Whatever It Takes

The atmosphere turned dark. Rem wasn't pleased to see the person she was trying to get away from in the same room as her.

'I couldn't sense him because of the barrier around this room... I should be more careful.' Rem thought.

"Aren't you two friends?" The King asked.

"You didn't lie to me, did you?" The King faced Lawrence.

"Of course not, Your Majesty. I'm just here to bring my friends back to the others." Lawrence replied, pushing his glasses up with his right hand.

"You two may leave." The King said, shooing them away.

Rem stood up as they both left the room. A few minutes after they left, the King began to giggle. Then, he laughed like a maniac.

"Hahahaha!!!" The King smiled like a crazy person.

"I can't believe the strongest being lost his memories... This is seriously hilarious...!" The King said aloud.

"I was trying to find him for decades! For so long, I've been searching, and now what? He just came to me! Hahaha!!! Ha... Since he lost his memories, it would be much easier to get rid of him. I'll give him the worst possible death he could ever experience." The King muttered.

He had a large grin on his face.

"The report I was given last time, I didn't believe her. Now, I do. Just you wait... This time, I'm going to win." The King said in a determined and creepy tone, stabbing the report with his pen.

...

Rem was speed walking towards Roy's room. Lawrence was following her from behind.

'He's so annoying...!' Rem thought, furrowing her brows.

"I won't leave unless I get you behind the bars again," Lawrence said stubbornly.

"Give up already."

"No, I can't leave a monster run around. You're lucky that you gained attention from the elven King. If you didn't, I could have dragged you back..." Lawrence stated, keeping up with Rem.

"Tch..." Rem opened the door to the room she and Alex were put in and quickly slammed it shut in a split of a second.

*BANG!

Lawrence stood outside, shocked. He muttered something under his breath. Rem heard him curse, but she ignored it.

"Alex, we're going to live in this city for a while. Since we're here, we might as well gather some resources and level up some more. You want to get stronger, right?"

"Yes, I want to get stronger!" Alex replied, his eyes glistening.

"It's best to leave here first. I don't like resting in a room that's being watched..." Rem whispered.

Alex nodded as Rem carried Alex. She opened the window, jumping down to the ground. They were on the third floor. However, Rem easily got down. She landed swiftly, similar to how a cat would land after they fall.

'Master, they're acting very suspiciously. They're not allowing me to leave the room.' Roy claimed, using telepathy.

'I see... Well, for some reason, I don't trust the elven King. He's hiding something from us...' Rem's instincts are telling her to not trust him.

'I'll stay here and inspect what they're doing.' Roy suggested.

'Alright. Alex and I will find an inn to stay in. After that, we'll be grinding for some levels.'

'Got it.'

As time passed, Rem and Roy can eventually sense where their partners are because their bonds have grown.

'Good... The lie detector isn't following us.' Rem was jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

Soon, she arrived outside the elven kingdom.

'Why does Alex carry the huge sword on his back? The sword's larger and probably even heavier than him...!'

"You always carry that greatsword. May I ask why?" Rem asked.

She was curious as to why Alex would carry it around everywhere. Alex didn't reply.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Rem quickly said, not wanting to make a child cry.

She wasn't sure about how to deal with a crying child.

"It's a birthday present from my dad before he left..." Alex responded after a while.

"Oh..."

Rem remembered the day the portals appeared. She had to use the katana her father gifted to her.

'For a kid who lost his parents at a young age, it must be harsh. That's what makes him stronger.' Rem thought, wondering about how her parents were like in her past life.

*AHHHHHHHH!!!

Rem stopped in her tracks.

'A scream?'

"Someone needs help!!!" Alex pointed out.

Rem ran towards the scream. When she arrived at the scene, there were many bodies on the ground. A broken wagon can be seen with many other people. Some were injured while others are being eaten and ripped apart by the large, green ogres.

'Alex needs to be prepared to kill. Someday, he might even have to kill someone that's a half-ogre like him. I know this is cruel, but one day, he'll have to kill sooner or later...'

"Alex, you can use this as practice." Rem stated, binding all the ogres.

There were 9 ogres in total. The survivors from the ogres' attack were trembling. They watched Rem and Alex with scared expressions on their faces.

"B-But they smell similar to my kind!" Alex exclaimed, trembling by the ogres' presence.

He could feel how strong they were. He knew he could never defeat one of them with his strength.

"You want to get stronger, yes? If you do, simply slice each one of them. I suggest you slice the head so it's an instant kill."

"I-I..." Alex stuttered, not knowing what to say.

"Choose whether or not you want to kill them. If you want to get stronger and get your revenge, you have to kill. It's now or never." Rem said sternly, waiting for Alex's reply.

Alex got off of Rem's arms that were carrying him and walked towards an ogre. He unsheathed the greatsword that he always carried on his back.

*SpLaTtEr!

Alex decapitated the ogre's head. Rem could Alex trembling a bit. One after another, he killed the ogres.

'At this age, he shouldn't be killing. The world sure is cruel...'

{Why are you helping him?}

'I'm not too sure. Maybe because he's similar to me...?'

「Master is kind.」

'I don't know...' Rem glanced at Alex's afraid yet determined eyes.

"Good job." Rem patted Alex's head.

'Ah... He looks like he's about to cry. W-What should I do???'

Suddenly, a man holding a knife using both of his hands charged at Alex, trying to stab him. Before he could do so, Rem ruthlessly cut off both of the man's hands. This left the man screaming.

*GAHHHHHHHH!!!

"M-My hands...!" The man gasped, falling to the ground.

Rem glared at the man, releasing a small portion of her killing intent. The man was shaking in fear.

"Is this the first thing you do after we saved your life?" Rem asked, clearly annoyed.

The man was unable to move or look at Rem in the eyes. A few seconds later, he passed out, cold.

'Oh, wow...' Rem stored the ogre bodies into her inventory.

She then looked at the survivors.

'There are only three survivors. Two hiding in the wagon, and the last one is... Urgh, just looking at him makes me sick.' Rem walked towards the broken wagon.

What she saw shocked her.

'What the fudge??!'