“Do you think they also showed the violet eyes on purpose?” Tain questioned. They were playing on a higher scale than he had any right to be on, but since he was now involved he had to think of every possibility.

“I don’t know. I doubt that it was a mistake on their part.” Ilon assumed. Several thoughts were flying around, questioning as to why they would purposely reveal themselves. If they never had it was more than likely that everything would have still happened the way they wanted it to.

It wasn’t guaranteed though. Ilon thought, which shot a jolt through him. The only reason why the person with violet eyes was able to be successful in the first place hinged off the existence of Cursed in the city. Without them, Tain wouldn’t have learned that Bi’wan had turned into an artificial Horror. If they had no knowledge of the person with violet eyes, Ilon doubted whether or not they would have come back to Mazual, and even if they did whether or not they would encounter Tain.

“Tain, did anything odd happen the day that we returned from the Soullight forest?” Ilon asked. It was a wild shot, but he needed to see how deep this went.

“Odd? No. The only thing was that day was supposed to be my day off, but I came anyway in order to meet the three of you.” Tain recalled. He had wanted to see if they had taken care of the threat in the forest and see if they were safe. As well as use them for his plan, but that thought was secondary.

“Couldn’t you have gotten one of your subordinates to bring us to you?” Ilon assumed that Tain was a busy man, he doubted that he would waste time on the walls just for them.

“I could have, but I just felt an urge to do so myself.” Tain realized something was off as soon as he said that . He had acted out on a desire to fulfill his urge. It was something that would have been normal for anyone but those who train in the Iron Heart technique.

The Iron Heart technique gave one an absolute and unbreakable will. The fact that he unconsciously acted on an urge proved there was something else at play. “I have the Iron Heart technique, I shouldn’t have acted upon my urge. There was something else.” Tain confirmed.

“That’s what I thought.” Ilon said before he thought of something else. Was the Horror in the forest just a coincidence? The more he thought about it the more he doubted. It was something that had never been seen before, a Horror controlling a Horror. It was immobile. It was in a place that took them around a day in order to be able to find and kill it.

But there were also reports days before we had arrived. There’s no way the person with violet eyes could have predicted my arrival. He doubted that Maymun and Quyon would have been able to handle it themselves.

“How did you hear about what was in the forest? Only the top brass knew there was a chance of a Horror being in there, while most other guards only knew of strange activity that they weren’t allowed to voice.” Tain asked Ilon.

“My friend mentioned that there might be one in there.” Ilon said. Wait, Kachuk knew about the person with violet eyes. Did he encounter him and that’s why he was rushing to get out?

“I see.” Tain didn’t try and pry any further. Ilon tried to think of anything else that he had missed and came up with one final question.

“Where did you go when you disappeared that one day?” Ilon inquired. He already had a clue from context, but he wanted to confirm it.

“I went to talk to Bi’wan about getting his support. He hadn’t really given me a solid answer, but he held up his end of the deal and showed up.” Tain responded. It was what he was expecting, but the answer didn’t help him figure out anything new.

“Is there anything else that we’re missing?” Ilon mumbled out loud. They both took a moment to try and think of anything else, but both of them came up empty. At this point it was better to assume the worst, that the person with violet eyes orchestrated the majority of the ongoings in Mazual. The only thing they could do now was hope that the person with violet eyes left and wish they never return.

Ilon once again said his farewells to Tain and left the room. He walked down the corridor of the medical ward amidst the moans and groans of pain, something tingling in the back of his mind. He stopped and thought back to just a little bit ago where he checked on each of the patients because he wanted to see what kind of damage he was responsible for.

The strange tingling in the back of his head got a bit stronger, but he figured it was because he was slightly tired from trying to figure out the plans of the person with violet eyes. He brushed it off as he continued down the hallway, one memory less.

Ilon took his time returning to the inn, walking slowly while trying to think as countless possibilities flooded his mind. He was so absorbed in them that he almost walked right by the Bronze Cudgel, barely catching himself after seeing the sign out of the corner of his eye.

Seeing the inn before him reminded him that he wanted to have another conversation with Cudlin’s wife, Isoko. He had been looking for her the past couple of days but she apparently went out for several days on a ‘business trip’, which had Ilon hard pressed to believe. He had asked Cudlin when she would be returning with the excuse of giving thanks for the water heater, however even he didn’t know when she would return.

It also reminded him that he needed to check on Fessal to see if there was a similar leech to the one that had infected both Tain and him. He wasn’t sure how he was going to go about getting permission to check her, but that would be trouble for another time. First he needed to give the information he got to Maymun and Quyon.

Ilon entered the inn and quickly went to Maymun and Quyon’s room. He knocked and got an immediate response from them. After only a couple of seconds, the door opened and he entered their room.

“How’d it go?” Maymun asked as she stood at the doorway.

“There’s a lot to explain.” Ilon said with a tired smile. Maymun moved out of the way as he entered the room, closing the door behind him.

Ilon took a seat as he started to explain everything that he and Tain had talked about and what had happened to them at the end. Maymun and Quyon were silent for the majority of the explanation, only asking the odd question here and there.

“Phew, that’s a lot to take in.” Maymun said as she laid on the bed in contemplation. “Now I sorta regret not going.”

“Me too.” Quyon admitted. If they were there when Ilon was talking with Tain, they might have been able to get a deeper understanding of how deep the person with violet eye’s plan was. “Sorry Ilon. We shouldn’t have pushed this onto you just because we were tired and didn’t like him.”

“It’s alright, but I’d appreciate it if next time something like this happens, you’ll both join me.” Ilon was fine with doing it alone, but it was always nice to have someone cover your back. Whether it be in a fight, a debate, or just as someone to bounce ideas off of.

Maymun sat up and asked, “What do we do now?” They had gotten the information they wanted and more. There was little to no reason for them to stay in Mazual any longer. They had originally only planned to be there for two to three days at most, but ended up staying much longer.

“We’ll prepare for the journey to the capital today and tomorrow, then if you’re both fine with it, I’d like to leave the day after at the latest.” Quyon said. They had five months before they needed to reach their destination, but first they needed to go to the Capital of the Antoss Kingdom. It was a trip that would take close to fifteen days, but Quyon was worried it’d take longer with the interference of the Armani.

“Sounds good.” Maymun lazily said from the bed. After hearing about the person with violet eyes she had lost most of her will to try and take revenge. They currently didn’t have enough strength to be able to get involved with the players at the high tiers. The only thing she currently wanted to do was kill some Horrors and get stronger.

“I’m also fine with it.” Ilon agreed with both of them. There was no longer any reason for them to stay in Mazual. The longer they stayed, the higher the chance that something could potentially happen to them. Ilon had no clue if the person with violet eyes was still in Mazual, but the constant worry of them in the back of his mind was slowly wearing away at his sanity. The faster they got out, the better.

“Then, it’s decided.” Quyon declared. They conversed more in order to figure out more of the logistical aspects; what sort of rations would they be taking, would they be going on foot or taking a mule, and many other aspects of preparation for a half a month long journey.

Every time they agreed on something they would jot it down on a piece of parchment. Quyon had made it a habit from a young age when the young Ilon had forgotten to pack travel rations, leaving them to have to hunt and scavenge for all their meals.

They eventually lost track of time amidst the discussions.

“If anyone’s there, supper is being served.” A familiar voice called out in tandem with a knocking at the door.

Ilon perked up once he heard the voice. He had been looking for a chance to convince Fessal to allow him to check to see if she had a leech, just like they had. He quickly walked to the door and opened it, seeing Fessal standing there with a smile.

“Oh, I didn’t think anyone was there. Supper is ready if you’re hungry.” Fessal said in a happy voice.

“Thanks for letting us know,” Ilon replied. “Hey Fessal, do you remember when I asked you about the person with violet eyes?” He continued.

“Yeah! Did you find out if they actually exist?” Fessal excitedly asked. She lived a relatively mundane life, so any oddity often piqued her curiosity.

Ilon nodded. “They do, in fact you’ve seen them before. You just don’t remember.” Ilon tried to make it sound mysterious in order to convince her.

“I have? Why wouldn't I remember them?” Fessal tilted her head at Ilon.

“Because something made you forget. That’s why I want to check something to see if that something is still making you forget.” Ilon didn’t want to scare her away by saying ‘you may have a leech in your head that’s making you forget things’ as that was a sure way to either scare her off or make her think he was crazy.

“What do you want to check?” Fessal asked cautiously. Even though her father had told her to treat them well, she couldn’t help but be cautious towards strangers she didn’t know that well.

“I’m going to send some of my aura into your head to see if there’s anything wrong.” Ilon smiled harmlessly at her.

“Are you making fun of me? You think somethings wrong with my head?” Fessal pouted at him.

“It’s possible you have something eating your memories.” Maymun called out, sitting up on the bed.

“...” Fessal was speechless by Maymun’s claim. She had never heard of something like that before, did they think they could fool her just by making things up. Fessal clenched her hand in anger before quickly releasing due to the flare of pain. The wounds on her hand from that day still hadn’t fully healed yet, but she still couldn’t remember where exactly the wounds came from.

“Ah.” Fessal exclaimed. She had forgotten that she had forgotten about that day. Her father refused to tell her anything about that day and kept looking pained whenever she brought it up, so she figured it was better to let it go. Perhaps the people before her would be able to help her in some way.

“Don’t worry, it won’t take long at all and it’s completely safe.” Ilon reassured her.

“Okay, I’ll do it. You have to be quick though, Ma’s still waiting for me to finish checking up on everyone.” Fessal said.

“Your mother’s back?” Ilon had been trying to have a conversation with her for the past couple of days, but she had been away.

Fessal walked into her room as she answered. “Yeah. She got back this morning. Let’s hurry up.”

“Then, let’s start.” Ilon replied. He told Fessal to close her eyes and focus on not rejecting his energy. He put his hand on her forehead and split his violet energy into small threads. They flowed into her head and skull, reaching the brain.

This time was different though. Unlike with Ilon and Tain, there was no leech that he suspected was responsible for the loss of their memories, instead there was only a small pile of black goop around the size of a pinky finger. Ilon monitored it for a moment and noticed that it was slowly evaporating, to the point that it would take over a month for it to finish evaporating.

Is it … the remains of the leech? Ilon thought to himself. He wrapped the violet threads around the pile into a cocoon and slowly removed it. Similar to what happened with the leech, it evaporated into a mist as soon as he did so, leaving nothing behind.

Ilon retrieved his energy and took his hand off of Fessal’s forehead.

“How is it? Do you remember anything?” Ilon asked.

“Huh?” Fessal lightly exclaimed in shock. “I don’t remember anything about violet eyes, but I know that I’m missing the memories.”

“What do you mean?” Quyon asked from the side. Ever since she heard about the leech from Ilon, she had been worried about what that meant. They could have been manipulated and not even known about it, like a marionette.

Fessal gave her a confused look. “It’s difficult to describe. It’s like looking at a puddle and expecting to see your reflection, then you look and nothing’s there.”

Ilon got the gist of what she was saying. “So you know that the memory should be there, but when you try to remember, you can’t.”

Fessal nodded her head at him. “Exactly. It’s sort of frustrating.”

“Thanks for doing this. You were a lot of help.” Ilon said with a smile.

“You're welcome. I have to hurry now or Ma’s going to be mad at me.” Fessal said as she hurried out of the room.

“Let’s go grab some food, we’ll discuss this after.” Maymun said as she rubbed her stomach. Ilon and Quyon both agreed as they needed a break after all the contemplating and discussing they had done. The three of them headed down to the restaurant portion of the inn and enjoyed a nice hot meal while chatting about non-serious things.