"Are all these talks necessary at the moment?" Fray asked.
Veyris looked at him, then at Shad, before responding with a faint smile.
"Of course not. At the same time, they are necessary. But don't worry about it. This will perhaps be the last time you hear me speak of it."
Fray hesitated before replying, his tone seemingly imitating Veyris's own words from their earlier conversation.
"Oh, is that so?"
There was a faint tension in his voice, one Veyris noticed immediately. Fray gave a short, almost inaudible whistle before adding, "That's good to know."
Veyris studied him for a moment, amusement flickering across his face.
"Now that I think about it, you're a strange Reptilus. Normally, your kind are arrogant, prideful, and selfish. Then again, all true-bloods tend to be prideful and arrogant, so it makes me wonder why you're so humble. Especially for a true-blood, let alone a Reptilus."
He paused and drew a deep breath, as though another thought had just occurred to him.
"Oh, perhaps you've been heavily influenced by the human."
Fray remained silent for a while, looking over the devastation left by their battle. The creature's overwhelming power had ravaged the landscape, and the cold still clung to everything around them. Only after taking in the destruction did he finally respond.
"You're rather loose-mouthed for a General, you know."
Veyris smiled as though he considered the remark a mild provocation.
"Oh, is that so? Hmm. It's not as though it matters anyway."
"So, what's the next move?" Shad suddenly asked.
Veyris turned toward him, then shifted his gaze toward the distant Dark Forest. The amusement faded from his expression, replaced by solemnity.
"I suppose there's no more time left for this island and its citizens."
"What do you mean, this island and its citizens?" Fray asked. "And what do you mean there's no more time?"
"This place isn't a continent. It's an island."
Veyris spoke as though correcting a simple misunderstanding.
"Honestly, I don't know why you call it a continent. Perhaps you simply accepted what you were told, just like the rest of its citizens. But I understand that you have little prior knowledge of where you are or what the Dark Forest truly is."
He sighed and began walking toward the forest. Shad and Fray exchanged a brief glance before following him.
"You see, this is only one of many islands. It was never the continent its inhabitants were led to believe it was. And I am its appointed caretaker."
He glanced back at them.
"I'm a Realm Five being, which makes me a General in military terms or a noble in political ones."
He turned forward again, continuing at an unhurried pace.
"And you two, my friends, seem to be mistaken about quite a few things. Allow me to educate you on some of them."
"We're all ears," Fray replied sarcastically.
"Before we go any further, where exactly are you taking us?" Shad asked.
He looked in the same direction as Veyris, his expression composed even as conflicting thoughts stirred beneath the surface. The route ahead was becoming increasingly familiar, and he hoped he was mistaken about where it led.
"This doesn't look like the way back to your city."
"To the Dark Forest," Veyris answered readily, as though he had expected the question. "There are a few things I need to confirm."
They continued beneath the pale blue moonlight. The air remained bitterly cold, a lingering consequence of the creature they had fought earlier. Even with the battle behind them, the environment offered no sign that the danger had truly passed.
For nearly an hour, none of them spoke.
Veyris led the way, with Shad and Fray following behind him. Neither asked any further questions, and Veyris made no effort to fill the silence.
Under ordinary circumstances, the atmosphere should have been tense. They had just survived a battle against a creature whose power had threatened far more than their immediate surroundings, and now they were following a General toward a forest filled with unknown dangers.
Yet, strangely enough, the silence between them felt almost natural.
After walking for some time, Veyris finally spoke.
"How much do you think you know about the Dark Forest?"
He wasn't directing the question at either of them in particular, but Shad took the initiative to answer.
"Not much. We know it's enormous, that it houses different kinds of horrible creatures, and that its terrain and ecology are strange. The Flow there also seems to have a connection to cold, yet it behaves like a fluid. Almost like water."
Shad paused, searching his memory for anything else worth mentioning.
There was the enormous creature he and Fray had discovered chained—or perhaps sealed—inside a ruin deep underground. They had found it before eventually leaving the forest, but even now, he had little understanding of what it was or why it had been bound there.
Now that I think about it, I truly know next to nothing about that place. I don't even know why that creature was bound there.
Veyris offered no comment on Shad's answer. He simply continued walking, allowing the silence to settle between them once more.
Fray, however, seemed to be contemplating something of his own. Eventually, he broke the silence.
"I think time flows more slowly inside the forest than it does outside."
Shad turned toward him, wondering what had led him to that conclusion.
Veyris, on the other hand, responded in his usual conversational tone.
"Hmm. Is that so? What makes you think that?"
Fray rubbed his chin and lowered his gaze. His green, reptilian eyes narrowed slightly, their pupils contracting before expanding again. His brows furrowed as he gathered his thoughts. After a moment, he raised his head.
"Because I've lived outside the forest for quite some time. Let's just say I occasionally leave for a little adventure, get to know the people, and see something of the world beyond the trees."
Shad maintained his usual impassive expression, while Veyris appeared increasingly interested in the subject.
"But that alone isn't enough to conclude that time flows more slowly inside the forest," Veyris pointed out.
"Of course it isn't. I'm aware of that. But whenever I leave and later return, something seems to have changed considerably. Sometimes it's a lot, sometimes only a little. The point is that things rarely seem to remain the same between my visits to the cities."
Veyris considered his words for a moment.
"Hmm. That does sound plausible."
He glanced at Fray.
"Tell me, then. How is it that I've never heard of you all this time? Not even a rumour?"
"That's quite simple, honestly. I used my ability on people. And whenever someone proved to be a detective or some kind of mystery solver who was getting too close to the truth, I killed them."
Fray delivered the confession as casually as someone recounting an ordinary inconvenience.
"Honestly, I'm still being hunted by the officers stationed in Grevlyn."
"Oh? You mean Officer Rosalind?"
Veyris sounded genuinely intrigued.
"And how have you managed to evade her attention all this time?"
He seemed to ignore Fray's admission that he had killed people, including members of the Belihu guards. Both Shad and Fray noticed the omission, but neither commented on it.
"I'm very good at hiding and escaping danger, you know. The Dark Forest taught me that."
Fray chuckled.
"But there was one time when Rosalind and I briefly clashed. Gods, that woman was terrifying. I barely managed to escape."
He paused, then continued before Veyris could ask another question.
"And no, don't ask whether she's noticed that I'm back or whether she knows who I am after all this time. I think she already knows. As for why she's chosen to ignore me, perhaps she's simply not certain she can defeat me anymore."
Fray chuckled again, seemingly amused by the possibility.