Red frowned. “Kill him? Just for that?”

Rimold gritted his teeth. “I don’t want to do it either, but what choice do we have?! If they figure out we were involved in this, we’re completely screwed!”

The boy sighed. “I understand where you’re coming from, but think about it for a second. If we kill him, we will be digging a deeper hole for ourselves. Right now, it’s unlikely this bodyguard will look into this matter if he knows it involves demons, and he will probably just run away to not get implicated with his employer.”

The rogue glared at him. “No! You don’t understand! We need to make sure to not leave any loose ends in this matter!”

The boy went silent at this sudden bout of anger. He knew how troublesome this matter was, but he still found it odd for Rimold to react so violently towards it.

‘There has to be something he’s not telling me.’

The rogue seemed to notice how he had gone too far with his words, so he looked away from the boy in embarrassment.

“Before we proceed, I think I need you to clarify me a few things.” Red said.

Rimold frowned, but still nodded.

“How did you escape from that Lesser Ring Realm cultivator?” the boy asked.

The rogue’s face fell. “I used a talisman.”

Red didn’t comment on his vague words. “What about the carriage? What did you do with it?”

Rimold hesitated. “… I abandoned it.”

The boy frowned. “That seems weird. Earlier, you told me that the bodyguard agreed to help you for a share of the goods in the carriage, but you just abandoned it?”

The rogue snorted. “I was obviously just lying to him.”

“And the bodyguard just agreed to help someone who doesn’t know who planned on stealing a carriage from his employee by himself while going against a Lesser Ring Realm Cultivator? What gave him such confidence that things would go well?”

The more Red recounted the situation, the more absurd it truly seemed.

Rimold also noticed this, considering how his expression looked defeated. “Fine, you win. I had other people that put me in contact with this bodyguard… I passed the carriage to them and they helped me escape from the Lesser Ring Realm cultivator.”

Red wasn’t surprised. “So that’s the connection you’re afraid will get revealed… Do they know your true identity?”

Rimold nodded. “They do.”

“So why aren’t you worried about them revealing your involvement in this, too?” Red asked.

“They have as much to lose about this coming to light as I do. Besides, even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to silence them.”

‘That doesn’t sound good.’

“… Did they know about the Spirit Stones?”

Rimold shook his head. “No. I found out about it by chance while investigating the merchant. I made my plans with you on the side so we could split it between ourselves.”

Red frowned. “That sounds very risky. Wouldn’t they have found out you acted behind their backs if the merchant asked about it?”

The rogue snorted. “These people don’t care about loyalty. As long as I gave them a cut later, they wouldn’t complain.”

Red sighed. “Of course, but now that there’s a demon involved, things get more complicated. They don’t know about my involvement, so you can claim to know nothing about it, but I doubt they would believe you.”

Rimold had a grim expression at his words.

“Who are these people you were working with?” the boy asked the most important matter.

Rimold hesitated, before shaking his head. “You don’t need to know.”

“That’s for me to judge.” Red cut him off. “I gave you the benefit of the doubt once I agreed to this job, considering you are my fellow sect member, but you still hid information from me that may have future consequences for me.”

Rimold looked outraged. “You think I knew about the demon?!”

“No, I don’t.” Red shook his head. “But you still didn’t tell me powerful people were involved in this operation, and thus implicated me into yet another issue, not even mentioning the possible demonic cultivators behind the merchant. That by itself is more than enough for me to demand more clarity moving forward.”

The rogue frowned. “And what will you do if I don’t tell you?”

“I would be forced to ask Hector for help.” Red said. “It would be my only choice in this matter.”

The boy didn’t say this to threaten Rimold; he was just being sincere. These people that helped the rogue seemed to be active in this town and were powerful enough to help him escape from a Lesser Ring Realm cultivator. Unlike the force behind the merchant, this was a very real and immediate threat.

Rimold frowned at those words. “… I can tell you, but you must promise me you won’t reveal it to Hector and the others.”

Red didn’t immediately agree to it. “That depends. How likely is it that they could come after me?”

“They definitely won’t come after you.” the rogue shook his head. “I can promise you that, and if at any point you feel that might not be the case, I give you my permission for you to tell the truth to Hector.”

The boy nodded with some reluctance. “Fine. I promise I won’t tell Hector as long as they don’t threaten me.”

“Good…” Rimold trailed off. “… I’m working with Gustav’s people.”

Red immediately regretted his promise.

There was a heavy silence in the room as the boy tried to digest this revelation. The gaze he used to look at Rimold had changed to one of wariness.

“I’m not betraying the sect if that’s what you’re worried about.” the rogue tried to clarify the matter.

“You’re working for Gustav.” Red said. “He’s our enemy.”

Rimold gritted his teeth. “I know! But it’s not what you think! I only agreed to help him as long as it didn’t involve acting against the sect!”

“… I find that hard to believe.” the boy shook his head.

“Look, I’m not asking you to trust me at face value, but think about it!” the rogue tapped the side of his head. “I have been working with him for the last six months, but did anything bad happen to the sect in the meantime?”

Red frowned. “That doesn’t prove anything. As far as I know, you might just be biding your time.”

“Biding my time for six months only to reveal my connection to the enemy to a fucking brat like you?!” Rimold glared at him.

Red sighed. “You just told me I don’t need to trust you at face value, so I’m doing just that. If you truly wish to convince me, tell me why you are working with Gustav.”

The rogue hesitated. “… I’m trying to repay my debt.”

“You borrowed money from Gustav?” the boy was surprised.

“No, not from him.” Rimold shook his head. “I borrowed it from someone else while I was in the kingdom’s capital… I made a contract with them to repay this loan overtime by providing my specialized services. They told me someone would approach me once I returned to town, but I never imagined they would bring me to Gustav.”

Red frowned. “You mean you borrowed money from the faction behind Gustav?”

The rogue nodded with a dejected look. “I didn’t figure it out at the time but… I should have seen it coming.”

“Didn’t Gustav try to make you betray the sect?”

“He did. But I told him I would rather they kill me then and there than to betray our sect…” Rimold said in anger. “In the end, he didn’t push the matter to my surprise, and neither did he threaten to reveal it to Hector… He just told me I would need to do jobs here and there for him. Stealing and spying on others - things I’m good at doing. Some of them were risky, but I knew what I was getting myself into when I took out that loan.”

Red examined the rogue’s face, looking for a sign of a lie. There was nothing but guilt and remorse. Then, he used his crimson sense. The man’s fluctuation was flaring, a sign of an individual in great distress as the boy had come to learn, which was to be expected considering the situation, but it didn’t tell him whether he was lying or not.

“How much do you owe them?” Red asked.

Rimold gritted his teeth. “… Fifty.”

The boy frowned. “Fifty what?”

“…. Fifty spirit stones.”

Red stared at the man in shock. “How is that even possible?”

Fifty spirit stones were several times the net worth of an average Lesser Ring Realm cultivator. The boy just couldn’t imagine what Rimold wanted to take out a fifty Spirit Stones loan, much less for someone to grant him such an exorbitant amount.

The rogue shook his head. “The amount I needed was lower, about fifteen Spirit Stones. Fifty spirit stones is the ridiculous interest they told me I had to pay… Of course, this isn’t a debt I’m meant to be able to pay as long as I’m alive. It’s pretty much just a slavery contract to Gustav and his faction.”

“And they aren’t afraid you would try to run?” Red asked in confusion.

“They aren’t…” Rimold looked conflicted. “I left collateral with them back at the capital… I left something behind that I can't afford to lose.”

“… What did you borrow the money for?”

The rogue didn’t answer, instead looking at Red. The boy felt the man’s gaze lingering on him, as if pondering what to reveal.

A few seconds later, Rimold sighed. “I borrowed it for medicine. I have… Someone in the capital. They were sick with a rare disease, and they needed medicine. Expensive medicine… That’s all you need to know.”

Red contemplated the man’s words. If what the rogue said was true, it took little thinking to figure out what his collateral was.

The boy tried to use all his senses and experience to see through Rimold’s potential facade. Yet, if the man was lying, then Red wasn’t able to detect it. This didn’t give him any assurances, though, but he knew he wouldn’t find out if the rogue was being genuine or not without investigating into this matter - something he clearly couldn’t do right now.

This made him hesitate, something Rimold was quick to pick up on.

“I don’t need you to believe me, kid.” the rogue said with a rude tone. “I just need you to keep your promise and not tell Hector about what happened.”

Red nodded. “I have no reason to.”

‘At least not yet.’

This seemed to satisfy Rimold. “Good… I wanted to look for that bodyguard, but as you said, he might be long gone by now and even then, killing him is not a good idea. Either the guards or Gustav’s people got to him first, but in either case, I doubt they would reveal my involvement in this, since it would implicate them too.”

“So what do you plan on doing?” Red asked. “Wait here until the morning?”

Rimold nodded. “Yes. It leaves us time until things calm down and to come up with a good story to tell Hector. Besides… We haven’t even opened the strongbox yet, have we?”

“Can you do it?” the boy asked with some skepticism.

“If I can do it?!” Rimold glared at the boy. “You brat, who do you think taught your precious Master Goulth about how to pick locks?! As long as it’s not locked by enchantments, there’s nothing I can’t open!”

The man picked up the metal container before setting it on top of a wooden box.

“Just sit there and watch closely.” Rimold said. “You might learn a thing or two!”