The situation went out of control for a while, but it soon died down the moment everyone got together to explain what had happened. For Janet, who was currently at death's door due to that dragon bitch's punch, she had a hard time following what was happening after it was revealed that her target and his partner were otherworlders like her. Of course, their scuffle made some huge waves across the vicinity, so Zeke went ahead to cover it up with his magic, using the mixture of his runes and his constructs to hide the damage. Lyle went ahead to explain to the worried masses that a drunkard high on potions came up and tried to make a mess, but thankfully the guards came in to apprehend them. Once the lie was settled, they returned back to the store, only to realize that Janet's assault caused it to be in tatters. It was an utter mess, and Lyle could only let out a heavy breath as he brought everyone over to the back where it was thankfully unaffected by the fight. Janet had to considerably calm herself down, and ensure that she stuck close to Lyle to keep her head from getting overwhelmed. Of course guilt clutched at her, but there was also anger and rage at everything that had occurred. Some of it even went to Lyle for literally inviting their target for some coffee once they figured out their origins. So now the four were at a standoff–Zeke and his partner known as Mikella sat by a couch in front of Lyle and herself. Unlike the supposed friendly atmosphere Lyle had with Zeke, the room was tense enough to cut with a knife. Despite the overwhelming disadvantage, Janet still had her weapon ready in case any of them did anything suspicious. Mikella also had her sword out, so she had ample reason to be on guard. Even though the woman was laying on the sofa with her arms and legs crossed, her sword was by her side held in a tight grip in her hand. She glared at Janet, and Janet glared right back at her, then at Zeke who looked more like a frightened puppy being reprimanded. Lyle cleared his throat, finally breaking the momentary silence. "Alright, so… things kinda got a bit out of hand, so let's clear some things out. Janet, me and Zeke were just talking, so there was no danger involved." "Then she came in and tried to kill Zeke," Mikella intercepted. "Kinda missing the definition of 'danger' there, buddy." "Mikky–" "Don't 'Mikky' me, Zeke!" Mikella interrupted Zeke's call. Real fury and concern warred on her face as she called out to him. "How would you feel if you saw me getting a fist full of dagger at my throat? No way I was gonna let that slide!" "I get it," Zeke nodded. Apparently that example was enough to rouse his emotions a little. His nose flared at the thought of the attack, but he kept his cool as he kept speaking normally. "But first let's find out why she was trying to kill me. I think it's possible that she might have just misunderstood why I was there." "Zeke, this is the same girl that tried to kill you before!" Mikella called out, then pointed an accusatory finger at Janet and Lyle. "These are the assassins that tried to kill you, remember?" Zeke took a moment, then looked back at Janet. After a moment of staring, Zeke's eyes widened. He turned silent after a while, still staring at Janet and Lyle both. The way his eyes were fixated on her made her feel intense chills. It wasn't the creepy sort–it was as though he was staring straight into her soul. It made her want to grapple her dagger harder, ready to slice this bastard apart. "Lyle, is this true?" Zeke asked, turning his heavy gaze onto Lyle who flinched back at him. "Y-Yeah…" Lyle scratched the side of his neck, a tick he usually have when he gets nervous. "Sorry about that, mate. I really wanted to give you a good impression before you found out. I wanted to reveal it to you, but, uhh…" "You thought I would get hostile," Zeke stated, forcing Lyle to stay silent. "I get it. Makes sense." "You really think a sorry is gonna cut it when you almost killed Zeke with that crazy poison?" Mikella stated, getting Lyle to stop shifting, turning motionless at the words. Janet glared at Mikella, not hiding an ounce of contempt. "It's our job. We were ordered to kill him. We have no reason to apologize." "Janet–" "Lyle, why should we even treat them like this?" Janet nearly shouted, unable to keep in her anger from the entire situation at hand. "They're literally our enemies, and you even invited them here into our home. What's wrong with you?!" "Janet, they're the only otherworlders in this entire damn place outside of us. Me and Zeke only just found out about it just hours ago! We were talking about what went on with his life in this world, and he told me loads of things that are important for us to know!" "Like what?" Janet scoffed. "What if he was lying, Lyle? What if he was just telling you everything you want to hear, only to backstab you? He's a Runist! You know how those bastards work! He could even be tampering everything around here just now with those spells he just used!" "You better stop right there," Mikella's voice echoed in the room. It was as if the temperature dropped several degrees from the tone of her voice. "If you keep talking, your mouth is gonna get cut." Fear gripped Janet, but more than that, anger took over as she stared back at Mikella. Her eyes were glowing bright yellow, the sharp slitted irises piercing right at her. But then a hand caressed her shoulder, Mikella looking back at Zeke with a serious expression. He shook his head, then stood from the sofa. Janet instantly got on guard, and even Lyle followed–but Zeke remained standing, showing so many openings that it was laughable. "I don't know what you think about Runists. I don't know what you went through in this world. All I know is that you have every reason to doubt us. But let me just say this–we have no intention of harming you both. We got nothing to gain from hurting you or spilling your secrets. We're in the same boat, so I just want us to have an equal ground to stand on." His words were calm and composed, as though he had a hard time making them just now without triggering Janet's fight-or-flight response. And unfortunately, it worked as Janet looked at Zeke, truly looking at him for the first time. All of a sudden, she wondered why on earth she was even trying to see him as an enemy. He was powerful, and he has a rare and sought-after class. He was a Journeyman, and a true one at that. Yet… nothing about his demeanor showed that he was anything like those fart-sniffing mages who looked down on everyone. Then she faced a thought she wanted to keep buried deep down. What if she just wanted so badly to see him as an enemy to help her get over the fact that she was killing an innocent man who just wanted to help people?

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The order was to kill the target who got in the way of the guilds' profits and ego, but the truth was that those guilds were just taking advantage of other people down on their luck, so this man took it upon himself to help them out of sheer generosity. Just the idea of a Journeyman Runist wanting to help people was so out of tune for Janet that she instantly believed her target had nefarious intentions. Who on earth would help people practically for free? That's why she went along with the request to take down Zeke, because it was just bad guys getting in the way of other bad guys. At least… that's what she thought she was doing. Just cleaning up bad guys. That's how she kept going on as an assassin all this time. The idea itself made Janet sick to the stomach, her face twisting into a nasty frown as she glared at Zeke. "How do I know you're not lying?" "I'll go under contract," Zeke stated instantly, surprising Janet. "I said the same thing to Lyle. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to prove that I only want the best for all of us." "Zeke," Mikella stood up, frowning at him. "This is too much. What if they take advantage of you? What if they pull something?" "You're here, right?" Zeke asked, smiling at his partner. "You'll know what to do if that ever happens. But we gotta give before we can receive, Mikky. Otherwise, they'll never trust us, and for good reason. We're in a higher stage than them. They have every reason to be afraid of us." Zeke held onto Mikella's arm, his eyes staring directly at hers. Then he spoke softly, so softly that it barely escaped her. But Janet managed to pick out what he was saying in those soft whispers. "Remember what happened to Amber, Mikky. How she saw us before she took herself out." Mikky's face instantly turned into pain and despair, something that caught Janet by surprise. Hearing another name meant only one thing–it was a different otherworlder than themselves. Her shoulders shook as she glared at Zeke. Then, her shoulders slackened, and her face fell into a somber frown. Zeke gently caressed her shoulder, understanding the pain on her face. "That's not fair for you to say, and you know it." "I know. I'm sorry. But this is exactly the same." Mikella let out a deep breath. "I know. I know… I'm just still amped up." Zeke smiled softly at her, and like a chain reaction, Mikella revealed the same soft smile. Now Janet felt like she really fucked up. How can these people be anything like the bad guys she killed? Just as promised, Zeke went under contract by Lyle, who took it up for the both of them to ask serious questions. Then, because Lyle is an absolute manchild–he asked Zeke when was the first time he ever 'wanked off'. Zeke looked like his entire world was about to break, Mikella looked astonished, gaping at the words, and Janet wanted to hide inside a hole after realizing that this is indeed her partner that she would be stuck with for who knows how long. After that extremely uncomfortable declaration of his age, Zeke looked ready to smack Lyle, and quite frankly, Janet would let him. After laughing his stupid ass off, Lyle continued on with the interrogation. Eventually, everything Zeke said just now, and everything he told Lyle, was the truth. The contract was done, and Zeke was no longer held up by the contract. If he had lied at all, he would be punished instantly, his stats reduced by half and his power diminished. Considering that he still felt as strong as he was now, it was only further proof that he had no malicious intentions. Janet tried to find out ways on how he could escape the contract and still lied, but one has to be extremely wary of a contract, and considering this man has only entered the shop just recently, it was impossible for him to established spells and runes to hide his lies, not unless he came in while they weren't home and worked for hours on the runes to do so. In the end, she had to face the facts. Zeke was, in all ways, a good man. Mikella was just a worried partner that wanted to keep this good man safe. And Janet? Janet was the disgusting pile of crap that tried to kill an innocent man for doing the right thing, all so that she can gain levels and gold to survive in this world. How is she any different from that guy at the guild, who literally kills for pleasure than just for gold and levels? Her vision darkened, her mind incapable of handling the new information that she was indeed the sort to just kill people without remorse. Like some psychopath out on a hunt. Before her mind could delve deeper into the abyss, she felt a comforting hug from someone. It was none other than Lyle, a usually familiar hug that she's been through back at the tower, and so many times when things hit her hard in reality. He would comfort her, brush the top of her head, but also made it very clear to have distance between their torsos. Even when Janet was fine with being closer than that, it was Lyle's way of showing that he cared for her. "Everything's gonna be alright," Lyle said softly, Janet knowing full well he has that stupid charming smile on his face. Tears began to well in her eyes as she realized she was about to lose it. "How can it be?" She said, ignoring the other two in the room completely. "I tried to kill someone that's actually nice. I'm a monster." "You're not. We're both responsible for this. Even so, we had to do it. What other choice did we have otherwise?" "But Lyle…" Janet tried to make up some excuse, to find some way to slander herself to show just how shitty she felt. In the end, his words rang through. It's not like she chose to be an assassin. Neither of them did. Both of their hands were bloody red from those deaths, but if they didn't, then they would've followed those deaths. Sobs escaped from her, only making her feel shittier considering that others might see this as her just racking up pity points. She would've never fallen for this sort of stuff, yet here she was, being the prime example. Her mother would be so ashamed of this behavior. "This time, we'll finally have people on our side. I know things will get better from now on." Hearing his comforting words didn't help her ease the pain, but it still felt like a balm to her raging emotions. In the end, the two were in it together, and this time they really did have help. When she saw the otherworlders on the other side, even the usually angry dragon woman looked at her in sympathy. Not like in pity as she feared, but more like she understood exactly what she was going through. The Runist just looked away, as though wanting to give them privacy. It was still embarrassing, but she appreciated the gesture. Despite everything, the two knew that they would still make it. That's how they've been surviving this whole time, after all.

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