Days had slipped by after the west battlefield turned into a sea of flame. The rebel army had won, and right now, they were marching closer to the Aethel Kingdom’s capital. Only stillness remained on the scorched earth, complemented by burnt corpses and the scent of death.

Few dared to travel there, not with the Samudra Sea to the west and the Whispering Forest to the north. The former was an uncharted territory with a depth unimaginable by a mere human mind. No one knew what exactly lurked down below, but sailors on voyages often talked about the echoes they had heard, ringing from day to night. 

The latter, as its name suggested, within the thick bushes and tall trees were voices that terrorized each individual entering. Inhumane yet inviting. Mystifying yet seducing. Same with Samudra Sea, what lay in its center was a mystery no one had discovered yet. Several adventurers set foot in this forest, wanting to uncover another secret of the world. But even if they survived, only those voices lingered inside their heads–like a curse, whispering a sweet lullaby until their inevitable slumber. 

So the west battlefield was left to rot. The unburied corpses became a feast for the crows, their beaks gouging into the eyes that still stared skyward. Wind carried the scent of death across the wasted ground. It was desolate of life. 

“Aiyaaaa….”

A man whistled his amusement away. Both hands were on his hips, fully observing what had been the west battlefield. His tanned skin glistened, while his black hair was neatly tied into a bun. It looked luscious compared to the thin stubble he had. 

A black eyepatch blocked his left eye, but the view was as clear as using both eyes.

“This looks more like a massacre rather than a battlefield,” he said. 

His sight darted from one spot to another. His black leather boots protected his feet from any hazard scattered all over the ground. Every step crunched on something different, though he also couldn’t be bothered checking them one by one. 

He ventured deeper into the battlefield. Something caught his attention as he crouched. 

“Enfir, look at this,” he said. 

The man named Enfir stood behind him the entire time, though only upon that man’s call did he take one step forward. The black shade he wore as a cloak almost blended him with the shadow beneath his feet.

“So grotesque, don’t you agree?” he continued. 

“....You haven’t even told me what to see.”

“That one.”

Dried blood marked the spot that the man had mentioned. On top of it, a hand had its flesh visible from the outside. Bones inside it protruded out like an array of spikes, all charred. Despite its appearance, it still had its complete set of fingers, all of them made a fist and gripped onto a snapped blade. Its steel glimmered no more. The rotten stench permeated the air. What’s more was the missing body. 

No head. No torso. No legs. 

Only a singular arm having lost its master. 

A pile of ash sat next to the arm. The next gust of wind came, and they all vanished, each speck went on a journey one couldn’t guess where to. The orange glow shone by the sun made the view eerily beautiful. 

“What a horrible sight. I begin to pity scavengers who will go here and see nothing valuable. Not even a decent sword or armor. Can’t say the same thing for rats, though. It’s a feast all day long.”

That man picked up a chunk of steel that had cracks all over it. The next second, he tossed it away until it hit something, probably another steel guessing from the noise. Then he did it again, now finding a crest with a Dragon insignia carved on it. He gave it a little spin with his finger before, once again, throwing it away. 

“Who did this again?” He snapped his fingers a few times, each snap supposedly helping him to remember. Alas, his efforts failed. “Enfir, do you remember?”

“It’s Gaia. Third Crown Prince’s party.”

Enfir stood behind him the entire time, though the black shade he wore as a cloak almost blended him with the shadow beneath his feet.

“Ahhh, that scaredy-cat-like girl. To think we’re working together with the likes of her….If we aren’t careful, we might get wiped out instead,” he said while adjusting his eyepatch slightly to the left. The eerie smirk on his face contradicted the words he had just spewed out. 

“I already told you not to accept any deals from the nobility.”

“That’s not how it works, dear Enfir.”

“Gross.”

“Every business needs money. No matter how despicable and dirty that business is, money is a must. Get it?”

“....”

“And this job gives us a bunch of money. Better to milk it as much as we can, don’t you think?”

Enfir stayed silent this time–not because he couldn’t answer, he just didn’t want to answer. It was a pain in the ass.

“Well, that’s enough for sightseeing. Let’s continue before our employer starts bitching.”

A few meters away from them, where blood didn’t soak the ground, two horses were tied to a tree. They appeared to be docile enough, but one couldn’t underestimate the sheer absurdity and chaos they might cause. 

So he turned around, planning to traverse the obstructing terrain towards their true destination.

“Malin.”

Not even a step had been taken yet, Enfir called him from behind. Malin–the man he had just called–stopped on his track.

Enfir continued. “Be careful. Sword shrapnel on the ground.”

“I know, I know.”