Pleasant Hearth

The smell of burning wood is pungent. A few logs at a hearth is usually quite pleasant, but that isn't where this smoke is coming from.

"This is C. Target is confirmed dead."

A body sits just outside of the surrounding fire, his face twisted in the final pain he was forced to experience.

Walls have become more fuel to the raging flames and the ceiling is losing its ability to hold steady. Considering that only myself and numerous corpses inhabit this mansion, the structure can take a long deserved retirement.

My walk is brisk considering that the entire building has become engulfed in flames. It's almost impossible to tell that the clock strikes midnight. I pass by the defenders of this residence, their bodies lying immobile from the bullets I placed personally. If it weren't for the smoke, I would be forced to deal with the smell of death as well.

I take a step out of the burning building and brush a pile of ash from my shoulder.

"Prepare for extraction."

My body stops when I realise that I'm not alone in this once beautiful garden. Trees and finely cut bushes previously lined the elegant stone walkway leading up to the mansion. Unfortunately, this vast greenery was unable to escape the sweeping red. All of it is burning down, and one woman stands at the centre of it all.

"Clark…"

Blue eyes are wide in disbelief, both from the destruction of her home and the one seemingly responsible. Her red dress is one that she's worn many times and it's hard for me to imagine her in anything different.

"What…is going on…"

"You came home at the worst time."

Heat consumes the air around us, but my cold voice is enough to send a shiver down her spine.

"Did you…do this…"

I don't respond. There are no words left for us to exchange. Her father was my target and I have since completed my mission. She is no longer required. Never again will I be able to listen to her ramble about her day, clothes, or the annoyances of business. We have no more time to talk about her dreams or aspirations. It all ends here.

"Had you stayed at the hotel, you would have survived…"

Were someone to ask me if I wanted to kill her, I would say that I do not care to. She need not die for as long as she was ignorant to the event and my part to play. I had suggested that she extended her time away for exactly that reason.

"Rules are rules…"

I raise the gun in my hand and aim directly at her forehead. This woman is smart and understands what will happen, but that doesn't keep the pain off her beautiful face.

"Clark…"

BANG

* * * * *

My eyes open. With my senses slow to start collecting data, the first thing I feel is a warmth to the side. Slowly but surely, my eyes take in the rustic wood ceiling and the light radiating from a nearby hearth.

"C."

The bed I lay in is small, barely enough to fit one person. Despite this, my head is forced to share the space with the body of a young beast. Her short legs hang off the side of the bed and her sandy tail rests just between my head and the wall.

"What time is it?"

"Sun…just rose."

"I see."

Peo's tail lightly smacks me in the face as I sit up.

"We reached our destination, I assume?"

It wasn't really worth asking, but the question helps me better grasp my bearings. This small house is fitting of a small village, containing a dining table and bed as its only furnishings. The stone hearth contains an empty metal pot blackened from use.

"Peo, I brought some more water—Ah!"

Pushing through the creaky wooden door is a freckled girl in a pale red dress. Her ginger hair is tied in its usual braid with a blue bandana on top. In her hands is a bucket filled with the aforementioned liquid.

"You're awake! How do you fare, Mr. Clark?"

"I've seen better days, but for now I'm in good shape."

"I must say, your body is certainly something!"

At her mention, I push off the sheets and observe my unarmoured form.

I'm covered in a weathered cloth shirt and similar trousers. Lifting the top reveals a considerable amount of medical wrap, whose white surface has a splash of red spreading from a single point. Apart from a few aching bruises, I had completely failed to notice the lack of pain.

"This is quite curious…"

"You're telling me! I thought you were going to die back there, but your body somehow remained stable the entire journey."

Bailey almost spills her bucket as I begin tearing away at the bandages. She looks for a place to place the item so that she may stop me, but any kind of concern is unwarranted.

"I-It's fully healed!?"

Apart from small discolouration from the scarring, somebody would not be able to discern that I had just been stabbed the day before. I have an idea as to the one responsible for my swift recovery.

"Peo, how much of the ointment did you use?"

The young beast averts her gaze when I turn back to look at her. It's not like her to look guilty, not that much of her face is visible with her silver scarf. In her hands, I notice the glass jar that her hands nervously fiddle with. A tiny streak of red liquid at the bottom shows its complete depletion.

"Sorry…"

Peo hangs her head with her tall ears drooping to the side. I'm not sure what kind of consequences she was anticipating, but she was not prepared for the hand I rested upon her head.

"No, it was good that you remembered the medicine. It could have been a lot worse if you hadn't used it."

"But…the money…"

"That thing was pretty expensive, but it's fine. We didn't exactly have a good opportunity to test out its potency."

The beast nods and allows me to stroke her sandy hair. Her expression still gives away little, but I'll take her quiet grunts as a sign that she doesn't hate it.

"Peo is amazing."

Bailey moves across the small space and places the bucket and a ladle on the table beside my black satchel.

"A few more bandits attempted to stop us, but she defeated them all on her own! Once we left the cliffs, our journey was without danger."

"I'm glad to see that you are safe as well."

"It appears that fate is occasionally on my side."

Was it truly fate? Considering all of the opportunities to put a quick end to our escape, it seems strange that the key to our sprint was left completely unharmed.

Such questions don't seem to be bothering the cheery farmgirl as she heads back to the door.

"I have a few more errands to run, but I will join you as soon as you are willing. Our village isn't much. However, it would be ungrateful to not provide you a warm welcome after all you have done."

"I look forward to it."

With one last smile, Bailey disappears and the door closes behind her. Now that Peo and I are alone, there are a few items to be discussed.

"Did you see anything strange about those 'bandits'?"

Peo rummages through some kind of pocket and procures some kind of emblem. The small copper trinket is forged into the image of a mountain with a sun rising just behind it. The blood on its surface is enough to assume who it once belonged to.

"Those were no bandits."

I may not know much about Norwin, but Bailey's earlier statements are more than enough to draw an inconvenient conclusion.

"They are of the mountain, but that isn't all. Bailey knows the checkpoint knights. A single arrow would have killed her, and even the horsemen had a chance to strike her with their spears."

That village wasn't destroyed because the knights had been wiped from the checkpoint. It was killed through their purposeful negligence. That road is travelled by more than a single wagon in a given day, and they waited for one party in particular to arrive.

"We're in enemy territory now. Keep your guard up at all times."

"Mhm."

The first thing I do once on my feet is change back into my trusted armour. It has a troublesome hole in the stomach, but I have no choice but to put on whatever defence I can in this mountainous nation.