Amidst the morning mist, Fi was packing his things.
He filled the saddlebag with dried meat and fish, as well as a waterbag.
“There.”
He closed the bag and raised his voice.
“Hey, Guto! We need to go soon! Come back!”
His voice echoed through the white air, but he could not hear the wolf’s voice. Was he still asleep? Or perhaps he was hunting for breakfast.
“Damn it. Guto, hurry up!”
But no one answered. Now that he thought about it, Yuneri was gone as well.
“…Right. He went back with his mother.”
He felt a little lonely to lose the warmth he had felt during the journey, but he was also happy that the kobold hat reunited with the rest of the group. Fi raised his voice as if to shrug off the feeling of sadness.
“Is anyone there?”
The sounds of feet over dried leaves. And then the figure appeared through the white mist.
“…Sheto?”
“Fi. It’s been a while.”
The kobold hunter smiled as he approached. He was holding his shortbow in one hand, as if he had just come back from a hunt.
“When did you get here? The old dragon god said you were running away with the bull-headed general!”
“Aye. Was able to get away. I’m fine now.”
Sheto said in his usual, gentle and reassuring voice as he patted Fi on the shoulder.
“You really had me worried! But I’m relieved now.”
“Aye, sorry. More importantly, Fi. Must have been hard, for you?”
“I…guess. It was.”
They had been attacked by the villagers led by the Hero’s army. And the pack was nearly destroyed. He told Sheto about the days of running desperately.
“To be honest, I didn’t think we would make it. But Guto helped us. And everything you taught me came in handy too. Thank you.”
“I see. So, you obeyed what I said.”
“Yes. Yuneri is back with the pack now. Some of them died…but not all of them.”
“I see. The pack. Good.”
The kobold laughed and put both hands on Fi’s shoulders.
“Still. You, killed Lu.”
The smile disappeared from the young dragon’s face.
“The chief, my friends, my brothers, my ma. You killed all of them.”
“Ah…”
Sheto was still smiling.
“You, helped Yuneri. The pack. Why then…did you kill Lu?”
“No…”
Blood began to spill from his mouth. Spill from his throat, which now had a slit across it. Bubbles of blood rose as he choked.
“Ah…ah…!”
The ground was covered in blood. As it spread, the mist faded away. And he realized he was not in a forest.
Small huts burning, while dead kobolds, crushed and torn apart, were discarded on the ground.
“Ah…gah…”
He wanted to say something. Sheto continued to smile in front of him.
However, the overflowing blood prevented a single word from getting out.
“You, very kind. But, you still killed Lu, ma, brothers, friends. Everyone.”
It was as if Sheto was reading his sins and branding him.
The sould Koji Itsumi within.
“Why…did you kill them?”
“Sheto…I…”
He heard the rush of something cutting through the wind above his head.
When Fi looked up, he saw the Hero’s sword. Piercing deep into the kobold’s chest.
It came out, light as a feather.
The light went out of Sheto’s eyes, and he fell limply to the ground.
“So there was still one left.”
Fi saw himself standing there in blue armor.
“A dragon pup. Well, better than a kobold.”
There was childish glee in his eyes. Like someone looking at products on a store shelf.
“No…”
And then the platinum blade swung down over his head…