I waved goodbye as the wagons rolled away. Little Fressi looked utterly devastated as she heartily waved me goodbye alongside the rest on her wagon.

"I think she had a crush on you, Vim," Jennifer teased.

"Ducks have always been weird," I said simply. Rather than a crush I think the girl was just glad someone had been nice to her. Since her mother, Tressi, was the de-facto leader of their little group many within it were kind of distant with Fressi. Basically she was ostracized for being the daughter of the one who barked orders at everyone, since the group constantly needed yelling at for slacking or meandering and not doing their jobs. Children did such things, sadly. And not too few of the adults either.

"I'm surprised you're not going with them, though," Jennifer then said as she crossed her arms and glanced at me.

"Martin's asked me to do something else. I'll be leaving once the last group does, heading south for a bit," I said. There had actually been quite a few requests for me, but I had chosen the one that sent me back to Renn as fast as possible.

Escorting a large group of members to Telmik? That was important, big time, but it would have taken weeks if not months with how many there were.

Plus I didn't need to really worry about them. They had Martin with them, amongst a few others who had good heads on their shoulders like Tressi. Odds are they'd be more than safe, especially since in only a few days they'd reach the Nation of the Blind's borders, where it was a lot safer than typical.

There was another smaller group, of about thirty odd people, who were going to head north for some reason. I'd not really been told why or where, but I'd also not really asked. I didn't want to get involved. They were going to leave this afternoon.

"So… uh, Vim…"

I turned to look at Jennifer. Seeing her in the robes of the church was still a little odd, but it fit her somehow. "Hm?"

"Can I sew that up?" she asked with a point at my lower half.

About to ask if she was making some weird innuendo, I stopped as I realized what she meant. Yes, there was a breeze on my right leg. The pant leg had been torn apart this morning as I had helped load the wagons.

"You sure?" I asked. I had only brought a single extra pair of clothes, having expected the one I had originally worn to get ruined while fighting the monarch, so this was the only pair I had left. But I had planned to fix them up myself later.

"Yeah? Go on then, take them off for me."

"Hm…" I hesitated for a second, but with a small tug on my shirt I realized it was long enough that I'd not look… too stupid walking around without pants.

So I went ahead and took them off. She giggled at me as she took them from me, and nodded. "I'll have it done all quick like," she promised.

"Thanks…" I said, not really liking the way she was smirking at me. Jennifer then headed for the nearby building, not the church but the one she and the other women stayed in. As she did I noticed she had a happy step in her walk, as if glad to have something to do. Maybe she did.

I had never really known her well, but I did remember her liking gossip. But not just gossip, she had also liked to work. It was why she had always pretended to be a maid in human castles and stuff. For nobles and royalty. Maybe she's been bored lately. Stuck here with not much to do, just waiting around for people to show up.

I sighed at her, and myself, as I glanced back to the distant wagons. No one was waving our way anymore. I was glad they were finally on the road, since they had taken the saints with them. I had been on edge the whole time thanks to them, just waiting for them to basically cause the other shoe to drop on my head after killing Havoc.

They hadn't though. In fact they, and all the rest, had been too busy unloading the ship and readying to travel to do much else. Even little Fressi had only bugged me a little bit, having to help her mother out a lot as they prepared to leave.

And why would they bother me? In their eyes everything had gone perfect.

No one had died.

All five hundred and seventy-five people had survived. They had a few deaths on the trip here, a few people getting sick or just… being elderly, and they had one person fall overboard not long after they had set sail and hadn't been able to find them afterward. But no one had died from the prophesied monarch attack. The ship had not sunk.

It was now sailing north, to dock at Nevi. Where a few other members were waiting for it. Odds are they'd place it in the service of the twins or something, into the merchant fleet the Society ran here on the west coast.

"What're you doing, Vim?"

Turning around, I found the old fox, Kapni. He was giving me an odd look as he gestured to his own legs, or rather his pants.

"I tore them; Jennifer's fixing them for me."

He frowned and nodded. "I see. If you need a pair let me know, you're not as thin as me but you're my height and I like my pants baggy," he said.

"Thanks, I appreciate the offer."

He scoffed and waved my thanks away. "You saved our lives, again. I'd give you the clothes off my back if you just asked."

"No thanks, old foxes aren't my thing," I said.

Kapni chuckled as he nodded. "So I've heard…! A cat is it? I've no doubt she's lovely, knowing you Vim, but I must know… is she pretty?"

I nodded slowly. "I think she is, yes."

"Pretty enough to catch your eye, no doubt. Makes me wonder what she looks like. Hope I get to meet her soon."

"She should be heading north as we speak, to help settle some members in a new home. As much as it pains me to admit, as long as you stay involved in one of the major locations you'll see her sooner or later," I said.

"Hm… very active is she? Is she like you then? All strong and mysterious?" he asked.

I shifted a little as the ocean breeze reminded me I wasn't wearing pants. "She is strong… but rather than mysterious I'd say she's just a very good person. She likes to help people, to the point it's all she wants to do half the time. You remember what Berri was like?" I asked.

"Berri…? Why I've not heard that name in years… yes. If that's what she's like, then I get it completely, yes," Kapni said with a knowing frown.

There was no point in telling him she still lived, at least until he asked. "How have you been Kapni?" I asked.

"Well, Vim. My wife died not long after we settled over there, about eighty odd years after we landed. We had four children before she passed… though sadly now they're all dead and gone too. I'm left alone, and now back in the land I once abandoned with my tail between my legs. So I'm healthy, and mentally sound, but… a little lost, if you'd permit me to admit it," he said.

Although he spoke of something that broke one's heart, he did so with a steady voice. It seemed even old age hadn't made this man unsteady. "I see. I'm sorry to hear of your losses, Kapni… maybe one day you can tell me about those I never got to meet," I said gently.

He nodded a little softly and smiled. "I'd like that. Maybe one day. For now though, I think I plan to go visit my family. Either they'll welcome me with open arms, or will bite my throat in anger over my leaving. Honestly I'd be okay with both," he said with a small chuckle.

Oh.

Shoot.

"Um… Kapni…"

His chuckling ceased as he glanced at me… and then his smile died as he understood and knew what I was about to say, long before I found the courage to say it.

"A few years ago your village had been destroyed, Kapni. Burnt down by a rogue church group," I said.

Kapni blinked a single time. A heavy blink… and then he slowly looked down and nodded. "I suppose… that is my life's fate, isn't it?" he whispered as he absorbed the information.

I swallowed a heavy throat as I stepped forward and reached out. I grabbed the thin man by his shoulder and gave it a tiny squeeze. "There had been a survivor, though. A young girl named Lomi. I took her to a family not far from your village, who accepted her. Porka. You might not know her, but you may remember her grandmother, Horska."

He blinked again, this time quickly. "I do remember Horska… she had been the prettiest girl in the village," he said.

"Makes sense, considering Porka," I said.

Kapni smiled at that. "Well… amongst the bad, is the good is it? I suppose I shall take it and latch onto it. Where are they…?"

"A small town called Twin Hills. It'd be quicker to get there heading up to Nevi and heading eastward from there. Should have gone with the ship. I can draw you a map if you'll make a promise in exchange for it," I said.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Hm…? Anything. I love our Society Vim, but I've been without my own kind for almost half a century and I'm about to rip my own heart out if I have to go the rest of it without hint or smell of my own," he said, rather seriously.

I nodded, believing him. He was from the generation that was like that. Like this. They weren't really outright racist, proof being in the fact he had lived so long without his own kind, but he found comfort in his own community. Even if he wasn't related to Porka and her family, or Lomi, he would still be happier just being near them than doing anything else. He'd likely just build a small house nearby, just to be near them, and that'd be enough for him.

"You still good with a bow?" I asked.

"I should be? I'm old Vim, but not in that way, you know that."

"Then while you're there, hunt for me a few things will you? You see my wife plans to build a home, one I believe to be temporary, but still a place to stay for a few years nonetheless. And I'm busy. I'd appreciate it if I could rely on you for leather and furs, if even for just a few basic things for the house," I said.

"You're so busy you can't provide your wife with furniture?" he asked, sounding offended for Renn.

"Who's to blame, Kapni? You just brought another six hundred members back, all who have a mile long list of things they need and want, and you're ship two of… what?" I asked.

"Six…" he said with a sigh.

"Exactly. If you're out of shape or too busy, it is fine, don't worry about it. I can just buy the stuff from some humans I guess and…"

"You'll do no such thing! Pfa!" he spat at me as he slapped my forearm, sending my hand off his shoulder. "What would they know? Not the first thing about craftsmanship, for sure! Don't think of it again, I'll get you enough furs to rug a whole castle by next winter!" Kapni declared, sounding angry as he did.

I frowned and nodded. "You sure…?"

"Do I look that infirm to you, Vim? Broken? I'm offended! Half tempted to catch a big one here and now just to prove you wrong!"

"No need for that, I'm leaving shortly and so will you to head up north, no?"

Kapni calmed down a little as he nodded. "Yes… I suppose I should. A map you mentioned?"

"I'll make it shortly for you," I promised.

"Hmph… I'll go pack then," he said as he promptly turned away. As he walked away, with a bit of speed, he mumbled angrily. "Thinks I'm about to croak over, does he…? Still got more life in me than most young pups and…"

I chuckled at the man who hadn't changed at all from how I remembered him.

Good. Now he'd not only for sure settle down up north at Twin Hills, he'll have a focused goal for a few years as he fulfilled my request. By then maybe he'll find something else worth keeping himself alive.

Odds are he hadn't even noticed, but I had. Immediately. He had basically asked me for permission to go die.

To go see his relatives one last time and then end his life. Since he no longer had a reason to live. It was why he had not been too bothered over hearing of his people being gone, en mass. Because he had already given up, and had seen it as validation to do so.

Still… his reaction, and his request, made me wonder how many others were going to be just like him.

They were going to go search for their fellows. The ones they had left behind.

And they'd not find them.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I tried not to feel like an utter failure as I wondered how many of these thousands of new or returning members were to have such fates.

How many were going to be like Kapni? Returning hoping to find purpose. In any and all shapes and forms. And finding none of it.

Probably more than anyone wanted to admit.

"I've not changed at all… have I…?" I whispered as I thought of Havoc's final moments.

How many times have I allowed my rage to justify brutality? Clutching to the wrongs committed to me and mine thousands of years ago to justify outright murder? How many times have I tossed aside responsibilities, both agreed and written in blood but also moralistic oaths… just to hunt a god or monarch?

I had thought I had matured. Grown wiser. Had made enough mistakes to not so readily rush headfirst into another.

But I haven't. If anything I've likely gotten worse. By trying to so firmly abide my own rules, rules I've made to counteract my hubris and wrath, I've simply enabled the same failures just via different logic.

Just like my slaughter of Havoc.

I had not found his offer worth taking. His threat, though very real, not worth heeding.

And thus have placed Renn and everyone in the Society at risk. Over my own hubris. My vengeance.

I have possibly just condemned Renn and the rest to death. Just so I could kill another god.

The Society was right. Though none of them had any clue as to how right they were.

They felt I had been neglecting them. Not doing well enough as protector.

They weren't wrong. But they didn't have the real reason. Didn't know it. And how could they…?

Even now I was letting a large group; hundreds strong… mostly women and children, with saints even thrown in, traverse these human lands alone. With many of those members being like Tressi and her daughter, with traits that simply could not be hidden.

I should be escorting them. If anything happened to them, it would be on me.

But none of it would matter once the gods came to exact their vengeance.

They could not kill me. But they could kill those I cared for. Those I loved.

"Why haven't they all this time…?" I wondered as I thought of it.

Havoc had said they had been monitoring me for a long time. Having been able to do so thanks to my routine lifestyle, as I traveled around to help and handle any issues in the Society… so then, even before Renn being taken into account… why had they not been pestering the Society?

Even if many of them were in hiding, fearing my wrath… there had to at least be a few of them that had enough vehemence and hate in their hearts to want to hurt me in any way they can. And how better to do it than slaughter and torture the weaker souls I had vowed to protect…?

Especially since so many gods had looked down on the monarch-spawns. The non-humans.

I was having trouble settling the questions in my mind. Havoc's actions had been… not just startling, but unbelievable.

He should have known better. He should not have been so shocked for me to have grabbed him as I had.

Even as I had torn him limb from limb in the sea, he had shouted and screamed not just in pain… but utter shock.

As if there had been no way, in his mind at least, that I would have done such a thing. As if my actions had been unforeseeable.

Me…? Not kill a god…? Not grab one right in front of me, within reach…?

Of all the things in the world to believe in without any doubt, my hate for them should be at the top of the list. And yet he had been so sure…

"As if he had known an alternative truth…" I whispered… and felt a cold chill climb up my back.

There was no denying Havoc had expected me to agree to his bargain. To go so far as to un-summon a monarch of that caliber…? A true firstborn? That monarch alone could have saved his life. It would not have killed me, but it would have kept me from killing him. It had floated to the surface, near enough to be visible, after I had finished tearing Havoc apart. It had been a giant squid. And by giant, I mean bigger than the ship six hundred people had just sailed here on.

A monarch of that size, and likely fully empowered as a firstborn, would have been more than enough to distract me. Especially so since it had been in the middle of the ocean. Once that tiny little rowboat had collapsed I'd have been hard pressed to get Havoc while he flied in the sky even without the monarch, let alone with it there.

Yet he had not hesitated to kill it. Thinking our deal met and agreed upon. Hands shaken, contracts signed… checks cashed…

Had he been so confident in my love for Rennalee…? Or had there been something else to give him such hope? Such surety…?

They had not placed any faith in saints and their prophecies. Saints were just a source of mana for them. Just as monarchs had originally been, or at least intended to be. There had been plenty of experiments on saints, such as at the Summit, but as far as I was aware they had cared little for a saint's ability to foresee the future. They had their own spells and methods for such things, and even their abilities had not been reliable enough to trust. Many had died by my hand believing in the prophecies they had foreseen and trusted, and as such had been why so many had forgone heeding them. It was why I had been able to utilize saints back during the wars against them, since they themselves had abandoned them. A saint could not foresee me directly. They could see me when seeing things around me, but not me myself. I was shielded from such things.

But maybe, just like finding a method to open their gate back home, they had found an alternative method for seeing the future…? And in that new method of foreseeing the future, they had seen my actions? If so then, wouldn't it have gone the way they had foreseen it...?

Either way… there were too many inconsistencies. Too many new worries.

There was a group of gods still alive. Not one or two or even a handful, but dozens. They were split and divided, if not even at odds with one another and at war. That is, if Havoc's words were to be believed. And they had found a way home. A method that supposedly at least one part of said group, possibly seven gods, were not okay with utilizing and thus were sabotaging its implementation.

They'd been monitoring me for years, likely to help them stay hidden from me, and were in a location that helped hide them… They were not hiding thanks to their own abilities, but by an anomaly…

There were plenty of anomalies in the world. I wonder which he spoke of…?

"Vim!"

I blinked and turned, tensing up in expectance of something terrible… and found Jennifer. She had a weird smirk on her face as she sighed at me and held out my pants. "Stop standing there all weird-like. You're scaring the normal people," she said.

She was done already…? Granted it was a seamless rip, but it had been nearly the whole leg… I grabbed the pants from her and gently nodded. "Thank you, Jennifer," I said as I went to put them on.

"Sure, sure… tell me why don't you smell at all? And why've you just been standing here all weird for the last hour?"

Last hour…? Have I really been that lost in thought this whole time? "Did you smell my pants? That's weirder than me standing here lost in thought," I said as I put them on.

She made a sound, and then scoffed loudly at me. "Don't say that, Vim! You're supposed to be a gentleman and not bring such a thing up like that!"

I smirked as I fastened my newly mended pants. They fit perfectly, and I didn't even see the line of thread that had fixed the tear. I probably shouldn't be too surprised over her skill of the thread, considering she had been a maid for so long. Odds are she's had plenty of experience with such things. "Thank you, Jennifer. Now I'll not have to kill a bunch of town guards as I travel south," I said.

She laughed at that. "Please, I know you Vim. You'd just talk your way out of it."

Yes. I would have. "Did you forget I have no smell, by the way?" I asked.

"Huh…? Hm…" Jennifer then pondered for a moment, to the point she actually crossed her arms. "Actually you know what…? Maybe I had. Was kind of hoping to better remember that night we shared by smelling your scent, yet I suppose in attempting to do so I just proved I barely remember it at all huh?" she said, speaking calmly as if to herself more than me.

My eye twitched over her having brought up that night. "I'd make fun of you, but my wife would have done something similar," I said. Both because it was true, and to gently remind this gossiping woman that I was now married, and happily so at that.

She smirked up at me, grinning ear to ear. "That just means she's my type of gal! I look forward to meeting her one day! Though probably not anytime soon, since I have to stick around here until the rest show up…" she said with a sigh.

"Five years?" I asked.

She nodded. "Or more. Though maybe not…? They hadn't been supposed to show up this earlier, maybe the rest will come quick too?"

I shrugged at that. "No idea."

"Ah well… What's a few years of boredom, eh?" Jennifer said with a sigh as she turned away.

"You'll have plenty of gossip soon enough, Jennifer," I said as she walked away.

"I better!"

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