I stood outside Agnes’s house.
The door opened before I could knock.
Agnes stood there, already dressed for the day despite the late hour, her eyes imdiately finding mine.
"Young Master."
"I have to leave," I said without preamble. "There’s... work I need to handle. I’ll be gone for a couple of weeks, maybe more."
Her face went carefully blank.
"I see."
"For now, you should stay here. With the village. Your mother still needs monitoring, and the other patients," I paused. "They need you more than I do right now."
Agnes’s hands twisted together briefly before she forced them still.
"Is this about the hunters?" she asked quietly.
"Yes."
"And you’re leaving to..." She didn’t finish the question.
"To keep the trouble away from here," I completed.
She looked at for a long mont, her green eyes searching my face.
Then she stepped forward and bowed.
"Travel safely, Young Master. And..." Her voice caught slightly. "Please co back."
I reached out and patted her shoulder once.
"I will. I promise."
She straightened, managing a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
"I’ll keep your room ready."
Just as I turned to leave.
"Young Master?"
I looked back.
"Don’t do anything stupid."
Despite everything, I almost laughed.
"I’ll try."
"That’s not reassuring."
"I know."
I stepped towards her and pulled her in a warm hug before leaving.
---
Scarlet was waiting when I returned to the room, already changed.
Her glamour was active again and she had packed our supplies into a single bag.
She looked up when I entered.
"Ready?"
"As I’ll ever be."
I took the bag and slung it over my shoulder.
We left through the side door, avoiding the main streets where people might see and ask questions.
The forest accepted us with the indifferent quiet of wilderness that had seen countless travelers co and go.
We moved carefully through the trees, staying off the main roads, following trails and streams when possible.
I kept my debug vision active almost constantly, scanning for threats.
Scarlet moved with the natural grace of soone who’d spent ti hunted, her senses alert, her posture ready to bolt or fight at the slightest provocation.
We’d been walking for maybe two hours when she stepped on a branch that cracked loudly in the quiet.
I froze.
Waited.
But nothing happened.
Just forest sounds resuming after a mont.
Scarlet exhaled and shot a look.
"Wow, Jin. Your survival skills are truly inspiring. Really setting the standard here."
I didn’t respond. Just kept scanning with my debug vision, adjusting our path to avoid areas that showed signs of recent predator activity.
She tried again a few minutes later.
"You know, most people would at least pretend to have a plan beyond ’walk in a random direction and hope for the best.’"
Silence.
"Strong and silent type. Very mysterious. The ladies must love that."
I kept walking, my focus on the environnt, on the overlays showing temperature variations and movent patterns and anything that might indicate danger.
After the third attempt at getting under my skin produced no reaction, Scarlet fell silent, a small frown pulling at her mouth.
Good.
I didn’t have the energy for banter right now.
Eventually, ti passed and night fell faster than I’d expected.
The forest went from shadowed to dark to nearly pitch black within the span of an hour, the canopy above blocking out most of the moonlight.
We found a small clearing, sheltered on three sides by rock outcroppings, defensible, with clear sightlines.
I used so basic environntal modifications to clear the worst of the debris and create a fire pit.
The fire caught easily, crackling to life and pushing back the darkness.
Scarlet sat against one of the rocks.
I pulled out the basic cooking supplies I’d packed, dried at, so vegetables from the village, and a small pot.
And started preparing, cutting vegetables with the small knife from my pack, adding them to the pot with water, setting it over the fire.
Scarlet’s nose wrinkled.
"Do you even know how to cook?"
"I can try," I said, adding what I hoped was the right amount of salt.
It’s not that different from alchemy. Just... more intuitive. Probably.
How hard can it be?
I’d done alchemy. Cooking was just... applied chemistry.
The pot bubbled.
I stirred it and added the dried at.
Then stirred more.
It slled... not great. But not terrible either.
After maybe twenty minutes, I pulled it off the fire and ladled so into a bowl.
Then brought it to my lips to taste it.
And...
This is dogshit.
Too salty. Vegetables sohow both undercooked and mushy. The at had the texture of leather that had been left in the rain.
I looked at the pot, then at Scarlet, who was watching expectantly.
"It’s done," I said, keeping my voice neutral.
She took the bowl I offered, sniffed it suspiciously, then took a bite.
Her face went through several expressions in rapid succession.
Then she spat it out violently.
"Are you trying to kill ?!" She stared at with genuine shock. "What is this? Poison?"
I set down my own bowl, my appetite thoroughly destroyed.
"If you don’t want to eat it, then don’t complain and make it yourself."
She glared at , then at the pot, then back at .
"I would, but soone used all the ingredients making this..."
I didn’t respond, just stared at the fire.
We sat in tense silence, hunger gnawing but neither of us willing to touch the failed cooking experint.
And just as I was about to call it a night.
"Aaaaahhhh!"
A high-pitched scream cut through the air.
Coming from maybe a hundred yards away.
We both flinched, our heads snapping toward the source.
"Is that—" I started.
But didn’t finish the thought.
Just bolted toward the sound, moving fast through the darkness, my debug vision lighting up the obstacles in my path. Scarlet following behind .
We crashed through underbrush, following the continued screaming—
Which lead us into another small clearing.
And then we saw... wild hounds.
There were six of them, lean and vicious, circling around a figure huddled on the ground.
Who wore a brown hooded cloak and clutched a small knife in trembling hands, waving it desperately at the approaching predators.
"Get away!" The voice was female, panicked. "Get away or I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll—"
One of the hounds lunged.
I drew Oathstorm in one smooth motion.
And made a quick edit.
The ground beneath my feet beca springy, compressed like a loaded spring.
I jumped.
The modified ground launched forward with explosive force, carrying across the clearing faster than the hounds could react.
I ca down on the nearest one with Oathstorm leading.
The legendary blade cut through flesh and bone like they weren’t there, the hound’s head separating from its body before it could even yelp.
But I didn’t stop moving.
Spun.
Slashed.
The blade moved like an extension of my arm, like it knew where I needed it to be before I did.
Two more hounds went down, their bodies hitting the ground in pieces.
The remaining three scattered, yelping in terror and disappeared into the forest.
I stood there for a mont, breathing hard, the sword still raised.
Then I sheathed it carefully and turned toward the figure on the ground.
She’d collapsed backward, her knife dropped, staring up at with wide eyes.
My brain stopped working.
"Tessa?"
She smiled sheepishly and waved.
"Hi!"
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