Being left with no other option, Vigil had no choice but to go along with the woman's demands.
After dropping his sword and letting go of his gun, he slowly lifted his arms above his head in order to show his surrender and compliance.
As Vigil was doing this he couldn't help but revisit his thoughts from a few moments ago.
'I guess it really wasn't arrogance... Or maybe it was and she was just that confident in herself?'
While these thoughts were circulating through the young boy's mind the woman had already grabbed both his gun and his sword.
"I'll be confiscating these until it's decided that you can be trusted with them, okay?"
She said, breaking him out of his thoughts.
This was the first time someone had ever gotten a hand on Vigil's weapons and seeing them in a pair of hands other than his own irked him.
Especially when his eyes landed on the Promise, the last thing his mother had ever given him.
However, given the circumstances, Vigil had no choice but to swallow the anger that was boiling up from inside him, and watch as the woman took what was his.
Vigil realized that being alone with his thoughts would soon make him too emotional to think clearly. So instead of just standing there like a statue, he decided to try and get some information out of the lady.
"So... what happens next?"
Hearing the boy finally talk made the woman snap her head to the side in order to face him.
"Well would you look at that. He really can talk! ...Anyway, what happens next is that you'll come with me back to the convoy. After that... Meh, we'll get to it when we get to it."
After hearing her words Vigil couldn't help but be ashamed of himself for getting completely overwhelmed by someone with a personality like hers.
As he was thinking this, he noticed that the woman had already started walking towards the convoy that was now stopped just a few hundred meters away. Seeing this, Vigil decided to follow after her. After all, if she could beat him in a fight easily enough to capture him, then he was sure that she'd have no trouble killing him if need be.
While the pair was walking to the convoy, the woman decided that walking in silence was too boring, so she tried to strike up a conversation.
"Hey kid tell me, are you the one they call Dread?"
Vigil saw no problem in going along with a question like that, so he answered her truthfully.
"Well that is what people have been calling me as of late."
Hearing his reply only made the woman even more curious.
"Oh? Then is it true? Are you really a Child of War like the rumors say? Like I know that I've been calling you 'kid' a lot but I've just been assuming."
A Child of War.
Vigil had heard people say those exact words before, plenty of times actually. It made Vigil think...
'When was the first time I'd heard those words?'
Noticing that she wasn't getting a response, the woman turned her head around to look at Vigil then asked:
"What wrong kid, cat got your tongue?"
Her words had quickly snapped Vigil out of his thoughts.
"Ah! No... It's just- What's a Child of War?"
Hearing the boy's words made her freeze for a moment.
What he just said hinted at the answer to her previous question, but that only made her want to ask more questions than she already was.
But before she could ask anything else, she decided to answer his question first.
"A Child of War is someone that is below the age of 18 and has been wandering War Field by themselves for at least a month. But then that begs the questions; One, how old are you, and two, how long have you been living in War Field without leaving?"
She said as she continued walking forward.
But the questions she asked only served to give Vigil more of his own. This was because, not even Vigil himself knew how old he was anymore. Not only that, but he didn't have the smallest inkling as to how long he's been roaming this hell on earth.
"I can't give you the answers to either of those questions. At one point I just lost track of how much time I've spent wandering around this place..."
After hearing this, the woman really wanted to talk more with the boy, even if it was just for a few moments longer. However, it was at this time that they had made it back to the now stationary convoy.
As they were walking through, the first thing that Vigil noticed was that he was being stared at by everyone there. But soon, he noticed something that was of much more importance to him.
From the looks of it, he was being led to the vehicle at the center of the pack; the most heavily defended one.
"Alright kid, we made it."
She said as she put her hand on the door handle.
But before she opened it, she turned toward Vigil once more and said one last thing.
"I forgot to introduce myself. People call me Crimson Witch, but you can just call me Witch for short."
Vigil wasn't even able to make a comment on her bizarre name before she opened the door. What met him when he looked inside was a luxurious interior that reminded the boy of the palace in which he used to work.
"Ah! You're finally here!"
It was only after he heard a voice that Vigil had noticed the dark skinned old man sitting down on the right side of the vehicle's interior.
Seeing that he was finally noticed, the old man continued.
"Come in, come in. Have a seat and make yourself at home. We won't hurt you, I swear it in the name of lord and savior."
The man's words of reassurance were accompanied by his even more reassuring smile.
The scene felt soft and kind, but Vigil knew better than to trust anyone without first making sure that it wasn't a trap. He was cautious to a fault, but that caution was also what got him this far.
Sadly however, Vigil was left with no choice but to listen to the old man, less he wanted to risk getting on the bad side of everyone in the convoy that he was now standing in the center of.
After entering the luxurious vehicle along with Witch, who closed the door right behind them, Vigil proceeded to sit down on one of the seats that was facing towards the old man and take his helmet off with Witch soon doing the same.
Seeing the woman take off her helmet made Vigil a bit curious as to what she looked like.
But what he saw only served to both surprise and confuse him.
'Well... Looks can be deceiving I guess.'
He thought to himself while remembering the way she had acted along with her brutish personality.
And speaking of her brutish personality...
"Wow, that's what you look like?! Sorry to say this kid but you do not look like you're doing too well for yourself."
The old man allowed the two of them to get comfortable before he cleared his throat to grab their attention.
He then turned his head to Witch and started speaking.
"Thank you for listening to this old man's wishes and bringing the child here young lady."
Witch gave a small smile and nodded in response to his kind words.
"Of course. That is why you pay me after all."
She concluded with a light chuckle.
The man then turned his sights to the vehicle's newcomer, Vigil, or Dread as they know him by.
"So you must be Dread, it's a pleasure to meet you. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Leonide Haldridge, one of the Catholic Churches six Cardinals."
After saying this he paused for a moment as if waiting for a reaction out of the boy.
However, the expected reaction never came. In its place was the voice of an unenthused young boy.
"Uh... Yeah, it's nice to meet you. People call me Dread."
Vigil didn't know why he decided to introduce himself with the nickname that had been forced upon him instead of his real name, but that was the choice he made and now he's got to live with it.
"Pfft..."
After hearing his dull reply, Witch couldn't help but let out a small laugh. But before she blew out into a full fit of laughter, she had quickly covered her mouth and turned her head away.
Vigil could only look between the pair in confusion. He didn't know why she had started laughing or why Leonide looked so downtrodden. But what he did know was that, just based off of the few moments that he's known them, these two were way too eccentric for him.
A few moments later, Witch had calmed down just enough to answer the question that was clearly written on Vigil's face.
"Alright, allow me to explain. Cardinal Leonide here is one of the highest ranking members of the Catholic Church, one of Lumarta's three largest religions. Normally when people hear who he is they freeze up and act like they've seen a ghost. But you? You just sat there and acted like he was just some random guy."
After giving him his explanation, Witch whispered under her breath:
"I gathered that he didn't know much but really..?"
Vigil looked up towards Cardinal Leonide and opened his mouth to say something. However before any words could come out, the man interrupted him.
"No no, it's fine. Honestly, it's a good change of pace to see a reaction like that. Anyway, onto the real reason as to why I had wanted to get you here."
Leonide paused for a moment and took out a pocket watch that he'd been hiding underneath his robes.
After glancing at it for a quick second, he put it back and continued with what he was saying.
"I assume that, like most Children of War, you are currently headed to Mercy. Is that correct?"
Hearing his question, Vigil nodded his head slowly, signaling that his assumption was correct.
Seeing this, the old man continued.
"Then that works out perfectly! Let's do this, in exchange for being my bodyguard for the next half a week, I will allow you to accompany us on our journey to Mercy."