The air was biting and cold, a thick mist clinging to the cobblestones of Town Allure as we stepped out of the inn. The sky was a deep, bruised purple, the sun still hiding beneath the horizon.
"New day for revenge, Roxy." Plasma muttered
"Indeed Plasma, I'm fully prepared"
Standing by the ornate carriage was Lord Phillip, his silhouette tall and regal against the morning haze.
As we approached, he offered a sharp, respectful salute.
"You carry the hopes of this town with you, the road ahead is dark, and the city of Tata is darker still. But remember: you are the spark that will light the fire of change. Come back alive." he said, his voice warm despite the chill.
With those words echoing in our minds, we boarded the carriage. I felt the weight of my backpack against my seat, the silk and blue of Dominik's suit tucked safely inside, a wolf's skin waiting for the hunt.
The carriage jolted into motion. Harold immediately slumped into the corner, his head bobbing as he drifted back into a loud, snoring sleep.
"Ugh, that tax collector was sleeping again." Plasma muttered
"No worries Plasma, he is very kind now."
"Do you still remember that he is the one who threatened you? He even brought a carving kit to pluck one of your eyeballs."
"I didn't knew, he changed."
I stared at him dead in the eyes, I still remembered the greedy face of his, I used inspect to view his stats.
Harold Ford
Skills: Farsight
Vitality:100
Strength: 100
Defense: 100
Agility: 100
Mana: 100
Upon seeing his stats, I can clearly tell he's not an adventurer, he is basically looking like a peasant at this point, wearing sheep's clothing.
"Roxy, look at Harold's stats, it's like average. No, exactly 100 average. I can tell he was no match for Elias." Plasma said
"I didn't knew he was weaker than I thought, he had the audacity to threaten me like that. Now, he looks like a grown-ass baby."
But I was definitely curious about his human skills. I used another inspect skill on Harold.
Farsight- allows to see at a farther distance.
Well, this explains as a tax collector, he can spot people in debt over a mile away. I instantly knew he'd keep an eye with me and my sister's debts. He is basically a stalker at this point.
Mochi, however, sat perfectly upright, his golden eyes scanning the passing trees through the window with a sharp, predator's focus.
I took, used inspect on his skills to see Mochi's stats clearly.
Mochi
Skills: agile eyes (cat hybrid), critical boost
Vitality: 1000
Strength: 8700
Defense: 6000
Agility: 8000
Mana: 10000
Agile eyes- the skill to reveal critical spots in a target ( cat hybrid exclusive )
The stats were larger than I expected, a digit less than Elias. It is the stats of an luminous knight, and I can tell from Mochi's slim physique. But the skills were no different.
This is, infact, the same skill that Mya posses, all cat hybrids possess a unique skill known as agile eyes, when in direct contact. It can reveal the target's weak spots directly, making it a critical damage.
I found myself staring at him. The way the early light caught his ears, the specific shade of his golden fur... it was hauntingly familiar.
"What is it, Roxy?" Mochi asked without turning his head, his ears twitching toward me.
"Why did you join this mission? A Luminous Knight has a high standing. Why risk it for a suicide run into the East?" I asked, leaning forward.
Mochi finally looked at me, a flicker of sadness crossing his face.
"Tata was my homeland, Roxy. I grew up in those streets. But when the current regime took hold, everything changed. For us demi-humans, it became a place of chains and shadows. We were forced to endure things no living soul should. You aren't the only one seeking a debt in blood."
I looked at him closer. The resemblance wasn't just a coincidence anymore. The fur, the bob-cut tail, the shape of his eyes, it was like looking at a warrior's version of the girl who served me tea every morning.
"Are you, by any chance, related to Mya?" I whispered.
Mochi's pupils dilated instantly, his entire body tensing like a coiled spring. He turned fully toward me, his voice a mix of shock and desperation.
"Huh? How... how do you know my sister? Is she alive? Is she safe?"
The sudden shift in his energy sent a jolt through the carriage. Even Harold was startled awake, his head hitting the window with a loud thwack.
"What? What is it? What's with the ruckus? Are we under attack?"
Harold shouted, flailing his arms and looking around wildly like an old man was about to jump out, even though it is in her twenties, he definitely looked like a middle aged man.
I sat there, stunned into silence. The world felt smaller than ever. Mya's brother hadn't just been a classmate of Elias, he was sitting right across from me, sharpened by the same grief that fueled my own journey.
"She's safe, Mochi. She's at my shop. She's waiting for the world to be safe enough for you to come home." I said softly, watching the relief wash over him
The interior of the carriage fell into a heavy, suffocating silence, punctuated only by the rhythmic thumping of the wheels against the dirt road and the distant, mournful cry of a morning bird. The revelations hung in the air like thick smoke, shifting the dynamics of the trio from mere traveling companions to a desperate cell of vengeful souls.
Mochi leaned back against the velvet cushions, his golden eyes staring blankly at the ceiling of the carriage as if he were watching the ghosts of his past dance in the shadows. His tail, usually still and controlled, flicked with a sharp, agitated motion.
"Five years, It has been five long years since I felt the sun on my face in Tata without the smell of iron and ash in the air. We were happy once. My father was a merchant of fine spices, and my mother was a weaver. Mya... she was so small then. She had the brightest laugh in the district."
He tightened his grip on his knees, his knuckles turning white.
"When Bernard Callus took the seat of power after the assassination, the harmony shattered on purpose. He saw demi-humans not as citizens, but as livestock. Commodities. He established the Red Ledger, a system where our people were sold to the highest bidders to satisfy the depraved whims of the new nobility. When they came for my family, they took our dignity."
Mochi's gaze turned razor-sharp, flickering with a terrifying luminosity.
"I was young, but I was fast. I watched a man, one of Callus's inner circle, lay hands on Mya. I didn't think. I just drew a kitchen knife and opened his throat. I had to flee that night, leaving my parents in chains and Mya crying in the dark. I spent every day since then training, bleeding, and climbing the ranks of the luminous knight, all so I could return not as a victim, but as a storm."
I felt a cold shiver run down my spine. The connection between us was no longer just a shared friend in Elias, it was a shared trauma. Mya, the quiet, hardworking girl who served me tea, had survived a hell I could barely imagine. My hand drifted to my backpack, feeling the nobleman's suit inside. The urge to put on Dominik's face and tear Callus's world apart grew almost unbearable.
I turned my head slowly toward Harold. The tax collector looked smaller now, stripped of the arrogance he usually wore like a second skin.
"And you, Harold? I know who you were. I remember the man who threatened to sell my organs for a tax debt. You're a bottom-feeder, a man who lives on the greed of others. Why are you on this suicide mission? Why are you helping us kill the man who arguably created the system you profited from?" I asked
Harold jolted, his face pale in the dim light. He let out a dry, hacking laugh that lacked any humor.
"You think I enjoyed being Callus's puppy, Roxy? Easy for you to judge from the outside. My family... the Ford name was synonymous with the minting industry in this region. We made the coin that moved the world. But Callus wanted puppets."
He leaned forward, his eyes bloodshot from the sudden awakening.
"He orchestrated the bankruptcy of the Ford Mint. He seized our assets, framed my father for embezzlement, and turned us into beggars who had to grovel for the privilege of collecting his blood-soaked taxes. I'm not here to save the world, Roxy. I'm here because Callus turned my family's legacy into a joke. I want to see the look on his face when the man he bankrupted leads the tax collector through his front door."
I looked from Mochi to Harold. A knight seeking his sister's stolen honor and a greedy man seeking his stolen gold. Two vastly different motives, yet both roads led to the same destination: the downfall of Bernard Callus.
"So we're all the same then, A band of ghosts and failures heading home to settle the bill."
I muttered, looking out the window as the first rays of the sun finally broke over the horizon, illuminating the road to Tata. "
I reached into my bag and pulled out the mana-stone earpiece, ensuring it was snug against my skin.
"Mochi, Harold, keep your stories close to your chests. When we hit the gates of Tata, I'm not Roxy anymore, and you aren't my friends. You're the staff of a high-ranking official. Let the hate simmer, we're going to need it to keep us warm where we're going." I said,
Harold nodded frantically, while Mochi simply closed his eyes, his breathing leveling out into the rhythmic calm of a warrior preparing for the slaughter. The carriage sped up, the horses sensing the urgency of their riders as the mercantile spires of the East began to peek over the distant hills.
"It seems, that Bernard Callus has spent five years making enemies. It's time he finally met them."