Inner Conflict

"That was closer than I would've liked it. Could you not have saved me earlier?"

"You had someone providing support. You were fine."

"Fine? He got taken out by someone. I was alone without help the entire time!"

"At least we got you out. Though I have to say, I wasn't expecting something like that to happen. Ragar got taken out by someone. From what I heard, that person wasn't even a soldier. And what was it that he used? A tomato?"

"Yes, Ragar got nailed in the face by a tomato."

"Ha, that's funny as h*ll," Nuhen chuckled.

"Oh, so you find that funny?" Nuhen felt a hand wrap around his neck from behind him and he turned around to find an unhappy-looking man with a bandage on his nose.

"So he broke your nose with that!?" Nuhen found that hilarious and laughed even harder but he suddenly choked when the hold around his neck tightened and he couldn't breathe. His face turned red and then black.

"Ragar? For f*ck's sake Ragar, you're actually going to kill him!? Let go!" Mesh grabbed Ragar's hand and tried to pull it off, but since he was far weaker than Ragnar, he couldn't do a thing. Nuhen also grabbed his arm and tried to free himself, but their combined might was still not enough. His eyes rolled up to his eye and he felt his body giving out.

"Ragnar!" a voice boomed. Ragar finally let go of Nuhen and he fell to the floor, coughing and gasping for air.

"Y-you little... I'll get you back for that!" Nuhen cursed at Ragar. He got back up and left the room.

"You're free to try at any time," Ragar coldly said back.

"You two, stop it already!" the new person sighed.

"Whatever you say, boss."

"Am I really your boss? Your tone doesn't make me think that."

"Apologies, I have a broken nose. Please forgive me if I don't sound respectful as I am not in the best of moods."

"Whatever. Nuhen, you're in charge of smuggling the gunpowder in."

"What? Why me again? Why not give this task to someone else. I'm always the one doing this cr*p and I'm tired of it."

"If someone else can do it then do you think I would be asking you? For the love of God, we're almost done with our mission. Just manage this and you won't have anything else to do."

"Is that a promise?"

"Yes. The rest of us can handle things from there. You just need to bring the gunpowder in."

"Alright. Just know this boss. If you end up asking me to do something else after, I'll ignore it."

Yeah, yeah, now get going," the man shooed Nuhen away. The short man rubbed his neck where he got choked and left the room. He gave Ragar a murderous look as he passed him and went to carry out his orders.

"So Ragar, can you explain to me what happened? I didn't hear it in full detail, but apparently, you got hit in the face by a... What was it? A tomato?"

"Yes," Ragar replied with indifference.

"Huh... Did you see the person who did it? I know you're the type to hold grudges."

"No. They were wearing a cloak and I didn't get a clear look."

"How lucky for them. Looks like they will be avoiding your wrath."

Ragar didn't say anything in response. He simply stood there with his arms crossed staring at the boss.

"You don't talk much do you."

"I only talk when it's necessary."

"I see. Well, I have my next mission for you."

"What is it?"

"I need you to find out about this year's roster. Specifically, if anyone of notice is participating."

"Consider it done." Ragar didn't wait to year anything else and left the room.

"Not the friendliest of souls, would you agree?" the boss said after he left.

"I wish he would talk a bit more," Mesh agreed. "Anyway, do you have something for me to do?"

"No, you're free for the time being. But if you want, you can help those two," he suggested.

"No, not a chance. I'm not helping either of those two," Mesh rejected the idea almost instantly.

"Suit yourself." The boss had nothing left to say and left the room as well, leaving Mesh all by himself alone in it. Mesh looked around a bit before getting bored and also leaving.

***

The sun was high up in the sky and the temperature was extremely hot. There were no clouds and therefore, people had to take cover in the shades and inside of buildings to get out of the heat. However, this wasn't a problem for Kies. He was sitting outside cleaning the old sword given to him by Nell.

Due to three people getting injured, Nell's squad was being pulled out of the mission which Kies wasn't happy about. He asked if he could join one of the other guard squads and continue the pursuit since he really needed to complete this request, but remembered that this request was given to him by Nell's father. He was asked by him to deal with the thieves but also to keep an eye on his daughter. He was to help her if she ever got in trouble.

In other words, he couldn't leave her squad and had to be around her at all times. He had to find some way to get them back on the mission if he wanted to catch the thieves. But that was going to be difficult as they had three injured people. It was going to be hard to go against the thieves when they were missing members. from just that one encounter Kies had with them, he knew that it was going to be a hard fight.

Kies scrubbed the sword with a wet cloth until all the dirty stuff was gone. After that, he washed it one more time to polish it and threw the cloth away. Kies held the sword up to the sun and took a moment to admire it. There was still some rust and cracks on it that he couldn't do anything about. He will have to go to a blacksmith and ask for a repair. But for the time being, the sword was in good enough shape to use.

Kies laid the sword against the wall and got up to stretch his body. He felt nothing as he did so, but it was a habit he picked up from his 'human' years whenever he finished training or got up after sitting for a long time.

Kies heard some footsteps and turned to see one of Nell's guards coming out of the door. "Hey, you're wanted. The captain needs to talk with you about something."

"Give me a moment. I'll be there in a second."

"Don't take too long." The guard headed back into the room.

Kies picked up the old sword and looked at it. He had nowhere to holster it on his body and would have to carry it with his hands. If only the thing could shrink or maybe turn into a glove-like his sword. It would save him a lot of trouble. But there shouldn't be any problem with leaving the sword out here. He could come and pick it up later when he finished talking to Nell.

Kies left the sword there and went into the building. Unlike the outside, the temperature was cool inside. Kies didn't know how they managed to keep the building at this temperature, but it certainly was pleasant. He walked through the hallway until he found the door that led to Nell's office and knocked on it.

"Come in," Nell's voice said on the other side.

Kies opened the door and walked in. "I heard you- Uh... What happened here?" The first thing that Kies saw when he entered was Wompa lying on the ground with a bunch of clothes scattered around her. She had her back turned to him so Kies had no idea if she was okay or not.

"Oh, I wanted to dress her up and see what clothes fit her. As it turned out, she looked great in everything."

"That's interesting to know..." Poor Wompa. He should've known what Nell was planning when she asked to 'borrow' her for a while. Oh well, she'll live. It wasn't like she got shot by an arrow or anything. But this was probably going to leave a scar, just not a physical one, but a mental one.

"How's your shoulder?" Kies saw that she had bandages over it but since she was sitting here and not lying on a bed at home, she was fine. But he asked anyway out of courtesy.

"I'm okay," she put her hand on her shoulder where she got shot. "It's a bit itchy, but I can't complain. It's the other two you have to worry about."

"Are they fine as well?"

"Yeah, they'll heal. They just won't be able to move for some time."

"That's good to hear. So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Kies asked her.

"Oh right! I almost forgot I called for you." Nell rubbed her chin trying to recall what she wanted to say. "I remember!" she snapped her fingers.

"Okay..." Kies didn't know how she could forget something that she wanted to say in just a few minutes, but it was good that she could remember it.

"I want you to join the tournament!"

Kies stared at her for a minute, waiting for her to explain why she wanted him to do that. When it was clear that she wouldn't explain, Kies asked her about it. "Why?"

"It's the thieves. We found out what their goal might be."

"And that is?"

"They're planning on doing something at the tournament. I want you to go in and find out about it."

"Okay, but why do I need to participate?" Kies was already participating in it, but he wanted to know why she wanted him to when he could just act as a spectator and keep his eye out for them. And didn't she have her guards? Why didn't she choose one of them instead? Or better yet, why didn't she just send all of them? Other than the two injured ones, the rest could handle this job just fine. Kies asked her about this and Nell explained to him why it has to be him.

"That's because they know our faces. If I send one of my men, they'll recognize them and become suspicious. It's too risky," she explained.

"Makes sense. So why do you want me to participate?" She still hasn't answered his first question.

"We think that they're going for one of the contestants. We're not sure which one so you will have to find out for us."

So the thieves were targeting one someone. It was true that it would be hard to discover who it is unless he joined himself. "And what makes you think I will make it far enough to learn about this?" In order for this to work, Kies would have to make it through the first round and possibly the second round as well to find out about which person the thieves were targeting. Kies wasn't sure if he could even make it past the first round since he couldn't use his magic or his own gear.

"That's easy. I'll train you."

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