The whispers mimicked a voice she knew all too well.

  Vivid images of day replayed in her mind.

  Evangelina smashed her fist into the wooden table, cursing at the air. “That’s the one thing you won’t let me forget, huh.”

  Beads of sweat rolled down her temple as she brought a trembling hand to the handle of her tea cup. With a distant look, she stared at the entrance of her lodgings through the kitchen window, and a faint memory surfaced.

  A broad back, going out into the world, and smiling brightly as the sun rose behind him. That back reminded her of the kid she’d just taken in, and there were other similarities between the two as well. Like that bright smile, and even…

  Even…

  What did he look like?

  The face was gone, submerged in darkness, along with his name, and most of what he meant to her. All she could remember was that back… and that smile.

  The tea cup shattered under Evangelina’s grip, hot liquid spilling over her hand..

  She laughed, bitter and broken. “Haha…” Her nails dug into her skin. “Dammit all…”

  —

  Somehow, Verity had forgotten to bring a torch, or any source of light. Rather, he’d hoped Felicia would have brought one, but he was not with her now.

  He was with Dawn.

  “Are you sure you don’t have a torch, or lantern, Dawn?” Verity asked for the second time.

  Dawn sighed, his steps echoing. “I told you already, Thieves see perfectly fine in the dark, I don’t need one.”

  Verity grimaced.

  In the end, it was on him for coming unprepared. All he could do was follow the sound of Dawn’s boots tapping against stone, immersed in darkness.

  Dawn chuckled. “Would you like me to hold your hand?”

  Frankly, that sounded quite tempting to Verity, but he wasn’t that shameless. “No..No.. I’m okay.”

  “Shame.” Dawn’s footsteps seemed to slow, and so Verity slowed his own pace as well. “Anyway, I have a few things I want to ask you, so you’ll be able to follow the sound of my voice.”

  Verity raised an eyebrow. “...You want to ask me something?”

  “”Yes!” Dawn exclaimed, excitement in his voice. “For starters, how long have you wielded a spear?”

  Verity wondered if this was really just an attempt at small-talk. “Around three months or so, why?”

  Dawn shrugged, though Verity could not see it. “Just curious. And that spear of yours, where did you get it?”

  “It was a uh… a gift, let’s say.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Hmm~ That armor’s pretty sleek too. Also a gift?”

  Since he had obtained it from the tutorial shop, Verity thought it better to not claim he had bought it in this world. “...Yes, you could say that.”

  Dawn’s tone remained light-hearted and warm, but if Verity could have seen him, he would have seen nothing but fury contorting the soft lines of his face.

  Dawn clasped his hands. “Wow~ Aren’t you lucky.” And he spoke the next words as a low, cold whisper. “I wonder… What exactly did you take from ?”

  Verity frowned in confusion. “Huh? What are you talki–”

  “Next question~” Dawn interrupted, his voice playful, yet containing a strange coldness. “Tell me, adventurer Verity… Have you ever lost someone precious to you? Have you ever felt such rage that all you could think of was rip apart what caused it?”

  At this point, Verity was completely lost. He couldn't even find the words to offer a response, but that did not matter, because Dawn was not waiting for one. Venom seeped from his words, and the young laidback man disappeared, as if swallowed by the darkness permeating the cave.

  Verity heard the sound of a blade being pulled from its sheath. “For a long, long time, I wondered what I’d do when this day would come…I’ve been suppressing it all this time, and… I don’t think I can hold back anymore…!”

  Before Verity could make sense of anything, his instincts screamed.

  CLANG

  The tip of Dawn’s dagger collided with the shaft of Verity’s spear, a perfect parry. In this darkness, Verity had no way to know where the strike would come from, but he had noticed Dawn had a tendency to go for the throat, or the heart. So he picked one of the two and hoped for the best.

  Verity leapt back, his heart racing. “What are you doing!?” he shouted.

  In the dark, and with the threat of death, Verity did his best to keep his cool as he’d been taught, but it was not easy. Against all odds, Dawn had just tried to kill him, but Verity cared little for the reason.

  He was shocked, sure, but instead of worrying about things that did not matter, his trained mind focused entirely on how to survive.

  He knew that fighting in the lightless expanse of the cave would put him at a tremendous disadvantage, but at the same time, running away and offering his back to Dawn would be the same as inviting the young man to kill him.

  He had to buy time. He had to talk to him while he thought of something, anything.

  Verity smiled wryly, hoping Dawn would see the panic on his face. “I see you’re set on killing me, but can I ask why?”

  Dawn scoffed in response. “Ah, right. You won’t know why you died if I do it like this.”

  The young Thief thought.

  He snapped his fingers and a small spark of light appeared, just bright enough to illuminate his figure.

  Verity thought of seizing this moment for one, decisive, attack but he was stopped in his tracks when Dawn brought his hand over his face and his figure began to change. “Perhaps this will make it more obvious,” he said, his voice morphing mid-sentence.

  A wooden mask fell to the ground, and Verity watched as Dawn’s entire physique shifted. His hair turned pink, cat ears sprouted atop his head, a tail unfurled behind him and his previously lean body was now curved and toned.

  Verity could hardly believe his eyes. “M-midnight…?” he stammered.

  Midnight sneered. “Ding Ding Ding~”

  Dawn turned into Midnight, the beast-woman Verity had met upon first arriving in this world. Together, they had fallen prey to the Flame Sword’s schemes, and had almost ended up dead, or worse.

  One part of him was glad that she was safe after the whole ordeal, while the other struggled to wrap its head around just why Midnight, of all people, would want to kill him.

  Midnight mistook Verity's confusion for surprise, and she scoffed. “Did you not expect me to survive?” She twirled her dagger around her finger. “It’ll take more than a little poison to kill me, bastard.”

  Midnight had gotten the details from Eleanor, the noble girl, and although she doubted the weak Verity could have done all that she claimed, seeing him now, she could only come to the conclusion that he’d been hiding his strength.

  The more she thought about it, the more what Eleanor had told her became undeniable.

  Still, Midnight was an experienced Platinum-ranked adventurer. She wasn’t one to trust anyone else's words at face value, a noble’s.

  So, she asked.

  “Verity…if that’s even your real name,” She considered her words carefully, her eyes fixed on Verity’s figure, and they eventually left her throat. “....Did you kill Ash?”

  If that was it, then this situation would be easy to solve.

  Verity narrowed his eyes, and let out a dry chuckle. “Midnight, Ash tried to–”

  “Answer the question!!” She spat “I don’t have a lie-detection skill, so it’ll be too difficult to tell lies from truth if you fill my head with words,” She looked Verity straight in the eyes, her vertical pupils narrowing. “So answer this one question truthfully….Did you kill Ash, the Flame Sword, or not?”

  Midnight was convinced that if it was such a simple, yet meaningful question, then her heightened beast-woman senses would allow her to see the truth.

  It seemed Midnight would not allow him to explain, and from what he saw, the moment he admitted to it, she would try to kill him.

  Yet, Verity did not want to lie. He did not want to run from what he’d done, not now, and not ever again. If the only words he were allowed to say were to answer that question, then he’d do so truthfully.

  Verity let out a long sigh, and he met Midnight’s cold gaze.

  “Yes, I did.”

  “I see,” she whispered.

  Her heart tightened, and her resolve was steeled. In her mind, there was no more room for discussion. Verity was telling the truth

  “Bu–”

  “Then die!”