As he was sipping his now limited supply of wine thanks to a certain glutton, he began to consider if other people had used his students for similar things and didn't tell him. He doubts that his mother will be the first person to come up with the idea of using people as bait.
He sighed and said, "What goes around comes around. I too have taken advantage of others and robbed their business. I shouldn't complain if someone also takes advantage of me."
But then he shook his head and said, "That's not the right attitude for the strong. I should complain. That's the stance of the strong. They are always right and have no blame."
He can still remember the first prisoner he was forced to kill. That man is memorable because he was his first kill and because he was the only one who his mother spoke about.
That man's sister had been raped. Yet, he was the one in prison and the one that got killed.
"I am living in a world where the rapist walks around scott-free while the victim goes to prison. Up is down, and morality is dead in this world. So it shouldn't matter that I too have taken advantage of others in the past. What should matter is that I am strong enough to prevent others from taking advantage of me or punishing me for taking advantage of them."
He and his mother chatted for a while. But their conversation didn't last long before they were interrupted.
They were interrupted by a low rumbling sound coming from the ground. This sound drew their attention to the ground. They looked down and saw the ground shaking.
Stones on the ground were shaking. It felt as if there was an earthquake.
Then they heard a much louder sound coming from the hrene forest. When they looked at the green forest, they could see trees being knocked down in the distance.
This sight caused both Arthur and his mother to stand up immediately. Their gazes were fixated on the forest with different thoughts going through their minds.
They were not the only ones looking at the forest. Every inhabitant of Death's Door was also looking at the green forest.
People had stopped whatever they were doing to stare at the green forest. People were looking out through the windows of their houses, and some were even climbing to the roofs of houses to look at the source of the commotion in the green forest.
Arthur said to Lady Vena, "A second mortal coil beast has come to the edge of the hrene forest. Is this yours?"
She shook her head. "Mine shouldn't create a commotion like that. Not even when it is fighting something. This should be caused by something else."
Arthur gritted his teeth when he heard that. He asked, "Could this be a coincidence, or did someone attract it here?"
Lady Vena smirked and glanced at him while doing so. She said, "What do you think?"
He thinks that someone had attracted the second mortal coil to the edge of the green forest because powerful beasts like that rarely come this far. But if it is attracted to come here, then bait might have been used. If bait is used, then it is likely that it was his students that were used as bait.
But thay is not the matter he should be worried about currently. If the powerful beast continues to rush towards Death's Door, then he should make sure that he is not at Death's Door when it arrives.
He is not the only one considering that. People all around were beginning to panic. The sight of hunters rushing out of the green forest in fright also made matters worse.
The panic of the hunters escaping for their lives was infectious. It infected the people in Death's Door and made them decide to run for their lives.
But there were a few people who didn't appear to be afraid. They came out of the buildings and gazed at the green forest with a calm look in their eyes.
As he was considering what would happen, one of these calm people stepped forward and approached him.
The person was a man. He was wearing ragged robes and a straw hat that covered their face. They had a sword strapped to their sides.
The person looked like a wandering swordsman who is finding it difficult to find enough to eat. Their figure was thin, and their clothes were tattered. But the moment they moved, Arthur felt a great threat from them.
The man was unnaturally fast. Their figure exploded forward as they approached him.
They were so fast that reached him in three steps. They were already close by before he could blink his eyes and o take another look..
His eyes widened in fear, and he readied himself for a fight because he thought he was about to be assassinated. But the man only came to him to cup their hands and bow a little to him.
The man said, "I owe you one for this."
The man didn't wait for him to speak and reply. He stopped towards the green forest.
Arthur's face twitched in indignation. His heart had relaxed now that he knew that he wasn't being assassinated. But he was angry that his things had been used without his permission.
The swordsman didn't seem to be sincere with his thanks at all. It didn't even appear that he had stopped to thank Arthur. Instead, it looked as if he was just saying something for the sake of saying it on his way to rushing to doing something more important.
The man approached the forest. For those who could see him move, his actions were a stark contrast from those of others.
Many people were leaving the green forest, and many more were leaving Death's Door. But only the man was approaching the green forest. To be exact, the swordsman was approaching whatever was causing the ground to shake and the trees to fall.