Chapter 25 - Return To Rizako

[ Daily Quest Completed : 10-kilometer sprint ]

[ Experience Points gained : 500 ]

[ Experience Points : 2500/3000 ]

The group ran through the forest for as long as they could.

"I-I can't go on much longer!"

Yin's whole lower body was starting to grow numb from all the running.

He was sweating bullets.

So were the others.

All of them except Suna.

"I can go on for 10 kilometers more, you know?"

"Are you even human?!"

"W-We've probably lost them by now. Let's stop for a bit."

Gavin's frantically panted.

"I can't go on much longer…"

The Commander said dramatically.

They stopped in the lush forest connecting Rizako and Cisco.

Luken glanced at his tired troops and decided that they should rest there until sunrise.

"Surely, they could not have kept following us, right?"

"Who's to say for sure."

Gavin retorted.

They still have not eaten dinner and the sun was almost rising.

"Gavin, don't you have some snacks or something kept hidden in your bags?"

Yin asked in a pale, starved face.

"Am I your mother?"

Yin sighed.

"Oh, here's some butter biscuits I bought earlier."

Gavin handed out a piece to each of them.

"Thanks, mom."

Luken joked lightheartedly.

Their aggressive and obviously hungry demeanor calmed down.

For two whole seconds.

"Have you guys tried chewing, maybe?"

Gavin placed his hand on his head with an exasperated voice.

"M-More…please…"

Suna was crawling towards him.

"Unfortunately, Suna, there is none left."

As he shook his bag up and down, eliminating all the excess crumbs that fell off.

They all looked at the horizon ahead.

Yin broke the silence with a question.

"By the way, who's the Red King? What's his deal?"

Gavin coughed to clear his throat.

Just as he was about to open his mouth and answer Yin's question and provide him with much needed clarity, Luken butted in.

"Well, Yin boy, the Red King isn't really a person."

Yin and Suna were both confused, understandably.

"Rather, it's a title. You know, like how a person ascends into Kinghood, he has to have a crown on top of his head."

Yin was about to say that he understood what Luken said.

His deep subconscious knew better than to lie.

Suna was still trying to grasp how the Red King isn't a person.

She fixated too heavily on that choice of words, literally.

"If the Red King isn't a person, is it a monster?"

Luken had a look of disgust in his face.

It was like someone spat in his face and insulted his ancestors.

"Alright, you two, just be quiet and listen, alright?"

The two nodded.

"In the underground world, which is thriving, by the way, there exists the title of the Red King. It is a very prestigious title awarded to those who is able to assassinate the current Red King. And you can't just kill him with no credentials, you have to have a hundred victims on your belt. So, in short, to have the chance to assassinate the Red King and become crowned yourself, you need to kill a hundred people. You'd have to sell your soul."

Cold shivers went down everybody's spine.

The chilly winds of dawn were starting to affect them.

"We're going to have to keep moving soon, Luken."

Gavin said.

The Commander just nodded.

"If you become the Red King, do you get something in return? Like a literal crown, or a kingdom, a domain, anything?"

Suna asked.

"The details are classified, you have to understand, the underworld is very secretive. We believe that becoming the Red King gives you immunity in the underworld. Nobody can touch you, nobody except those 'soulless' people that I've mentioned with a hundred slain victims, that is."

"Why would they do something like this? It's irrational and cruel!"

Yin asked.

"That's how the underworld's assassins, murderers, killers, and other deranged psychopaths want to gauge out their strengths. By assassinating the strongest person below."

"What could this Red King guy want with Yin…"

Suna contemplated.

"I still have no idea, Suna. I'm as clueless as you guys. The fact of the matter is that the Red King has never really been that nice of a person, with all the murdering and assassinations and whatnot, you get what I'm saying, right? Most of these guys aren't even normal human beings working essential jobs and stuff, they're all unregistered Slayers who are working and operating from the shadows. We don't even know how strong they are or what their abilities are without engaging in combat with them ourselves. I can probably take the Red King and his underlings on by myself, but I really don't want to cause a ruckus in villages and major cities."

"That was very heroic of you to say, Commander!"

Yin's eyes glinted with admiration.

He admired the Commander's strength and confidence against an unknown enemy.

"But that's just me, if you or Suna ever come across these people, you have to run, get away from them as soon as possible, okay?"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

The sun slowly showed itself and dispelled the darkness brought upon by the night's presence.

It was morning.

They decided to walk towards Rizako and find food to eat and a place to rest and crash.

"My stomach hurts."

Yin said.

"Yours isn't the only one that's hurting, Yin boy."

Luken responded as he held his stomach in place.

Just a couple more steps and they would be in Rizako already.

"What about the coachman and the carriage we left at Cisco? Are they going to be alright?"

Suna asked.

"They should be fine. Those guys aren't amateurs, they would know immediately that something was wrong or that we are in some kind of dilemma just from the fact that we did not show up this morning."

Gavin replied.

The smell of crackling bacon and other breakfast servings drew them to a small restaurant.

Yin sat down immediately at a table.

Suna followed him shortly after.

The owner greeted them with the warmest of greetings.

She was an old woman wearing traditional oriental clothing.

Her smile rivaled even the brightest of stars.

"Ah, Slayers!"

"How do you know that, granny?"

Luken asked.

"I was once a Slayer myself, boy."

She responded after showing the scars in her arms from battle.

Yin stood up and bowed at her, so did Luken, Gavin, and Suna.

It was a symbol of respect to a veteran.

This lasted for a minute.

The sound of someone's stomach grumbling interrupted it.

It was Yin's.