"WHY-..." Narcha was ready to scream back but caught herself midway through. Her protests died down into a grumble as she picked up the object that had just struck her head.

Red could now see it was an iron spoon, lacking any kind of sharp edges or pointy bits. If the woman had been struck by an actual weapon with that force, there was no way she would have survived.

The boy looked past Narcha, expecting to see the person who had just thrown the spoon somewhere in the vicinity. But as he looked over the courtyard, there didn't seem to be anyone walking around. Even the sounds of conversation and clinging metal ceased after their arrival.

"Bloody old fart..." The warrior grumbled and looked back at the rest of the group.

More specifically, she stared directly at Eiwin.

"You've brought this problem along with us, so I hope you're ready to abide by whatever Hector decides."

"I..." The younger woman tensed up, but after a few seconds, she nodded. "I will respect his decision."

The atmosphere around the group changed abruptly as if the women were about to face a terrible enemy. Red did not like how they seemed to be talking about something directly related to him without even asking for the boy's input. Although he doubted they would do anything bad to him, he was still not sure what Eiwin hoped to accomplish by bringing him to the guild.

"Very well. Rog, since you voted for it, you'll have to come too..." The warrior turned around to look at the man. "Rog?"

The group of four seemed to have unnoticeably been reduced to a group of three. The hunter was nowhere to be seen, and none of them had noticed his disappearance.

"That bast-..." Narcha managed to choke the enraged shout rising in her throat and replaced it with a sigh instead. "...I don't care anymore, let's just get this over with."

"Miss Valt, would you give me one second to talk with Red before we go in?" Eiwin interjected before her companion could walk away.

"Do what you want, Eiwin. I'll be waiting inside." She responded indifferently before walking further into the courtyard and entering the main building.

Suddenly, complete silence came over their surroundings. Eiwin turned to face Red with a smile and crouched down to look at him at eye level.

"I can see that this is all very new for you." She began speaking, patting the dust off of his shoulders. "I can't imagine the things you must have gone through before we met, and it's not important at this point. All you need to know is that you're safe right now, and it doesn't matter what anyone inside that hall says, at the end of the day I promise you'll be taken care of. Do you understand?"

Red would like to claim he did, but her words seemed to carry a certain weight to them that made the boy feel wary about what to expect. However, he simply nodded.

"Good." Her smile widened. "Just stay behind me and listen to what I say, and everything will be alright."

He didn't plan on doing anything else. Eiwin got up and started to walk towards the large stone building with Red in tow.

Like the rest of the lot, this house also seemed to be in disrepair - broken and uneven windows lined the walls and a lot of construction materials was strewn about. The door to the interior was wide open and as the youth wandered inside he was greeted by a very large room.

The walls didn't look different but many wooden pieces of furniture could be seen around the place. Shelves and stands filled with ingredients and all kinds of iron utensils were gathered near the entrance, as well as a wooden table and a small oven. Judging by the smell too, Red assumed this was where they cooked the food.

A bit further ahead, he could see the walls were decorated with parchments and skins covered with words and drawings the boy couldn't make out. What caught his attention, though, was the long wooden table occupying the center of the room. All kinds of things were spread haphazardly on top of it, and it was lined up on both sides by a lot of chairs on which four people were already sitting, staring at him and Eiwin.

He recognized one of those figures - Narcha. Across from her, were two people. One of them was a boy, sporting short blonde hair, bright features, and very elegant clothes. He looked bigger and older than Red. The other one was a man who seemed to be about Rog's age. He sported a finely trimmed beard and wavy black hair that stopped just short of his shoulders, and he also wore a dark coat. He had a relaxed expression that the boy had a hard time reading.

And then there was one other person. An old man, completely bald and with a bushy white beard. He was wearing a long white robe that was dirty with grime and full of holes. For a second, Red wondered whether or not this was also an escaped slave, but his seat at the head of the table indicated his leading position amidst the group. He was currently scooping some soup out of a bowl with his spoon and had a perpetually angered look that reminded the youth of Viran.

Eiwin came to a stop at the other end of the table, and Red moved behind her, cautiously measuring the people in front of him.

"Master Hector, we need to seek your decision on an important matter." She addressed the old man in a respectful tone the boy had never seen her use before.

"Important?" Hector snorted, putting his food bowl down. "Is it about that dirty brat you brought along?"

"You're one to talk..." Narcha whispered from the side.

"What's that?" The old man picked up his iron spoon and pointed it in her direction. "Did you say something?"

"No... I mean yes, I said I can talk - about what happened, that is." The warrior stumbled over her words.

"Well then... Go on, I love a good story while I'm eating." The old man picked up his food bowl again. "Eiwin, sit over here and bring that little kid over, I don't want to have to scream to talk to you."

The younger woman did as she was told, guiding Red along until she sat by Narcha's side. Curiously, she didn't offer a seat for the boy, simply telling him to stand by her side. This close, he could feel some of the gazes on him intensify and he looked over.

The black-haired man was still as relaxed as ever and smiled when he saw Red stare in his direction. The other kid, though, had eyes burning with curiosity that hadn’t left the youth's figure for one second since he had entered the building. Red quickly averted his gaze and turned to look at Narcha, who seemed to be about to speak.

"It was night and we were in the middle of the forest, at least two days away from any settlement." The warrior began to speak. "When suddenly we see someone sneaking up to our camp. Rog shot a warning arrow, and only then did we notice that it was a kid who had just wandered up to our camp. We tried to talk from afar, but after we got no response we decided to get closer and found this little brat almost dead."

She turned to look at him.

"Tons of bruises, broken rib, shattered shoulder, and an infection to boot. Not normal injuries, especially the one on the shoulder which looked monster-inflicted. He was lucky to have found us or he would have definitely died. Either way, we patched him up and waited until he woke up so we could ask him how in the hell he ended up in the middle of nowhere in his situation. But guess what!"

The warrior snorted.

"Just so happens he conveniently didn't remember anything!"

"We've both seen what a traumatic situation does to people, much more to someone of his age. Amnesia is nothing strange in these cases!" Eiwin interjected.

"We both know that's not the only issue with him! He was clearly lying!" Narcha angrily responded in kind.

"How would you know? You didn't even try to talk to him!"

"Not only are there no monsters in that region, but he also had the knowledge and skill to bandage himself! How was he not lyin-

"The rest of the story, please!" Hector interrupted them. "I need to know how all of this is of any concern to me."

"Right, let Eiwin explain why we're here then." Narcha grumbled and crossed her arms.

Everyone turned to look at the younger woman, who nodded her head.

"Miss Valt was too angry and suspicious to be reasonable and wanted to send him off on his own to the nearest village with some supplies for the trip." Eiwin picked up from where her companion left off. ”I justifiably argued that, given his state, that would be a death sentence, but she didn't budge, so... I ended up calling an elders' vote."

At that, the mood around the table suddenly changed. Even the man who seemed unperturbed most of the time was now dumbfounded.

"Little Eiwin." He spoke in an amicable tone. "You do know that it's against the rules to use that kind of privilege lightly, right?"

"I told her that!" Narcha abruptly spoke up again. "But she went ahead all the same."

"Enough!" Hector raised his hand, stopping any conversation from starting again. "Since you called a vote for such a stupid matter then why is the boy still here?"

Eiwin looked away in embarrassment.

"What's the problem?" The old man frowned.

"...Rog was there." Narcha responded for her.

"Fucking moron!" The old man slammed his food bowl onto the table. It took a few seconds before he finally calmed down.

"....I'm disappointed in you, Eiwin" He reprimanded her as a parent would. "I trusted you with that privilege only for matters of survival. I thought you of all people would have known better than to betray my trust."

"But it was a matter of survival, just not ours." Despite being berated, Eiwin still didn't back off from her position. "Miss Valt would have left him to die because of pure paranoia, and Mister Rog didn't even care to begin with. If I had left him to die knowing I could have done more to save him, I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself..."

"We all know why you really did that." Narcha said from the side. "Just can’t help but try to be a saint at every opportunity you get.”

"You-"

Once more, Eiwin seemed to be about to lose her temper before Hector interrupted them with a wave of his hand.

"Stop acting like children!" He scolded them. "Even the two kids seem to be better-behaved than the two of you."

His comparison gave the two women pause, and they leaned back into their seats in silence, still staring daggers at each other.

"We'll discuss what to do about your abuse of position later, Eiwin." The old man continued. "But since you won the vote, we'll respect the rules as I established them. Now tell me, what is it that you wished to bring this kid here for?"

"I wanted Master Hector to take a look at his wounds and help him recover." Eiwin answered, pointing at the boy's shoulder.

"Hmm, I can do that much I suppose..."

"...And I also want you to accept him into the Sect." She added.

Everyone turned to look at the younger woman in surprise.

Including Red.