Having knocked the sword out of his hand, I aimed at his neck.
"I won!"
Seeing him put his forearms up to defend, I smirked at the pathetic attempt.
Jin.
Armor. The thought flashed through my mind. Seeing the adventurer preparing to counterattack, I was faster and sent him flying with a kick to the chest. I watched him regroup in the air, never taking my eyes off him.
Looking into the adventurer's bottomless eyes, thanks to my ability, I could perfectly read people's feelings. This always helped me against them because no matter how hard they tried, I could always catch the perfect moment to attack, when they were most hesitant or felt sorry for me.
Because of this, I always had a tactic: if there was someone strong in front of me, I needed to humiliate myself and pretend to be weak, and when I felt a sense of superiority over me, I would attack when they were not ready for it. Of course, this didn't always work, especially against significantly stronger opponents. I could only distinguish monsters from everyone else because monsters only have two feelings: hatred and something else that I couldn't understand no matter how hard I tried. Rational races couldn't have one feeling, there were always several: one stronger, another weaker, and it had always been like that until today.
The kid running towards me changed that. He changed what I thought was impossible. His feelings were the same as those of monsters. I wouldn't have distinguished him from a monster if his feelings hadn't been trying to engulf each other. Greed was both stronger and weaker than hatred. But the same can be said about hatred. That was the only thing that distinguished him from monsters.
Crack.
Hearing the familiar sound, my smile disappeared. Without hesitation, I ran to my comrades, ignoring the guy running after me. Dodging the attacks of the killer ants, I ran to the unconscious Albert and Rein and, with both of them on my arms, ran upstairs.
If I continued to fight him, it would definitely kill me. Even if I won, the monsters wouldn't leave me alone. I needed to get out of here as soon as possible.
Slowly opening my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling and, looking around, immediately guessed where I was.
The Captain's House. I had only been here a couple of times, but I remembered it well. I thought as I slowly started to get out of bed. Opening the curtains, I covered my eyes from the bright light, but after a few seconds my eyes had fully adjusted.
Was I unconscious all day?
Tap, tap.
Hearing approaching footsteps, I focused my attention on the door, waiting to see who would enter. I didn't have to wait long: the door swung open and I saw the Captain.
Oh, Captain! I…
How are you feeling?
Huh? I'm fine, Captain, I'm as healthy as a bull. You don't have to worry.
Nodding, he left the room. Rein immediately followed his Captain. Looking at his serious behaviour, Rein felt that something was wrong.
Something happened in the dungeon? he thought, vaguely imagining what might have happened after he lost consciousness. Maybe they lost? No, couldn't be. He remembered exactly how he hit him in the shoulder. So it was impossible for the Captain and Albert to lose, even if they were tired. he thought, but the Captain's serious behavior was alarming, plunging him into an abyss of doubt and fear.
"Something happened in the dungeon, Captain?"
"…Yes."
"…Did you lose?"
"No."
Before Rein could sigh with relief, the Captain continued:
"And we didn't win… we just ran away."
"Ran away?!"
"Yes, ran away. We fought for so long that new monsters appeared, and the best I could do, I did."
"I understand."
But in reality he couldn't understand, no matter how hard he tried. They had been in the team for so long that they perfectly understood what they were capable of. He even knew that the Captain was on the verge of the second level. He could challenge those who had recently risen to the third level. And Albert had the most experience among the three of them, but he always looked down on those he considered weaker than himself.
If they were even tired, to run away… Maybe that adventurer was hiding his level? But judging by the way he hit him with an arrow, it was silly to assume that he was a higher level. Or was it the perfect game? Maybe he decided to pretend to be weak, and when the Captain and Albert thought they would win, he showed his true power at the last moment.
Rein understood that everyone was different and everyone could enjoy anything. Someone lives for sex, some like to fight and get wild pleasure from it. Maybe they ran into such a person.
Entering the room, they saw Albert.
"Albert… Your hand."
Rein's eyes widened in shock: he looked at the place where his hand should have been, but now there was emptiness. Seeing Rein's reaction, Albert smiled.
"Hand? It's nothing, Rein, you don't have to worry… You don't have to worry."
"How?" Unable to say anything else, Rein asked, glancing at the Captain's serious face.
"Are you asking how? Well, you see, I just relaxed and paid for it… When you hit him, I thought it was the perfect time to kill him. Because of this, I relaxed my defense… And then I lost my hand. Okay, enough about me, how are you feeling?"
"And me… I'm fine."
"I'm going back."
"What? What do you mean?"
"You understand perfectly. I'm going back home to the village."
"We can…"
"No, I understand what you're going to say. Even if we all chip in, we won't have enough money. So now… now… you continue this path as a duo or find someone new. Well, I'm just going back to my village."
Rein couldn't say anything, he just stared at Albert in shock, not understanding how they got to this point. It's all because of him. he thought, unconsciously clenching his fist so hard that drops of blood began to drip onto the floor. But after a while he pulled himself together and was able to suppress the raging hatred and anger.
"When… When are you leaving?"
"Ah, well, I guess tomorrow."
"Okay, we're going, we won't bother you to recover. Let's go, Rein."
Rein silently followed the Captain. Looking at the Captain's back, he said without hesitation:
"That adventurer is dead."
"I don't know."
"Captain, did you report this to the guild?"
"Yes. But you understand that his whole face was covered in blood and dirt, so I couldn't describe him to the guild."
"I understand."
"And also, Rein."
"Yes?"
"Control your emotions. When the mind is calm like the surface of water, then we are the strongest. And Albert proved it."
"Okay, Captain. I won't be controlled by emotions… but even so, I only want one thing - to kill the one who did this to Albert. No, Captain, I want to break his life just like he broke Albert's, plunge him into an abyss of despair."
"Yes, you're right. Death would be too easy of an outcome."
The next day.
"Everyone, bye, Captain and Rein. I believe you will only become stronger. BYE!!!"
"Yeah, come on, Albert, good luck to you."
"I hope we can see each other again someday. Bye."
And when Albert disappeared from Rein's sight, his smile disappeared. He knew Albert perfectly, so he immediately distinguished his real feelings from fake ones. The pain in his eyes… it only intensified his hatred and thirst for revenge.