Moment had passed...
Adam sat on the cracked stone, chest rising and falling like he'd sprinted through fire. Karrin, on the other hand, looked like his soul had been shaken out of his body. Being shredded apart and knitted back together a dozen times had a way of hollowing a person.
Adam just… laughed.
A raw, miserable sound. Like someone who had burned through fear long ago and discovered something stranger underneath.
Karrin stared at him, disturbed."…You're smiling" he muttered.
Adam wiped blood off his face, still grinning."What? Something funny about almost dying?"
Karrin shook his head, eyes unfocused. "No. Just… you're either numb to pain, or you're insane."
Adam didn't deny it. He only laughed harder.
They both fell into silence as soldiers moved through the ruined courtyard, gathering the humanoid ghoul corpses. The bodies were stacked carefully—almost respectfully—despite how monstrous they looked. When Adam saw the pile, his smile twitched into something sharper. Something that felt wrong in a world full of wrong things.
"At least," he whispered, "Morality isn't gone."
Karrin put a hand on the hilt of his sword, staring toward the barrier that had repelled the last wave of monsters. "Who made that thing anyway…?"
The soldiers dragged the corpses away from the station's walls, piling them in a distant clearing. Fire bloomed, slow and deliberate, turning the heap into burning silhouettes.
Watching it, Adam felt something twist in his chest.
"Why is it always humans?" he muttered. "Why us? What makes us worth hunting?"
Karrin shrugged and lay back on the ground, hands behind his head."Don't ask me. I never cared for lore. I just skip cutscenes and fight. Maybe I should've… enjoyed stuff more."His voice lowered. "Past life felt like going on auto-play. This one… maybe I get to actually live it."
Before Adam could answer, a soldier burst through the smoke, panting. His armor was dented, his face streaked with ash. Adam recognized him—one of the survivors who'd fought beside Yamiyo.
"Thank the gods you were here when the disaster hit…" the soldier breathed, clutching his helmet to his chest.
Adam stepped forward. "What's wrong?"
The soldier hesitated, lowering to one knee until Adam stopped him with a firm hand.
"Just speak."
"…We're preparing to move the bodies of our fallen," the soldier said, voice trembling. "We must take them to the southern gate. But… some might die carrying them. The route isn't safe."
Karrin sat up immediately. "Hold on—is this a quest?"His eyes narrowed. "What's the reward?"
The soldier swallowed. "I… I can take a loan. I can pay you two hundred gold. But the city normally pays five hundred for a task this dangerous. I don't… have that much."
Karrin frowned."Why do this? It's pointless. We're not even heading south. You, I mean we could stay here a bit… Getting stronger…"
Adam shook his head before he could finish."If we wait, their bodies will rot."
The soldier looked down, hands shaking around his helmet.
"I wish I was strong enough to protect them. My comrades… When they needed me most."He grit his teeth, voice cracking."And now I can't even carry them to a proper rest."
He lifted his head, eyes burning with shame.
"I don't need your pity, Adventurer. I don't even deserve to ask for your help. I couldn't save them. I couldn't do anything…"
His voice died, swallowed by smoke and fire.
The courtyard echoed with the shuffle of boots and muted laughter. One by one, soldiers gathered around, smiling faintly as they held out the pitiful soldier—Frank—whose arms still trembled from pleading.
"C'mon, Frank," one said, clapping him on the shoulder. "You really gonna do this all on your own?"
These were veterans. Decades etched into their faces, eyes hardened by the constant brush with death. Every one of them had stared into it so often, it felt like a familiar companion.
"C'mon. Well… pitch in," another added, a grin tugging at his scarred face.
Gold coins clinked as they were placed into a basket, one after another. Adam and Karrin watched in silence as the pile grew heavier—six hundred coins now stacked neatly, enough to make even a hardened adventurer pause.
Karrin's gaze lingered on the basket, moral hesitation tugging at him. But Adam merely smirked, exhaling slowly."Of course," he said, the weight of inevitability in his tone.
With that, the grim task began. Corpses of fallen soldiers were gently laid onto crates, secured as if they were cargo rather than comrades. Horses and oxen were hitched, harnesses creaking under the burden as they prepared to haul the crates. The procession moved slowly, methodically, across the ash-stained ground.
"So… why is this place so dangerous?" a voice asked, hesitant. A short soldier with a spear fell into step beside them, eyes scanning the ruined horizon.
"Well… you know, ghouls," he said, shrugging. "But… there's something else too."
Adam raised an eyebrow. "Something else?"
The soldier nodded, a shadow passing over his face. "I heard… the one who caused the ghouls' origin—the demon responsible—has its lair somewhere in the Southern Gates of Ashfall. Dangerous. Trapped. We're not going anywhere near that."
Adam's curiosity flared, but Karrin immediately shook his head, firm. A clear warning: don't even think about going there.
The wind carried ash across the ruined city, dust settling over the soldiers' backs as they trudged onward, the weight of death and duty pressing down on everyone.
Adam's steps dragged, boots scraping dirt as though each one argued with him. His arms made a small gesture—half a wave, half a surrender—showing how his body was wearing down because his mind is mentally exhausted.
He pointed toward Karrin, almost asking without speaking: Just a moment… just a breath…
Karrin only shook his head, jaw tight, eyes forward. Then back to him... "You go ill just be right here"
When I slipped into the caravan, the canvas flaps swung shut behind me, muting the noise outside. A soldier inside looked me over once, quick and practical, then pressed a sword into my hands.
"You might need it," he muttered.
As i close my eye's and slowly drove to sleep, feeling the log under the rest of my body...