Currently, in the church...

In the stage where the half-broken was were two boys standing opposite to each other.

Those boys were Kayn and Marcus.

With mana flaring through their body, they clashed each other with their fist.

And Marcus who was throwing punches left and right had no chance against the 2nd-tier Kayn.

"Huff-Huff, Why cant I hit you!"

Stoping with their training, they both seated exhausted on the ground.

"Its alright Marcus, sooner or later you will catch up to no time." Kayn comforted Marcus.

"And when will that be!? We are just 1 year younger than you and we are a league apart!" Marcus yelled frustrated.

Looking at this hand, his eyebrows frowned as a small red spot appeared as quickly as it disappeared.

"Ugh...Are you stronger because of those?" Marcus grumbled slightly tired.

"Marcus!" Seeing that, Kayn grabbed at this shoulder and looked at Marcus directly into this eyes.

"Dont do that ever again, Marcus. You know what will happen if you force it out of you own now."

"But...If we dont get stronger quicker, then sooner or later, that man will kill us all! You know it as well as I do!" Marcus yelled frustrated as this eyes started to tear up.

Many who heard him had bitter smiles on their face including Kayn too.

Though the man called Danzel said that he would let them stay as long they kept on the rules, even himself didnt know if he kept into these words.

A month ago where he got scolded by the man, the words he said still kept repeating through this head ever since, unable to forget them.

`Can you hold the responsibility of their deaths?

And this answer to it would be no.

Of course, he couldn't.

As the oldest and strongest of them all, he was forced to lead them to a better place.

However, this task alone is big enough for a kid this age.

Telling him to hold responsible for the deaths of these family members was even for him who was forced to grow both mentally and physically too much.

Alas, they needed someone who could put their trust into and show them the way of a better future.

'It's too much...' Kayn shook this head internally.

Seeing Marcus who was usually showing off to the others focusing now to train hurt him even more.

With their head staring down dejected, Anna who appeared behind them chopped at heir heads with her hands.

"You idiots, don't joke around like that. Can't you see you are ruining the mood?"

Patting this head out of pain, Margus glared at Anna with anger.

"Why did you do that!? We just told the truth-" before he could finish, an elbow to this stomach managed to stop this tongue talking wild.

"Hmpf, Don't raise your tone on your big sister!"

With Marcus rolling around in pain, many chuckles joined the room, making the other kids continue what they were doing.

Getting closer to them, Anna whispered to their ears.

"Don't talk about him so loud. Everyone here tries to put the effort to forget about that scythe in their neck. We shouldn't remind them of him for now."

As soon as she said so, a clicking sound could be heard on the door.

Unlocking the door, a tall figure wearing dark gray armor with a man leaning towards this shoulder were to seen.

"Move..."

Hearing the voice, the kids playing nearby the door made their way to the side.

The moment he walked in, everyone got wary of him with soon their gazes meeting the man limping to his side.

'Who is this? Another victim?' Everyone thought at the same time.

Seeing a limping man with his pants full of dirt and his hair messed up would obviously bring such doubts.

"Anna you jinx..." Marcus teased from the side.

The duo ignoring them, walked towards the statue until they came to a sudden halt.

Turning this head around, Danzel stared at the trio looking anxiously at him.

Raising this finger at them, he pointed at Anna specifically.

"You...follow me and bring your bag, while at it." Danzel said before opening the trap door with his key.

Stunned, her legs started to shake.

"W-Why?"

Without even looking at her, he replied harshly.

"Because I am telling you to come. If not I will force you to come."

"We will be coming too!" Kayn and Marcus swiftly added with a determined look on their faces.

Looking at them, Danzel shook his head.

"No, I got no need of you two. That girl alone is good enough" Without waiting for their reply, he walked down the stairs while helping the guy.

Watching him disappear to the stairs, everyone got near Anna with looks of worry.

"Big sister, don't go!"

"The man is going to eat you!"

"He is going to kill you!"

The children cried desperately to keep her from following the man.

Starting at her small siblings Anna showed a bitter smile.

"Sorry guys, I got to go..." She said as he picked up her bag.

As she was about the walk the stairs, someone gripped her by her hand.

"Anna, don't go..." Marcus said.

"That's right Anna, we can try using his secret reject this request" Kayn added.

Shaking her head she replied.

"I can't hold the responsibility, Kayn..."

Saying that she rushed down the stairs leaving the group sight.

Marcus and some others wanted to follow suit, but Kayn stopped them as if reminded by the contract.

Walking down the stairs, what Anna saw stunned her.

Many kinds of different weapons lying around with letters on them and walls cut smoothly into half were to be seen.

And in the middle of the room was the knight together with the man lying down on a flat stone table.

The moment Danzel turned around, she suddenly felt dread creeping slowly in her heart.

"You... Come here." With fear and confusion planted in her face, she dreaded forward.

Looking down at her who had barely half my height, he pointed at the man.

"Treat that man like you have done by that kid Kayn."

"Huh?" Looking at the man's pained expression she nodded somewhat confused.

Walking towards him she pulled a bandage and other stuff that she would need.

"Ghh...Sorry kid, having to do this" The man said before this expression turned to one of pain.

"Don't move..." Saying that she put all her focus on treating him.

And after around 20 minutes she put her tools back and looked at Danzel.

"I am finished, what now?"

"Mhhh...well done, you might go back."

"Thanks kid..." The man in the table said.

Staring Danzel in silence for a few seconds, she nodded solemnly and made her way towards the stairs.

With them now alone, an awkward silence befell the room.

Seeing the dark knight staring at him in silence, he gulped and said.

"What do you want from me?"

Danzel though didn't answer immediately and continue torturing the man with this silence for a while.

"What I want from you it's exactly what in the contract was. A deal..."

"Hmpf, stupid. Kill me now and be done with it."

Danzel though shook this head.

"That, I can not do. What I can do however is to give this in often bases."

Putting a bag full of gold coins in front of him, the man had this eyes fixed in the bag.

'So many...'

"This bag can be all yours with many to come if you accept my deal."

"What deal..?"

Hearing that, Danzel had a grin of a gambler fooling their opponent.

Once this opponent sat on the table, they had already lost the battle.

"Here is the deal. First, you promise not report me to that magic caster. Once you break that promise, the contract will burst in flames and I will be forced to leave. If that were to happend you should be expecting me to go after your neck not long after."

"Second... you will help me help sell my items without revealing my identity."

Staring Danzel with a frown, the man shook this head.

"I-I cant...your deal has way too many holes. Once things go out I will be punished to something much worse than death."

"Then you have to make it work somehow since your life depends on it." He shrugged this shoulders at him.

He knew that this plan had many holes in it.

Or rather the plan was made pure out holes.

Telling him that he will hunt him down and all was nothing more than a blatant lie of his.

Why should he care about this life if he were to be running for this dear life?

Revenge?

Hell no.

Once the paper catch on fire he wouldnt even think of staying here for a second more.

Honestly, he was starting to have a headache from the situation that he was in.

Killing the guy would probably raise an unwanted red flag upon him, but if he didnt the chances of him stitching were high.

Both options had their own risk and Danzel was willing to bet it on the man's greed.

"You might not know, but a single one of those weapons over there could probably sell for hundreds if not thousands of gold coins. Arent you mercenary? Think about all the wealth that we can manage to amass together. We will be earning so much that bribing one or two to keep their mouth shut wouldnt be a problem." Danzel said while opening the bag full of gold coins to be seen.

"Hmpf! By bribing do you mean like me?"

In response, Danzel stayed silent.

He only put this hand on the hilt while solemnly staring at him.

Seeing that the man's breath became heavier and this heartbeat faster than before.

Although this position on the Durendal Association was pretty well paid compared to the other people who worked directly for the association. This usual income was around 5 to 8 gold per month which could be considered as successful already.

But even he couldnt help but gulp at the amount of gold that was shown in front of him.

The moment these eyes trailed of in Danzel's hand that was touching the hilt, the man nodded with a sigh.

"Alright...I will do it."

Without showing any reaction, Danzel places a contract in front of him, saying [Is your choice sincere?].

Placing a dagger in front of him, he pointed at the runic letters.

"Let a few drops of your blood there." Danzel said while staring at him with a cold gaze.

Picking anxiously the dagger, he cut this finger and let some blood run out.

Each drop that fell made him flinch slightly.

With these eyes glued at the contract, a green light came out of the runes.

"Wha-!" Shocked, the man's expression had fear written over all of this face.

'Will it flare up!?'

But unexpectedly, the light shortly faded away with the contract remaining unharmed.

"With this our we have a deal...."