After several hours of travel, the group settled down for a short break. Turned out Hiroko wasn’t a half-bad hunter and had managed to snag a few rabbits. Sadly for Ves, it hardly counted as a snack, and eating it cooked also just tasted off now. Almost like it had gone bad, strange as that sounded. Feeling eyes on her, she looked up and could see Hiroko staring at her.

“What?”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to stare. It’s just a lot to process. The only two people one body thing among all the other things you told me.”

“How do you think I feel living it?”

That got a chuckle out of the man, “Fair point.”

“She is an odd one,” Yujiro added in. Despite his injuries, the idiot insisted on coming along, riding on the wolf’s back the whole way. Which only made her feel doubly exhausted.

“Say, Ves, I have a question regarding your brand. Why did it stop suppressing you?” Yujiro asked.

“What do you mean? It’s not like it went away.”

“Sorry, I mean, why did it stop after the questions were over. To be blunt, will it force you to attack us to keep whatever secrets it tried so hard to keep you from saying?”

“I’m curious about that as well. While I don’t think you revealed much of anything, it makes me worried about what we are going to find.”

Ves shook her head, “No need to worry about that, my orders are only not to reveal any secrets myself. If you stumble upon them yourself, I’m under no compulsion to stop you.”

Yujiro let out a sigh of relief, “Good, I was worried you would try and silence us or something.”

“Thankfully, no, orders like that are seldom given. They tend to result in unintended consequences.”

“How so?” Hiroko asked.

“The brand itself isn’t intelligent or anything. It reads my thoughts and emotions. Taking action if I myself think I am disobeying, but there lies the issue, it’s all based on what I think. But what if what I think is not in line with my master’s intent?”

“Not sure I follow,” Yujiro asked.

“Here is an example, say I was ordered to deliver a package and keep its contents secret at all costs. On the surface, it’s a simple enough order. But what if, during transport, I trip on a busy street, and the object stumbles out of its container into view for a brief second? I quickly cover it back up. Maybe nobody noticed, but can I be certain that is the case? That question could linger in the back of my mind. If someone saw, then it’s no longer secret. That doubt is all the brand needs to force me to act. I’m now sitting in a busy street where I can’t be certain who saw what, but my orders were at all costs. Any potential witness must be dealt with. With the situation continuing to spiral out of control with every seed of doubt I am forced to act on.”

“Has that actually ever happened?” Hiroko asked, looking pale.

“To me? No, but I have heard stories. Long story short, masters tend to be very careful with the orders they give branded. Even seemingly benign orders can turn into tragedies if taken to the extreme.”

“Gods, that’s just wrong,” Yujiro mumbled to himself.

“It really is”.

After their rest was over, the group was back to it. Ves was utterly lost. How the dragonewts were managing to navigate the forest was a mystery to her. She had a hard enough time keeping track of the direction they came from, let alone which way was west, especially this late at night. Eventually, they found it, the road at least, just as Ves remembered. Road was generous; it was little more than a game trail, just barely wide enough for a carriage to travel. Still, compared to what they had just spent hours traveling through, it was night and day.

“Well, I’ll be, I think Ves was right.” Yujiro was currently looking over the path while Hiroko nodded in agreement.

“Illuminate,” Hiroko spoke as a soft ball of light appeared in his open palm, like the gentle glow of a lamp, before he kneeled and looked at something on the ground.

“You’re a mage?” Ves asked in surprise.

“No, but even body cultivators often learn a few simple spells, just don’t expect me to start hurling fireballs or anything wild like that.”

“Wish I could learn that, never was allowed to get a cultivation blessing.”

Hiroko stared at Ves for a moment. “What, you're not a cultivator? I just assumed, seeing how strong you are.”

“Nope, it's all Nell. Not really human anymore, remember?” Ves said as she waved her claw at the man.

“Point taken,” Hiroko mumbled, looking a bit disturbed before he looked back to the road. Even with Yujiro’s good word, it was clear Hiroko didn’t trust or was at least wary of her.

As the two continued to kneel there, Ves walked up to the pair as she finally asked, “So, what are you looking at?”

Hiroko looked up at her, “Tracks, maybe a day old, maybe a little more. More importantly, it includes dragonewts.”

“How can you tell?” She asked, noting that they were both wearing boots.

Hiroko looked up, “It was night when we were attacked. Many dragged out without shoes. Seeing as they have children with them, they should be traveling much slower than we are. Goddess willing, we’ll catch up soon.”

They were back on the move, and Ves’s legs burned, all six of them. This was certainly a downside to having two bodies she and Nell hadn’t predicted. They had maintained a steady pace all day, the sun already setting. One foot in front of the other, it’s all she could think about. She had thought reaching the road meant they were almost there; how wrong she was.

“Ves”

Ideal in her thoughts, she wondered how far south the river had taken her. No wonder she ran into refugees.

“Ves!”

‘Ves!’

“Huh?” was all she managed to say before she tried to look back, only to trip on a rut in the road and face-plant into the ground. Back down the path, she could see the others smirking at her mishap. Embarrassed, she pretended nothing had happened and ran back to the others.

“Why did you all stop?”

Hiroko pointed at the ground, “The trail splits off here. My guess is this path leads to their hideout. The tracks also look much fresher. We are close.” He was right. Not even twenty minutes later, and they had found it. The same unassuming shack nestled in the trees she had visited with her master a few years prior. It didn’t look like much, but there was a reasonably large underground section. That’s where they would find the captives. Captives and many armed guards.

“What’s the plan?” Ves asked.

“For now, you fall back out of sight and rest. I’ll scout it out. Then we can form a plan from there.” Ordered Hiroko.

“But we’re so close!” Ves protested before Hiroko shushed her to be quiet.

“We are also exhausted, and that place has good sight lines. It’s best we rest and wait for dark.”

Ves relented. He had a point, and she admitted to herself that fighting in her current state felt foolhardy. Still, she knew what was in there, all the cages filled with starving people. They would take people here and break them. Torture them until they willingly signed any contract, no matter how terrible the terms, just to make it all stop. It was all illegal, of course, but as long as it was limited to foreigners, it only took a few bribes to slip the newly contracted into Kohdessia’s markets. By evening, they were ready to go.

“Before we start, Ves, I need to ask you something,” Yujiro spoke up with concern in his eyes. “Have you killed before? Not an animal but a person.”

Glassy eyes stared back at her as blood from her own broken nose dripped on the boy’s face. A fellow branded, another child, only a few years older. Tears clouded her sight as she felt the rock she used to take his life still clutched in her hand. Around her were cheers from the young nobles who watched. At their center, the prince who ordered her to fight smirked and counted his winnings. He had placed his bet on her.

‘Ves?’ Nell’s concerned voice pulled her back to the present. She had spent years repressing those memories, but every now and then they would resurface. Still, she had her answer.

“Yes”, Ves was thankful the man didn’t pry. She could only imagine the expression she was making.

“Ok, quick review of the plan. First, we lure them out with smoke traps. They will be hard to see in the dark, but as long as we place them upwind, the lookouts are sure to notice the smell. Then Ves and Nell will take out the lookouts after they have left the safety of the base. This should give myself and Yujiro a chance to secure the entrance. As soon as you two are done, join back up at the entrance. Three of us will enter while Yujiro covers our backs from the trees. Understood?”

The other three all nodded.

“Good, I’ll go start the smoke traps. Ves and Nell move out after the bastards are in position.”

It didn’t take long after that before the first signs of movement began to show. By now, even Ves could smell the smoke. It was hard to see, but it smelled just like someone was cooking over a campfire. Hiroko explained that the goal was to distract them without tipping them off that they were under attack. From where she waited, she could just barely see the first set of scouts heading out to investigate. For now, Ves dared not get any closer. She knew herself, and Nell were awful at sneaking.

Soon enough, the scouts were in position, and Ves moved out. As she crept closer to her target, as carefully as she could, only one thing was on her mind. Could she do it? Could she really kill someone? While she had killed before, it had been a command. This time, she was going to take a life of her own free will.

Hiroko had told them he had found evidence of the captives, so it was clear they had the right targets. No question of their guilt. There were hidden air vents scattered around the area, and if he listened closely, he could hear the sobs of captives coming from below. That reminded her of who these people were — slavers. Lowest form of scum, the very idea that there were people who made their living off stripping the freedom of others, sickened her. As she thought about it, she felt more pity for the wolves she had killed. At least they killed to eat, to survive. So no, she would feel no remorse; she would kill these men. She would do it to make the world a better place.

Picking her first target, she didn’t even get within twenty steps before they noticed her. As the man locked eyes with Ves, he looked at her in shock. Though Ves supposed running into a dirty-looking woman with matted silver hair wearing a wolf shawl would surprise most people. It didn’t save him; the second Ves saw him reach for his weapon, she charged. Barreling into the man as the two tumbled, ending up with her on top, pinning him to the ground with her claw firmly clasped around his throat. For a moment, they just stared at each other, but as soon as she felt him take a deep breath to try to scream, she squeezed. With almost no effort at all, his throat and most of his neck were cut to ribbons. Tears poured from his terror-filled eyes as the only sounds he got out were the gurgled sounds from choking on his own blood.

Standing Ves looked down at her blood-soaked claw and the dead man below her, and she felt nothing. She had killed a man, looked him in the eye while doing it, and felt nothing. This death caused her none of the guilt and sorrow that the boy from her childhood had. In fact, if she was truly being honest with herself, it wasn’t that she felt nothing. She felt catharsis. Relief that she was no longer the victim, for once in her life, she was the one with the power. Still, she had to focus, there was work to be done. More filth to remove from the world.

Quickly, she swapped her senses over to the wolf body Nell was in. Seeing the body of another man before he told her all she needed to know about Nell’s success. Still, to make sure Nell was okay, she pushed her senses further, just to see if the wolf had been injured in any way. Thankfully, it was fine, but it allowed Ves to notice something, something she could taste, something good. Looking down at the bite mark-riddled corpse below, she realized exactly what it was. With a jolt, she pulled all her senses back to her true body and threw up. Threw up on the body of the man she had just killed, she felt a little bad for that.

‘Ves, are you ok?’

Quietly, “I’m fine, Nell, just a little startled, let’s get back to it.”

It didn’t take long for Ves and Nell to clean up the few remaining scouts. She wasn’t about to pretend they had been all that quiet, but seeing as there was no sign of reinforcements, they were likely in the clear. Carefully, the pair made their way back to the building. One it looked like Hiroko had already secured the entrance at least.

“Either of you hurt?” he asked as soon as they arrived. Both just shook their heads, and he looked to give them an approving nod before leading them inside. The building itself looked to be little more than a simple hunter’s cabin. One that had seen better days, but was still usable and lived in. Ves knew that was just a front; the real operation lay below. Ves couldn’t help but notice the bodies of two more guards in the room.

“Ready?” he asked, as Ves and Nell again nodded in response.

“Good, from here on, we need to be quick and careful. Can’t risk them taking hostages.” Hiroko then pulled aside an old carpet, revealing a hidden door. On the other side of the door was a long, poorly lit stone staircase. Following Hiroko’s lead, the trio descended.