Zelos and his party reached Hasam in the early evening, when the villages’ farmers had either finished their work for the day or started to clean up.
“So we’re finally here,” Ado sighed. “Who would’ve thought we’d get attacked by bandits three times?”
“It’s a new record,” Shakti said.
Lisa moaned. “I can’t forget the looks on their faces as they died...”
“Don’t bother remembering the faces of louts who rob and murder innocents,” Zelos said. “They would’ve been executed or enslaved sooner or later anyway.”
“Nothing fazes you, huh?” Ado said. “I’m kinda envious, honestly.”
Zelos had wiped out the bandits with a chillingly blank expression, but the others had been even more surprised by the bizarre strength of his coccos.
“Hey, Zelos...” Ado said. “Don’t you think something’s kinda off about those coccos of yours? They’re insanely powerful...”
“Well, they have been training,” Zelos replied. “I’m not surprised they wiped the floor with a bunch of two-bit thugs. Dying at the hands of such strong opponents should’ve been a worthy way to go for those guys, wouldn’t you say?”
“Uh... I reckon they’d feel bitter about getting killed by a flock of birds, if anything,” Ado said. “I just hope they don’t come back to haunt us.”
“If they do, we just purify them and bam, problem solved. I haven’t had many chances to try the light magic priests use, so I’d appreciate the chance for a good test run.”
“They’d never get to rest in peace at that rate. At least ask a priest to do it, dude!”
Apparently, Zelos intended to use the bandits’ spirits to farm experience with light magic. The way he saw it, they were already dead—but what a lousy end to existence that would be.
You couldn’t really blame him—what goes around comes around, after all—but it served to remind Ado, Lisa, and Shakti once again of how dangerous this world could be. And this time, it wasn’t the criminals that they were afraid of.
Sure, it was how things worked here, but it was still horrible. Sinners needed to be punished, but that was no proper way to die.
“Bo-ka?” (“All this fuss over a few dead lowlifes who didn’t know their place?”)
“Ca-caw, ca-caw.” (“If they didn’t want to die, they shouldn’t have committed such atrocities in the first place.”)
“Keh, bo-keh.” (“The world is short a few more fools. What of it? I see no reason to grieve.”)
“I mean, I get where you’re coming from, but...” Ado paused. “Wait. Huh? How did I know what they said?”
You too, eh, Ado? Yeah, good question...
Zelos had been just as bewildered when it happened to him. By now, though, he was completely used to it. Ado’s confusion reminded him of how he’d been not too long ago. It was oddly nostalgic.
“Well, then,” Zelos said, “follow along. The mayor’s house is this way.”
“I’m getting kinda nervous,” Ado said.
Wait. Aren’t we forgetting something? Something pretty important? Lisa and Shakti thought.
They followed Zelos, but a fog of anxiety hung over their hearts.
Paying no heed to their concern, Zelos guided them to the mayor’s residence, a house overlooking the village square. The only large building in Hasam, it doubled as an assembly hall where villagers could discuss crop rotations or the budget for the annual harvest festival. They used the plaza outside for meetings too, but having an indoor venue to discuss important matters was vital given the unpredictability of the weather.
“Now... I wonder if the mayor’s home?” Zelos wondered aloud, rapping on the door.
“Coming!” a voice rang out from inside.
A few moments later, the door slowly opened, and a kind-looking young man in his early twenties greeted Zelos.
“Oh? I was expecting the mayor,” Zelos said, not recognizing the fellow.
“Ah—my grandfather?” the man said. “His back’s acting up again, so he went off for treatment. Um...who might all of you be, if I may ask?”
“Oh. Of course,” Zelos replied. “I know Yui, the woman your grandfather’s been looking after. I found her husband, so I drag—ahem, escorted—him here.”
The man blinked, surprised. “Huh? Y-You found her husband?!”
“Mm-hmm. And what a surprise that reunion was, let me tell you. Anyway, I took him into custody and brought him along. Aha ha!”
“What am I?” Ado interjected. “Some kind of criminal?”
“Anyway,” Zelos continued, ignoring Ado’s glowering, “I’m a mage; the name’s Zelos. I’ve passed through once before.”
“Z-Zelos?!” the young man exclaimed. “My grandfather told me all about you! Thank you so much for saving our village!”
“No, no, no, it’s nothing. I’m curious, though. You weren’t here when it all went down, were you?”
“I wasn’t, no. I became an apothecary after graduating from the academy. I travel from village to village, peddling medicine.”
“Ooh, so you’re a mage, eh?”
The young man, apparently a graduate of the Istol Academy of Magic, told them his name was Uru and invited the party inside. They followed him into a room and saw Yui sitting on a chair, knitting woolen socks.
Her belly had gotten a lot larger since Zelos saw her last. She was probably due soon.
“Yui! Long time no see,” Zelos said.
“Zelos?! What brings you here? Oh! Did you—”
“Yup. I found Ado, so I brought him here. A-Ah—” As Yui tried to leap to her feet, Zelos tried his best to gently stop her. “Should you really be standing up so quickly? It can’t be good for you right now.”
He didn’t want her pushing herself when she was heavily pregnant.
“Yuika...” Ado muttered behind him.
“T-Toshi?!” Yui began, her face lighting up with joy.
Then her eyes shifted from Ado to Lisa and Shakti—and her arm snapped, whipping a projectile with startling speed. It hissed toward the trio standing in the doorway. Sensing danger, Ado jerked his head aside, and the projectile bit into the wall behind him with a heavy THUNK!
A kitchen knife.
“Hey, Toshi...” Yui said. “Who are they? Surely you haven’t been using my absence as an excuse to chea—”
“Y-You’ve got it all wrong! The three of us ended up in the same country when we got here! We’ve just been fighting together! We’re only friends!”
“Mmm... Friends who look awfully close, don’t you think?”
“Why won’t you believe me?! Do I really look that suspicious?!”
“You look like a boy, but...it’s not impossible. And on the off chance you have been cheating on me...” Yui trailed off into a sinister laugh, the air around her darkening with murderous intent.
“We aren’t like that, okay?!” Lisa said.
“We really aren’t,” Shakti said. “I wouldn’t even be interested in a guy like him. He’s so bad with directions that we always end up having to go find him...”
“Oh, so now you’re insulting me too?” Yui shot back. “For getting engaged to a man who can’t navigate to save his life? Using Toshi to make a jab at me, hmm?”
“I-I wouldn’t dream of it...” the two of them stammered.