Kieren couldn't stop thinking about what he had just let happen. It grated at his sense of morality to have stepped aside while an entire town's inhabitants were slaughtered by his companions. His thoughts were conflicted because of the children.

Megumi had made such a good point and when he had looked the kids in the eyes, he knew that what she had said was true even if it was brutal. He kicked a rock over the side of the road in frustration as they continued down the path. They had decided to walk the horses and take their time since they had so many people with them. It would be a rough two to three days travel without supplies.

When Megumi and Hideki finally caught up with the group the night before, the cloudy night sky was lit up from all the flames. He knew that even had he wanted to stop them from doing what they wished, he didn't have the strength to do so. In fact, he didn't even have a weapon at the moment. 

The morning air was cold and he could see his breath puffing out in front of him as the large group trudged down the hill. At least they would be out of the snow soon enough. He just hoped they didn't run into another troll or something along the way. He had been surprised to see that the troll carcass they had left behind on their way up the mountain had been completely been consumed in just the short time that had passed. When they arrived at the location, all that remained were huge scattered bones.

Whatever had eaten the thing must have either been big, or a large group. He had no desire to fight anything else this trip. The conflict in his head sucked all the fight right out of him.

Megumi approached him later that afternoon. It seemed like she had been avoiding him until now. Maybe she was just giving him time to think?

"Megu understands that this whole mess has been hard on you, but you have to see that we did the right thing. Those were not people inhabiting that village, they were all monsters. Monsters must be eradicated if you want to truly save the innocent. Megu... also realizes that she might have created more orphans through her actions, but that is something that she must live with. Even if Megu could go back, she wouldn't change her decision. Think on it some more and talk to some of the orphans about their lives there. You'll see that what we did was right."

He didn't respond. He just stared at the ground and continued walking. Megumi reached up and patted him on the back before heading back to the rest of the group. The children were cheering her as though she was a hero. Wasn't she a hero, though? She saved those injured children, and single handedly took out two chimera and the alchemist on her own.

Hideki and he had come to save the day at the end, but she had been the star of the show so to speak. Kieren had always done his best to look at the world in black and white. Actions were good or they were evil. People were good or they were evil. It had always made sense to him. But it seemed clear now that he couldn't continue thinking in such ways. Not all good people were pure of heart, and not all bad people were completely bad. He wasn't sure what category Megumi fell into, but he wanted to believe that she was the former rather than the latter.

He would keep the secret that they had been the ones that burned down the town for Megumi and Hideki. It would keep the chlidren safe. The murder of a lord, even one in such a remote place, was enough to have the lot of them jailed and then executed. Kieren would probably be able to avoid that fate, as he was from a noble house that ranked higher than the one Megumi had executed, but that wouldn't save his companions.

The next day and a half of travel dragged on and he felt sorry for the smaller children who began to complain about being tired and hungry. They had given all of their food supplies to the kids and foregone eating themselves, but food for a few days for three wasn't even a single meal for a hundred people. They had spent the past two nights huddled around several fire pits while they let the smallest children sleep inside the two tents they had with them.

When they finally saw the walls of Rivean in the distance, it was like a beacon of light. They had actually made it back. Kieren had spoken to the children and the more they told him, the more sure that Megumi had been right. He no longer questioned the validity of her actions that night, but it still ate away at him. Hideki approached him at the head of the group as they neared the gates.

"Listen. I know your reputation. I know that you see what we did as a horrible thing to do, but you have to ask yourself if following the law of the land is more important than doing what is right. The lord of that town and the miners who inhabited the town would have kept on doing horrible things to the kids. They were literally treated as a slave labor force, but none of the other lords or ladies around here seemed to care about that. Those kids would never have found justice through the law, and many would have died in those mines, or worse. I highly doubt an operation like creating chimeras was just a hobby. That town had to be exporting them to somewhere as tools for war. Megumi... has her problems, but in this case, her heart was in the right place. I just want you to think about this some more before you turn us in."

"I know... and I really like you guys, but this just doesn't sit well with me. Part of me knows what you're saying is right, and for the sake of the children, I will not say anything to Taris about the details of what happened. However, I can't continue to travel with you two... at least for now. When we get back and get the children settled, I'm going to leave town and go home for a while. I need to figure things out for myself."

"It's probably for the best. I like having someone along with us that doesn't tease me and force me into bad situations, but it's probably better this way. Cheer up a little, okay? We just saved nearly a hundred children. The three of us are heroes. That's something to be proud of." The swordsman headed back to the group and Kieren felt a bit better about himself after talking to him.

A few hours later, they arrived at the city. It was a bit of a mess getting everyone into the city, and they spent the next couple days finding places for the kids to stay. Taris pulled some strings with some minor noble houses and got them to fund the construction of a new orphanage for the new influx of children. The kids were temporarily placed in the local orphanage, which was more than a ltitle cramped, but they made it work. Kieren had not failed to notice Megumi whispering death threats to the headmistress of the orphanage but he didn't say anything.

Maybe it would keep the woman in line and the kids would be treated a bit better. The girl worked tirelessly until all of the kids were settled in. She clearly cared a lot about the treatment of children. He remembered the little girl whom she had saved from Tivor and his band of thugs.

She really does mean well. Megumi has a good heart, even if she uses brutal methods. I'm sure of it.

The plan of telling Taris that the alchemist had destroyed the city in the fight seemed to be acceptable to Taris and the three of them were able to collect their reward. It was now time for him to go. He hadn't seen his family in almost three years now, and although he never got along with his father, he had missed his sister and mother dearly.

Megumi kind of reminds me my sister in an odd sort of way.

Kieren shouldered his new halberd and headed towards the city gates. It would be a two week journey to get back to his family estate on horseback and he had made sure to pay Malon a generous tip when he had re-rented his mount. Kieren had also left letters for Megumi and Hideki with the receptionist before leaving. He wasn't very good with farewells. 

Once I figure things out... I'll come back. Maybe when the time comes, we can travel together once more. He wound his way through the city in its early morning fog and when he left the fortress city he spared a glance backwards for just a moment before he continued on his way.

*****************************
Later that same day in the kingdom of Erendia
*****************************

Lightning flashed outside the windows of a large mansion atop a mountain. Cerberus, a vampire lord of immense power, stood at the second story window staring out into the darkness when he suddenly felt the presence of a servant coming his way.

"What do you want? Can't you see I'm enjoying the show?"

A mouse of a man scrabbled from the entrance of his chambers and over to his side and bowed. He was holding a sealed letter out in front of him with both hands.

"I...I have been sent here b-by Lord... Veritas."

Cerberus fixed the worm of a human being with his red eyes and plucked the envelope out of his hands.

"Leave and wait outside the room until I call for you, worm."

The man jumped at his command and scurried from the room as quickly as he could. Cerberus always enjoyed the fear that he instilled upon mortals. The raised wax seal indicated that this missive was official correspondance from the other members of the Council of Nine. The council served the purpose of carving out their world into large territories where the most powerful villains agreed to not step on eachother's toes. They formed the various Villain Guild halls and it was where many of them had recruited talent for their personal goals. 

Those fools had better not be bothering me about that business in NorthPost again.

He snapped the wax seal and pulled out a letter and he skimmed the contents. As expected, his little princess had been once again making waves out there in the world. She had apparently chosen to go to Castellum, which could prove problematic for him, and the contents of the letter were slightly disturbing. He had faith that his disciple's hatred of the world and her drive for revenge would keep her firmly on his side of things, but he had hoped she would go back to her home country when she had taken the NorthPost dungeon core. She would never betray him, but she cared little for rules. The letter detailed her recent exploits in the far away kingdom and she had not only joined the Adventurers Guild, but she also recently killed one of another coundil member, Thera's, underlings who had been creating chimeras at an orphanage for her to sell to the warring countries of the world as weapons. 

Cerberus crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the fireplace in his study. The letter had warned of her possibly turning against them all and revealing sensitive information, but he knew that she wouldn't do that. She was loyal to him. After all, he had been the one who had saved her from that orphanage so long ago and he had trained her and helped her unlock her necromancer class. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to shield her from the repurcussions of her actions this time. NorthPost was in his territory, so he had quashed the others' cries for her to be executed for destroying that little guild hall, but Castellum was firmly Thera's territory. He couldn't move without going to war, and he wasn't quite ready for that yet. 

He swirled his jewel encrusted goblet that was full of warm blood around before taking a deliberate sip.

Megu-chan is smart, and she has that unique ability Sanguine Infusion. If I play my cards right, she might be able to remove a player from the board for me. She is special, and I must take some covert action to ensure that she stays loyal to me. I suppose that if she falls to Thera's minions, then she just isn't as useful as I had hoped. At least no one has discovered her true identity yet.

He went over to his large mahogany desk and took out a piece of parchment. After a couple minutes of scrawling down his response to the rest of the council, he placed his letter into an envelope and sealed it. Cerberus called for the servant who once again scampered inside.

"Take this to Veritus. I will not stand in their way if they wish to move against Megumi at this time."

The man's hands trembled in fear as he grabbed the letter from Cerberus' hand and bowed reverently before ran out of the room.

I'm sure that at the very least Megu-chan will provide me with a good amount of entertainment, as always. Thera and the others are fools who will surely underestimate my little princess. 

Cerberus grinned excitedly at the thought of fewer rivals and went back to the large window. A person cloaked in shadow stepped out of the darkness beside him and bowed.

"Shouldn't we help her?" Revia asked.

"You will go warn her, but I don't want you to assist her in any other way. We are not ready to make a move yet. I also have another important task for you to complete in the southern part of Castellum. After warning her, this will take priority. Do not fail me."

He provided her with explicit instructions and then waved a dismissive hand at the girl. He liked watching thunderstorms, they represented the true chaotic nature of the world.

Revia bowed again and then headed for the door. "It will be as you command, lord. I will not fail you."

He smiled ot himself and took another sip of the warm blood. He ignored the crumpled body that lie on the ground in front of the window. People were just cattle to him. Lightning flashed again outside and he couldn't wait to see what kind of chaos Megumi would sew in the world next.