Even Criminals Have Homes

A few weeks had passed since the incident, and since then, Robin had not said a word. Occasionally, they would be attacked by a monster or beast, but they would quickly be dealt with without much effort. As it turned out, everyone in their party was quite powerful. Frederick already knew as much, but to see them actually in action left him undeniably impressed.

At this point, all knights had to do was keep a look out and things would sort themselves out.

Things had settled into a sort of status quo, however one member couldn’t help but notice the unwanted sneaky attention from another member in their party.

“What do you want?” he said, still sitting on top of the hooded wagon.

“You noticed?”

“I’m a trained thief. I’d be a joke if I couldn’t spot someone looking at me, Frederick.”

For the past couple of days, Robin couldn’t help but notice his gaze.

“I haven’t done anything to arouse suspicion, have I? Get off my back.”

“No, nothing of the sort,” Frederick replied. “I wanted to see if you were feeling well.”

“Well-?”

“Yes. Pardon my intrusiveness. I noticed earlier, but didn’t quite know what to say. ”

In the end, Frederick gave a solemn bow, clearly not wanting to overstep any boundaries, but caring too much to not. Robin groaned in response.

“You’re insufferable, anyone told you that?” he said and scratched the back of his head. “The first village we’re heading to…”

“First village? Ah...”

Not saying anything more, Frederick just nodded his head in understanding.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “We’re only there to resupply. We’ll be gone in a day. If you wish, you needn’t even leave the wagon.”

“Yeah...” Robin replied, seemingly still conflicted over something.

But that was the most assurance Frederick could give him before returning to the front.

“It’s his hometown,” Frederick told Tristan.

The village they were heading towards, Mirtue, was the village Robin frequented before he was captured. There was no record of anyone with his physical description existing in the village, but somehow he had a lingering connection to it. They never got an answer why, and it seemed like he had no interest in telling.

“I see… hopefully he won’t cause any complications later,” Tristan said.

“I’m sure he won’t. For what it's worth, it seems he can be reasoned with.”

“I don’t know what you see in him, but maybe your senses have gotten dull. And besides, I’m more concerned for you than him.”

“Me?”

“Feign ignorance all you want, it’s all too clear. You’ve been having trouble sleeping, haven’t you?”

Frederick’s eyes widened at Tristan’s scarily sharp observation. He hadn’t missed sleep at all, it was one of the things he made sure to keep steady as he didn’t want to lose his edge when the time came for battle. However, even after getting ample time, he still felt rather lethargic. It wasn’t any sort of curse or spell, he knew that much. It was something else, but the thought bothered him too much to dwell on. Still, despite never wanting to be seen in such a vulnerable position, the man could only sigh in relief after being caught.

“It is true, I haven’t been feeling the best as of late. But fret not, my friend. No matter what we encounter, or my current condition, my skills with the blade shall not falter. You have my word.”

Seeing Frederick say those words with such an earnest smile, Tristan too breathed a sigh of relief.

“I truly can’t understand you.”

Frederick gave a small chuckle as they continued on their way.

“You’ve always been like this, even when you first joined the order.”

Frederick could tell Tristan was trying to steer his mind elsewhere, but even if just for now, he humoured his earnest (albeit obvious) attempt.

“Yeah. When I first visited the capital, the first thing I did was run up to Sir Logan and challenged him to a duel.”

It was a foolish choice for a boy younger than ten, but he was more stubborn than he was smart, and challenged the Red Knight to prove himself worthy.

“I see… I don’t suppose you won?” Tristan asked, dumbfounded.

“Heaven’s no. I barely lasted a minute against him… but that was fine… the duel was a masqueraded trial. Sir Logan declared that if I were to remain standing after one minute, I would be allowed to train to be part of the order.”

“I never expected you to actually last that long,” Sir Logan chimed in, approaching them with his own horse. “No matter how many times I struck, he refused to fall to the ground. It came to a point that I couldn't hit him too hard, or else he would have died.”

“How cruel of you, Master,” Tristan said.

At the time, Sir Logan believed it would be fruitless for Frederick to believe an impossible dream, so he slammed his wooden sword down at him as quickly as he could, but the boy wouldn't stop. Eventually, a minute passed and Frederick “won,” but celebrating too early, he didn’t notice Sir Logan swung down once more, and he collapsed onto the ground.

“He forgot that it was still a duel. It didn’t end just because he survived a minute.”

“Master, it just sounds like you were annoyed.”

Sir Logan gave a hearty laugh and replied “that may be so,” before they continued travelling.

Reminiscing about the old days, Sir Logan looked at the sky, feeling nostalgic.

“If I could, I would want us to remain together as allies till the end.”

“Don’t worry, Master. Even if you look ugly and mean and scary, we won’t abandon you,” Tristan said.

Frederick’s mood lightened just engaging in familiar old banter with his colleagues, but that lovely moment was cut short by a call.

“Master Frederick, Master Logan!” Nout’n shouted and pointed toward the horizon.

The closer they got, the clearer it became, there was smoke. Large patches of smoke in Mirtue village. And upon seeing this, the first to react viscerally was Robin.