Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

When the white-haired man asked for his name, Aaron just called himself an outlander. Someone who didn’t belong to this land, to this world. The man was quick to understand Aaron’s words, and also quick to find out his weak spot. As the sly and cunning man he was, the white-haired stranger took advantage of the outlander’s newly created weakness. An outlander, his homeland be a foreign country or a whole other world, must not have a place to go, no means to earn money, no one to help him, and no reason or person to belong to, or else he wouldn’t call himself an outlander but a foreigner, a traveler, or just anything else. In the first place, a normal person wouldn’t even consider talking, put aside making a deal, with a white-haired freak that had come searching for them while pretending that their encounter was just a coincidence. The white-haired man knew those well. He could understand how desperate this ‘outlander’ was in achieving the thing he was after, and he liked that. The white-haired man liked desperate people.

“I’m not your subordinate. Never forget that.”

The outlander had warned the white-haired snake, and the man had agreed on that. Wouldn’t it be better to have a companion rather than a subordinate? He never even intended on being this man’s boss.

They had made a deal that day. That the outlander would do the white-haired scammer some favors. In exchange, the outlander was allowed to search for the thing he wanted without anyone in the organization interrupting or stopping him. He would also gain shelter, money, and access to anything he wanted that was within the capabilities of the organization.

That was a nice deal. Both sides were satisfied and would benefit from it. On the outside, it looked like the white-haired boss had scammed the outlander, but Aaron didn’t think that it was the case. He would work for someone and fight for him, but at least he had a purpose now. No. He didn’t want to go back. He didn’t want to find anyone or anything. He just had a clue now. A clue to the disaster that had happened years ago. A disaster that gradually took anything he had. In this world, he had nothing. In his previous world, he had nothing. Nothing had changed for him besides that he was now closer to finding his piled-up questions.

He thought that it was why he was sent to this world. He had to find the truth. That was his purpose and reason.

Everything was good after that. The outlander did as he was told, and also searched for the things he was after. He found little information, but he didn’t give up. If he couldn’t find anything inside this organization, he would find some from their enemy. He was certain that there were things that each side was hiding from the other. He didn’t care about the method. He only needed to find out the things he was after.

But then, he found something shocking. Something that he never thought of, no, not even dreamed of.

.....

He was not the only outlander here. He had found someone he longed for so much, someone whose place was still hollow in his numb heart, someone whose presence he missed so much.

That was when he asked something from himself. Was he really here to find his answers? Was he really here to search for those questions? No. Did he even need an answer to those questions anymore? Did he need to stick to that deal any longer?

But he did. He went back to the person who had first given him a home, even if a face one, and changed the deal they had. He added a new clause to their agreement. He didn’t need answers anymore. He would work with this man as long as his last request was accepted.

But that wasn’t the only reason he was still staying there. He was worried, he was uncertain, and he was scared.

Worried that his presence would be dangerous for that person. Uncertain if that person was really the same person whom he thought he was, and scared that the person would not accept him anymore.

But there was one thing that he was more fearful of, and that was to lose this person again. He was not blind. He could see how his white-haired boss- his white-haired friend was so eager to get his hands on him. He knew that the man wouldn’t be able to hold himself for long and he would eventually break their agreement. The deal they made had no meaning for him.

The white-haired man too wasn’t interested in keeping his promises anymore. The companion he had found, the person he thought was the only person who might feel him, might help him and might land him his strength had completely changed. The desperation was gone. The sense of not belonging to this land, the feeling of being left aside by the whole world that the outlander had all the time, the thing that the white-haired man liked about him and made him think that he was the only person who knew how he felt, they were all gone.

He had no reason to keep his promises anymore and help the outlander who was no longer an outlander with no reason and no person to belong to. The white-haired boss agreed with him not to touch that person, hoping that the outlander would soon go back to the desperate and hopeless person he was, but that didn’t happen. And the boss had no reason to help this man anymore.

So the agreement was broken without each side doing much. The deal was no longer a deal for a long time.

“Move aside.”

Aaron said to the two people blocking his path.

“Ho!”

The blonde middle-aged man gasped.

“Do you want to run away?”

“I’m just giving you guys a chance. Move aside and leave this place.”

“Or?”

The First tilted his head with a fake curious and innocent face.

“There is no ‘or’s.”

Aaron commented, his voice still as cold as before.

“I’m just giving you a chance. Leave if you don’t want to get hurt.”

“Pffft!”

The First burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha!”

He took one step back and lowered his head, laughing hard.

“....”

“....”

Reyan and Serria looked between Aaron and the two enemies, not knowing what they were supposed to do. The only thing they could do was to grab their weapons and be on guard while listening to the conversation.

“Haha!”

The First whipped the tears that had welled up in his eyes from laughing and looked up at Aaron again.

“I see so a traitor is threatening me!

ONGGGGG

The sword in his hand instantly started to glow gold.

“Haaa!”

Aaron sighed at the sight. He really wished that he could avoid fighting now, but that didn’t seem to be possible.

“You two.”

He glanced at the two youths who were standing behind him. The two flinched after being called by him and their bodies tensed up.

“Keep an eye on him.”

Aaron moved backward while making sure that he didn’t take his eyes off of The First who was preparing to attack him. He moved back and lowered his body, putting Kairen down on the ground beside Serria and Reyan.

“Ah?”

“...”

The two just stared at him, not saying anything.

“By that, I mean you have to protect him.”

He continued again, not turning back to look at the two’s blank faces at all.

“Do you understand?”

It wasn’t a question. Aaron wasn’t asking for a favor in the first place. These two HAD to protect Kairen, or else he would MAKE them protect Kairen. They had no choice but to UNDERSTAND and do what he asked for.

“Uh... Yes.”

“Yeah! Sure!”

The two were quick to sense the threatening aura and so they answered him fast, nodding their head with an exaggerated move. Still, they couldn’t stop looking at the man with blank faces. A total stranger was threatening them to protect their own friend. Like... what the hell?

“But I can protect myself-”

“Shut up.”

Kairen closed his mouth without any protest, sitting on the ground like a good kid.

SHHHHHH

The soil around them started to move. The soil and broken pieces of stone moved toward the group of three and created a circle around them with the three people in its circle. The soil and stones then started to pile up, creating a circular barrier around them.

‘But I wanted to watch the battle...’

Kairen sighed with disappointment.