酷视

A single word that appeared strangely often in just the few words she said. A word full of implication… And one that gave me the convenience of asking about it.

Because I needed time, to process everything I\'d just heard.

\'A war? Forest getting overran? Return back?\'

A hundred thoughts flashed through the busy nodes of my brain, clogging my entire thinking process.

\'Wait, what if I…\'

Prompted by the memory of a relatively recent event, I took a deep breath and chanted in my thoughts.

\'Eye of time.\'

Maybe it was stupid, to activate this skill long before any fight was about to start…

But there was no doubt in my mind using it right now. The sooner and better I understand the situation, I can position myself accordingly. The boost to my brain\'s processing power was what I needed to come up with a valid plan. For now, though…

"It\'s all hands on deck," Madam sighed. "In moments like this, we put our useless conflicts aside and stand together to take on this invasion."

The look in my eyes visibly sharpened.

With the skill activating, the chaotic mess of news and problems suddenly grew orderly, now that I could properly process it. And the image of the situation that my brain slowly compiled… It wasn\'t good at all.

"You are better at holding any massed attack in the forest, in your natural element," I pointed out while already moving to the next realization with my thoughts. "So, whatever resistance you will mount at the forest\'s edge, will only be for show."

I shook my head and stared ahead, right into Madam\'s shocked expression. My chin then carried along, allowing me to catch a glimpse at Fay\'s reaction to all of this.

And once again, there was a surprise awaiting on her face.

\'Why she doesn\'t look in the least… bothered?\'

Madam was coldly determined to face whatever was coming. I was freaking out, trying to make the most of what little information I had to make the right judgment, as there was no doubt Madam already made up her mind not to let us on the battlefield.

"I only have praise for your deduction," Madam spoke with a defeated sigh, her eyes lingering on Fay\'s face, something I missed up until this point. "And that means you should get as far away from here. Preferably, hide away in Leinei\'s shack. If worst comes to be, you might need to take Fay and test your theory at the Misty Valley."

I took a deep breath.

The more Madam spoke, as little details as she was willing to offer, the better was my outlook on the circumstances.

First, this wasn\'t a new event in Madam\'s life. Her cold, calculated reaction meant she had gone through this kind of mess at least once before.

And judging by the degree of her peace of mind, many times more.

Secondly, something was not right. An element that struck Madam as weird, different than in all the other times.

\'And lastly, she doesn\'t consider it to be a doomsday scenario.\'

I took a deep breath, sensing the influence of my skill fading away.

\'It served me well,\' I thought, feeling a sense of nostalgia as my brain returned to its natural state.

Then, I rolled my eyes.

\'Natural state? I\'m only for points away from maxing it out,\' I thought, only to release a sigh…

I took a deep breath, rolled my eyes, and heaved a long, depressed sigh.

And throughout all this, I could sense Fay\'s piercing gaze on my back.

"This is not our war," Fay spoke, suddenly creating a massive presence at the moment.

"I know," Madam replied in a slightly fainter voice while moving her eyes down to the ground.

"But we have to stop it either way."

My voice, appearing for the first time since I asked my question managed to cut into the strange air between Fay and her mom.  And as both of them turned their eyes to me, I openly sighed.

"Fay, dearest, we need to pay for our toys, don\'t we?"

We didn\'t come to this world just to have fun. We came here to cash in some random herbs for weapons of final and mass destruction.

"I wonder if this is a coincidence…" I suddenly spoke a random, intrusive thought. As for how it managed to slip through my lips, I couldn\'t tell.

The look on Fay\'s face changed, tensed up.

"Do you want to use those weapons on humans?" Fay\'s eyes, covered with just the slightest hint of make-up, turned tense, tenser than ever. "Are you willing to partake in the slaughter of your kin?"

Fay pressed her lips together, giving me a blank and yet, passionately worried stare. Her delicate fingers tightened into small fists.

"Didn\'t I kill humans before?" I asked, genuinely puzzled by how sudden Fay\'s problem was.

I finished a pitiful girl from the first group and then partook in fighting off all those who raised their weapons on Fay. How would be today any different?

"It\'s one thing to fight with humans who directly attacked you," Fay replied without a second of thought, indicating it was a line of thinking she had come up with long ago.

\'Most likely, it\'s a reflection of her own regret or fear she has regarding something in the future.\'

"But what you are about to do, is join a war against your race."

Fay concluded her lecture while giving me an intense, nearly pleading gaze.

"Oh, my…" I shook my head, a polite smile trembling as my real chuckle threatened to reveal itself. "Dearest, if only my fellow humans ever had the same concern back in the days…" I shook my head again. "The life you saw is the upper-end of society that created overabundance. But the foundation of this wealth lays in oceans of blood everyone spilled to steal, enslave, and murder."

I shook my head for the third and last time. Then, my eyes moved over to the freezer we carried over. For now, it was closed, but inside…

Inside, there were state-of-the-art weapons that could be blamed for the war that never happened. After all, just like with nukes, the damage of using them in actual combat would be too great.

"As far as I can tell, this invasion is nothing new. But there\'s an opponent that makes things problematic," I revealed my assumptions as I walked over to the freezer and pushed its lid open. Then, as I rummaged through all the boxes and supplies neatly stacked inside, I finally managed to bring out three, huge cases.

"Fay, this one\'s for you, just in case something happens," I spoke, opening the first of the special boxes and pulling out the spray-and-pray weapon for my girl.

"Wait, you don\'t mean to…"

"For now, I will take the other two," I continued, not giving Fay any time to respond. "First one for the inevitable clash when we encounter another protector, second for the actual job."

Waiting for no one, I moved ahead and stopped only a foot away from Madam.

"Where do you guys gather?"