Chapter 18

Yohei, led Clark and Hauve as they ran, and then he glanced back to see a group of bandits running pursuing them. Yohei slowed down until he was standing next to Clark and Hauve. "I will run first and enter the forest. You guys keep running on this path. When the time is right, I'll launch an attack on our pursuers."

Clark and Hauve nodded in agreement. Yohei picked up speed after seeing a fairly large tree in front of them. As he passed the tree, he immediately hid behind the tree, while Clark and Hauve kept running along the road. The bandits continued to chase Clark and Hauve. Behind those bandits, Yohei noticed Kin, Ken, and Ria following as well. Just before the bandit passed Yohei's hiding spot, he attacked the tree with his big ax.

With a single blow of his ax, the tree split and fell. The fallen tree hit three of the bandits chasing Clark and Hauve and simultaneously blocked the bandits' path. The unharmed bandits stopped and searched for the cause. Their eyes found Yohei, and without hesitation, they ran toward Yohei. However right before they could move, they saw several fireballs flying towards them. It hit them, causing several bandits to be thrown away and some were able to withstand the attack but got injured.

When the sound of a falling tree was heard, Kin, Ken, and Ria started attacking the group of bandits. Ria immediately cast a fireball spell and directed it at the bandits, while, Kin and Ken increased their speed. As soon as the magic hit the bandits, Kin and Ken were already at their attacking range and they started to engage the bandits near them.

Understanding his friends' strategy, Yohei immediately ran toward the bandits after Ria's magic hit them. Kin, Ken, and Yohei attacked at the right time, and almost all the bandits died simultaneously, leaving only one bandit left. Yohei restrains Kin and Ken killed the last bandit. The surviving bandit had one of his arms destroyed after being hit by Ria's magic attack, but he still raised his sword at Yohei.

Yohei approached the bandit, held his hand, and pulled him near. "Where are you hiding? Where is your base?"

The bandit did not answer. Suddenly blood appeared from the bandit's mouth and he shattered into dust following his friends who had already been shattered to dust.

Yohei let out a long breath. "He committed suicide. Even before being interrogated."

Kin's hands tremble after killing two bandits. I kill humans. Humans are cut with my sword.

While Kin was trying to calm himself down, Ria, Clark, and Hauve arrived. Clark while still breathlessly scanned the area, but he couldn't find other bandits or anything suspicious. Then he noticed Kin's hand was shaking and he patted Kin's shoulder reassuringly.

Clark looked at Yohei and asked. "Yohei, what next? Surely the bandit group will realize their members are dead. And I think they will send more after us."

Ken nodded in agreement. "Clark's right, Yohei. What's more, the sound of the falling tree was very loud and will give them information about our presence."

Yohei remained silent for a while, while Kin was still trying to stop his shaking hands. After thinking for a moment, Yohei spoke up. "We should hide in the forest until tomorrow morning."

Everyone agreed with Yohei's plan, and they immediately ran into the forest with Yohei leading the way. This time they entered a deeper part of the forest than they usually did. While they moved, they consistently looked at their surrounding to make sure no one was following them. Occasionally, monsters attacked them but they were able to kill it quickly. However, every time they killed the monsters, Kin didn't help much. Kin's hands were still tremor after killing the bandit and it made him hesitate to swing his weapon.

After walking through the forest for 3 hours, they saw a cave and without thinking too much they decided to enter the cave. The cave is very big, and there were other smaller caves inside after they walked inside the cave. They entered one of these small caves to rest.

While traveling through the forest, Kin gradually calmed his trembling hands. By the time they entered the cave, he had mostly regained his composure. Ria, who had been paying attention to Kin, sat next to him. With her small hand, she stroked Kin's back. Every time Ria's hand touched Kin, it made him calmer. Kin took a deep breath and smiled at Ria. "Thank you, Ria."

"You're welcome," Ria answered shyly, and then she went towards the bonfire Ken just made.

Clark, who had finished preparing their place to rest, approached Kin. "What happened Kin? After the fight with the bandits, you looked pale."

Kin shook his head and tried to deny his fear. "No Clark. I am alright."

Clark sat beside Kin. "What is it? Maybe I can help."

Kin let out a long sigh. "This is my first time killing bandits. I felt like I had killed a human..." He paused for a moment, then he continued while staring at the bonfire. "Like killing you."

"Aaaah." Clark understood what Kin had felt. He cannot say that killing someone is a simple thing, and make it just a simple thing like killing a monster. He understood why Kin would feel that he had done something terribly wrong. Clark was aware of how soft Kin's feelings were.

Clark talked as gently as he could. "Then what do you expect? Can you win with just words? Are you sure we can survive just through dialogue?"

"Maybe," Kin replied while feeling guilty. "We didn't attempt to talk to them first. We immediately attacked them."

"But do you think they would want to talk to us?" Clark tried to argue but he used a more gentle voice.

Kin pondered deeply, then took a deep breath, and then looked at Clark. "I don't know. Maybe... Maybe because we didn't try."

"Try to remember how the last bandit died. We tried to interrogate him, but what did he do?" Clark pressed.

Kin answered slowly. "He killed himself."

"Exactly. So, do you think we can dialog with those bandits when they are willing to die for their group?"

Kin fell silent and lowered his head. He knew there was no way the bandits would stop the attack only with words from anyone. It's almost impossible and maybe overly optimistic to expect dialog could happen.

"I don't know about you," Clark continued. "but whenever I deal with humans like those bandits, I first will try to resolve the problem with dialogue." Clark made a pause so Kin could absorb. "But if that doesn't work, then inevitably I will use violence. Even if it means to kill them. And I think our condition with the bandits, it didn't seem like it's a condition where we can have dialogue."

Kin nodded, taking in everything Clark said. Just then, Hauve and Yohei called them over for dinner.

"Kin, Clark, let's eat. The food is ready."

Clark pulled Kin and they both sat by the campfire and ate their food.

They tried to kill me. No, they tried to kill us. I was just defending myself. And this is all just a game. I can consider those bandits as monsters, not as NPCs. Whether they are monsters or NPCs, they are still just a collection of data driven by code from this game system. They are not real.

Kin tried to throw away the negative thoughts bothering him and began eating the soup Yohei and Hauve made. Every spoon warmed his stomach and with every bite, he reinforced his justification for defending himself against the bandits.

They finished eating and got ready to rest. Due to recent attacks from the bandits, they decide to take turns guarding their camp. Kin and Ken were the first assigned. They brought some firewood to help brighten their surroundings. While on guard, Kin practiced using a one-handed sword following the pattern taught by Clark. Ken observed Kin's practice, occasionally providing feedback on Kin's movements. After practicing for a while, Kin finally got tired and sat beside Ken.

"What's wrong with you Kin?" Ken asked, concern evident in his eyes.

"Me?... Me?... Why?" Kin was taken aback by Ken's question.

Ken changed his seat to face Kin. "Since the attack from the bandits, you seem different. What's going on?"

Kin tried to avoid Ken's question and just smiled it off. "No, it's okay, I just suddenly felt a little uneasy."

"What is it? Talk to me. Talking about it might help."

Kin looked away from Ken. For a while, there was no sound from both Kin and Ken, only the crackling sound of the firewood.

Kin suddenly let out a long sigh. "Ken, why did you become a mercenary?"

"Because of gold," Ken answered without hesitation. Kin was taken aback when he heard Ken's answer. Kin's expression showed how much he didn't like Ken's answer.

"At first that was my reason. But as I continued this job, my reasons changed a little. That doesn't mean gold isn't my cause anymore, but the biggest reason why I do this work is to know the impact of the items or people I protect."

Kin leaned in and listened to Ken's story about some of his stories while working as a mercenary. Starting from escorting a representative from the kingdom, escorting a merchant who has a lot of gold. The most impressive thing was when he escorted aid items for victims of war.

"More or less, that is some of my stories Kin. So gold is my reason for working as a mercenary, but not only that."

"Wow, your job was fantastic. There are all kinds of places and all kinds of people you meet right?"

"Yes, it is. And it's a good feeling."

Kin nodded while still amazed by Ken's story. "Then Ken, can I ask you something?"

"Yes. What is it Kin?"

"When you were first killed... how did you feel?" Kin asked carefully.

"When I kill monsters it's just ordinary. There are no feelings whatsoever." Ken replied.

Kin shook his head hard. "No, that is not what I mean." Kin clarified. "Not killing monsters but when killing humans, like those bandits."

"Killing humans huh? Is that what's bothering you?"

"Yes, that's right," Kin admitted. His face, which had brightened a little when he heard Ken's stories, turned gloomy again. Ken tried to find the right way to answer Kin. After he finished gathering his thoughts, he started to answer.

"I look the same as you, maybe worse. My hand shook, I couldn't concentrate on my job, and I felt so guilty. Also, I almost quit my job because of that. Even now I'm still not used to it."

Ken went silent. Kin cannot say anything too. Then Ken continued. "Yohei then came to me after he noticed I behaved differently. He then asked my reasons for joining him as a mercenary. Just like you right now. And he told me to focus on that. He also asked whether it could only be solved by killing those humans or not."

Ken paused for a moment, choosing his next words carefully. "Most of the time I thought about what would happen if I didn't kill them Kin. Will it harm my friends, or harm the people who employ me, or worse, kill me? And that's why I joined Yohei. Because he will only take jobs that prioritize protecting, not jobs that attack or kill someone. Although as far as I know, the job of killing someone can get paid more."

Kin's shoulder was pated by Ken. "So Kin, I understand what's bothering you. But try to focus not on the negative side, especially the feeling of guilt for killing someone. Try to focus on what you have saved and could save from your actions. However, the most important thing is to avoid killing as much as possible. Try another way if possible."

Kin, who had been lowering his head while listening to Ken, raised his head. "Thanks, Ken."

After that Kin tried to change the conversation. "By the way, you don't seem to be from the central continent, right?"

. During this trip, Kin paid attention to Yohei's team including Ken. And he knew that Ken was from the eastern continent. Where on that continent many people have powers with the wind element that Kin has never encountered before.

In the world of SENSES, each continent has powers with specific elements. And the central continent where Kin starts the game is a continent that has no elements. For the average person, the central continent having no elements might be unfavorable. But other continents that have the advantage of having strengths with certain elements will also have weaknesses against certain elements. However, the central continent which has no elements has no advantages or disadvantages to other elements.

They talked until it was time to switch guard duties with Yohei and Ria. Kin and Ken woke them up and they took over for guarding the camp.

Before resting, Kin patted Ken on the back. "Thank you Ken for the talk earlier."

Ken responded with a smile and looked for the most comfortable position to rest. Just before Kin was about to rest and log out, Yohei suddenly called out to Kin and Ken. Yohei whispered for them to wake Clark and Hauve. Kin and Ken, who didn't understand what happened, just followed Yohei's instructions and woke up Clark and Hauve.

The four of them slowly walked toward Yohei and Ria. Kin suddenly heard a soft voice echoing from the other part of the cave.

"There were ten people who died."

"It seems like they attacked the wrong group."

"Maybe that's why we're being ordered to gather at the base. We'd better hurry." Then Kin and his team could hear the sound of footsteps fading away.

They exchanged glances processing what they just heard. Yohei broke the silence. "It seems we are at the base of the bandits that the Rayaume kingdom has been searching for."