Princess Luciana stared at Henry blankly for a moment.

“Well, thanks for everything so far. For both of our sake, let us walk our own path from here on,” Henry said and turned around to leave with Rayne and Alayne.

“Lord Henry, wait!”

Henry stopped and glanced over his shoulder.

“Surely you can’t be serious, Lord Henry,” said the princess who was trying her best to retain her smile. “If you do not grant the king an audience, the repercussions will be severe and unimaginable.”

Henry smiled. “Are you threatening me, your highness?” he asked, turning his smile vicious.

The guards near the princess took offence to Henry’s words. Their hands went to their swords, preparing to draw, as they approached Henry.

Luciana stopped them with an outstretched arm.

The guards were hesitant but they reluctantly stood down.

“Please do not be mistaken, Lord Henry. I am not threatening you. I’m just telling you the truth. My brother will not be happy. He will take this a slight and use this opportunity to rally all the interested parties to go against Ulrum.”

“Then, make sure that it doesn’t come to that. Be advised. There’s nothing stopping me from cooperating with the vampire but my moral conscience. If anything befell Ulrum, I will hold the kingdom responsible.”

“You’re not playing fair, Lord Henry.”

“There it is. That’s the difference between you and me. This is not a game to me. I’m not playing.”

The princess swallowed a lump in her throat.

“If your brother, on the off chance, isn’t a complete idiot, he will wait until the threat is quelled before making any significant move. So to say, you will be fine until then.”

“I’m not worried about myself. I’m worried about you, Lord Henry. My brother may not be the wisest or the most sharp-witted but he’s very… driven by the fear of losing his hold on the crown. Your absence will be forever engraved in his heart and he’ll take this offence to his grave.”

Henry chuckled. “Sounds like it’s a problem that it’s not mine to care about.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I’m not responsible for your brother’s mental wellbeing.”

“...”

“If there’s nothing else, then let me be off.”

“There’s still another thing.”

Henry raised an eyebrow. “Which is?”

“The vampire. I have yet to tell you where to find her.”

“I have my ways, your highness. Rest assured. That’s all I had to say. Farewell.”

Henry bade his goodbye and walked off without sparing Luciana another glance.

“Just give the order, Your Highness,” said the guard standing close to the princess. “My men and I will take care of him.”

“You will do no such thing, Captain. Let him be. We don’t want to risk turning his wrath against us. Or worse, pushing him to the vampires' side.”

From a distance, Henry laughed in his heart as he heard the princess’ words due to his enhanced hearing.

****

“Do you truly have your own way of finding Vishara?” Alayne asked after they had walked a good distance away from the princess and her entourage.

“I do.” Henry nodded, pointing at Rayne.

“Me?”

“Her?”

“Yes.”

“How will that work?” Rayne asked.

“You’re her descendant and also the one who resurrected her. You have a special bond with her. I can track her down through that bond.”

“But how will you be doing that?”

“It’s hard to explain. In short, I can perceive Murux in ways that you can’t imagine.”

“...Sure?”

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

Rayne smirked in response.

The trio reached the town’s gate entrance as they bantered. They skipped a long line and walked straight to one of the open passages where there were only a few individuals going in and out of it. There was a guard by the entrance like all the other passages.

Henry expected to be stopped but the guard just let them through without any hassle. At first, Henry thought the guard was just trying to mess with them but he only gave Rayne a glance and let them be on their way.

“Is the guard blind?” Rayne asked as the three entered the town.

“No,” answered Alayne.

“But he just let us through without even questioning us.”

“Gretten can be considered a paradise for hunters. Hunters from all around the world come to this place. Though it is not common, it wasn’t rare either to have hunters that aren’t…human.”

Just then, a group of dark skin individuals passed by them. The dark skin individuals had horns and long ears. They were wearing apparel befitting hunters. They were garnering quite some attention but only a few. At a glance, they reminded Henry of the Augrus back in Ulrum.

“Such as them,” Alayne said.

“What are they?”

“Umbrums. They hail from the deep southwest.”

“Southwest, eh… Interesting.”

Rayne crossed her arms. “That still doesn’t explain why the guard would just let us through.”

“He probably thinks you two are also hunters.”

“And he doesn’t do anything to make sure of that? How negligent, not that I’m ungrateful.”

“It’s how things are in this town, Rayne. He probably wanted to avoid the paperwork.”

“Paperwork? What’s that?”

“Um… that’s…”

“Keeping records,” Henry answered. “The guard didn’t stop us even if he suspects us because he’s lazy and wishes to avoid the hassle that comes afterwards.”

“That is so irresponsible. How did humans thrive so much if this is their attitude?”

“It’s not the same in other places. This town is just… peculiar.”

“You mean reckless.”

“The order of this town is rather… slack but it is probably the way it is to accommodate the hunters from other corners of the world. The town’s welfare relies on the hunters and more than half of them are not from this kingdom.”

“This town is doomed if this is how it is run. What do you think, Henry?”

“Not our problem. We are only here to subjugate Vishara but first—” Henry stopped right in the middle of the street and looked straight at Alayne. “What do you wish to do from here on?”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“You are back in the lands of humans. You’re home, Alayne.”

“I-I…” Alayne looked around. “I suppose I am home…”

“So, what do you wish to do now?”

“I-I… I don’t know, to be honest.”

“You don’t want to be a hunter anymore?”

“Of course, I do. But…” Her cheeks flushed. Her eyes were glazed. “I also don’t want to part with you, Henry. I’m torn.”

Henry smiled wryly. “I’m sorry.”

“Wh— What are you sorry for?”

“If I didn’t seduce you and make you fall in love with me, you wouldn’t be so torn between choices right now. I made your life hard.”

“Love is hard, Henry. You have nothing to apologise for… or at least I don’t think so.”

All of a sudden, there was a loud groan that interrupted the two’s fluffy moment.

“What is it, Rayne?” Henry asked with an oblivious expression.

“Don’t pretend to be dumb, master. You know full well ‘what is it’, so don’t you act oblivious now.”

Henry chuckled. “You know, I have forgiven you. I don’t mind accepting your feelings now, Rayne.”

“Have you gone mad?” Rayne scoffed with a pure look of disgust. “Did having multiple women at your beck and call get to your head?”

“It’s alright, Rayne,” Alayne said. “We know. We all do.”

“Know? Know what?”

“You fancy Henry too, no?”

Rayne stared straight at Alayne in disbelief. If she was mortified by her feelings being exposed, she was doing an excellent job of hiding it. Her gaze wandered, desperately looking for a way out of the sudden confrontation.

As luck would have it, her silent prayer was answered.

“Alani?”

There was a man’s voice. It was rough. Even from the sound alone, one could hear the mockery contained within.

Alayne jumped at that name. She turned around in a flash. She frowned intensely at the man who had called out to her. “Roarke…”

“Dear lord, it really is you.” The man laughed in a manner befitting his appearance. He was as gruff as his tone and not in a good way. He was dressed like a hunter but his apparel and gear showed no hint of care.

Henry had picked up on the man’s ill scent from a mile away but he didn’t think the unsavoury man would be acquainted with Alayne.

“What do you want, Roarke?” Alayne was not warm with her reception.

“What do I want, you say?” Roarke snorted and sneered. “Only what you have stolen from me.”

“I did not steal from you.”

“You stole Ygritte from me.”

“She left you on her own accord.”

“Because you seduced her!”

“Look at yourself, Roarke. Who would want to be in your company with the way that you are? When was the last time you cleaned yourself?”

Roarke seethed with anger at Alayne’s response. Then, he looked towards Henry as if he only noticed him now. “How frivolous. You got tired of playing with women and now you’re going for men?”

“Watch your words, Roarke,” Alayne warned.

“Buddy, you best be careful. Dump her now before you get yourself hurt. This whore is—”

Roarke didn’t get to finish his work as he was sent flying across the street. Miraculously, he didn’t hit anyone as he flew across the ground.

Alayne stared with her eyes and mouth agape. She looked to her right and found Henry’s leg was outstretched. Apparently, he had sent Roarke flying with just a kick.

“Henry, what did you just—”

“I couldn’t stand it any longer. My patience immediately ran out when he called out a… you get my meaning.”

The townsfolk looked towards the commotion but their attention didn’t stay for long. They continued on with their business and routine as if nothing had happened.

“The people don't seem too bothered by this,” Rayne remarked.

“That’s because something like this isn’t uncommon.”

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not. There’s a lot of disputes going on in this town and it usually gets violent. At this point, not even the town’s watch would step in unless someone was killed.”

The man named Roarke was still lying on the ground, unmoving. He had fallen unconscious from just that single kick alone. Henry was sure he had broken a few bones. If he had used any more strength, no doubt he would have killed the man.

No one gave more than a second glance to the unconscious Roarke, lying in the middle of the street.

“Sorry you have to see that,” Alayne apologised. “I’m sure you would want to know what that was all about.”

“I do but… just not out here in the middle of a street.”

“Ah, of course.”

The three quickly headed to the nearest inn. Alayne skillfully led the way there. They got a room for the three of them together. Rayne was the only one who suggested for them to have different rooms but due to budget constraints, they all ended up in the same room.

The room was small with only a single bed and a desk that didn’t look capable of withstanding anything heavier than a book. Truth be told, the room was as bad as Henry's cave when he first stumbled upon it.

But they couldn’t complain. They were lucky to find a vacant room to begin with given that the culling season was near.

Alayne chuckled wryly. “This isn’t so bad… is it?”

“I'd rather sleep in the forest,” Rayne answered curtly. “Even the livestock’s pen in my village is cleaner than this outhouse you called a room.”

“Doesn’t matter. We won’t be staying in this room.”

“We won’t?”

A slit appeared in the space and it split apart, creating a passageway to another dimension, Henry’s pocket dimension.

“Oh, right. You have this ability,” Rayne mused.

The three stepped through the portal and they found themselves in a grassy plain with the sun shining brightly upon them but it didn’t feel overbearing. It was the right amount of warmth and light.

“This is… really convenient,” Alayne breathed as she looked around the plains. “Imagine… never needing to be wary of people or beasts sneaking on you whenever you want to get some shuteye… Never have to worry about getting your things stolen while you weren’t looking… Dear god, this would make expeditions so much… easier and safer.”

“Well, Alayne, the walls have no ears in this place. So, if there’s anything you wish to tell me, there’s no better place for you to do so.”