“...I’m sorry…”

In Mary’s house, which became the team’s usual gathering spot, Leon was holding an ice packet on his head and lecturing Agness.

“You really should think before casting a spell like that.”

The poor owner of the bathhouse got many problems because of her recklessness.

“...It’s partly your fault too…”

“I said it before, the signs were switched!”

Unfortunately, it was impossible to prove Leon’s defence, as the whole building was demolished brick by brick.

“We were lucky enough to not injure anyone! Goddess! We were lucky to come out with only bruises!”

Everyone had some sort of an injury, Tera even fractured her arm…Well except for Naty.

“Leon, Ness didn’t mean no harm. And I’m sure she understands her wrongdoings.”

Like a kind mother saving her child from a father’s lecture, Naty came to Agness’s rescue.

“Yes, yes!”

Seeing Agness nodding her head vigorously, Leon couldn’t help but sigh.

“...Fine. Let’s stop for today. Your mother was making some pie, right Naty?”

Due to the approaching departure of the party, Mary decided to treat everyone to some home-cooked meals for the last few days.

“Yes, it should be done by now… Speaking of which, where’s Mixen? Wasn’t he supposed to be with you boys?”

Remembering that her mother was baking for him too, Naty asked Leon.

Leon kindly smiled at her question and pointed at the corner of the room.

“Right there.”

“What the hell!? You knew!?”

Taking off his hood, Mixen screamed in surprise.

“Timothy is better at this than you. And I can easily find him.”

Having mountains of experience in locating assassins behind his back, Leon was confident.

“Damn… Usually, I never get found… Well, I’m usually pretty far away, so, figures.”

Mixen shrugged, knowing that it was pointless to question Leon's capabilities.

“W-Wait how long have you bee-”

“Hey, why did you leave the bathhouse?”

Without really noticing it, Naty rudely interrupted Agness. Mostly because Agness spoke in a very quiet voice due to her embarrassment.

“Me? I had some stuff to take care of. Nothing important just thought it was better to do now.”

Naty confirmed it to be true, but didn’t back off yet… Leon was a bit confused at first, but then came to a conclusion that Lance’s guess was wrong.

“Then tell me… Was it you who switche-”

“Oh! Can you smell that? The pie is ready! I missed Mary’s pies! Let’s hurry!”

Without waiting even for a second, Mixen rushed out of the room to the kitchen.

Naty was visibly sulking but soon followed after Leon and Agness.

‘It was definitely him!’

.

.

.

Everyone was enjoying the pie. Sharing stories and just chatting. Mel was upset because she couldn’t sit near Leon, as Mixen took her spot.

Lance was forced by Mary to feed Tera due to him being “responsible” for her injury. Lance tried to explain himself, but couldn’t go against his mother. Tera was embarrassed enough to paint her whole face red but still didn’t reject Lance in any way.

Naty bothered Mixen with various questions as always. Mixen evaded them with the most eloquent responses.

Agness was still reflecting on her “friendly fire”, so she didn’t speak much… Until she thought of something.

“Mixen?”

“Mm?”

Having a mouth full of pie, Mixen couldn’t speak properly.

 “Do you have time after this?”

“*Gulp* Yeah. I’m almost finished.”

Mixen was smarter than he looked, he knew that Agness wanted to relieve some stress.

Naty, however, didn’t quite understand this.

“...Aren’t you two close?”

“*Cough* I just was curious about something.”

“Curious, you say? Well, it’s not like I care.”

Although it was more than obvious that she did, Agness decided to not push it.

“I finished, let’s go outside.”

After quietly leaving the table both of them went to the backyard.

“So?”

Mixen knew what she was about to ask, but decided to let her speak out of courtesy.

“It’s about my hobby… Do you mind accompanying me again? We’ll be in the city for a few more days so how about tomo-”

“Catch.”

Mixen tossed a pink mask to Agness.

“Thought you’ll like this one more, let’s go.”

“W-Wait! Right now!?”

Agness didn’t think they would go right away.

“Yes? Don’t you want to relieve stress?”

“I-I do, but… Shouldn’t we be more careful? What will the others think?”

Agness didn’t want to expose her secret, she didn’t believe Mixen when he said that Leon knows.

“And what exactly will they think? Just say we were “cleaning”. I’ll back you up.”

Having used that explanation in the past, Agness knew it would work, however…

“If we take too long, they might suspect something!”

Mixen took a while before answering and put on his secondary mask.

“Then we should hurry?”

“Huh?”

“Follow me, I know a place.”

“W-Wait!”

Despite her worries, Agness followed.

.

.

.

In a dark alley, illuminated only by moonlight, Mixen and Agness were standing back to back, facing hordes of thugs from both sides.

“...Isn’t this a bit too many?”

It was the first time for Agness. She never faced so many thugs while on her strolls.

“What? Scared?”

“...I bet I’ll take out more than you.”

“Bet.”

“Get them!”

Mixen could take out all of them in a single swoop… but it would kill them all.

It was an entertaining challenge for Mixen to hold his power back to an extent where he won’t kill them.

Agness was a bit nervous at the beginning but soon started increasing her pace.

It was by no means hard for Mixen. Agness might have had trouble with keeping her back in check, but she decided to rely on Mixen.

For him, it was easy. The hardest part of it all was to prevent any projectiles from hitting Agness in the back.

‘How convenient that I have 360 vision.’

“Wow, having a partner is much better than doing it all alone!”

Agness started having fun.

“Ha! I wouldn’t believe it if someone told me that you of all people enjoy street fights!”

Mixen knocked another thug out with a wind bomb while saying that.

“It’s not fighting that I like! I like bringing justice! And that’s why…”

Agness’s voice became gloomier.

“...I get so much stress from what we’re doing.”

Mixen figured that she wasn’t talking about their current activity.

“Huh? But aren’t you saving the world?”

Agness sent a few men flying and responded loudly.

“I know! That’s the only thing which makes me push forward! It’s the killing! Even though I know they are demons… I still can’t stand the killings! I have no idea how Naty can keep up with this! Every time I look at their corpses… Dear Goddess! I want to puke every. single. time! Even if I know they’re demons! They look so human! And killing them…”

She poured her struggles and emotions on Mixen. He listened while fending off even a part of her side. In the midst of it, he made a string between them with Loki’s Veil, so that the thugs won’t hear something that they aren’t supposed to.

“I advise you to stop.”

“What?”

Agness didn’t expect such an answer. She didn’t expect an answer at all, so she stopped for real and looked at Mixen.

Mixen sent a weak wind blade without even looking to deal with the enemy that jumped on her.

“Stop with the killing. You don’t have to do it.”

“Are you telling me to quit the team!? Are you insane!?”

She turned around and continued beating the thugs.

“That’s not what I meant. Just stop killing. Never aim for the neck, control your power, and use less lethal spells.”

The same thing Mixen was doing now.

“That’s stupid! It would mess with my fighting style! I would become a nuisance to the team!”

“Aren’t you doing it now? Is it that different?”

Agness stalled for a minute and thought that it indeed didn’t pose as much of a problem as she set it out to be, especially if she practises a bit in this direction.

“Even so! They’re demons! Vile and merciless! What do you expect us to do with them!?”

The number of thugs was slowly decreasing, some were even starting to run away in fear.

“You misunderstand me. I’m not telling this to you as a team… I’m telling this to you only Agness.”

“Sorry?”

“Make others do the dirty job… Most of them are too late to save anyway. But you are different. Stop while you still can.”

This sentence seemed very weird to Agness.

“What do you mean?”

She didn’t scream anymore, not caring about the loud noises around them. Because of Loki’s Veil, Mixen could hear her well.

“Knock your enemies out, incapacitate, cut off their arms, their legs… but don’t kill. Let Leon or Lance make the finishing blow.”

“That’s not what I meant! What do you mean by too late to save!?”

Yet again Agness turned to Mixen, and yet again he was protecting her without her knowing.

“...You start from a small animal… then you find joy in hurting others… You kill demons… But how long do you think it will take to start thinking that even human life can be taken if necessary?”

The horde of thugs was slowly becoming a flock.

“That’s idiocy! Wouldn’t all hunters become murderers then!?”

Agness was angry, which made the men coming at her hurt even more.

“Do you know the difference between killing an animal and killing a demon?”

“No! Tell me!”

Agness said that sarcastically, but Mixen still gave her an answer.

“When you kill an animal, you do it to survive. You do it because you need to eat, you need to feed your family. And why do you kill a demon? Because it threatened your life? Because it will come after you again? Sure, that may be true. But in reality, that’s just excuses that murderers give to justify their killings. You can always spare a person, if he was bad before, he’ll have a chance to repent, a chance to change… but he won’t if you kill him.”

Agness understood what Mixen meant, but she didn’t calm down because of it.

“That’s not the same! Demons can’t be spared! They won’t repent! They’ll just continue attacking others! Not just us! But those who can't protect themselves!”

Agness thought what mixen said was stupid if not blasphemous.

"Will they though?"

"When did your IQ plummet? Of course, they will! I saved many people from demons!"

There were a few cases where demons attacked villages and whatnot, fortunately, the Hero's team was nearby.

"How many times did you hear about demons attacking humans?"

"What a stupid question! Many! Countless, even!"

Right now, Agness started questioning Mixen's sanity.

"I'm not talking about those scary, made-up stories... The ones told by survivors... Of those who witnessed ruined villages and violated corpses in it."

Agness thought this was also stupid. But then she tried to remember such cases...

There were none.

This slowed her down.

"It's... indeed weird... But we always encounter them! They are just like stories tell!"

"That is true... The point is... they only come where the Hero go."

"That's a lie."

She won't believe it. Sure, they might send more troops at the Hero, but surely not all.

"Think whatever you want. All I know is that demons are seen only near the Hero... Apart from their special operations."

Agness wavered a little...  and became angry again.

"And how would you know that!?"

"I have some connection in the intelligence business. Can get a lot of data for free."

Agness greeted her teeth. She didn't like that his words were getting to her...

"..."

"And you know what is the worst part?"

"?"

"There indeed are some cases where villages get plundered, and women are kidnapped by "demons"... Except those are lies. Bandits like those do it and blame the demons... Everyone just believes them."

Agness knew that there were humans worse than some demons... So she was sure this happened at least once.

Her frustration was becoming bigger and bigger. And her hits were getting fiercer as well.

"So what do we do?! Spare demons or something!? You know the Hero's team is basically a demon extermination team! We can't do that!"

“That’s why I’m telling you to let others do your bidding.”

Agness wanted to turn around and send a wind bomb in Mixen’s direction.

“I still don’t understand! Why! Should! I!?”

There were fewer and fewer men coming at them.

“If you continue killing…You’ll become corrupt. One day… You won’t see life as something precious.”

“You want to say that Lance or Leon will one day start killing humans!?”

“Leon is the one who crossed that line already."

“What?”

Agness suddenly stopped. She didn’t want to believe him… but for some reason, she didn’t feel like Mixen was lying.

“He wasn’t chosen as the Hero for a reason. He’ll be a good general or even a ruler of a country… but not a Hero. He’s too merciless to be a Hero.”

“...You’re lying…How would you know that?”

Agness didn’t fight anymore. Mixen openly took both sides.

“He gives off a similar feeling as my Father… You might not believe me, but it’s the truth.”

Agness was in shock and denial. She didn’t know what to say, or if she should even believe in those words.

“Your father killed people before?”

Mixen noticed that he said something he wasn’t supposed to.

“...It was self-defence.”

For now, Agness didn’t want to talk. She turned to a low amount of thugs that were left.

After taking care of those on her side, she decided to ask Mixen a question.

“Mixen… Have you ever… killed?”

It was the question Mixen didn’t want her to ask, he has dealt with the last thug and turned to look at her.

He didn’t say anything.

Agness could help but wonder.

What was under his mask?

Was it sadness?

Happiness?

Apathy?

But all that was under it… was regret.

Mixen looked at the sky.

“No.”

He said in a monotone voice.

Agness’s heavy breathing stopped for a moment.

Something changed about Mixen.

“...Why is it always full?”

His voice changed.

Now it sounded sad… and angry?

She couldn’t tell. But it changed. How can that be?

He took off his mask.

“Hey, you read a lot of different books, right?”

…Back to normal.

“Y-Yeah? Why?”

He had a wide smile.

“Astrology too?”

‘Why do I feel…’

“Yes?”

“Oh, oh, then tell me about the phases of the moon? Why is it in full so often?”

‘It’s as if he…’

“...It’s always full?”

“Ah… I see. That explains things.”

‘His voice is happy, and yet…’

“How can the moon not be full? And don’t you mean… moons?”

Mixen’s expression got stiff for a moment.

It was hard to see as he was looking up…but she saw it.

His face looked as if he never truly smiled in his life.

“...I don’t care about the other one.”

‘...Is he okay?’

“...Are you okay?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, dozed off for a moment. Let’s go back! There still might be some pie!”

“...Yeah.”

.

.

.

‘Why do I feel like he’s in pain?’

.

.

.

‘I must be imagining things.’

.

.

.

The next few days went by quickly. In hopes of new events… and to make Leon’s life miserable, Mixen spent a lot of time with the team.

For some reason, Naty was colder than usual to Mixen, complaining about the smell and his childish behaviour. But it was more fun teasing her that way.

On the last day, they parted. It wasn’t a sad parting, it’s not like they aren’t going to meet again. 

When Mixen was about to follow them, he was stopped by Mary.

“Mixen… can I talk to you?”

“Hm? What’s up?”

Mary looked a bit sad, the kind of sadness you show when you pity someone.

“I couldn’t ask this when others were here… Is it true?”

His expression became more serious, knowing that she wasn’t about to ask “Mixen”.

“...Elaborate.”

Mary flinched. 

The sudden change in Mixen’s tone startled her.

“A-About… the spies.”

“You mean demons?”

The answer was swift and monotone.

“Y-Yes.”

Even though she was the one who first asked the question, it sure felt as if she was being interrogated.

“It’s true, what of it?”

Now it really became an interrogation.

“N-Nothing… just was curious.”

‘How can he be so different at times?’

Mixen looked at Mary.

It was impossible to tell what he thought.

“Mary… You’re retired. Don’t bother yourself with stuff like this. Live your life peacefully.”

His tone changed yet again. Now it was back to normal… he just sounded a bit more mature.

“Okay… Will you leave now?”

“You know I will, or do you think Naty can avoid scratches all by herself?”

He smiled, Mary knew he was out there, protecting her children… She was grateful.

“...Thank you, and good luck.”

“Goodbye Mary, goodbye Natan.”

“Bye-bye!”

Mixen left, so Mary turned to her husband.

“...How long were you there?”

“...From the beginning?”

“You!”

“Ouch. What did I do?”

“...Nothing…Ha~ Sorry, I’m just a bit frustrated.”

“About Mixen?”

“...Yeah. I don’t understand him at all.”

“Do you even need to understand him?”

“No, but… I saw him grow up… And yet… Sometimes he seems much older than me.”

“...I agree, but… Seeing him play around even now… I can tell he has a childish side to him.”

“He is a child, Natan.”

“...Technically he’s an adult.”

“Shut up.”

.

.

.

“Why are you here?”

Mixen was now outside of a bar.

“Are you hungry? Well, we need to go, so I’ll feed you on the way.”

“Meow!”

Whitey eagerly jumped into Mixen’s arms.

“Oh~? Look at you, want some pets?”

“Meow~.”

Because Mixen spent most of his time with the Hero’s party, Whitey didn’t get to play a whole lot… so she got withdrawals.

“Man, I missed it too… I’ll fly at a slow speed today.”

Mixen already got rid of most of his anger towards Leon, so he decided to trust him once more with Naty’s protection… though he was a bit nervous.

But that stress was immediately taken away by a cute purring snowball on his legs.

He didn’t need to follow them at all, as he already knew their destination.

.

.

.

The elven forest.