Once the three of them began travelling again, Red took notice of the path they were taking.

“Where are we going?” the boy asked.

“To a hideout, a few hours away from here.” Reinhart said without looking back. “We’re going to be meeting a few friends there.”

“Friends?” Red frowned. “You mean more of Gustav’s men?”

“Not quite.” the man shook his head. “I’m referring to the bandits.”

“… So you’re just going to admit it, then?”

“I mean, what’s the point in hiding it now?” Reinhart shrugged. “Everyone with some measure of influence in town suspects that Gustav was working with the bandits, but no one ever mentions it in public. I don’t enjoy keeping up appearances while I’m chatting, though…”

“Isn’t it going to be a problem when they see us?”

“Nah, don’t worry about it…”

The man’s nonchalant attitude gave Red pause.

“You plan to deal with them all by yourself?” the boy asked.

Reinhart nodded. “It’s a delicate matter, so the fewer people involved, the better.”

Red fell silent, plans of actions crossing his mind. The man, however, interrupted his thoughts.

“Are you thinking about how to escape?” he asked with a smile.

“Of course I am.”

“Well, you don’t really need to worry about that so much. I know I can’t fool Rog’s tracking skills, so I don’t intend on holding you for too long.”

‘As I thought, he obviously already considered that.’

Indeed, that was one of Red’s original plans - wait for his companions to rescue them. Once they noticed Red’s absence after their agreed meet up time, Narcha and the others would come looking for him. At that point, Rog would easily pick up their tracks and follow them posthaste. Reinhart, however, had already deduced that much himself.

“If you know they’re going to find you, why do you insist on taking us along?”

“It should still take some hours for Rog to get on our trail.” Reinhart scratched his beard. “I have to stay hidden until then.”

This response, however, only confused Red. “If it was so important to remain hidden, why did you save us?”

“What do you mean?!” Reinhart looked at him in indignation. “I couldn’t bear to see two young souls be killed by a ravenous mob of zombies!”

Red did not believe him. However, the man didn’t seem to have any intention of answering his question truthfully, so he didn’t insist on it.

“You’re lying!” Allen, however, had other ideas. “Who would ever believe a villain like you?!”

The young master, who had been mostly silent until this point, chose an inopportune moment to interject in their conversation.

“I’m lying?” Reinhart frowned with an exaggerated expression. “Why do you say that?”

“You’re one of Gustav’s cronies! Not only that, but you’re also working with the Empire!”

The man froze in his steps, staring back at Allen with a solemn look. The young master took a step back in fear and looked at his companion. Red, however, was also looking at him with a frown.

“W-what is it?” Allen seemed confused.

Red didn’t bother explaining and glanced over at Reinhart instead. “There’s no reason to act surprised. That information would have been leaked at one point or the other.”

“Hmph, what do you know?” the man scoffed at him. “Those rumours surprised our entire faction. I can guarantee you, though, that as many shady business dealings as Gustav may have, he has never once worked with the Empire.”

“Really?” Red did not believe him, but he also didn’t know why Reinhart would need to lie at this juncture. “Then why were you giving shelter to an imperial agent?”

“He was just using our guest room! What reason did we have to deny him?”

“You mean you never noticed all the strange things he was doing while living in your guild?” Allen asked.

“Gustav had no reason to care. The real issue wasn't the shady business itself, but the business partners.”

Red then came to a realization. “You mean the bandits?”

“Who else? We had been working with those bastards for so long, and yet not only did they make deals with the Empire behind our backs, but managed to implicate us too while they were at it. Absolute cretins, the lot of them!”

“They’re bandits.” the boy pointed out.

"That's still no excuse for treachery"

Red had a hard time telling whether the man was being truthful.

“So you were never working with the Empire?” Allen frowned.

“Never!” Reinhart shook his head. “If they had offered Gustav a deal, maybe we could have worked together, but they never had the intention of working with us in the first place. When the boss found out what was going on, he was angrier than I had ever seen him before.”

The young master fell silent, in thought.

“You know, part of the reason why Gustav sent me here was because of those vicious rumours.” the man said.

“What do you mean?” Red frowned.

“I mean that I need to tie up all loose ends before this whole mess gets out of control.”

Reinhart didn’t elaborate. He turned around and continued his journey deeper into the forest.

…

An hour passed.

Red, who had been focusing on his crimson sense, had to struggle to remain composed with the fluctuations he was sensing.

‘The necromancer is following us.’

The boy felt it, now and then. The familiar signal entering the detection range of his power. Sometimes it accompanied them for a few minutes before disappearing. At others, it dipped in and out. It never got too close to the trio on any occasion, though.

‘Are they afraid of Reinhart?’

That would make sense, considering how the man had decimated the entire zombie army with ease back then. However, Red still didn't permit himself to relax. Reinhart did not seem to be aware of the presence of this stalker, and the boy had no intention to warn him about it.

‘Maybe I can use this to my advantage sometime soon.’

“We’re almost there.” Reinhart said, pulling the boy out of his thoughts.

“Almost where?” Allen asked.

“At our first stop.” the man pointed ahead with a smile. “Our friends should be waiting for us there. Make sure you stay close to me.”

This revelation put the boys on alert. Allen looked at Red with concern in his expression.

“It’s okay.” the youth nodded. “Just do as he says.”

Red did not know exactly what Reinhart planned to do at that meeting spot. However, he could guess based on their earlier conversation.

Allen followed Red’s instructions, but still maintained a firm grip on his sword.

The trio continued walking for a few hundred more meters before human fluctuations appeared in Red’s crimson sense. Ahead of them, they saw what looked like an alcove carved on the side of the hill.

“We’re here.” Reinhart said, coming to a stop.

The boy had counted six fluctuations, spread around the area in front of them. When he looked around, though, he couldn’t see any of them.

“Oh, right!” the man looked over at Red. “Do you know how to use that bow?”

Red hesitated, but still nodded.

“Great! Make sure you keep it handy. Would make my job much easier.”

“Reinhart!”

A loud voice interrupted their conversation. From behind a tree near the alcove, a bandit walked out. It was a large man, sporting leather armor and carrying a large axe on his back. At the same time, from other hiding spots, three other bandits appeared, armed with all sorts of weapons, including bows.

“I was starting to think you would not come.” the large bandit said as he approached. However, once he set eyes on Red and Allen, he froze. “Who are these kids?”

“Just a couple of brats I found snooping around the forest.” Reinhart shrugged.

“I see…” the bandit’s gaze lingered on Red for a while, before he looked back up. “What about the rest of your men?”

“Gustav thought better than to send a group of soldiers while the Baron is keeping a close eye on the forest.”

“Makes sense.” the bandit nodded. “Did you bring the pills then?”

“I did.” Reinhart nodded. “But we need to discuss something important first.”

“Discuss what?”

“Don’t act stupid. You know very well what I mean.”

The bandit frowned at these words. In the end, though, he sighed. “You know I don’t make these kinds of decisions.”

“Indeed, but you surely know the people who do.”

“… I can’t bring you to him, but I can help you pass a message.”

“That’s fine too.” Reinhart said with a smile. “Let’s discuss this inside the alcove, shall we?”

“Fine.”

The bandit turned around and whistled. Two more bandits, who had been out of sight until this point, walked out from their hiding spots too.

‘That makes six.’ Red noted to himself.

“We’ll go inside to talk.” the leader pointed towards the alcove. “I want three of you to remain here and keep watch.”

His subordinates nodded in agreement.

“Is that all the men you have here?” Reinhart asked. “I swear, the last time I visited, there were at least a dozen of them.”

The tall bandit shook his head. “Now that the Baron is scouring the region, we need to keep our heads down and remain hidden. We thought it was best to send some of our members back to the stronghold.”

“What about your other hideouts?”

“Some of them are still active, but most have been abandoned. We are the only ones that still remain this close to town.”

“Really?” Reinhard asked with a smile. “That makes my job easier, then.”

“Hm?” the bandit seemed confused. “What do you mean by-”

The man never got to finish his sentence. Reinhart unsheathed his sword in a flash and decapitated the bandit in one swift motion. Before the other brigands could even realize what was happening, the knight was already on the move.

The one closest to the bandit leader also didn’t have the opportunity to react. His eyes widened in shock, but before he could raise his weapon, Reinhart’s sword had already flashed past his throat, drawing a fine line of blood. The man fell to his knees, holding onto his bleeding neck.

Finally, the remaining four reacted. Two of them drew their bows, while the other two drew their weapons and charged at Reinhart. The man didn’t even bother dodging their attacks, using his free gauntlet hand to swipe aside one short sword while parrying the other one with his own blade and throwing the brigands off balance.

The bandits didn’t even have time to recover before two flashes of steel passed by their necks in quick succession. Reinhart decapitated both of them with practiced ease, turning around to face the two remaining bandits.

The brigands, who were still preparing to fire, suddenly froze in place as they noticed the man stare at them. Reinhart, however, didn’t step forward and merely eyed them with a smug grin. One of them raised his bow up in a panic and fired in the knight’s direction.

The arrow had barely left the string and Reinhart was already swinging his sword up. His weapon clashed against the projectile, shattering it in mid-air and swatting it aside. The archer almost couldn’t believe what he had seen. His companion, though, dropped his bow and ran away in panic.

The bandit looked over with fearful eyes. “Hey, wait for-”

Suddenly, a long sword pierced through his neck and blood poured out of his wound. In the instant he took his eyes off of his enemy, Reinhart had closed the distance with one swift lunge and ended the bandit’s life.

Reinhart pulled his sword out of the bandit's neck, leaving the soon-to-be corpse to tumble to the ground. The man then turned around and looked at the remaining bandit, who was fleeing for his life.

“This is your cue, kid!” Reinhart said, looking at Red. “Shoot him!”

The boy, however, didn’t move. “I’m sure you have this figured out.”

“Agh, you little…” the man trailed off, giving chase to the bandit.

Reinhart ran far faster than the bandit, and Red guessed he would have no problem catching up. Eventually, he lost sight of the two figures as they moved behind the tree lines, but a few seconds later a blood-curdling scream rang out from that direction.

Soon enough, Reinhart appeared again, cleaning his sword up with a piece of cloth.

“That went surprisingly well.” he said with a smile. “How about we look around, then?”

Although his sword was dripping with blood, not a single droplet stained his armor.