“All right, listen up!”

The red-haired lady whacked a stick on the drawing board in front of us. On it there were the figures of twelve different animals arranged in a circle with numbers assigned to them. One of the animals, the pig, was crossed out with an X.

“I’m sure we all know what this is, right?” Hephy raised an eyebrow.

“Um….no,” I scratched my head. “These drawings, what do they mean?”

“Huh?! This is the Zodiac Circle. How do you not know this? Literally everyone in the Under Sectors knows about them. Do you even live here?”

“Ah!” Scarlet raised her finger. “I forgot! Hephy!”

She clutched her arms around my arm. “My boyfriend’s from the Over Sectors!”

“Cut it out, I’m not your boyfriend.”

“Pfft. No way!” Hephy broke out into laughter. “As if anyone on the Over Sectors would end up all the way here! It’s easier to believe that you’re Scarlet’s boyfriend.”

She grabbed my shoulder with a crushing grip, pushing me down to her level. I didn’t see it coming, so I ended up kneeling on the floor and winced. Hephy glared at me with a ferocious gaze, not giving even a single blink.

How is she so strong?

“You know, Scarlet is a smart girl,” she whispered with a sharp tone. “But she can be a total idiot sometimes. I somehow find her believing even the most absurd things.”

“Ahem!” Scarlet let out a loud cough. “You’re getting awfully close to my boyfriend, Hephy!”

“Let me borrow him for a second, will you?!” 

“Fiiiine.”

Hephy leaned her face even closer to me, her yellow eyes locked in with a daunting stare. Cold sweat trickled down the curve of my cheek.

“Look me in the eyes and tell me honestly. Are you lying to Scarlet?”

“No.”

“If you confess it now, I might consider giving you mercy for lying to her.”

“I told you, I’m not lying. I’m really from the Over Sectors,” I sighed.

“You’re really good at acting the part, almost as good as a conman. Fine. Let’s say you are from the Over Sectors. How are you going to prove it? Please tell me.”

It’s understandable to be suspicious of people. It’s not like we’ve known each other for very long, so I have to make sure I can establish trust for this woman. Luckily for me, it’s easy to prove my credibility.

I lifted the back of my hand and showed her the mark. A mark that formed the shape of a diamond with four wings and a red eye at the very center. What was once my pride and joy, now crossed out with two scars.

“Do you know what this is?”

Hephy’s eyes bulged. She let go of my shoulder and grabbed my hand with a gaping mouth.

“W-Wait. This is….no way. You’re an Enforcer?!”

“Really?!” Scarlet gasped. “Like, really really?! That’s so cool!” 

“Was. Before they banished me into this place.”

“No wonder you appeared like the Hero-type of guy.”

“I’m not.”

“W-Woah! Does it still work? I’ve heard these marks connect to some sort of giant database, is that true?” The once ferocious eyes Hephy had on me earlier had now become those of a child-like wonder.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t work anymore,” I grimaced.

“Have you ever tried Virtual Reality? I heard they had those on the Over Sectors!”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Really?” her eyes sparkled. “What’s it like?”

“Um, can we get back to the topic at hand first?” I asked.

“Ah!” Hephy blushed. “Sorry, I tend to get carried away at the sight of technology.”

“She’s a total tech geek, I’ll tell you that!” Scarlet added.

“Ahem, anyways, where was I?”

“The Zodiac Circle.”

“Ah, yes. You see, the Zodiac Circle are the 12 factions who rule over the Under Sectors. For every Sector, there is one faction who claims it as their domain. I’m sure you came across Midas Hogs back in Sector 24.”

Looking at the illustration again, it all started to make sense. The pig had the number 24 assigned to it and the X mark represented their downfall.

“According to Scarlet, both of you freed the slaves from the mines and defeated the Midas Hogs, but were kicked out right after. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “But their leader, Hector, is still yet to be found.”

“I don’t think it matters much,” Scarlet placed her hands on the back of her head. “Lars made the guy totally piss his pants! I don’t think he’s ever planning on doing anything again.”

“Please don’t remind me of that,” I said, clutching my heart.

I lost control of myself at that time…..

Hephy smacked her stick on the drawing board once again, pointing towards what looked like a wagon-shaped house with wheels.

“Scarlet and I decided to form an organization to fight against the Zodiac Circle and free the Under Sectors from their reign of terror.”

“Together, we are known as the Wagon House! A legendary group of individuals willing to rebel against the injustices of the Under Sectors!”

The Wagon House….

I raised my hand. “Um, so if you plan on defeating this…Zodiac Circle, exactly how many members do you have?”

Assuming that the Midas Hogs counted as one faction, they’d have to fight against a pretty absurd amount of people if they plan on taking down the remaining 11 factions. If so, they would probably need an army-

“As of right now, it’s just us two…” Scarlet let out an embarrassed chuckle.

Seriously…..

“We’re still recruiting new members!” Hephy said.

“Um…do you really think you can defeat all 11 factions?”

“Well, the chances aren’t high,” Scarlet said. “But guess what? It only took two of us to destroy one faction! All we have to do is pick them off one by one!”

“That’s right, we’re taking small steps. Besides, we can’t just add random people into our ranks. Most of them aren’t trustworthy, so our goal is not to increase in number, but to find strong but reliable people to join our cause! And I think I just found our third member,” Hephy let out a grin.

“Who?” I tilted my head.

“You, obviously! Do I really have to spell it out for you?” Hephy said.

“What makes you think you can trust me? Aren’t you going to question why I was banished from the Over Sectors?” 

Hephy pointed her stick towards me.

“Whatever sin you committed back there doesn’t change the fact that you chose to help Scarlet free the slaves of Sector 24 and defeat the Midas Hogs. I don’t think anyone would be insane enough to do such a thing without a strong sense of justice. Such an individual is a rarity here in the Under Sectors. That’s why I’m willing to place my bets on you.“

“I-I don’t think I deserve such credit…” I grasped my fists.

Just own up to it, Lars. There’s no denying that you helped those people. The sacrifices you’ve made to get to this point, don’t put it all to vain.

But…my hands are dirty.

Are we gonna go through this again?

Sorry….I just can’t seem to get over it.

“Laaaars? Subtramuros to Lars? Are you still there?” Scarlet waved her hand in my eyes.

“A-Ah-Sorry, what were we talking about?”

“It’s understandable to hesitate,” Hephy shrugged. “After all, defeating the Zodiac Circle is practically suicide. We’re going to risk our lives fighting against the most powerful people of the Under Sectors, yet we’re going to do it anyway. If you’re not going to join us, then by all means, feel free to leave. We’ll happily drop you off to a safe location and provide supplies to help you survive out there.”

If you want to bring justice to those who murdered Alessia, then the best choice would be to leave and venture out on your own. You don’t need to go through all that trouble. Fighting the Zodiac Circle would mean that you would have to hurt plenty more people in your journey. Worse, you could end up breaking your oath and go on a killing spree in the process. Isn’t that something you want to avoid? 

That makes sense. It’s none of my business. My mission should be to avenge Alessia and punish everyone who wronged her. This is why I chose to continue living. All I’d have to do is find my way back to the Over Sectors without fighting as much as possible.

The catgirl nodded at my decision.

I guess that’s settled then-

“I’ll join the Wagon House.”

Huh?

Hephy looked surprised at first, but quickly let out a smirk. “What made you decide that?”

"Obviously because I'm around! As if he's going to leave his drop-dead gorgeous girlfriend behind!" Scarlet pointed her thumb on herself.

"Can you shut up for a second?" Hephy snapped at her. "He's not even your boyfriend, you half-wit!"

The boyfriend jokes are getting kind of old at this point….

"The Zodiac Circle. If they are the source of all the evil of the Under Sectors, then why must I ignore them? A true Hero wouldn't let that slide."

"Hero, huh?" Hephy placed a finger on her chin. "Never thought of it that way. It's just like in the stories."

Heh, should have seen it coming.

Hero….what am I saying? Why do I still say all of this….? Is it a force of habit? Perhaps. For all my life, this was what I wanted to do. To help others in need, just like my master. Even Alessia would have wanted me to do this. I cannot ignore everyone else's suffering. It's in my nature.

"There aren't any Enforcers here. If no one's going to save the Under Sectors, who else will?" I placed my hand on my chest. "I want to help you both as best as I can."

“Then we have ourselves a deal! Let’s go team!” Scarlet placed her hand between me and Hephy.

We both looked at Scarlet’s hand in silence, trying to figure out what she was trying to do.

“Aw, come on!”

Scarlet grabbed both our hands and placed them on top of her extended hand.

“Let’s go….Wagon House!” Scarlet raised her hand up in the air.

“Yay….” We both followed her lead and lifted our hands up in response.

“You guys are so unenthusiastic! Can’t you try giving it a little bit more energy?”

Hephy gave her the side eye, then went back to the drawing board.

“Let’s get back to business,” she whacked her stick on another drawing on the board. 

It had the shape of a dog, with the number 23 assigned to it. 

“Our target is Cerberus, the faction that rules over Sector 23. If the Midas Hogs center their business around mining Magium, then Cerberus is involved in agriculture and food supply. To no one’s surprise, they use slaves to gather food for them.”

“If they have enough manpower to dominate an entire sector, why can’t they just use their own strength to collect food themselves? Are they just that lazy?” I said.

“Yes, but that’s not the only reason. Remember what I told you? Sector 23 is a warzone. To go out and farm for food means putting your life on the line. It’s survival of the fittest out there.”

“I don’t get it. Who’s at war?”

“Give me a sec.”

Hephy ventured around the room sifting through piles of junk, digging her arms around like she was scavenging for some long lost treasure. She tripped on an unfinished gun, causing her body to sink down into the sea of contraptions.

“Ouch!”

“H-Hey, are you ok?” I asked.

“I’m fine! Pretend that didn’t happen!”

Scarlet giggled and softly slapped my shoulder.

I should offer to clean this place up some time…..

“I found it!” Hephy held up a piece of rolled paper and placed it on the drawing board.

This time, the drawing was that of a three headed dog, with lines and notes scattered around the illustration.

“Unlike most factions, Cerberus is split into three separate gangs. Cer, Be and Rus. Hence, the symbolism of the three different heads. They aren’t a united group and constantly fight for resources, turning the Sector into a never ending battlefield. It means that we have to deal with each gang one by one.”

Ugh. Dogs. Not my type.

“For now, our objective will be to scout out all three gangs before taking any actions. Is that all clear?

“Yes, but I have a question,” I asked.

“What is it?”

“How exactly are we going to ‘take out’ the gangs?”

“Huh? What kind of question is that?” Hephy tilted her head. “We kill them, of course!”

“Ah! I forgot to mention!” Scarlet raised her finger up in the air.

“We made a promise to stop killing people!” she said with an innocent smile.

“WHAT?!”