Back at the Dusk Inn
David's Quarters
The silence was brittle.
David stood by the window, arms folded tightly across his chest, his brow furrowed as if trying to hold back a storm of thoughts. Fiona sat at the edge of the bed, fingers anxiously twisting the hem of her sleeve. Even Auriel, calm, composed, and veiled, betrayed her unrest with every sharp, darting glance toward the door. She was still. Too still. Like a blade waiting to be unsheathed.
Then at last the door creaked open.
Aaron stepped inside.
It was him. But different.
Relief surged through them like a tide but froze halfway. Aaron's steps were steady, but his eyes... his eyes didn't belong to the man who had left that morning. A hollowed weight clung to him, drawn into the slump of his shoulders, etched into the corners of his mouth. His presence darkened the room more than the dusk outside.
David blinked, lips parting as he took a tentative step forward.
"Aaron..." he murmured.
Fiona's voice wavered, her worry raw and immediate.
"What happened? Are you okay?" she asked, rising to her feet, hand half-extended as though afraid to touch a wound she couldn't see.
David's voice followed hers, more restrained but thick with concern.
"Did something go wrong?"
Auriel's tone was ice-edged with steel, but behind the chill was an urgency that pierced through.
"You're not hurt... are you?" she asked, her eyes never leaving his face, searching for anything blood, bruises, anything that might explain the shadow behind his silence.
Aaron looked at them, his gaze distant. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, as if the words were too heavy to speak aloud.
Aaron stood still, shadows clinging to his form like guilt that refused to loosen its grip. He didn't meet their eyes.
His voice came out barely above a whisper, rough around the edges.
"I... I killed someone."
He swallowed hard.
"It was a scout... from the Bounty Hunters."
The moment the words left his mouth, his expression twisted, conflicted, and remorseful. He looked as if he were trying to reconcile the man he thought he was with the man survival had forced him to become.
Fiona exhaled sharply, her arms crossing as her eyes narrowed not in anger, but in practicality.
"Killing is killing, Aaron. Sugarcoating it won't change that. But if he was a Bounty Hunter scum, he might've come for any one of us."
She softened, just slightly.
"By killing him, you bought us time whether you meant to or not."
David leaned against the table, a crooked grin forming as he tried to lighten the mood, though his eyes betrayed a sliver of concern.
"Well, look at that. Aaron, the bright-eyed rookie turned seasoned adventurer."
He gave a soft chuckle.
"Try not to sulk like a kid. It doesn't suit you."
Auriel's gaze never wavered. Her voice was as cold and measured as ever.
"If you choose this path, you will face enemies and you will kill again."
She took a single step closer, her tone sharpening.
"When that moment comes, hesitation might get you killed. Or worse get one of us killed. Don't let guilt dull your blade."
Aaron took a slow breath, the weight of their words easing some of the tension in his chest. But there was no time for relief yet.
His eyes sharpened, voice low and urgent.
"I need to tell you something important. I'm being hunted."
He paused, the next words heavy with consequence.
"There's a bounty on my head five hundred gold coins."
The room went silent.
Fiona's eyes widened, her voice laced with disbelief and rising concern.
"No way. Aaron, what the hell did you do to get a bounty that high?"
David gawked at him, jaw slack. For a moment, he just stared like Aaron had grown horns.
"Five hundred?" he muttered under his breath.
"That's enough to buy a Tier 1 weapon... maybe even two if we bargain hard."
Auriel remained silent for a beat. Behind the veil, her expression turned calculating, cold.
"Then the Goldvien Family isn't just angry."
Her tone dropped.
"They want you erased."
Without missing another beat, she turned to David, voice snapping like frost on steel.
"Prepare the carriage. We're leaving immediately."
David stood and slung his pack over one shoulder, already moving with purpose. Auriel turned briskly, gathering her belongings without a word. Fiona followed suit, tightening the straps on her satchel. The room was hummed with urgency.
Aaron, however, remained still. Then, quietly calm, but weighed with something deeper he spoke.
"You know... you can terminate the contract with me."
His gaze swept across them.
"That way, none of you will be implicated because of me."
The trio froze.
Fiona turned to him first, brows furrowed with fierce sincerity.
"Aaron, I may have only joined today... but I can already tell you're someone I'd trust to guard my back. And I'll do the same for you."
Her voice didn't waver.
David glanced at Auriel, then gave a wry grin.
"You think you're the first person to get a bounty slapped on them?"
He chuckled, though his tone carried weight.
"If we keep this up, all of us will be branded sooner or later. That's just life as an adventurer."
He nodded firmly.
"We're a team. So we face our enemies together."
Then, with a rare seriousness, he added,
"Unless... you think we're not good enough to stand beside you."
Aaron stood frozen, stunned by their unwavering loyalty. He hadn't expected them to stay not with the weight of a bounty on his head. Not with danger trailing his every step.
A strange warmth crept into his chest, unfamiliar but not unwelcome.
For the first time since arriving in this world, he felt... something stirred. Something soft. Something whole.
In his past life, he'd grown up alone and orphan navigating the world with no one to stand beside him, no one to call family. Loneliness had been his only constant.
But here, in this strange and perilous world, he'd found something he never truly knew he'd been missing.
People who stood by him.
People who chose him.
People who wouldn't run.
He lowered his gaze, a flicker of emotion crossing his face.
Maybe this world wasn't just a second chance for survival but a chance to finally belong.