Red remained silent, while Allen was too distracted to even notice the man’s question.

“The silent treatment again?” Reinhart massaged his temples in annoyance. “I’m actually trying to help you here, you know?”

“Maybe you are. But you could also be planning to ambush them once you learn their location.”

“That’s a fair assessment.” the man nodded. “I would probably be thinking the same thing if I were in your position. However, this does present a problem, doesn’t it?”

“How would I know?” Red said with a sigh. “You’re the one holding the upper hand.”

“Gods, do you always need to be so blunt, kid? It’s no fun having a conversation with you…” Reinhart shook his head. “But you’re right. If you don’t tell me where your companions are, I’m just going to have to take you along with me… Can’t have a couple of kids wandering the forest by themselves, after all.”

“So you’re taking us hostage?” the boy frowned.

“Hostage?!” the man widened his eyes in fake outrage. “And risk angering Hector?! Gods, no! Let’s just say you’ll be my travelling companions for a while… At least until I’m done with what I have to do.”

‘What’s the difference?’

Red didn’t give voice to this thought, though.

“What exactly do you need to do in this forest?” the boy asked.

“Oh, nothing too big.” Reinhart shrugged. “Just need to tie up some loose ends before things go downhill.”

Red assumed the man was referring to Gustav’s dealings with the bandits. Now that the Baron was going to sic his forces onto the criminals, perhaps the merchant had decided to break off their business relationship. The boy wasn’t sure why he would send just one person to do it, though.

Of course, Red didn’t take any of the man’s words at face value.

“Wouldn’t it be a problem if your business partners saw you hanging around with us?” the boy asked, giving Reinhart a meaningful stare.

“Oh, you mean those guys?” the man didn’t look surprised by Red's awareness of the bandit connection. “You shouldn’t worry about it too much. Gustav does not cling on to sinking ships.”

His words further convinced Red that Gustav had decided to break whatever deal he had with the bandits.

“Look, I’d love to regale you with more tales, but this place stinks.” Reinhart pointed at all the half-decayed zombie bodies. “And who knows when that necromancer might be back? We should be on our way.”

“Fine.” Red nodded and turned around to look at his companion. “Allen, let’s go.”

The young master didn’t seem to have heard him, lost in his thoughts as he was.

“Allen!”

“Huh?” finally, Allen broke out from his daze. “What is it?”

“We’re moving.”

“Moving to the others?” some joy returned to the young master’s expression.

“No.” Red shook his head. “We’re accompanying Reinhart on his trip for now.”

“W-what? Why?”

“Because we have no choice… Look, just follow me, okay?”

“R-right.” Allen nodded and followed Red, who, in turn, followed Reinhart.

…

The first thing Red did after the shock of the situation had died down was to investigate Reinhart’s fluctuation with his crimson sense. No more than half a minute later, the boy came to a grim realization.

‘It’s him.’

The hidden assailant who had almost killed Narcha with a spear back when they were running from the bandits. Not only that, but he was also the familiar fluctuation he felt back in the Adventurer’s guild. It was flaring in his crimson sense, a signal on par with Narcha and Eiwin’s. At the same time, Red also noticed this fluctuation had its own peculiarities.

The intensity of the signal the boy received changed ever so slightly every few seconds.One moment, it was weaker than normal, the next, it quickly peaked It was almost as if the fluctuation was pulsating, a phenomenon Red had encountered in the past when using his crimson sense. The problem with Reinhart’s fluctuations, though, was that this pulsing was too slow, taking seconds to go from zenith to nadir and back.

‘I wish I knew what this meant…’

Unfortunately Red's only method of studying his crimson sense was by comparing the beings he detected. For instance, he noticed how undead would have similar fluctuations and could identify them earlier while being chased. Cultivators, though, seemed to have fluctuations that differed in many ways, and Red didn’t know what any of their particularities meant.

As Red thought about this matter, his steps never faltered and neither did his expression betray any surprise at Reinhart's hidden identity.

“Did you know?” Reinhart said from ahead to the boys. “I fought zombies in the past, too.”

“I don’t care.” Red said.

The man, however, ignored him. “Nasty things, let me tell you. A normal zombie is very weak by itself, even when controlled by a necromancer. But once you have to fight hundreds or thousands of them at once, that’s when their true strength shines. Imagine, an army of soldiers who don’t fear death and can remain standing even after being pierced dozens of times. Now that’s a scary prospect.”

“You mean to say a necromancer could control an entire army?” the boy frowned.

“Depends on how powerful they are. They also have ways of relegating control of weaker undead to more powerful undead that are, in turn, also servants of the necromancer. They can create an entire comprehensive army of undead this way, without having to micromanage every creature. This is what makes them so hard to fight against - you not only need to fight against a cultivator skilled in death magic, but you also need to go through his entire undead army too.”

“You speak as if you have experience. Aren’t you stuck at opening your Spiritual Sea?”

“Wow, kid, didn’t anyone tell you this is a sore spot for cultivators?” the man feigned shock. “You could offend someone by asking that!”

“That only matters for people deserving of respect.”

Reinhart frowned. “You know I can kill you, right?”

“If you wanted to, you would have done that earlier.” Red shrugged.

“What if I change my mind? Are you not afraid of that?”

“Why would I be?” the boy shook his head. “I can’t do anything about the situation.”

Reinhart’s footsteps stopped, and he turned around to look at Red. He had an amused smile on his face. “You know, you’re not the first one to tell me something like that. People like you often like to act courageous, but when faced with death, their resolve always crumbles.”

The man enunciated his words by drawing out his longsword.

“You know, I told you that not even I dare to touch a hair on the head of the young master of the Water Dragon Sect, in fear of Hector.” Reinhart twirled his sword a few times. “But what about you? Do you think Hector would care enough about you to seek revenge? Much more so for a brat who put his most prized possession in harm’s way?"

Red felt an acute sense of danger hit his body. The way the man looked at him reminded the boy of how he felt when he was being stared down by Hector or Viran. It was the gaze of a predator.

Red, however, didn’t back down. He sighed and braced himself for combat. “I guess we will find out, won’t we?”

“Don’t do it!”

Before anything happened, though, Allen interjected, finally snapping out of his daze. The young master put himself in between Red and Reinhart, pointing his sword towards the man.

“Hah! Standing up for your own sect members, are you?” Reinhart said with a laugh. “Get out of the way, kid, before you get hurt too.”

“I won’t!” Allen shook his head. “B-besides, you said you were afraid of hurting me! I know you’re not going to do anything!”

“Really?” the man frowned. “Are you so sure?”

Reinhart took one step forward, and the young master trembled in fear.

“I-I…” Allen looked to be on the verge of crying.

“It’s okay, Allen.” Red pulled his companion back by the shoulder. “I can deal with this.”

“B-but he…”

“I said what I said, so I will deal with the consequences.” the boy interjected. “Besides, he’s not being serious.”

“H-how can you tell?”

‘Indeed, how can I tell?’

Red was confused by his own conclusion. This wasn’t just a bluff, though. For some reason, the boy could tell that Reinhart's killing intent towards him was nothing more than a front. It was almost like an instinct, and Red couldn’t tell where it had come from. Still, he somehow felt he could trust that sensation with his life.

Reinhart smiled at him. “You sure seem confident.”

“Maybe.” Red said with a sigh. “Can we just move on now?”

His question was met with silence. A few seconds later, the man burst out into laughter.

“Who would have thought? A kid who is unafraid of death and great at reading people too!” he sheathed his sword. “I am starting to like you, kid! You would make for a great assassin, did you know that?”

It was Red’s turn to be at a loss for words.

“Well, it’s none of my concern, though!” Reinhart shook his head in resignation. “You belong to that Water Lizard Sect, after all. Still, I’m sure Hector and Domeron will arrive at the same conclusion. They have a great eye for talent too.”

The man trailed off and turned around, continuing his walk deeper into the forest. Allen finally let out a long sigh of relief as the pressure on him disappeared. He turned around to look at Red, and was met with the boy’s frown and unwavering gaze on him.

“I-I thought he was going to…” the young master didn’t finish his words.

“I appreciate what you did, but it was stupid.” Red shook his head. “Against an opponent like that, there was nothing you could have done to save me, so why risk your life too?”

“What do you mean?!” Allen looked upset at the boy’s words, his anxiety" being replaced by indignation. “I couldn’t just watch and do nothing as he tried to kill my best friend!”

“… You could have died too.”

“I don’t care about that! I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I did nothing while you were in danger!”

Red didn’t know how to respond, and neither did he want to. In the end, he just sighed.

“Let’s move on.” the boy said as he walked ahead.

“W-wait, aren’t you going to…” Allen trailed off. “Argh, damn it!”

The young master followed behind Red, and the two of them caught up to Reinhart.