Northern stood aloof for some seconds, he craned his neck to stare at the sky a little bit.
Then as he brought his head down, he nodded.
“Yeah, I knew this was a stupid idea. What was I doing believing the nonsense you spoke of?”
He rolled the map and tucked it into his bag. Then gave Raven a pitiful look.
“Good luck in your future endeavors, young lady. Whether it is to kill a Sage or steal from one, I don’t care. You are just insane, that’s what you are.”
A barely visible frown formed on Raven’s face, almost a contortion of puzzlement.
“I don’t understand. What about this plan displeases you?”
Northern had turned around and was about to walk away when he heard her. He paused, fiercely gritting his teeth within closed lips.
It felt as though her words were deliberately aimed to prickle him because what other explanation could there be.
‘It is very likely that she’s doing this intentionally. Calm down, calm down.’
…was what he said to himself, but on the contrary, it wasn’t easy to calm down at all, not in this situation!
“What displeases me??? Wait, are you serious right now? I thought you had a sensible and realistic plan to getting this airship?”
Raven frowned slightly and nodded, “Yes, I do.”
“And it involves stealing from a Sage and killing someone you have a grudge on.”
She nodded, “Yes, it does.”
Her response was so casual and natural. It was obvious to Northern in her tone that she was not seeing what he was, at least not until he said it.
“Wait, are you really insane? If I follow you correctly, you plan to kill two humans? Not monsters, but humans!!”
“Yes, how are they any different?”
Northern froze for a moment, he jerked his head back slowly, frowning in unbelief, then slowly leaned his face forward and tilted his head.
“How… how are they any different? Are you insane? How can you even say that?!!”
Raven stared silently at him, her eyes resolute and cold, betraying not even the slightest hint of emotions, even in this tense conversation.
She recounted a couple of breaths before opening her mouth and saying:
“Yes, North, there’s no difference between the two. Both entities have a flame of existence that can be extinguished. Let me ask you a question. How did you feel when you had your first kill, when you heard Ul’s voice for the first time?”
Northern raised a brow and folded his arms.
He tried to sincerely remember…
“Nothing…”
Raven’s gaze rested indifferently on him for a while.
Nothing could be said of them, but he felt very uncomfortable with those red eyes boring into his soul.
“What?” He inquired with a tone of arrogance.
“You, North, should check yourself. At least, a lot of us here experience a terrifying trauma during our first kill. But if it’s nothing for you, perhaps the one that is insane is you and not me.”
She breathed before continuing.
“For one, I think you should start off by not being a hypocrite.”
Northern’s frown furrowed darkly, he gripped the cross arm of his bottomless bag and stomped forward, fuming.
“What? Me? A hypocrite? Says you who hails a just cause and search for a way to please all, but behind the scenes doesn’t mind doing something indecent. I mean, aren’t you supposed to be a hero of some sort? And you are going to just swoop into some stronghold and kill some humans like they are monsters. This is not even to say that you are talking about a Sage!!”
Raven shook her head.
“I am not a hero, North. The people only made me to be such. And it’s not my duty to live up to it. I am merely doing what I want to do. It’s not my fault that they have raised monumental images of me in their heads. Do. Not. Judge. Me.”
With that, she turned, “Let’s go, Terence.”
She stopped and looked back over her shoulder.
“I don’t know what exactly is your concern with indecency when it’s the very thing that you’ve represented ever since you got to this stronghold. Drop the act and just be selfish already.”
She faced front and walked away with Terence.
Northern stood there for a couple of seconds, feeling the sharp edges of her words sting him from the inside.
The most annoying thing was he couldn’t ascertain…
He couldn’t tell…
Whether her words were true or false…
And he wanted to be honest with himself at the very least.
Was he truly being a hypocrite?
‘But really, killing humans… isn’t it going too far?’
Still, if it came down to it, he didn’t feel like he’d think twice before making the decision.
Northern moved his head and touched his chest.
Once again, he couldn’t help but feel this intangible and fleeting emptiness.
It was subtle and almost unnoticeable, but it made him very uncomfortable.
He looked to the front. Raven and Terence had long disappeared into the dark embrace of the forest.
As uncomfortable as this journey was bound to be, Northern felt like perhaps this was another ordeal for him to cross.
Or maybe not.
To be honest, he didn’t really care about all of that.
Ordeal or no ordeal.
‘I just want the ship!’
And he was going to do anything to get it.
Even if it meant playing as Raven wanted. Of course, his promise to pay her back still stood.
And most importantly, this was another amazing opportunity for him to grow.
Perhaps, this time around, he could start to put deliberate effort into getting stronger and not leaving it to chance.
—
Meanwhile, Terence and Raven were walking into the forest. As their steps went further, the darkness got deeper and stronger, threatening to swallow them in fact.
Terence glanced at Raven a couple of times, saying nothing.
However, the young lady had since caught her glances. When she was tired, she eventually asked,
“What?”
“Are you going to leave him like that? I thought you said you can’t do this without him.”
Raven’s lips curled up a little, but “He’ll come.”
“He’ll come?” Terence’s face contorted into a pool of confusion. “How are you so sure?”
Raven shrugged, “I don’t know, I just have this feeling.”
Terence stared at her as they walked, blinking, then she commented with a low tone.
“Light, I really do hope you’re fine.”
“I am…” She replied with a small smile.
“You’ve been acting—”
Raven stopped and looked back, “He’s coming.” Her smile formed fully for the first time in a long time, perhaps ever.
It caused Terence’s eyes to widen slowly.
This… this right here was the most beautiful she had ever seen Raven Light.
