Just what had happened to the Crimson Menace? This was the question that all the adventurers in the vicinity were thinking of right now, but none dared to directly ask. As of now, the only person to know what went on was Aisha herself.

She had been given a makeshift bed to rest on, and she did so whilst staring blankly at the ceiling. The tent she was being held in had been provided by Zhang, who also happened to be guarding the front of the tent.

“So… you ready to speak yet?” Zhang’s voice came from outside, but Aisha didn’t reply. She could faintly hear him grumble, a sign of impatience, she was sure, but it didn’t matter. After what she had done to her party members, any punishment that came to her would be justified, or so she felt.

Neither her body nor her head moved the whole time she had spent here, giving off the impression she was dead. Only her occasionally blinking eyes and rising and falling of her chest gave a hint of life. Even still, the bright, crimson eyes of hers were no longer so bright anymore.

All of a sudden, there seemed to be a dramatic change in the atmosphere. It sounded like things were getting rowdy outside, and a loud voice called out,

“Sir! Bad news! Some adventurers snooped around and discovered a room where another massive skeleton resides! Reports say that they’re bringing it directly here!”

The voice didn’t sound familiar to Aisha, but it was clear from the panic in the voice that he wasn’t joking.

“Oh, you have to be kidding me! We’ve been getting invaded left and right!” Zhang burst out in anger before sighing, “Nevermind, I’ll lead once more. Someone has to guard this place though!”

“No worries, sir! I can do it!”

“…Fine.” There was a small hint of reluctance though. “Don’t try anything with her though. Do not touch even a single hair on her body.”

“W-what? Sir, you misunderstand! I’m just a little injured from the previous fight… But I still wanted to contribute somehow…”

“Well okay then. Make sure you do not let her escape. If you do, I’ll be having a talk with your party leader.”

“Yes, Sir!”

Footsteps could be heard growing softer and softer as Zhang departed from the area. Not long after, the tent was opened, and a man with silky light-green hair stepped inside. He wore small gold earrings on both ears and plastered on his face was a permanent smirk.

Aisha closed her eyes, pretending to be sound asleep. It seemed that trouble has arrived.

“Kept you waiting, huh? Ah, don’t worry, nobody will be able to hear us in here.”

“…”

“Oh, you’re still asleep? Guess I’ll just move you first.”

An intrusive hand slid under her back, while another hooked right under her thighs. With a grunt and some effort, Aisha was lifted right off the bed. Immediately, her eyes shot open and she looked at the man that held her in his arms.

“…Did I wake you? Oops.”

Instead of the man with earrings like she had expected, it was Kayden, with an awkward smile on his face. Her eyes widened in surprise.

“What are you doing here?”

“What else? It’s far too dangerous here. I’ll bring you back to your party members. Don’t worry, they’re safe for now.”

“But I told you—”

“Yeah yeah…” Kayden interrupted, “To not save you or whatever, right? But there’s no need for me to listen to you, so I’ll be doing whatever I want. Now that we’re done talking, let’s go. Invisibility.”

As both of them started turning transparent, Aisha struggled desperately.

“W-wait! We can’t go!”

“What? Why?”

Kayden was forced to place Aisha back down on the bed. It seemed that she really didn’t want to go, and he could guess why.

“Are you afraid that your party members will be mad at you? For what you did to them?”

Aisha winced at the harsh reminder but nodded silently.

“Don’t you think that it’s all the more important that you meet them? You need to apologize for what you’ve done, at least.” He began reprimanding her, “And no, making that deal with Lizardface doesn’t count.”

“I… can’t bring myself to face them. Not after what I’ve done.”

“But it’s not like you did it on purpose, or with malicious intent.” Kayden reasoned, “Right? There must have been something that pushed you to do it. Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

Seeing Aisha adamantly remain silent after he asked his question, he sighed and took a seat on the opposite side of the bed.

“Well, we have plenty of time. You can go ahead and say it. I’ll wait.”

Aisha pointed to the entrance of the tent, a hint of anxiousness in her voice.

“W-we can talk later. Zhang may come soon after discovering your lie, and he won’t be happy seeing you in here.”

“Oh, now you want to leave? And who said anything about lying? All I said just now was true. What I did was replace the messenger.” Kayden shook his head. “Anyway, don’t try to change the topic. We aren’t leaving until you tell me everything.”

“B-but—!”

“No buts!” Kayden interrupted. “Hah! I sound just like my master used to! And you know my stubborn nature already, so I’m even worse! Now talk or face the consequences.”

“…What consequences?”

“I don’t know… I’ll let you deal with my master’s drunken state for a whole month!”

Aisha giggled at his response, which Kayden felt was a good sign. However, it soon turned into a quiet sigh.

“…There was a skeleton… but not your average skeleton, it was a mage, and it could use all sorts of magic. It could create barriers, shoot beams, the whole package, and it overwhelmed us.”

Kayden had expected it to be another huge skeleton like the one his party had fought. It would certainly make sense that Aisha would need some serious firepower to defeat it by themselves, but it seemed that the challenge was just a little bit different.

“The party was… doomed. Bell and San were the first to be incapacitated, and it took us far too long to realize that the skeleton had intelligence. It took down the supports first, which made the fight worse and worse as time carried on. Eventually, panic set in, none of us had the capabilities to safely escape, so there was only one thing I could do.” Aisha looked downcast as she recounted her story.

“You… blew up, huh?”

“I did…”

“Well, that doesn’t seem so bad. If you hadn’t done that, they would’ve died! I’m sure they would rather be scorched than get killed.”

Aisha looked even more dispirited when he said that, prompting him to again question her what was wrong. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she explained the last crucial detail.

“Before the fight even began, our party wasn’t at its best. I made many questionable decisions, such as splitting up with your party, and the party was getting a little bit upset with me. That’s probably why… it all fell apart.”

“So you’re saying… it’s all because of Alice?”

“What?” Aisha looked surprised. “Were you even listening? Why’d your mind suddenly jump to someone else?”

“Ah, so you don’t blame her then. I’m glad.” Kayden sighed in relief. He knew that Aisha’s abnormal behavior had been caused by Alice somehow, though he didn’t know exactly what she did. He was worried that Aisha may have developed an obsessive desire for revenge of some sort. As for why he even considered this possibility, perhaps he was very paranoid ever since he found out that Brandon was out for his blood. And for such a petty reason no less.

“Besides, she didn’t say anything wrong,” Aisha admitted. “All she said was that she was proud of her ability, and that’s a good thing.”

“Well… she can be pretty impulsive at times. As for the ability thing, she’s a noble, you know? I’d be even more surprised if she wasn’t proud of her ability.”

“…I guess you’re right.”

“Well.” Kayden offered a hand as he stood up, “Do you feel better after getting it off your chest?”

“Y-yeah.” Aisha took it.

“It’s better to speak out your true feelings than to hide them. You’d be happier that way, and it’s only when you let your plight be known can someone help you.” Kayden said seriously.

“Heh. I can’t believe you’re the one lecturing me on this. Did you forget how you were five to six years ago? You barely said a thing!”

Kayden scratched his head with the other hand. “Was it that long ago? I forgot. Well, it’s because I know how it feels to bottle up everything that I can confidently say this: Some people say that there are things that are better left unsaid, especially things that people most do not want to hear. But I think it’s necessary.”

“…Was that something you learned from your master?” Aisha asked curiously, to which Kayden smiled.

“Nope. Not at all. Okay, maybe she had some influence. But it’s a conclusion that I arrived at mostly by myself. Anyway, we’re wasted enough time here. You better start preparing what to say to your party members!”

“What? Wait! I’m not ready! Can’t you just drop me off outside!”

“That’s just running away from your responsibility! And recently, I developed a small dislike for running away, so too bad!”

With a snap of his fingers, they both disappeared, and the tent flap widened mysteriously as they made their way out. Kayden also made sure to drop the illusion of the decoy guard stationed outside the tent. He was already very mana-hungry at this point.

Aisha got a look at the outside situation for the first time, and it had been as Kayden said. The adventurers, despite many of them being injured, were already gearing up for the inevitable. At the entrance of the passageway where she had first emerged from, a wide barricade of adventurers stood alert and ready, with Zhang at the lead.

As Aisha took in her surroundings, Kayden explained the plan

“We’ll meet up with my party first before we decide to do anything, and then you guys have to come up with a plan to leave. As much as I hate to say it, the map we obtained earlier is already good enough loot.”

“What do you mean by ‘you guys’? Aren’t you leaving with us? Also, the map’s destroyed…”

“Aye… Don’t worry about it. Ezekiel could probably redraw the map... I think. As for the escape plan…”

Kayden proceeded to recount his deal with Ryan, and how he had to duel with Brandon to settle everything once and for all.

“Don’t worry. I won’t lose or pretend to lose. I’ll beat him up so bad that even Lizardface will look more appealing than him.”

Kayden said this with confidence. Despite the clear strength disparity, Aisha still believed him.

As they were talking, they reached the room where the rest of their party members were. This made it the third time Kayden had arrived at this place, and hopefully his last. His mana reserves could only be emptied so many times.

He wasted no time in dropping his invisibility spell and began downing another mana recovery potion. He was going through these as fast as his master drank alcohol.

“Um… Kayden. Just how many have you drunk already?”

“Huh? Uh…” he wiped the corners of his mouth. “I lost count. But who cares? I need the mana to beat Brandon. Anyway, instead of worrying about me, maybe worry about yourself.”

Kayden pointed at the platform where his party was at, and sitting on the ground covered with swathes of bandages were Aisha’s party members, alive and conscious. It was hard to tell their expressions from where they were, but their body language certainly doesn’t paint a happy picture.

“Gulp…”

Aisha hid behind Kayden's back as they approached the platform, and the opposing side could definitely tell that she was nervous. Kayden lowered the potion from his mouth.

“Are these things addictive? I’m already getting used to the taste…”

“Kayden… This is serious. Don’t act so casual!” Aisha whispered into his ear.

Kayden sighed.

“Just stay cool. They’ll never accept your apology if you act all scared like this. Here, I’ll help you out.”

Kayden vanished into thin air, leaving her exposed for her party members to see. It was a little mean for him to do but he judged it necessary. Now, all that needs to happen is for Aisha to explain herself, and everything should be fine.

Right?