First thing that struck me was how weirdly built this area looked. Some buildings were taller than I could see, while the others beside them were rural houses. Spacious roads that led to nowhere and unnaturally looking signs of the language I could not understand, gave an eerie vibe. Well, the last point, not so weird, because I hadn't learned how to read yet.

Ban, noticing my stare which was pointed at the place around us, chuckled a bit. "No one usually comes to this area because it's a good hiding spot for criminals. Well, it's also close to the forest... and you know... all those horror stories and all... Most of the locals have already moved away, and the few that remain rarely leave their houses"

"Then...why are you here?" I asked him, because if it was such a dangerous area, wouldn't it also make sense for him to avoid this place like everyone else does?

Maybe he's confident in himself. I mean, he can wield fire after all. He also seems quite quick on his feet.

Our conversation continued with multiple back-and-forths, even though my answers and questions were awfully short. After a while, I started feeling a bit more comfortable talking with him. Not only that, but he also didn't question where I am from or what I was doing in the inescapable forest. He likely sensed that I didn't want to talk about it. Everything continuing forward went smoothly, until...

*BOOM*

An explosion went off a few meters away from us, just a bit above the rural-type house. Ruble went flying everywhere, but there was no one in sight. After a few seconds, a man had finally appeared. Bloodied and bruised up, he seemed to be carrying something. Almost immediately the guy began glancing frantically at all sides. It didn't take long until he locked eyes with us. Following that, the man started sprinting towards us and just milliseconds after, he threw whatever he was carrying at us. Confused, I caught the item hidden by the blanket. As I glanced up to look at the guy, he was already gone.

Full of confusion, I looked at Ban thinking I'd get some kind of explanation on what was going on, but to my surprise, he was just standing there. Before I even got the time to open my mouth, another man rushed towards us while screaming "GIVE IT BACK!"

The most logical thing to do was, well, to give the item back. Unfortunately, what made the situation more difficult was the knife he was carrying and waving. Quite clearly from just looking at his face and body language you could tell he had no plans on resolving this peacefully. Wasting no time, I immediately started turning away and preparing to run back to the forest. Even though that was the last place I wanted to dash to.

As I was about to rush full speed ahead toward the fence, which was at this point quite far from us, I perceived a bright light rapidly getting brighter now behind me. As I turned to look at the source of that light, I noticed Ban releasing fire from all over his body. Even the man froze in this tracks. As that fire got brighter and brighter, weird red markings appeared all over his face. Only an instant later he flew past the distance between him and the guy. In a mere moment, Ban's hand connected with the man's stomach, sending him flying.

As the markings dissipated, he gracefully landed back on the ground. Not wasting any time, he turned my way and remarked in a loud voice "We should hurry up and leave this place as quickly as possible! If we don't, we for sure will run into more trouble!"

While not being able to disagree with a single thing he said, I rushed to his direction.