Expected when someone's death hit you hard. The same thing happened to me. Without further ado, I walked outside the inn, and they followed behind me. Turning my head back, I spoke to Hartwin.

"Before I take a look at the scene of the crime, take me to Mayumi."

"You want to see her?" He seemed surprised to hear that from me.

Well, I had been refusing to meet her.

"I want to see whose revenge we're doing this for."

Hartwin slowly nodded his head. "Thank you, Princess."

He brought us to a busy compound, and a place where there were people all over. Refugees, I presumed. Hartwin led us to a particular building, and judging from the lack of living people here, this must be the morgue. There was a lone security guard, but we got in just fine. I could already smell the scent of death in here, not quite pleasing to inhale.

"She's there."

Hartwin pointed at a corpse covered by a fabric. There were a couple of people around it. They brightened when they saw Hartwin coming.

"Hartwin, you're here." One of the women hugged him, and she turned towards my knight. "Velar, too. Thank you for coming."

"I'm sorry for what happened," Velar said.

The woman nodded with a sad smile. "Who are these with you?"

I stepped forward, approaching the covered body. "People who will bring ease to your hearts."

"Ease? What do you mean? Who are you?"

"A mutual friend." I slowly pulled down the fabric with both hands, showing as much respect as I could. And Mayumi's face was unveiled.

She is cute.

Her skin had already turned pale. I slowly shifted her neck, there were marks of struggle.

"She was choked." Indeed, judging from the bruising on the neck. I lifted her clothes, showing her belly. "A small knife was used. And here, she was hit, punched on the stomach as well." Multiple bruises on the stomach. I had the feeling that she did not die fast. But I decided not to mention that hard part.

I slowly checked the body, but I saw no other clues that might lead me to the culprit. But then I saw the nails on her right hand.

"Would you look at that, she was a fighter. Flesh and dried blood stuck to three of her fingers. Our culprit might have a good scratch somewhere on their body. If I were to guess, the easiest to get this much would be from the arm, neck, or the face."

If it weren't healed already, we might be able to tell who the culprit was.

"Estelia, did you mean she suffered before they killed her?" Hartwin asked in a low voice.

And I wasn't about to mention it…

"Judging from the damage on the body, yes. Aside from the choking, she was hit more than once in the torso and stomach. Kicked or punched, I can't tell." She didn't even seem to have the body of someone who could fight. They enjoyed inflicting pain on the weak. "Are there no witnesses?"

"I don't know. Maybe. There were a lot of people there."

"Hm." I covered her body back. "I'm done. Let's go and find those that did this."

Lucky you, Mayumi. Even in death, you'd get your revenge so soon.

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