Chapter 128 - His Responsibility

Rynold woke up a few hours later.

He was wrapped in an eerie sense of calm. Admittedly, he hadn't been this relaxed for quite a while. Rynold could feel the wood as his back pressed on the bed frame. But, for some reason, his head was resting on something rather soft.

Groaning ever so quietly, Rynold opened his eyes to a person who had been watching him sleep. It was creepy at first, but he could barely make out the person's gleaming eyes. They had been watching him carefully and sincerely. It was a nice feeling.

Rynold got up from his back, but a sudden jolt of pain shot up his leg. He hissed from the pain of the now-treated leg wound.

"You shouldn't move so much," Lissa said with a calm and caring voice. She immediately grabbed Rynold's head and forced it on her lap.

"Damn it," Rynold gritted his teeth as he let out a low curse. He openly stared at Lissa, who had been staring at him with a heavy amount of sympathy.

However, it was clear that Rynold didn't like being looked at that way. Rynold had a job to do. This was not the time for him to be looked down on.

"No. We have to move. We can't stay here for too long," Rynold tried to move once more but was met again with heavy difficulty.

"Please don't try to move anymore. You were terribly injured. You're in no condition to move, let alone fight," Lissa warned once more. Her voice was burdened with concern for Rynold.

Rynold could hear it. The concern behind her words. To which, he was simply irritated in response.

"Sorry," Rynold stubbornly dismissed Lissa's warm sentiment, "I can't sit still and wait for people to die. Not when I have anything to do to stop it."

This time around, determined to do what he set out to do, Rynold gritted through the pain and sat up. He wasn't as helpless as he appeared. Rynold was determined to fight it out with the bastard who was about to commit genocide. He just hoped that he wasn't too late.

Rynold set his feet on the ground with excruciating effort. Both of his hands were on the edge of the bed frame. It was a struggle to put weight on his left leg without feeling pain.

Staring at the wound that was still bloodied but now closed up, Rynold clicked his tongue. He then shifted his gaze to Lissa, who had a concerned look on her face.

Was he always this helpless?

It was a problem he was constantly having. People tended to be caring and concerned towards him. Truthfully, anybody would be glad that they had people caring about them. But, Rynold was always the opposite.

Caring always had a bigger burden on him. And Rynold always took note of that.

Rynold wasn't anti-social enough that he pushed everybody away from him. He genuinely couldn't push away because he always thought he had no right in interfering with people's feelings. He always appreciated it. He always thanked people for being a part of his life.

However, it wasn't the same for other people.

When the going gets tough, Rynold was alone. Funnily enough, the people around him didn't seem to realize that something was going on.

Because he always thought it was selfish.

Rynold didn't dare say anything about his condition to the point where it was eating him alive. It was selfish for him to tell the people around him his problems because it was his to bear. It was selfish of him to take advantage of the fact that people cared about him.

This was why he was annoyed.

That look. Those concerning eyes. Those caring words.

Rynold felt that he had a responsibility to take care of the burden that he caused in the first place. It was his responsibility to take care of himself. Nobody had to feel pain for the actions that he so willingly made.

It was his alone to bear. All of it.

"Where's your brother?" Rynold looked away to avoid being further annoyed. He looked at the workshop that he had so hastily set up beforehand. His voice was cold to the touch.

"Upstairs," the tone of Lissa's voice audibly dropped. "He didn't want to disturb your rest."

"Right. Let's go."

Rynold stood up and instantly felt the pain from his left leg. He struggled to keep it to himself as he shifted the weight of his body to his right leg. Doing so eased the pain significantly.

Limping as he moved, Lissa was conflicted.

'How can he be so dense? Was he always this stubborn?'

She truly didn't know what was going in with Rynold's behavior. It was like a locked-up safe that she had no way to open. It might have been easy for her to understand that he was in pain. His face showed it so clearly. But why was he so stubborn?

Rynold didn't care about what Lissa was thinking and shot his grapple up the tunnel. Luckily, the pain he had was just on his leg. Everything else was severe muscle ache.

Grabbing Lissa's waist without so much a word, Rynold immediately retracted the grapple, hoisting them up.

Lissa, obviously surprised, was rather embarrassed at how things turned out. But, she had a clearer look at Rynold from this angle.

He was looking up and focused while Lissa was directly staring at the man who had just received a grave injury.

'Why?'

That was the first question that popped into her head.

She asked why. Why is this guy so determined? Why is this guy trying so hard to save the people of a nation he wasn't affiliated with?

Rynold's face expressed pain. But, somehow, it expressed determination as well.

The more Lissa stared, the more she was allured towards Rynold.

His face showed the emotion he was currently feeling ever so clearly. It was so obvious that his face muscles seemed to be trained to express what he was feeling. But, at the same time, it didn't express his intent.

Emotions and intent were two different things. His face was showing one side, but it was as if his eyes were showing another.

Before Lissa could ask about it, though, the two landed. Rynold let Lissa down first before placing his feet on the ground, right leg first.

"You're awake!" Leo was the one who greeted Rynold first. He was glad to find out that Rynold was relatively fine before his gaze shifted to his left leg.

Rynold, catching Leo's eyes move down, immediately responded.

"I'm fine. We have work to do. How long was I out for?"

"About two and a half hours," Prominence Alpha answered with a simple nod.

"Shit," Rynold surprisingly cursed, "We gotta move. Now. What's the best way to get to the residential area? You know, where the commoners live?"

"I can lead the way. Let's go," Leo answered, immediately noticing that Rynold wasn't kidding around.

Having kept the three Accord Spheres in his inventory, Rynold let them out again.

However, the reaction wasn't something he expected as soon as he activated them. Rynold's face darkened as soon as he understood what was going on.

"Ready your weapons," he said in a serious, cold voice.

"What? Why?" Leo asked without hesitation.

"We're about to face a mob of monsters. It's going to be a bloodbath," Rynold said calmly as he clenched his fist. "X and Leo are the vanguards. Lissa and Prominence Alpha will be the rear. I'll support both sides. Our goal is the residential area."

Hearing Rynold's calm analysis of the situation, Lissa couldn't help but tremble. She inwardly panicked as she had no experience in fighting. However, when she noticed how the others were looking, she was surprised.

"Levels... levels, levels... I can get stronger again... Hehe...," her brother was smiling maniacally.

Meanwhile, Prominence Alpha was smiling; its fangs were showing. Lissa got the vibe of a predator in the jungle. It was as if the Spirit was looking forward to a feast.

'S-scary...'

Lissa was still terrified as to what was happening. She didn't know what to expect. Especially when the people around her were looking like they were about to go on a rampage.

"Focus on your surroundings and the people around you," it was then that Rynold's voice snapped her out of her spiral. "Shoot through the gaps that we make for you. Whenever you level up, put your points into Intelligence and Perception. Stamina and Agility are your alternatives."

Rynold gave relatively solid advice. He didn't stop there, though.

"You don't have to worry about getting hurt because I'm here. Just do what you can to help out. And, most importantly, do not, under any circumstances, be a hero."

He lightly patted Lissa's head and nodded. Rynold didn't think much of it because it had become a habit for him to do that.

But, little did he know that would become a domino effect for Lissa.