The carriage was still on its way to the Howling Town but it was different than before. It didn't shake as violently as it had previously because Ray had specifically told the old driver to give everyone a comfortable ride. It wasn't much but he thought he could at least do that as if to apologize for all the pain others had to suffer when the carriage was moving furiously.

He didn't apologize though.

There was an awkward atmosphere inside the carriage. The three siblings were wary of the person even more. And the fact that he didn't even hesitate to behead that bandit sent shivers down their heart. And the mask he was wearing made him even more suspicious.

They couldn't just ask who are you as well because if the other person didn't like it, they could be killed as well. Even though they were at the bottom of the ladder, Lara had never seen a corpse, much less an actual kill. She was anxious as what would happen if they were to die just because of a whim of the masked man.

Slowly, her breathing became heavy. She was very nervous about the current situation they were in. With her hands ever so shaking, she pinched herself to calm down and asked the identity of the man anyway.

"Sir, you look so strong. You must be a great warrior, right? Are you by chance from the capital?"

Her approach was different but she was just laying the groundwork before she could ask him of his identity. It was necessary not to make the other person uncomfortable, so she chose to flatter him by praising him first.

"Yes," Ray said without any hint of being happy in his voice.

It didn't work? She was confused. If it was someone important then praising them would always work or so her master taught her. But she also knew that this kind of approach wouldn't work on anybody. If he was some random noble, then he might have just laughed at those of hers and started blabbing about his own greatness, but that was not the case with him.

"You must be a great warrior, right?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever participated in a war?"

"Yes."

"You must have killed dozens of people, right?"

"Yes."

The conversation wasn't moving forward. The opposite party was just answering with 'yes' or 'no' and she couldn't find anything out as well. Praising was the only trick in her arsenal that her master taught but the person in front wasn't even moved enough to blabber. She was in a bind as to what to do. 

The eldest sister Crista put her left hand at Lara's shoulder as if trying to say 'that was enough'. Even if the opposite party has killed people doesn't mean that they would just start massacring. The bandits he killed would've killed him if he hadn't raised his weapon. There was no need to be too worried because if he wanted to kill them, he would have slit their throat without even hesitating. And Crista knew that fact.

If the man just wanted peace, why should we bother him by random talks? That was on her mind. Lara was also a little bit understanding of the situation but the problem laid with the younger sibling Marie. From the point the carriage started moving again, she was terrified of the existence of the man before her.

She has been shaking on Crista's shoulder all this time. Ray had noticed that as well. He had for some time but he hadn't said anything thinking saying something to her would further traumatize the kid. But seeing even after giving some time to the kid, she couldn't calm herself, he finally opened his mouth.

"Don't worry, kid. I'm not a bad guy."

But that alone wouldn't have been enough to convince the opposite party. Ray knew that, so he added something else.

"I'm a Royal Guard. I have pledged to protect the citizens of this kingdom. So, saving you From the bandit was just me fulfilling my duties. Don't worry, I wouldn't hurt any innocent. If I did, I would be executed by the king. And I am the sort of person who values his life the most."

Even though it wasn't entirely the truth, it wasn't a lie as well. To further move away from the suspicion, he took out a golden token from his pocket and poured some of his mana into it. As it glowed in the golden colour lighting up the interior of the carriage, the pale and nervous face of the siblings slowly began to dissipate.

They say the token one would receive after joining the army or some of the larger organization are directly connected to their soul. So, even if one pours mana, if the token wasn't his/her property, it wouldn't glow. It was devised specifically so that no one would be able to use the identity of someone important and deceive people.

But there were cases where people had found a way to use the token even if it didn't belong to them. But they were rather few, almost ignorable. Since it was genuinely my token, there was no need for me to worry.

The siblings were slowly becoming comfortable as well. After that, I put back my token and slowly closed my eyes to rest myself but it seemed it wasn't going to happen anymore. The middle brat who used to talk too much was watching me very curiously as if she had never seen a person.

Look somewhere else you brat, I am trying to sleep here. I wanted to say that but I refrained myself. Talking to people too much would only draw too much attention to myself. But not talking could do the same, so I always try to not talk too much. I tried to ignore her gaze and rolled facing my back to her as if I'm trying to get some sleep.

"Um, sir, can I ask you something?" The brat said looking at me.

"Um..." I answered as if I was already half asleep.

"Since you're a Royal Guard, you must be living a great life, right?" She said as if she envied my way of living.

Just from her tone, I could guess that she was from a poor family. It has always been like that. Poor looking at the rich as if they were some sort of god. Envying their lifestyle. I also used to had those eyes she currently had with her. I also envied rich in the past. Why wouldn't I? They could just buy what they wanted to eat, wear what they wanted to wear and they could even order around people according to their will.

From those uneven streets, I also used to look at the castle as if it was the greatest treasure. I thought that inside the castle would be a lot of gold and money that if I ever got it, I would also be able to get a better life. But I realized it wasn't the case after I looked at it up close. My dreams that were of a child were shattered when I saw they were actually people inside the castle and not the gold and money. Not that much I had hoped for actually.

If there were no gold then what were all those guards standing outside the castle protecting? Those were the question that filled my heart when I was about eight years old. Thinking back at it, I was just a foolish kid who knew nothing.

"Great life eh...?" Just lamenting about my life made me angry to the core. My heart was swelling with anger. If I wasn't facing my back against the brat and she had seen my eyes, she would have seen how much I hated that question of her.

I will never forget them. I will never forgive them. I will take everything from them as they did it with me.

Saying that inside my heart, I somehow calmed myself. Just lamenting about my life made me wide awake. Since I was awake anyway, I decided to answer the brat's question.

"Not all soldier's have a great life you know. I personally didn't have a good life if I compare myself to other soldiers. If I were to say it simply, except for somethings, my life wasn't even as fulfilling as an ordinary soldier. Mission after mission, I didn't have any free time."

The last line was a lie of course. I was only sent to some missions and the rest of my time as a soldier, I had nothing to do but train or play in the flower garden.

"So even soldiers serving the Royal family have a hard time, Huh?" Her eyes then slowly fell towards my waist where laid my two sheathed daggers. She then asked, "If you're a Royal Guard then you lied when you said that you stole the daggers from a noble, didn't you?"

The brat was too talkative. She was totally acting naturally as if my position didn't even matter. I am a Royal Guard, try to contain yourself like your elder sister. And didn't that brat bit her tongue earlier on, how can she talk so much? But it seemed my title didn't mean anything in comparison to the brat's curiosity. She didn't even care to the point that she was ignoring the tug from her big sister.

Sighing inside my heart, I replied.

"Yes, I lied. It was a gift."

"Oh? Daggers that beautiful as a gift? Let me guess who gifted this to you."

Oi, oi, don't get too ahead. I know where the conversation was going since I had dealt with a similar type of conversation many times. She will eventually say that it was from my lover that I got the gift and ask me about it. I don't want that to happen. So, I immediately changed the topic of the conversation.

"That's too much about me. I told many things about me but I don't know anything about you guys. Why don't you tell me why you're going to Howling Town? That town was recently conquered, wasn't it? It might not be safe, so why are you going there?" I asked.

"Well, I and my sisters are from a poor family, you know."

I already know that.

"It was hard to live without any money. That's why my master introduced this place. Since it was recently conquered, there is no form of entertainment for nobles and citizens who are living there. That's why I am going there since I was offered the role of the main actress who will lead the drama. And the money is also very good, so we thought we could start our new life there."

"My elder sister you see sacrificed many things for us siblings. So, it is now my turn to return the favour. I will earn lots of money and make our life better." The brat said with a proud face.

Money, eh? In the end, all the dreams of the poor around money. But it seems that her elder sister should also teach her that she shouldn't just share her family problems with random strangers. 

"And I will protect my siblings this time?" The brat said.

"Protect? You say you will protect your siblings?" I don't know why but the words automatically escaped my mouth.

"Of course." She said puffing her chest.

"Then are you willing to sacrifice everything?" 

"What do you mean?" The brat asked.

"I mean are you willing to sacrifice everything? Your freedom, your dream and even your whole being? If you can't do that, you can't protect someone." My honest thoughts reverberated inside the carriage.

"I- I am willing to go that far." She answered hesitantly.

From her tone, I could sense that she hadn't completely made up her mind. But if she cannot answer to that question of mine with confident then I hardly believe that she can protect someone.

"You don't have to go that far." The elder sister comforted the brat, "If you just live your life happily it is enough for us."

"Yes, big sister, you don't have to worry too much about us." The younger sibling also comforted the brat.

The brat's expression slowly became warm as the three siblings hugged each other. They really cared for each other or so I could perceive from the situation. They were very attached to each other. I guess the role of the eldest sibling was great when it came towards their family. Both were squeezing her the most.

Finally, after some time, they released themselves. I thought I could finally get some sleep but even if the carriage was moving slow, it was still shaking. I finally gave up on sleeping and contemplated what had happened back then.

It was very suspicious when there were only a squad of bandits. From my experience, I knew the bandits raided in larger groups and them dispatching only about five people made me think for a while. It was unlike any bandits I had encountered so far and to think their base was half an hour away from their position, it was very suspicious.

Were they searching for something? I thought. Because if they weren't then why were they separated from the larger group. Maybe they were there to scout? There were only questions in my mind with no answers. I then sighed and asked the old driver.

"Old man, are the bandits searching for something?"

The question was straight forward, but I didn't think the driver would be able to answer. But miraculously the old man opened his mouth, although it wasn't the answer I was hoping for.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about. But if the bandits were searching for something then it would be a fortune,  if not then people who could give them a fortune. If I had to take a wild guess then they might be searching for a criminal. The criminal named Ray, I guess. The king has put a bounty on his head of Hundred Million Oaks so of course criminals like bounty hunters and bandits  will be enticed."

"Ray? That criminal who raped the princess?" Lara asked with a surprised expression, "I heard he was executed in Everyouth. Why are the bandits after a dead person?"

"I guess because his death isn't confirmed. Even though the chief of Everyouth claims that the boy has been killed, the king doesn't believe that to be the case. Without seeing his corpse, how could he believe?" The old driver said while making the horse turn right,

"The king wants to see his dead body. Even if he's dead, if someone shows the king his corpse, the king will award them handsomely."

Actually, I would disagree with the driver in this case. First of all, the bandits wouldn't just go for crap which might be true and false at the same time. And when the bandit saw me, he didn't ask for me to take off my mask, which could lead to revealing my identity. From that alone, I could conclude that they weren't after me. But what were they after?

After some time, I decided to not to think too much into it. Whatever I thought, I didn't let it show in my voice.

"I agree. They might be after the bounty on that criminal's head."

"I also thought the same. I was also surprised to see bandits when I explicitly avoided the battlefield. Right now, the battlefield should be littered with corpses and many bandits would go there to score them some haul but to think there was a bandit here, I couldn't guess any other reasons for them to be here other than searching for that criminal." The driver said.

"But criminal though he was, I say he was pretty ballsy. Even though he knew that doing something like that might enrage the entire kingdom, he raped the princess anyway." Lara said.

"Ballsy my ass," The old driver rebuked, "The boy just became too arrogant after entering Everyouth."

"Arrogant?" Lara asked.

"Yes, the boy became arrogant. They say that the boy was the princess's personal guard who accompanied her everywhere even in the bath. But even though he was very close to the princess, he didn't do anything. But it changed after they both went to Everyouth for training. Training in that place made him think as if he was strong and could handle anything and because of that, his arrogance took the better of him and he did all the crime."

"Well, it's not his fault. Everybody who comes back from that shitty place becomes arrogant." The driver said.

"I had a son you know. Even though his mother had passed away, I took care of him using the money I made from transporting the people. He also loved me and wanted to help me by making some money. When he was fifteen, he was accepted to be trained in Everyouth. Month after month, he used to send me letters saying he was fine, how his training was going and how much promising future he had. As his father, I was very proud and always blabbered about him to everyone. But slowly the letters he used to send became less and less frequent to the point that it stopped completely making me think if something bad had happened to my son."

"After he returned, he had completely changed. He wasn't that happy to see me as he was when he left with a smile. In but three years, he had come to hate his father. I don't what they did in Everyouth but my son was disgusted in seeing me. He said that if only he was born to some noble he could have become more powerful and sighed as if he regretted me being his father."

"He had become too arrogant to the point he said to me not to brag that he was my son anymore. He said that he would be embarrassed if his buddies knew that his father was some lowlife. From that moment I knew that this place known as Everyouth was just bullshit. What training? What promising future? All they did was change my precious son into someone who was a completely different self of him from before."

"Fuck that shitty place! Fuck Everyouth!"

At this point, the driver wasn't even trying to hide it. His words were filled with resentment and hate towards the place which was known for training the best warriors for the kingdom.

This old man didn't sugarcoat anything. If he had said the same things in front of them then he would have undoubtedly been executed without delay. Saying something against the Everyouth could be considered treason against the kingdom.

"Sorry, I said something stupid. Forget about what I just said." 

Having realized that he said something unnecessary, the old driver immediately apologized. But to hate Everyouth to such extent also said how much he loved his son. The atmosphere inside the carriage became awkward as if nobody knew what to say.

It was when someone decided to break the silence.

"So, Mr guard, why are you going to Howling Town? Aren't other Royal soldiers attacking other places of the enemy nation?" It wasn't the brat who asked it but the matured one.

 seemed like someone who had seen a lot of things and couldn't be easily deceived. She might still have been suspicious of me.

"And why are you wearing a mask?" She asked.

I knew that it was unavoidable but I had already prepared an answer beforehand. 

"Actually, the king had gotten the news that the criminal might be still alive. So, he sent me to the northernmost town right after I got back from my previous mission saying that if I saw the criminal there, I kill him and give him Ray's head as a trophy for him to show his sister. And about me wearing the mask, well it's unavoidable. The criminal we're dealing with is someone who had been among us for a long period of time and recognizes the faces of all the guards."

"So, wearing a mask and becoming a suspicious person is more favourable than showing my face and saying I am a guard and here to kill you. Just not taking any chances, you know."

"I see." She said as if she understood my situation but she might still have her doubts. 

But even if she was suspicious of me, there was an only slim chance of her thinking that I was actually the criminal who they were talking about some time ago.

"So, sir is on another mission? Must be quite rough to go mission after another without break right?" The brat said as if empathising with me.

"Yeah," I replied with a sigh full of emotions.

"So, does sir have any dream?" She asked, "Like becoming a soldier that would serve the royal family for years or like living a peaceful life without any missions, resting all the time."

That question from brat was out of nowhere. I didn't know what to say. All I could do was shake my head as if saying 'no'.

"What? Sir, doesn't have a dream to follow? Then why are you going mission after mission if you don't have any dream that might be related to it? Even ordinary soldiers have a dream, you know? And sir says he is a Royal Guard, you must have some dream you want to follow and do anything you can to achieve that."

I could see where she was coming from. If someone didn't have a dream then they could be like some animals without anything, aimlessly roaming around for just surviving another day. But never in my life, I thought that I needed to have a dream to move forward with my life. If I wanted to move forward, I moved forward that's all. 

"I always thought that dream was something only foolish people would chase after." I gave my honest opinion.

Well, right now the hunger for revenge is moving me forward, so can I consider it to be a dream.

"What?" She raised her voice as if she was offended by my words, " So, you're saying that people who follow their dream are foolish?"

"Yes," I didn't deny.

"I chase my dream of becoming a star actress as well, so from what you're saying that must mean I am foolish as well. Not only me, everybody who has a dream and chases after it is foolish as well?"

"Yes."

"You-"

Just when she was about to say something, the carriage stopped abruptly making her bite her tongue again.

Hah, that'll teach you to not talk too much while travelling in a carriage. But as I wondered why the carriage had stopped, the voice of the old driver said 

"Well, everyone, be ready to get off. We've arrived at Howling Town."