“Oh, right!” Allen looked over at Red. “It’s fine, Red! You can trust Rimold, he’s not going to hurt us!”

“How can you be sure?” Red asked.

“Huh? Because he’s a member of the sect, of course!”

“Then what was he doing clothed as a bandit in the middle of the forest?” The argument did not convince Red.

“That…” Allen frowned, looking at Rimold. “What were you doing posing as a bandit?”

“Does it matter?!” Rimold’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “Look, I saved your lives!”

“Then why did you take so long to act?” Red asked. “Allen got shot because of you.”

“Because of me?! I was just waiting for the right moment to act! How would I know you two would suddenly turn around and kill someone?!” the man looked at Allen. “Listen, young master, since when do you trust this brat more than me?”

“Ah, I still trust you…” Allen shook his head. ”But Red makes a good point.”

Rimold stared at Allen in disbelief, before gazing over at Red with an angered expression. “You’re a bad influence, little imp!”

Red frowned. “Weren’t you the one telling Allen that Hector was trying to usurp his position in the sect?” the boy still clearly remembered that conversation from his first night in the sect.

The man coughed into his hand, his eyes shifting away. “Look, that doesn’t matter right now… The real question is, after all I did, do you still believe I mean to do you any harm?”

The answer to that question was no. Red understood that, logically, Rimold posed no danger, however after all the scares that he had had during this journey, he was still highly reluctant to let his guard down. It was only the reawakening of that same, deep instinct which had reassured Red about Reinhart's good intentions earlier that eroded his wariness and finally convinced him to relax a bit, and that Rimold had no malicious designs for him.

Red tried to find the root of why he felt so certain about this, to no avail.

“He’s right, Red.” Allen said, taking the youth out of his contemplation. “It wouldn’t make sense for him to hurt us after all he’s done.”

Red hesitated. In the end, though, he lowered his bow.

“Tell us what happened, then.” he said, looking at Rimold.

“Finally!” the man threw his hands in the air. “I don’t know why I even bothered indulging you with this charade. You know I could have just disarmed you, right?”

Red threatened to raise the bow again.

“Fine, fine!” Rimold threw his hands up. “Look, I was disguised as a bandit in order to spy on them.”

“Why?” Red frowned.

“What do you mean, why?” the man looked indignant. “The first thing I heard on my return trip from the capital was how the Baron’s men and the bandits were waging a war in the forest! Rather than having to wait until I could discuss this with the sect, I figured it was best to take the initiative and infiltrate the bandits then and there.”

“And they accepted you? Just like that?” the boy remained unconvinced.

“Of course not! It’s not the first time I was in their midst. I had already built an identity as one of them over the last year, so I had no problems joining them again.”

“Is that true?” Red asked Allen.

“I don’t know.” the young master shook his head. “But Rimold is often on missions outside of town, so… Maybe?”

This wasn’t the confirmation Red hoped for, but it wasn’t surprising that Allen hadn’t been told about sensitive information like that.

“Why has this turned into an interrogation all of a sudden?” Rimold frowned. “Look, I should be the one asking what the two of you are doing alone in this forest! I know Hector would never allow this, so tell me - did you kidnap Young Master Allen?”

Red shook his head. “He came of his own volition.”

“Tricked by your devious mind, no doubt! This still doesn’t change the fact that Hector would never allow this!”

“We had help.” the boy said, refusing to elaborate on the matter.

“Yeah! Domeron helped us escape!” Allen, however, had other ideas.

Red frowned and looked over at the boy, who seemed confused by his stern gaze.

“What? We can trust Rimold!” the young master said.

“Domeron?!” Rimold said in disbelief. “Why would he ever do that?”

“We were here to investigate the imperial agents in the forest.” Allen continued to reveal all their secrets. “Hector forbade the sect from interacting with them, but we thought that we couldn't let this stand and went ahead with the investigation anyway.”

“So you know about the imperials too?” Rimold nodded. “Hector’s attitude doesn’t surprise me, but for Domeron to go against his orders and put your life at risk… I just don’t believe it.”

“Well, it’s true!” the young master insisted. “He even helped me arrange my travel bag!”

“Are you sure about this, young master?” the man wasn’t convinced. “What about the others? Didn’t they say anything about this?”

“We were actually supposed to meet them here too! But…” Allen trailed off. “Something happened.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Red was the one to respond. “We met a horde of undead animals on the way over.”

“What?!” Rimold couldn’t believe his ears. “This close to town?”

The boy nodded. “We were rescued by someone, though.”

“Who?”

“Reinhart.”

“Y-you…” the man almost choked on his own words. “That Reinhart? Gustav’s Reinhart?”

Allen nodded. “Yeah. He told us to follow him through the forest until he was done with his mission. I thought he was going to kill us, but he was pretty nice, actually.”

Rimold’s eyes twitched. “Did you… Did you accompany him to any bandit camps, perhaps?”

“We did. He… He killed a lot of people.” Allen shuddered, remembering the grim scene back then.

Red noticed that Rimold’s expression worsened even further at this response.

“Is that why you came here?” Red asked. “To search for Reinhart?”

“We were supposed to, yes.” the man nodded. “When the bandit camps all started receiving these messages requesting a meeting with Rickard, they were quick to notice something had gone wrong on this side and sent people to investigate. I just never thought Reinhart would be the one behind this, though…”

The boy detected a hint of fear in Rimold’s voice at the mention of Reinhart.

“Is he still around?” the man asked.

“No.” Red shook his head. “He got tangled up in a fight against a demon.”

“Oh, that’s good- He what?!” Rimold’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“He was going to release us so we could meet up with the others. That was when the demon showed up.”

“T-the demon?” the man asked. “Is it the same red demon? Long tail, sharp claws?”

Red nodded.

“We need to leave, right now!” Rimold got up, bringing Allen to his feet too.

“W-wait, why?!” the young master asked.

“Didn’t you see the demon? It has already broken through to the Lesser Ring Realm. It has probably already killed Reinhart and it might be looking for its next victim!”

“We were already planning on leaving.” Red said. “We were going to meet up with the others first.”

“Why would you do that? Why not just go back to town?”

“Because we were also being stalked by the necromancer.”

Rimold stumbled, dropping Allen down. The young master yelped in pain, but the man ignored it. “The necromancer?!”

“Yes.” Red nodded. “They possessed a monkey’s body and were controlling a horde of undead animals to chase us.”

“Why were they chasing you?!”

Red shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought it safer to meet with the others first, though, rather than risk being ambushed by them again.”

“This… This is a nightmare!” Rimold put his hands to his head. “Why is all of this happening at once?! Who thought it was a good idea to bring the young master outside?”

No one responded, and the man didn’t look like he was looking for a response either.

“It’s all your fault, you little demon!” Rimold pointed at Red. “What are you even doing with our young master here?!”

“It’s not his fault!” Allen interjected. “I was the one who asked for help! Besides, Red is a new member of our sect!”

“A new member?” the man frowned. “Since when did Hector start accepting new members? Much more so brats like these?”

“Red is actually really smart! Goulth took him on as an apprentice, and he always helps me when I need it! You can trust him too, Rimold!”

The man gritted his teeth, unconvinced. “If he truly had your best interest in mind, he would never have brought you here!”

Allen looked like he was about to protest, but Rimold cut him off.

“Look, it doesn’t matter.” the man said. “We need to get out of here before more bandits show up or that demon finds us.”

“More bandits?” Red frowned. “How can there still be more bandits this close to town after the Baron swept the forest?”

“What does the Baron know?” Rimold scoffed. “The bandits have been moving and preparing underneath his nose for months, and he’s still just as clueless!”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I won’t tell you anything before we’re back with the others, brat!” the man shook his head. “Speaking of, where exactly did you intend on meeting them?”

Red took out the map from his bag and threw it towards Rimold. “It’s the big X on the map. We agreed to meet them there, but they’ve probably already moved since then.”

“I see, so this place…” Rimold unfolded the map, examining it. However, once his gaze passed over the meeting spot, he immediately froze.

“What is it?” Allen asked, noticing his strange expression.

“A-are you sure this is where you agreed to meet?” the man asked, his voice tinged with concern.

“It’s what Domeron marked for me.” Red nodded. “We were supposed to meet there hours ago.”

“How long ago exactly?”

The boy frowned, trying to recall it. “Should be two to three hours ago.”

“That’s cutting it close…” Rimold frowned. “Maybe they missed it then.”

“Missed what?”

“Listen, brat, you asked me about how the bandits could get so close to town even after the Baron swept the forest , right?” the man didn’t wait for Red to respond. “The bandits have found secret passages - a way to move throughout the entire region without being noticed by anyone!”

Red had an awful premonition.

“A tunnel network that runs for kilometers, which the bandits have been exploring for months!” Rimold said. “It just so happens that our companions were stationed right beside one of exit of this tunnel, where a large bandit camp was set up just out of the Baron’s view!”

The situation continued to get worse.