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Stahurt is one of the five main cities of the Melki Empire. With the rampant expansion of its lands in the north, this large city began to attract people from many different regions, whether refugees from the war or high-class nobles, which further boosted the local economy.

However, there were always many things going on under the Melki Empire\'s cloths, terrible things that the population itself would be disgusted if they found out.

Six months had passed since the Broteforge Empire declared war against the Melki Empire, or at least that was how the common people learned about the beginning of the war. There were people who knew about the truth, like Wanney, a man who volunteered to become a corrupted one.

Wanney had his trust manipulated by the Melki Empire when they told him the truth, that is, the lie masquerading as green. Wanney was told that thanks to the culture of the Broteforge Empire adventurers ingesting Monster Cores would soon become monsters. He later found out that this was a blatant lie, but not only this, but many other things were preached as truths within the borders of the Melki Empire.

Luckily, Wanney awoke from this manipulation when he faced Luke Lange, an unreliable looking half-wolf with unmatched strength.

Luke and his partner, Meredith, told Wanney the truth. At first, he was in disbelief and decided to just pretend to believe so that he could escape at some point from the clutches of the two half-wolves. This moment came up numerous times in front of Wanney\'s eyes, he had many chances to escape. Still, Wanney chose to stay by Luke and Meredith\'s side.

Why did the man choose to stay? Perhaps because he was afraid, afraid, or maybe he just knew that the half-beasts were not lying to him.

In the times that Wanney spent inside the Melki Empire, no matter how many times he tried, he never felt safe, he always felt like he was being watched, no matter where he went. So, when Luke and Meredith killed all the Orcs next to him, and he felt an indescribable sense of relief, he became curious about who the two half-beasts really were.

Since then, six months have passed and the Corrupted One no longer has any doubt that these two half-beasts are the only ones who can free the Melki Empire from the evil clutches of the demons.

*

— Stahurt City, Melki Empire. Two years after Luke decided to start the journey. —

During the morning, the streets of Stahurt were usually very busy. The local adventurers would often go to the quest boards to check what quests were available to be done, and the streets would be crowded with merchants trying to sell all kinds of things to these adventurers.

Much had changed during all this time. Luke had been training more avidly in the Sea Ornament, reaching the third stage without difficulty, but had been stagnating ever since.

Meredith was also training with the help of the half-wolf, and now her archery skills were on par with those of an S-Class Archer. His aim was cool and unwavering, and it was a rare event to see him miss. However, there was something troubling the half-fox recently, and it made her lose focus whenever she went hunting.

On top of a building, Meredith decided to finally press Luke and force him to speak the truth, because until then she was holding back.

"Luke... Man, it\'s been a year since we left Oukiwa, and you never told me the reason why we never went back."

"I-I told you!" He replied after a few seconds, and then jumped off to the next roof. His jump was quick and his feet didn\'t even make a sound as they touched the tiles.

Meredith realized that he was lying, not only because she grew up with him, but also because Luke was not very good at sustaining lies for very long.

She also jumped to the next roof, following him. "Eh?! Refresh my memory. What was the reason then?" Meredith crossed her arms and looked at the back of Luke\'s head.

He turned around, looked into her eyes for a second, and looked away as he began to speak. "I owe someone something."

"To whom?" she prompted him in error once again.

Meredith knew that Luke didn\'t force her to accompany him, he didn\'t even ask for it. Still, she was confused during all this time that had passed, after all, Luke never revealed to the Scales\' plans, nor the instructions he passed to Ogne and the other half-dragons. He simply didn\'t tell anything.

Luke thought for a while before answering the half-dragon\'s question. "Annn... It\'s Matthew I owe."

"Are you kidding? Matthew just had a son and he was your best friend. You also asked Amelia about him last week. Why would you run away from him?"

​ "Because he was... an idiot...?" The half-wolf said as he stopped at one of the buildings near the main avenue. After this answer, Luke realized that there was no longer any point in deceiving his best friend.

Meredith looked at him with a sorrowful countenance, as if she was disappointed.

Luke didn\'t look back, but he could sense the half-fox\'s feelings through her aura. This was a new gift he had acquired when he reached the third stage of the Sea Ornament, and by acquiring this new ability, it became even harder to lie to the one he cared so much about.

"Humph! All right, I will speak the truth... I can\'t go back to Oukiwa, not yet. Ever since the Broteforge Empire fell, that place is no longer the same for me. I\'ll find someone first, and then we\'ll go back there."

Until that moment, Meredith couldn\'t understand why Luke didn\'t talk to her like he used to, why he so different from how he used to be colder. It seemed like everything had changed.... And well, all this change had finally been given a reason: the fall of the Broteforge Empire.

The Broteforge Empire, which had once been the largest of the Empires in the entire world, was now shrinking into a few regions. The pressure from the Melki Empire at the beginning was very intense and forced them to do this.

However, even though Broteforge had lost 80% of its territorial dominion, its population, its nobles, its commanders, its emperor, and 95% of its army were still alive. The Broteforge Empire had fallen, but it was not dead.

"Thanks for talking, Luke." Meredith said with a dismayed tone of voice. It was a relief to her that she finally had a clear answer.

The half-wolf looked back and seeing the tears building up beside her eyes, he blushed and turned his face forward again. \'Why do I have to hide this kind of simple thing from her? That sucks.\' He thought.

[Luke, this was necessary. You don\'t have long to live, we can\'t take a break to visit your friends and then return to our journey. With each passing day, your soul becomes more fragmented]. The voice of the scale resounded in his mind.

\'I know, I know... I just hate having to lie to her so constantly. She cares about me.\'

[And me too, Luke, me too...]