"So you guys just called me here to ask me whether I’ll help you out on this?"
The two of them just nodded.
I considered it for a second, thinking about the consequences of my actions. If I did this, I once again went directly against the Dark Crusaders. It was a dangerous thing; they were an incredibly powerful group. And yet, I had made a decision like this before, so I answered with certainty.
"Of course I’m in."
"Good," Ginah said. "It’s late, so you can go get your rest. We just needed to get confirmation so we can start planning."
"...that was it? I can leave now?" I felt my nudging me to quickly go, but I had to make sure.
"Yep," she confirmed, and turned to Jack and Lisa. "You two, too. You could’ve left earlier, you know?"
Lisa just shrugged. "I wanted to see what she had to say, that’s all."
"And I was waiting for Lisa," Jack grunted.
"Alright then," I said, slowly backing out of the room. I pointed a thumb behind me. "I’ll just leave now…?"
I waited for a moment, and when no one stopped me, I quickly left the room. I started back to where I left my food, feeling triumphant that I could not only finally eat my di— supper— but also possibly get to the Taw Kingdom sooner than I thought.
I was just gathering my food, before Braz interrupted me… again.
"Melas," he said, striding up to me. "You sure about this?"
Sighing, I lowered the bowl of stew back down to the table. "Why wouldn’t I?"
He hopped up onto the table and sat on it. He patted on the wooden surface, indicating for me to join him, and I did it begrudgingly.
"They were giving you a choice, you do realize that, right?" He cocked an eyebrow. "You don’t have to do this. You’ve already helped us enough."
"My deal with Ginah was to help her halt this enuim trade."
"But this goes above and beyond that," Braz said. "You’d be helping us in severing the head of the Elise, not just stopping the spreading of these drugs."
I wanted to answer sardonically, but I paused. I looked at Braz curiously— this was the most serious I had ever seen him before. He usually was goofy and laid back.
I spoke slowly. "But that’d be achieving the same results, no?"
"But you’ll be doing more than just that." He shook his head. "Goddess grace us. If we kill Bahr, the entire underground of Luke will explode into chaos. There’ll be many different factions clambering to fill the spot he left behind. It’d be a warzone."
"That’ll be your guys’ problem," I said simply. "You guys caused it, so you’ll have to fix it."
"Of course Ginah wants us to help calm things down. Make things return back to normal like before the Elise popped up. Maybe even make things better. But… that’s too much, don’t you think?"
I shrugged. "I don’t know."
"Haven’t you put any thought into it at all?" Braz asked. "Ginah has been stressed about what will happen once— or if— we actually win against the Elise. And I have too."
"I have no reason to," I said. I turned to face the man. "That’s your guys’ problem, isn’t it? I agreed to help put an end to a problem, not to fix the other problems that will appear once that problem is gone. If I did that, I’d be stuck here forever."
"So you’re just going to help us kill this Bahr, and then you’re gone?"
"Yes." I nodded.
"Isn’t that thoughtless?"
I felt my lips drawing into a thin line. "What do you mean?"
"You’re just acting without any care in the world if you do that, aren’t you?" he said. "That’s thoughtless."
"How exactly am I being thoughtless?"
"You’re joining a fight that doesn’t affect you in any way. And what do you have to gain? A free trip across the sea? It doesn’t sound like it’s worth it."
"It’s worth it to me," I said. "And don’t act like it doesn’t affect me. It does."
"How?" Braz asked, his gaze boring into me. "How has the Elise affected you? What have they done to you?"
"Done to me? Nothing." I brought a hand up, stopping him from responding as I added. "However, I hate them. Or that Half Elf, at least. He’s detestable. True scum. And that’s one of the reasons why I chose to join in."
The man cocked his head at me. "Why do you hate him so much?"
"He’s a terrible person, Braz," I said. "He takes advantage of weak people. People who are desperate. People who just want to live better lives. Why should I not hate him?"
He frowned, folding his arms across his bare chest. "But it doesn’t matter to you, does it? Whatever happens to these people— they’re just one of the many bad things happening in this world."
I stared at the man, slightly aghast. Slowly, that feeling turned into annoyance. It was so obvious. Why was he asking such a question? I bit back any venom I had, and simply answered the question.
"Because it’s happening right in front of me, and I can do something about it. There’s a difference between a tragedy happening a thousand miles away, and a tragedy happening in front of my eyes."
"And what is that difference?"
My eyes flickered up, meeting his gaze. "I’d feel terrible if I don’t."
He simply sat there, waiting; when it became clear I had nothing else to say, he placed a hand on his chin and nodded. "Makes sense."
"Of
