That day, the wind blew into swirls of sand, as if possessed by a demon. It blew and blew, towards a single wasteland, filled with an army of corpses and guts. As far as the eye could see, on mounds and in ditches, were fallen men with spears and bayonets impaling the Earth and their flesh. The wind blew strongly but silently, not with respect to the fallen but trodding upon those whose eyes failed to close all the way as if awaiting some hope.In that wasteland, where the sun shone no longer, stood a man, cloaked from head to toe with a staff in his hand. This man shone in a strange glow, with a face so beautiful and sparkling, he could have been a woman. And who knows, perhaps he wasn't even human. He looked around upon the endless wasteland and took a deep breathe."The blood is so thick in the air", he thought to himself as the pungent air burned through his throat and he had to cover his nose."Humans...this is beyond ridiculous", he murmured as he investigated the landscape.His

I think bad people are needed to exist. I didn't know this reality before I came here and its not hard to accept that fact. Its hard to actually be the bad guy. The people that live to be that, are not praiseworthy in the least, but their burdens bend their backs and they are always looking down. Its so easy to call them bad people because you can't look them in the eyes.My search for any and all clues would prove to be futile. I went around the Gran stage and figured this much that he was sniped on Lady's signal. Beyond that there was nothing. The killer could just have been a hitman working for chump change. With Lady, you really can't tell what is what. At one point I thought of giving up but then the thought of my impending death kept me going. You never know you are madly in love with life until something threatens to take it away.That evening when I went back to the church (that's what we called it), everyone was in as light a mood as possible."Maybe its time we start taking

Things went according to plan and we travelled with a caravan for the next few days. These people were gypsies and I barely ever heard them speak. They had taken to trading in the recent few years but it didn't look like they were doing very well. They told us the caravan would rest in the capital before moving onwards to the next continent. It seemed they travelled the whole world. I suppose such a journey despite bad business was still worth it. Chopper decided we'd stay in the capital until the caravan took off in three days.The capital of Ildia, unlike Mercae, wasn't the center of opportunity. There were two kinds of people that occupied the city. The rich and the oppressed. It looked like one of the smaller cities of Mercae, at least to me. Chopper wasn't surprised at all. He was accustomed to places like these. My Ildian accent was subpar but he spoke like a true native and so he did most of the talking wherever we went. We booked a room at the inn but I noticed that Chopper n

"Looters?""Yeah, even though we're salt merchants and nothing more as you can see, in these desperate times, they don't even leave us with that much. The border means nothing to us anymore, anyone can pass through and plunder us whenever they want. Even the barracks can't stop them.", the thin merchant replied as he lugged his merchandise on to a cart, preparing to leave."So what do you want me to do, Emir-san?", I wanted to confirm my suspicions."Tag along with me as my bodyguard. This is an important shipment. If I can't deliver this, I'll die of hunger. I'll even pay you with something", I could tell he was quite desperate but what made him think I was cutout for this sort of work, I couldn't tell."Are you sure you're okay with someone like me?""Of course, you look like a reliable man. Why wouldn't I be okay? I heard from some guys who came from the barracks. That man that was with you is a merchant too, isn't he? And you are his bodyguard. But since your master isn't working,

The following few days, I stayed in bed all day. Chopper stayed with me in our room and upon my inquiries, told me what had happened after I passed out."Nothing much. I carried you and that old fart home when things cooled down", even though he knew I was asking about Wolfe, he seemed to avoid his mention purposefully."Do you think you did the right thing?""I...I think I did. I mean, there wasn't anything else to be done, was there? Because you know...well, how should I put this?...its that he-""Seraph, did you notice that man had a single arrow on him?""...eh?""You didn't see a quiver on him, did you? You know why that is?""Why?""Because that's all they need. One arrow. They were called the Beast faction of the Ildian mercs during the war. I don't blame you if you haven't heard of them though. It was over ten years ago after all. They were the King's royal guard. When things felt most dire for Ildia, they were the ones hired to protect the monarch. They possess hyper sensitiv