The sky was turning orange as Sancaka walked away from Kertarimba Village. The blood staining his clothes, dragon-hide jacket, and gunblade had not completely dried yet. As soon as he passed through the village gate, he spotted two figures waiting by the dirt road ahead is Alfa and Daiva.
The smell of medicine reached him before he even got close. Alfa was crouching in front of Daiva, carefully wrapping bandages around the little girl injured arm.
"Don't scratch it," Alfa said.Daiva nodded slightly.
Alfa then applied a light green ointment to the bruises on Daiva's cheek. The moment the ointment touched the wound, Daiva winced.
"See? If it's treated quickly, the scars won't be too bad," Alfa said.
Daiva nodded again. Sancaka watched them for a few moments. Only now did he remember the first time he found Daiva in the abandoned house. Back then, the child had already been badly beaten by debt collectors.
"That's good," Sancaka said.
Alfa turned toward him. "Huh?"
"You're treating the kid."
"Of course I am."
Alfa stood up and dusted off her gloves. "I'm extremely talented when it comes to medicine," she declared proudly. "And I don't like seeing injuries that could be treated simply left alone."
For the first time, Sancaka felt that Alfa was doing something reasonable. Soon, the three of them began walking away from the village. Daiva walked between them. Sometimes she held Sancaka hand. Sometimes she walked beside Alfa. Along the way, Sancaka explained how he had found Daiva.
"I found her in an abandoned house." he said. "She was being beaten by debt collectors."
Alfa listened while carrying her medicine bag.
"There's a chance her family ran away." Sancaka guessed.
"Maybe."
"People drowning in debt do that sometimes. They suddenly disappear and never come back."
Alfa thought for a moment.
"That's actually a pretty good reason to run away."
Sancaka glanced at her.
"What do you mean, 'pretty good'?"
Alfa chuckled.
"I hope her family really did escape from Kertarimba Village."
"Why?"
Alfa laughed softly.
"Because if they're still in Kertarimba…"
She grinned.
"…I'm afraid you would've killed and eaten them already."
Then she burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha!"
THUD!
Sancaka fist immediately slammed into Alfa face. Since she wasn't wearing her gas mask this time, the punch landed perfectly.
"Agh!"
Alfa crashed onto the ground. Daiva quickly covered her mouth to suppress her laughter. Alfa held her aching cheek.
"Why did you hit me again?"
"That wasn't funny."
"I was joking!"
"It still wasn't funny."
"I was just trying to lighten the mood!"
"The mood was fine. There was nothing that needed lightening."
Alfa stood back up and pointed at him.
"You seriously have no sense of humor!"
"Your joke simply wasn't funny."
"You're incredibly annoying!"
"You're incredibly noisy."
Daiva started laughing. "Heh… heh…" Her laughter came out broken and uneven.
Still, her face looked genuinely happy as she watched Alfa and Sancaka argue. Seeing that, both of them stopped bickering. The journey continued.
A little while later, Alfa spoke again.
"By the way, I can assure you that I'm also one of the Chosen Individuals."
"Yeah, I know. You've already said that several times."
"I received an Order Card too. And I think our cards are the same."
She pulled a black card from her shoulder bag. Sancaka glanced at it.
"What about yours? Does it look the same?" Alfa asked.
Sancaka examined the card. It was identical. The same shape. The same symbol. Red letters slowly glowed across the back.
KILL ALL DHARMA.
Sancaka remained silent. Then he raised his right hand. Instantly, a black card materialized in his palm.
Alfa blinked.
"Eh?"
"You just realized it can appear like this?" Sancaka asked.
"I didn't know it could just appear out of nowhere!"
Sancaka shrugged.
"If you want to summon it, just think about it." Sancaka said. "The card will appear on its own."
"I think Matelo explained that already. He should've told you how to do it too." Sancaka said again.
Alfa froze for several seconds.
Then she smacked her own forehead.
"Oh right. I actually knew that."
Sancaka stared at her.
Alfa laughed awkwardly.
"I was just pretending to be dumb."
"Hahaha…"
She laughed by herself.
Sancaka simply stared. His expression remained completely flat. No reaction whatsoever. The wind blew past them. The silence stretched uncomfortably long.
Alfa gradually stopped laughing when she realized nobody was responding. "You were supposed to laugh."
"Not funny." Sancaka said.
Alfa clenched her fists.
"Why do all my jokes fail?"
"Because none of them are funny."
"I'm starting to hate you more and more."
"I never liked you in the first place." Sancaka paused. "Even though we only met today."
Daiva watched them argue once more and immediately smiled. Then she began clapping her hands. 'Clap, Clap, Clap.'
Alfa looked at Daiva.
"Anyway, what are we going to do about this kid?"
Daiva pointed at herself after realizing she was being discussed.
Alfa pointed back at her.
"Who do you want to stay with?"
Daiva tilted her head.
She clearly didn't understand the question.
Alfa turned toward Sancaka again.
"What are we supposed to do with her?"
Sancaka looked down the long road stretching ahead.
Then he answered casually.
"Bring her with us."
"Huh? Are you serious?"
"Maybe someday we'll find her family." Sancaka said. "Maybe we'll run into them somewhere along the road. Or somewhere else entirely."
"And if we never find them?" Alfa asked.
Sancaka shrugged.
"Then Daiva stays with us." Sancaka said. "As long as she wants to."
Daiva immediately smiled brightly. She ran toward Sancaka and grabbed his right hand tightly. As if she was afraid of being left behind. Alfa watched the scene for a few moments.
Then a small smile appeared on her face.
"So it's the three of us now."
"Yeah." Sancaka nodded. "We'll travel together from now on. And don't forget our goal." His eyes grew colder. "To kill as many Dharma as possible."
Alfa laughed.
"Now that sounds fun."
And so, beneath the evening sky of Uranion, three figures walked away from Kertarimba Village. None of them knew where the road ahead would lead. But one thing was already certain, Their adventure had begun.