"Did Fargo give you a hard time?" He asked, making the other man flinch a bit.
Vincent didn't speak for a while, heaving a sigh.
"You remember Paolo?"
"Paolo Cruz?" Garan asked. He was in his team hunting for Fargo.
He had lost his daughter in one of Fargo's attacks in a children's hospital. The little girl was just testing for a simple cough with her mother.
Vincent nodded. Garan immediately knew what happened.
"You can imagine how insane he went when he saw Fargo strutting around like he owned the place—which he did, we found out too late," Vincent said with a monotonous voice, but one could see how angry he was with how his jaw tightened. "He was killed brutally in front of a crowd as an example."
His jaw clenched and his hands formed a fist. "The bastard… the bastard had the audacity to display our comrade's body by the gate!!"
Those who heard him felt their heart constrict in anger. What a bastard! What made it worse was that he was finally in front of them, yet they couldn't do anything about him!
Vincent heaved a deep breath before speaking. "The terror brought on the territory was very real. It was the beginning of tyranny.
"They killed and plundered as they wanted, and we also lost a lot of people trying to protect the citizens."
Terrans were used to freedom, they naturally didn't take such brutality lying down… at least at first.
"Unsurprisingly, people ran to us for help," he said, "It went well at first, with us forming a small force as subtly as we could."
"However, one day, one of our men goes missing and the very next day a family yells at us to bring their daughter back."
"Our reputation fell, but a lot of people still believe in us. His men started to limit their brutalities… and started to attack our supporters."
Vincent heaved a deep breath and raised his head, letting it rest on the wall behind him. "No one dared ask for help after that."
"It didn't help that life had indeed gotten better. People could eat and drink every day, and they were protected very well from the monsters outside, especially when the territory started hiring aborigines."
"These aborigines were much stronger than all of us combined, who would want to side with us after that? Fargo's men do take women as they want, but they don't kill them. Unless the people went against the lord and his party, they would keep their lives."
"This became the status quo. It was disgusting, but we couldn't risk our lives for a hopeless fight."
"It was just that the next week after that, another two men were taken subtly for 'punishment'—after trying to save a woman—and were never seen again.
"Before we could organize a rescue…" he paused and looked around. "This happened."
The others listened in a dour mood, and Vincent rubbed his temple, not meaning to sound so emotional. "But right now I just want my father to be okay."
Garan and the others sighed in worry, shifting their attention as the patients were being treated.
Fortunately, both Vanessa and Turbo had become proficient in using the medicines available. Using a diluted potion they won from the mercenary mission, they managed to improve a number of wounds.
Although it was diluted, it was still effective. Vincent and the others were amazed. He looked at Garan with wide eyes.
"What is that medicine?"
"It's a special medicine we got from a mission. It is made by a pharmacist."
"What?" Vincent's eyebrows furrowed. "But I haven't seen such quick effects."
It was Gill who spoke this time, "An Aborigine pharmacist." He explained, "They have a certain… magical skill set."
Vincent and the others were a little confused. "What mission are you talking about, exactly?"
"One from a mercenary hall. They're available in towns."
Vincent and the other soldiers looked at them in shock. Especially Vincent.
It didn't really occur to them until now—Garan and the others had probably been here since they were missing!!
"Where is this town?" He asked, "How… how long have you been here?"
He didn't even wait for them to speak, already knowing in his heart what the answer was.
His back straightened and looked at Garan, Gill, and the others. "Tell me more about this world."
…
They stayed for about an hour before the general opened his eyes to see…. the daughter he never thought he'd see again!
"Daughter?!" He exclaimed, so shocked that he ended up coughing.
"Dad…" she sobbed, hugging the man to keep himself from moving. "Don't get up, it'll open your wound…"
The man froze, feeling his daughter's warmth, and knew for certain he wasn't dreaming nor was he dead. His eyes pooled tears and Vanessa's heart broke seeing her stern father like this.
"Dad…"
The old man gripped her hand, though it wasn't very strong as he was still weak, but it expressed his emotions clearly. "You are fine… you are fine…"
"Hmn, yes Dad, we are." She said, sobbing, and the father-daughter pair just held onto each other for a while before they could gather themselves.
At this time, Vincent had also parted from Gill and the others to sit down next to his sister. Seeing his two children together, alive and with complete limbs, Henry couldn't help but be even more emotional.
"Son, daughter."
As he held his children's hands in relief, his peripheral vision finally saw the other group squeezing in their small house.
He flinched and had to be held down again to keep himself from doing any abrupt movements. "Garan? Is that you?"
At the sound of his name, Garan stepped forward, nodding respectfully. "Yes, General."
The old man smiled and looked at the people around. He then looked alternatively at Vanessa and Garan. "Did you arrive together?"
"Everyone who disappeared at that time was sent here." He said, "Although only a score of us remained…"
"It's fine. As long as you're fine…"
The old man then looked at his daughter who was stealing glances at the man with a red face and his eyes brightened a little.
Garan had a bad feeling and stood up. "Let's leave the family alone." He said and politely excused himself. The others from his team followed his lead and put some distance.
As they walked away to give the family some space, Gill sighed looking at the father-daughter pair.
"For a moment there I thought the General would leave his daughter in your care." He told Garan as soon as they were out of earshot.
Garan sneered. Even if it happened, he would only give minimum protection. He would never let any... thing that his wife could misunderstand close to him.
Although they fully trusted each other, no one appreciated flies irking them.
"Have you forgotten her brother is right there?"
"Ah yeah. Sorry. I watched too many of my ex's soap operas." Gill said with pursed lips, shrugging.
Unfortunately, for many years, he had been dragged to watch a lot of his ex's dramas. It even became a habit until it became a stress reliever for him even when he was in the barracks.
Even his snide remarks would occasionally contain cheesy lines from famous face-slapping scenes…
However, they hadn't gotten far when Vincent went after them, calling them back. "No, Garan, come back please."
"We have plenty of time to speak together." He said, "It's you… you wouldn't be staying here for long right?"
The general frowned and looked at Garan. "You wouldn't stay?"
The ebony-haired man nodded. "Yes, we found the territory my wife is in. I will look for her. Of course, I will not stop anyone else from going to the Territories they believe their families are in."
This implied Vanessa could definitely stay here without worrying about their team.
The general's eyebrows furrowed. "It is not safe here, not exactly." But they could not travel either, especially when the direction was still unclear. "But we cannot leave."
"The lord is too powerful in his own territory." He said, "But I feel uncomfortable leaving that beast running around doing what they wanted."
"Yes, my conscience will kill me eventually," Another soldier nodded in agreement.
"But what can we do?" He said, "He definitely won't go out with us." They assumed that getting the lord outside would diminish his power.
It would, of course, however, they hadn't considered something very important.
"You can't kill the lord outside of the wars," Garan intervened, "The entire territory would disintegrate."
"What?" And… wars?
Garan was silent, before looking deeply at Vincent and the General. He could tell, they truly hated Fargo.
"However, there is another way," His eyes sharpened and he stared at the other two men, eyes stern and tempting.
"What if I told you there's a way to take the token away from him?"