He thought it would go away. Attack after attack, he hoped it would finally leave. But as he attacked, it only grew. If not to relieve him of his pain, what was the reason for his aggression? And if it didn't do it's job, what would he have gained from it? Was it sensless?

  Hurting others without reason was what Val feared the most. And he feared he had done just that. Even though it was someone evil, someone unbelievably cruel, someone who would take a life without hesitation, he hesitated to justify his actions.

  If it did not bring peace of mind, was killing Mira the right thing to do?

  --

  This is what went on inside Vals' head, while him and the boy walked. His aim was to lighten his pain, not to add to it. But the more he thought about it, the more the lump got heavier. Somewhat, he even felt guilty for what he had done.

  But it wouldn't outweigh what he felt for Riney, even though he wasn't thinking about it. Though he refused to even think about it. He put away in his head, and locked it up.

  ???: "Yoooo."

  Mira was evil. She had killed many. Surely eliminating her was the right thing to do.

  ???: "Hey, mister boss man."

  But he hated the idea that he had caused all of this. If he did, it was definitely caused by his use of violence.

  ???: "Hey!"

  He was grabbed by his shoulders and straddled. Then he raised his head to see who it was.

  Eisen: "I thought we were supposed to walk, no? Why'd you stop?"

  Val: "huh?"

  He realized now he had stopped walking to think.

  Val: "Huh. Sorry, about that, let's keep going."

  He grabbed Eisens' wrists and removed his hands from his shoulders, then he kept walking.

  Eisen: "Well you're weird."

  Val: "I heard that."

  Val wasn't offended, he was trying to cover up his thoughts with playfullness.

  Val: "But if i had to say, _you_ are the weird one. Coming along with an angel like this."

  Anytime he could mention who he was, he felt better.

  Eisen: "You threatened to kill me, or did you forget?"

  A moment of silence passed. Val took a deep breath, trying not to go back to mulling over the events that yesterday had held.

  Val: "Shut up."

  Eisens' face changed. He widened his eyes in confusion and surprise, not expecting this reaction. Then, he shook his head, and resumed his walk.

  As he caught up to Val, he spoke.

  Eisen: "Aren't angels supposed to be all tough, and kill anything they see?"

  Val: "I'm not one of those! I'm a real angel! Not from Meshen!"

  Eisen tilted his head.

  Eisen: "You're not from Meshen?"

  Val thought of all the difficult situations this misconception could get him in. He forecast a difficult relationship with humans.

  Eisen: "...weird..."

  he muttered.

  Val: "You ain't slick."

  Val laughed a little.

  Val: "So... How far is this _Aurelia_ anyway?"

  Eisen: "Well, it's pretty far. Might take a couple months to get there. It's basically in the dead center of Muria."

  Val: "Months?!"

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  Val exclaimed, expecting a lower amount of time.

  Val: "Well, where are we now?"

  Eisen: "What do you mean? You don't know that?"

  Val: "I repeat, i basically come from a different world. I found myself here by chance."

  Eisen pulled out a map. He indicated a rural spot with his finger.

  Eisen: "This is about where we are, the far north of Muria. To the right, Mount Shaufail, and to the left, actually a lot to the left, the confederacy of Craoye. Between that and where we are, though, there is this part of the forest which is extremely dangerous to travel through. A lot of... not so friendly monsters live there, and they get bigger and badder the deeper in you go."

  Then, suddenly, Eisen did something amazing with the map.

  Eisen touched the paper with his thumb and index. Then, he pinched. The map slightly glowed, and it zoomed out.

  Val: "Woah."

  Eisen pointed at something on the map once again.

  Eisen: "And here, is Aurelia. The big, very big, capital of this amazing republic."

  Val looked at the map incredulous.

  Val: "Hey, can i have this..?"

  Eisen: "Sure..."

  Val took the map in his hands, as Eisen took the lead.

  As he looked at the map, he checked the extension of the state he was in. The Republic Of Muria was exceptionally big, occupying the majority of the continent shown on the map. And as Eisen had said, on the top left, there was a border that marked the end of Muria and the start of...

  Val: "Confederacy of Craoye? What do they do?"

  Eisen: "Just many important cities who decided to unite. There are 8 in total. I can list them all if you want!"

  Eisen turned around to look at Val, who was concentrated on exploring the map. There was a glimmer in his eyes when talking about these things.

  Val couldn't help but notice Eisens' clear enthusiasm on the topic.

  Val: "No, i'm fine, i can see them here."

  He didn't lift his head from the map. Eisen was a bit disappointed, but he continued walking.

  Val: "Saiph... Rigel... Oh, so this Rigel city is their capital?"

  Eisen: "Yeah."

  Val looked more to the north.

  Val: "Alni-- Alnitaka... Alnila-- Why are these three so close together?"

  Eisen: "I don't know..."

  He held even more disappointment in his voice, now that he failed to answer the question.

  Eisen: "I guess teamwork makes the dreamwork. In trading, at least."

  Val raised his head to look at Eisen walking in front of him.

  He muttered...

  Val: "Teamwork makes... Oooooh! That's clever wordplay."

  He returned to browsing the map. This time, he went east.

  And there it was. A border determined a place that was not Muria. On it, a label...

  Val: "There it is."

  Meshen.

  Eisen: "Found something interesting?"

  Val: "No, i'm fine, thanks. Wait, no, i mean, no i didn't."

  After a bit more walking.

  Val: "This Aurelia place really is far away..."

  Eisen: "Don't worry, there are plenty of villages we can stop by on the way. Just like the one we just came from."

  Val: "Just like the one we came from? What does that entail?"

  Eisen: "The village we just came from, Dushi, is one of the most ancient hunter hubs. You were lucky, you get there while they were transferring. Otherwise, you would've been killed as soon as you got there."

  Val: "You know, i did manage to hide my identity for a bit. I stayed, three days i think? then i was found out somehow. Still don't know how..."

  Eisen started laughing.

  Val: "What??"

  Eisen: "Like... haha... it's just... The party in the village... Everyone saw you with a halo on top your head through your window... that was pretty stupid, if what you said is true."

  Val: "...what?"

  He gripped the halo resting on his neck.

  Eisen: "You were looking down too. As soon as one spotted you, everyone panicked."

  Val: "oh..."

  Eisen stopped laughing.

  Eisen: "I'd like to know something though..."

  Eisen stopped and faced Val.

  Eisen: "How did you know that you needed to disguise yourself?"

  Val thought back to his first encounter with humans. They were thoughts he would rather not have.

  Val: "Don't wanna talk about it.."

  He denied Eisens' question, not understanding the accusation the boy had made.

  Meanwhile, Eisen looked down. He breathed in, then out.

  Eisen: "Why are you after me, Altair."

  Val looked up from the map with the most confused look possible, only to see Eisens' face.

  The boy wore an expression that was hard to decifer. Almost melancholically, he held a ever so slight smile, but it looked more sad than happy.

  Val was confused.

  Val: "Whaaa..???"

  Eisen quickly covered up whatever emotion he was feeling before, and returned to his usual neutral expression.

  Eisen: "So you're actually not-- Nevermind forget i said anything."

  The boy quickly turned around and continued walking, quickly leaving Val behind.

  Val was truly confused. What did have to do with anything? He decided to brush it off as something from earth an angel like him could not understand.

  He ran to catch up to Eisen, still concentrated on the map. Once he caught up, he rolled it up and gave it back to it's owner.

  The two walked in silence for a moment.

  Val: "Eisen... Eisen... That's a girl's name."

  Already, the fact that the human had only one name was suspicious. But the fact that it was a name that Val could recognize and assign to a gender was even stranger.

  Eisen: "Don't know what you're talking about."

  Eisen kept his hands in his pockets, and held the map in the pocket of his vest. He was dressed like a typical village boy you could imagine.

  That being said, the two harbored suspicions against each other.

  But they encountered something even more suspicious.

  Val: "Is this a clearance?"

  Eisen: "Seems like it."

  The trees stopped, and gave way to a very small hill. The two travelers emerged from the forest and observed astounded.

  A person stood at the top of the hill. Or maybe not a person, but...

  A shiny ring floated over the stranger's head. It shone reflecting the sunlight. The wind made his clothes flutter around, clothes that seemed strangely similar to Vals' own.

  The angel turned around, and saw the two immoble travelers. As soon as they were seen, the mysterious angel disappeared.

  A swift cut, an effective one, was made on Vals' neck. The flesh separated, and Vals' head went flying.

  His now lifeless body collapsed beside Eisen, who watched in horror. But was less horror, and more disgust. He did not seem worried in the slightest.

  The boy turned around to see the killer. A tall angel, definitely taller than Val.

  Eisen: "I don't mean harm. You see, i was even helping this angel right here."

  Light started to emerge from the body of the dead angel.

  Angel: "Well in that case..."

  His voice was menacing.