Contrary to most of the Wanderers who had fallen asleep after the victory celebration, Thirteen was still wide awake, gazing at the campfire with a solemn expression on his face.
Kamrusepa’s words confused him. He initially believed that the one whom he would be facing in one of his missions was none other than his Father, Deus Ex Machina.
‘A girl?’ Thirteen thought. ‘I hate the Goddess of Fate the most, but since she’s number one, she couldn’t possibly be number two. Maybe I’m interpreting this wrongly. Maybe Kamrusepa saw someone whom she believed I hate…’
After a few more moments of silence, the teenage boy sighed and shook his head.
‘It’s no use worrying about this now,’ Thirteen closed his eyes. ‘The only thing I need to worry about is how I’m going to deal with the current situation.’
After knowing the real reason behind the war, he understood that continuing it would just lead to the ruin of both the Lizardmen and the Ratmen.
If the Goblins were to attack after the Lizardmen had already lost the majority of their fighting force, it would be a one-sided massacre.
The Ratmen, who had their Shard of Origin taken from them, had no choice but to listen to the orders of the Goblin Emperor if they wished for their bloodline to continue within the Fractured Heaven.
‘Then, there’s also the humans in the North,’ Thirteen mused. ‘According to Kesari, the Goblin Emperor and the leader of the humans seemed to have formed an alliance of sorts.’
After carefully analyzing the information he had gathered, he was starting to wonder if the attack of the Ratmen on the Western Regions, where all the Wanderers were supposed to gather, was merely a coincidence.
‘There’s no coincidence in this world,’ Thirteen thought. ‘These events were meant to happen. There’s also a reason why The One sent me to this place.’
As Thirteen carefully analyzed his options, someone lightly tapped on his shoulders, making him glance to his right side.
“Can’t sleep?” Sherry asked before sitting beside Thirteen on the log. “You left during the celebration party, and right after you came back, you looked like you just heard some bad news.”
“Maybe I did,” Thirteen said as he threw another log at the campfire, keeping it alive.
“You know, sometimes, I find you annoying?” Sherry commented. “There are occasions when you have that brooding look on your face as if you’re shouldering all the burdens of the world. You’re just as old as me, so stop acting like an adult.”
“… You know, if I didn’t act like an adult, all of you would already be dead right now,” Thirteen replied. “Do you want me to stop keeping you brats alive?”
“On second thought, brood all you want.” Sherry smirked. “I want to go home, so I can see my parents and sister again.”
“You brat.”
“I am still a brat, so you’re not wrong.”
Tiona nodded her head in agreement with Sherry’s words because she agreed that her Master and the teenage girl beside him were still brats.
“Sherry, starting tomorrow, we might do more dangerous things,” Thirteen said. “So, if you want to stay alive, make sure to stick with me and follow my instructions as if your life depended on it.”
“Understood,” Sherry replied. “Make sure to rest well, Boss. I don’t want you croaking on me anytime soon.”
Thirteen couldn’t help but chuckle after hearing his right-hand woman’s words.
“Very well, let’s sleep,” Thirteen stated as he stood up. “Tomorrow will be a busy day.”
He then reached his hand out to help Sherry stand up, which the young lady accepted.
Sherry nodded. “Okay.”
Just like the other Wanderers, that mark on her forehead had been removed by the Shaman in the Lizardmen Camp.
In a way, the Wanderers had now regained their freedom and were treated as equals by the Varesti Tribe.
As the two teenagers returned to their wagon, where the two of them slept together, Drazzat looked at them in the distance with an amused look on his face.
He was very thankful for Thirteen’s help. Thanks to the teenage boy, his men had survived the battle he thought was unwinnable.
But something was bothering him.
When Zion returned to the camp, he told Drazzat that he would talk to him and his subordinates about a very important matter.
The Commander of the Lizardmen thought that the teenage boy would once again ask them to keep his secret, despite Drazzat and his subordinates making a warrior’s oath that they would not divulge his secret to the other Wanderers.
‘I wonder what we’re going to talk about tomorrow,’ Drazzat thought.
Unlike before, he now understood why Sharroc treated Zion as if he was a very important person instead of a mere helper.
With the forces under the teenage boy’s command, even his own army wouldn’t stand a chance of winning against him.
‘It’s a good thing that he’s on our side,’ Drazzat mused.
The mere thought of having the human boy as his enemy was enough to send shivers running down his spine.
The Lizardmen Commander even thanked his lucky stars that Zion had been sent to their camp to assist them in their battle against their enemies.
The next day…
Thirteen, Sherry, Sean, and the other members of the Cygni Faction all sat in on the meeting, with Drazzat and his subordinates.
“What I’m about to tell all of you might be hard to believe, but I promise you every word that I’ll say today is true,” Thirteen said. “I’ll now tell you the real reason why the Ratmen waged a war against the Lizardmen.”
Drazzat and his subordinates gazed at the teenage boy in surprise. They didn’t expect that this would be the content of their meeting.
But seconds later, they immediately gave him their full attention.
Even they, who frequently clashed with the Ratmen, didn’t expect that the latter would suddenly wage an all-out war against them without stating a reason.
Even though they had interrogated several Ratmen they had captured, none of them budged and disclosed the real reason why they were fighting against each other.
This was why they gave Thirteen their undivided attention.
The young man held the answer to the question that had remained unanswered since the bloody war between the Lizardmen and the Ratmen started, and all of them wanted to know the real reason behind this war.