Nicole was at a loss for words, unable to respond to Tori’s sudden question. Kairos was a little annoyed that Tori had a sudden burst of intelligence allowing her to find the small nuances in what Nicole had said.
Kairos decided to speak up.
“Yes, there was another person that was also with us.”
Nicole looked at him with a worried expression.
“U-Um, but it’s not really important.”
Tori tilted her head to the side.
“So it wouldn’t be a big deal to talk about it, right?”
Nicole averted her gaze.
“U-Um.”
Kairos shrugged his shoulders.
“It isn’t that big of a deal. I was more familiar with our friend, so I can describe it better.”
Nicole looked down.
“But…”
Chase spoke up.
“Is there a reason why you can’t share it so readily?”
Nicole interlocked her fingers and remained silent. As for Kairos, he simply sighed.
“It’s just we probably aren’t considered friends anymore with that guy.”
Chase slowly nodded.
“I see. There’s no need to talk about him then.”
Kairos shook his head.
“It’s all in the past, and it’s not exactly a memory that haunts me. I’ll just tell you.”
He gestured casually to the side.
“His name was Edward. I actually met him before I met Nicole, and quite a while before too.”
Kairos narrowed his eyes as he dug deep into his past memories.
“I’m not exactly sure when or how I met him, but I remember we just naturally fit together. There was just some sort of strange connection between us, almost like we were puzzle pieces.”
He shrugged.
“We did dumb things that most people would think are boring or even annoying, but for some reason, we both enjoyed it a lot. Our sense of humor was also really off, but that just meant we found each other funny despite making really bad jokes.”
Nicole let out a soft laugh.
“Honestly… I was kind of jealous because of how close the two of you were.”
Kairos rolled his eyes.
“That couldn’t be helped. We already knew each other a few years beforehand, and we didn’t really know you.”
Nicole puffed up her cheeks.
“B-But… we spent so much time together, and you two were always a little bit closer! I don’t think it had something to do with time… there was just something I didn’t have, that you two did.”
Kairos let out a dry chuckle.
“Honestly, we probably both set a bad example for each other, making us both become a little weirder than we already were.”
Tori let out a soft confused gasp.
“But you’re so serious now…”
Kairos rolled his eyes.
“How many children have you seen that are actually serious? People grow up and become different people.”
Tori scratched the side of her cheek, as though wondering why she hadn’t “grown-up” as well.
“O-Oh…”
Chase took a deep breath.
“And it seems that growing up also caused the two of you to separate.”
Kairos rubbed his chin.
“Er, I wouldn’t say it’s exactly that, but I suppose it is in a sense.”
He sighed.
“By the time we were close to graduating from middle school, Edward was avoiding me quite a bit. Once I got to high school, he completely alienated himself from me, and even took the side of those that picked on me.”
Nicole clenched her fists.
“Mm… I still can’t believe he did that!”
Kairos waved his hand dismissively.
“Don’t say that. He wasn’t a bad guy. After all, he never actually did anything to me.”
Nicole frowned.
“But a real friend would at least try to protect you!”
Kairos sighed.
“Well, I didn’t tell you about this, but there was a time that he did.”
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
“This was before the two of us had grown distant, but there was a time when we decided to go out camping together.”
Nicole blinked a few times.
“W-Without me?”
Kairos coughed.
“I’m pretty sure you were unavailable at the time.”
Nicole frowned.
“O-Ok.”
Kairos cleared his throat.
“Anyways, the place we went to wanted to give us an “authentic” experience, letting us go into an actual forest. The two of us didn’t actually know that, thinking it was just a normal camping site.”
He took a deep breath.
“And while we were joking around, we suddenly caught onto some strange rustling sound in the distance. I said that it was probably a wolf, but didn’t really mean it. Yet, just a few moments later, an actual wolf appeared.”
Tori gasped.
“I-I’m never going to go camping!”
Sydney smiled bitterly.
“Um, I don’t think you really can now. And I feel that the monsters are probably more of a pressing concern.”
Chase furrowed his brows.
“…Wolves usually don’t attack humans, unless desperate.”
Kairos nodded.
“I remembered it looked rather weathered. It seemed like a lone wolf that was kicked out of his group, and desperately lunged at us because it was starving.”
Nicole’s eyes widened.
“W-What happened?”
A small smile formed on Kairos’ face.
“He stood in front of me, blocking the wolf, and told me to run away.”
Chase tapped a finger on the table.
“The kinds of people that would actually give their life for someone else are far rarer than you think. That also means the connection between the two of you must’ve been quite strong.”
Kairos nodded.
“That’s what I mean by the fact he wasn’t a bad guy.”
Nicole furrowed her brows.
“W-What happened after that?”
Kairos blinked a few times.
“Not sure. I didn’t see what happened, but it all worked out. After all, he’s still alive, no?”
Chase’s gaze suddenly snapped to him. He opened his mouth, but closed it soon after.
Nicole scratched her cheek.
“Ah…”
Tori put a finger on her chin.
“Did he scare off the wolf? That must’ve been terrifying!”
Kairos nodded.
“That makes sense.”
Chase continued to look at him strangely, without speaking. Kairos noticed that gaze, but pretended he didn’t. Though, Kairos doubted he fooled Chase. But really, his only goal was to make sure the others didn’t notice.
Thankfully, Chase kept silent.
There was a main suspicious point in the story that Chase had caught onto.
Why would Kairos not know anything?
As a person directly involved with the incident, it was likely that he at least had an idea of what happened. Assuming Kairos ran away, then he must’ve at least inquired about the situation afterwards.
On top of that, the relationship between the two had to have been incredibly close. It was the kind that wouldn’t just become distant unless a very long amount of time had passed. Even if Kairos did run away, that shouldn’t have caused the two of them to suddenly become distant, as Edward was the one that told him to do so.
From what Chase gathered, Edward probably would’ve been relieved if Kairos ran away. Else, he wouldn’t stand up in front of the wolf, risking his life to save his friend.
Something else must’ve happened.
And Kairos was probably directly involved with it.
The only part that Chase was unsure about, was if Kairos had been lying about the events themself, which would change things considerably. In which case, the entire theory would fall apart. But he stopped speculating over it, as there wasn’t enough information for him to come to any real conclusions.
Chase then stopped looking at Kairos, instead picking up some utensils to eat.
As for Kairos, he followed suit.
This ended up prompting everyone else to do so as well.
It did not take the group long to finish everything that was there. Though everyone was still somewhat hungry, it wasn’t as though they had to eat right away.
Tori coughed awkwardly.
“Um, should we go out again?”
Nicole pouted.
“Mm… I didn’t really like what happened when we went out next time.”
Tori tilted her head to the side.
“But don’t we have to get stronger? Those guys from the church are really strong and also don’t like us. If we don’t hurry up and get more points, then won’t we die because of them?”
Kairos closed his eyes.
“…Since they have let an army attack the city, it seems that they have some sort of reason to inconvenience it. However, it doesn’t seem like they care all that much, because if they just sent a few of those unreasonably powerful ones they could probably easily raze this place to the ground.”
He took a deep breath.
“It also seems like they haven’t realized that we are currently residing in this city, though if that one monster that attacked me really was from their side, then it is possible we will be found out soon.”
Chase smiled bitterly.
“That wouldn’t be good.”
Kairos opened his eyes just a sliver.
“However, I don’t believe we are their top concern.”
Sydney looked at him questioningly.
“Eh? How do you know that?”
Kairos took a deep breath.
“I told you about how I randomly encountered one of their stronger ones before. Their forces seem spread out, almost like they have some sort of goal they want to accomplish. I have no idea what that is, but it seems that while they want to get revenge on us and get back what we stole, it is one of their lesser priorities.”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“So for the time being, we are safe. Though, if what those guys are doing is trying to claim even more power, then we might be in a very bad position if they do end up attaining that power.”
Chase clicked his tongue.
“But it’s not as though our responsibility is to fight those guys. Perhaps we can just run away.”
Kairos nodded.
“I believe we will have to do that quite a bit in the future. Their rate of growth is simply too unreasonable. In the end, regardless of what we do, it will be a gamble. Whether it is fighting back, or running away.”
He held onto his chin with his hand.
“But regardless, I feel that we should keep a good relationship with Tiana, the person that created this city.”
Tori nodded.
“We don’t have to worry about food then!”
Chase shrugged his shoulders.
“Seems like it’s still pretty good right now.”
Kairos nodded.
“Yes. But the most important point is that Tiana holds a large amount of individual power. After all, she was the one that created those walls. If we are truly in a bad situation, she could provide crucial support.”
Chase tapped his chin.
“Hm. It is quite unlucky that we got directly involved with them.”
Nicole tilted her head to the side.
“But maybe it’s a good thing, because now we know of the people we should be scared of!”
Kairos let out a soft hum.
“Alright. All of you are currently at the E-rank, right?”
After seeing everyone nod, he continued.
“Currently, I am at the D-rank.”
Nicole scratched her cheek.
“Ah, you have quite a bit more points than us.”
Kairos turned to look at her.
“How many more points until you can evolve?”
Nicole put a finger on her chin.
“I think all of us are pretty close. We got a lot of points from killing those monsters during nighttime.”
Kairos rubbed his chin.
“There wasn’t too much danger, right?”
Chase shook his head.
“I wouldn’t say so. Other than that creepy monster that took you away, there were only normal ones. Especially with Tori, she could save anybody that really got in trouble.”
Kairos let out a sigh.
“Then how about you all get ready to go to the same place and continue killing the monsters for points? It won’t really help me, as my rank is too high for me to get many points at all from them.”
Tori frowned slightly.
“But… what if someone gets taken away again?”
Kairos sighed.
“That’s just an inevitable risk. You will just have to hope nothing goes wrong.”
Chase looked at him strangely.
“Say, what will you be doing in that time?”