Books of Chrona

Volume 6: Be Careful of Paper Cuts

"I knew it." Jaegar was looking sternly at the man quietly sitting on the bed.

"So... you were the one who killed them, even the girl?" Brittanya could not hide her shock as she covered her mouth with both her hands.

"I can't... control it..." The man was looking down at both his shaking hands, feeling both regret and anxiety. "She just... wanted to help me... and my friends..." He clenched his fists and closed his eyes. "But they... Violated her..." Anger can be felt in his voice.

"You went berserk, huh..." Jaegar never averted his gaze from the man. "You're dangerous. You better leave this house once you get better."

"Hey, he's also a victim here. That's clear now." Brittanya tried to defend the man from Jaegar's judgement.

"He's right... I should... leave now..." The man tried to stand up from the bed.

"Hold it right there." Brittanya grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back to lie down on the bed. "You need to rest. We'll figure out things later, okay?" She smiled at him then dragged Jaegar out of the room.

---

Brittanya and Jaegar decided to go outside of the house and walk around town.

"He said he had friends together with that girl, maybe some could have survived and are in this town." Brittanya was talking aloud to herself.

"By friends, he meant all those animals in the forest." Jaegar answered nonchalantly.

"How can you tell?"

"Didn't I tell you earlier that there were no monsters in the forest? He must have eliminated most, if not all, in that area. Only the animals were left. He must have been protecting them, or something."

"That makes sense. You're good in making assumptions!" She was genuinely praising Jaegar.

"If you're complimenting me, you're doing a terrible job at it."

As they were walking around, they saw some people wearing different kinds of armor and equipment. Those people were talking loudly, frantically looking for someone.

"I heard someone saw a bloodied guy being brought inside Jiputin the other day. He must be the guy who killed our comrades." One of them spoke to his companion while they were passing by Brittanya and Jaegar.

"He won't get away with what he did!" The companion responded while still within earshot of the two. Both of them looked at each other and ran back towards the house where they left the man.

---

They arrived at the house where the man was resting. It seemed that nothing has happened yet, based on the normal atmosphere outside the house. They both rushed inside to see the surprised look of everyone there.

"What's wrong? Why are you in such a rush—" Before the elderly woman can finish talking, both rushed to the second floor where the man was staying.

Jaegar opened the door of the room, only to see the man lying down and staring at the ceiling. The man was surprised by their sudden entrance.

"You're... back... early..." The man tried to sit down.

"We've got to go." Jaegar grabbed the man's arm even before he could properly sit and dragged him off the bed.

"What happened...?" The man's face was not particularly surprised at the turn of events. In fact, he was quite expecting something like this to happen.

"We need to hide him." Brittanya urged Jaegar.

"I know. But the question is where? I doubt the clergy will be happily accepting any suspicious people right now, especially when one of their own was killed." Jaegar was still holding the man's arm while both of them were now standing. The man was silent.