From what Raze had learned about Pagna warriors, it was no wonder that he had become a suspect. He was in a body that could barely do a 400-meter lap around a field. He was less than a normal human being, and Pagna warriors were more.
Not only that, but the Pagna warrior had managed to kill the rest of Raze’s family, and only the weakest managed to survive.
The truth was it was a situation he had barely managed to escape from. At the time, he had a desperate will to live and did what he could.
“I thought you called me here because you had information on my parents’ death?” Raze smirked. “But instead, I see that you’ve learned nothing at all, and now you’re trying to pin the blame on me. I didn’t realize that the clan would act this way.”
Sonny was a little nervous hearing Raze speak. When one spoke to an Elder or even a Pagna warrior that was a rank above them, they would speak with the utmost politeness. It made sense because they could end their lives with ease and no one would bat an eyelid, no one would investigate it, especially a no-name.
“Raze, there are many reasons why people get killed by the Pagna every day. People witnessing or overhearing things they shouldn’t. A thug hired by another, or simply for disrespecting another person,” Elder Yon said the last line slowly, as if he was warning the kid.
“If we learn how you managed to survive, then maybe we can know what the target’s goal was. An item your family stole or something else? I guess what I am asking more specifically is, what led to the final moments between you and the assassin. Did you hear your parents’ last words, or anything of the sort?”
The boy truly remembered next to nothing; he didn’t even know he had a sister until he saw her.
“I’ll tell you what I remember,” Raze answered. “His hands around my throat, me fighting to just take in a breath, and then me stabbing him as hard as I could in his side just so he could get off me.
“When I stood up, I was in a room full of my dead family members. There were wounds on the assassin’s body already that looked to be made by swords, and that hadn’t been done by me. I think that due to the injuries, the assassin was already on his last breath and that was how I managed to best him.”
While Raze was speaking, Elder Yon wrote down a few things using an ink pen on a large scroll, and he started to tap away on the paper.
“I have another theory, if you would like to hear?” Yon said. “A Pagna warrior could have killed you with a simple fist. The only reason I can think that you are alive right now is because you had to be in on your parents’ death. You aided in their death.”
Raze’s eyes widened. Why would he? Or more correctly, why would the old Raze do such a thing? At the same time, though, he couldn’t outright deny it. 𝒪𝑽𝓁xt.𝒸𝑜𝐦
“Why would a warrior let me kill them with my own hands?” Raze asked.
“Don’t you think you should be asking, why would you try to kill your own parents?” Yon replied, but quickly moved past that point. “That’s what I want to know as well. Did you back out of the deal at the last moment? Allowing you to strike him, was there a disagreement, or did you come to realize something?”
“Then why would they try to strike me and my sister down again?” Raze asked.
Elder Yon stood up and stopped writing things down at this point, and turned his back to look at the scrolls on the wall.
“That is the most interesting part of it all, what is it that these people want to hide so much that you know?” Yon said. “I think you aren’t lying about losing your memories, Raze.
“Either due to some type of shock that occurred that day, or maybe even something that had occurred in a way to protect you, similar to a seal, but that knowledge is still inside you, hidden, and whoever is after you is unaware of that.”
Out of everything Raze was feeling right now, he was feeling extremely annoyed. Why did the new body he entered have to have a target on his back already? The good news was that even if Yon was suspicious of Raze, it seemed like he was still trying to protect him in a way.
“Raze, there is a reason why I believe in my theory so strongly,” Yon continued. “You are not the only one this has happened to. Lately in this town, and the nearby towns, families with no name have been killed, slaughtered in their own homes.”
“It’s an unusual case, but the patterns that follow are the same, that was until you. You broke the pattern, and you have done that by managing to survive. You and your sister are the only survivors of this strange case that is going on, which is why I had pleaded for Kron to look after you.”
It was clear that if the Clan master trusted Kron this much, then he had to be someone special or at least strong enough to deal with whatever came after him.
“I have a feeling that the reason for your parents’ death lies with you, and if we can’t find the answer, then the only thing we can do is protect you. However, we can only do that for one year.
“Once you’re sixteen, the temple is no longer obligated to look after you, and you will be a sitting duck once more.”
“I assume you have a suggestion if you asked me to come here?” Raze asked.
“Yes,” Yon answered. “If the world of Pagna has come after you, then you are already a part of it, and you cannot escape. So you have no choice but to become a Pagna warrior. I will give you a recommendation into the academy.
“However, the rest will be down to you. You must at least have Qi to be recognized as a Rank 1 warrior; otherwise, you won’t be allowed to enter the academy.”
If only it was magic, then Raze wouldn’t have had to worry so much, but there was something else he had taken away from the conversation as well.
‘To think, what are the chances that the body I inhabited might be a killer as well.’