On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

While Brianna and Mark were discussing what they would do to take care of Layland, said Demon, along with his company, was already flying above the sky of the independent city of Achtreal which was the first territory he had liberated.

It was only possible thanks to Teanosvera\'s profound understanding of Space Magic. Had it not been for his magnificent help, they would still be 100 Absitan away from the city.

One might wonder why Layland and company were going there. It was to settle down for a few days, so they could liberate more territories to send the Kingdom into a state of chaos.

"What about the Heroes? The deadline was closing!" one may shout in one\'s mind. Although it seemed that Layland was slacking off by playing "Hero" with the people, he was sneakily directing each one of the future development.

The choice that Brianna and Mark had chosen and the way the Kingdom would react to his shenanigans--he had everything the way he wanted. He didn\'t cast a mind-controlling Spell on them; he could predict how they would react and was using the information he held to his greatest advantage.

Most of the time, a brilliant mind is the most dangerous weapon to possess. Just like what his brilliant mind had predicted, the Heroes were delivering themselves to their doom.

"All right...it has been an hour of silence, so I think I am just going to address it. Did you know that Teanosvera did nothing to keep your conversation with the Heroes a secret?" Millonia asked straightforwardly, causing Lunea and Winerva to widen their eyes in surprise.

"I did," Layland answered simply.

"Then...you didn\'t mind us knowing the whole situation?" Lunea asked softly.

"What could you get from the conversation anyway?"

"That you were betrayed by that bitch that doesn\'t look beautiful enough to be on your side," Winerva answered without a pause.

"...."

As he instructed Genelos to fly lower, Layland turned to the girls with a bemused look, which they couldn\'t see because of his mask. Regardless, they still could tell what he was thinking and they were ready to provide him with some explanation.

"For someone as emotionally stunted as you, you can\'t forgive only two kinds of people--those who stand in your way and those who betrayed your pure feelings. It\'s not that hard to tell that she is the one," Millonia remarked with a shrug.

"Abigail and Gabriela also didn\'t look at her pleasantly. They were quite enraged by her appearance and it was also clear that they condemned her. Given how much they treasure you, it can only mean one thing. You and that harlot were..." Lunea trailed off.

"There was a look of longing and regret in her eyes. I have met enough bitches to spot it right away. Those eyes belong to the unfaithful who regret stabbing their partner in the back," Winerva added.

"In other words, the real reason for you to decide to hunt the Heroes is that you are heartbroken. You don\'t know how to deal with it, so you chose to let your instinct take care of it," Millonia finished.

Layland hummed to himself instead of immediately refuting the statement and making a fool of himself. He thought about Millonia\'s words and he couldn\'t say she was wrong after he thought about it thoroughly.

There was a reason why he chose to leave Brianna and Mark for the last. He abhorred his bullies; however, he didn\'t hate them as much as he did the two. The two had shattered his heart--the heart that he had treasured dearly. It gave him more pain than the physical abuse he had endured.

Emotion is such a weird thing. Only those with emotion can feel pain without being hurt. Layland had seen this as a weakness previously; thus, he buried it deep in his heart. He had forgotten how to "feel" until Ignio\'s corrupted heart taught him about it again.

He would have refused to admit that the motive of the Hero hunt was solely Brianna had he still been an emotionless, living flesh. He wasn\'t as clueless as he used to be about his feelings, however, so he didn\'t even bother to deny it.

"It seems to be the case, now that I think about it," he said lightheartedly, turning the girls aghast as they wondered if he was already broken.

A hand landed on his shoulder. "I am not that experienced but I am pretty sure that I--"

"We can heal your broken heart," Lunea and Winerva interjected in unison, making Millonia\'s eyebrow twitch in irritation.

When Layland took his mask off and then smiled softly at them, their world slowed down. His smile, which was very unfamiliar yet fitting, captivated them. A second felt like forever and they wanted it to remain that way. They weren\'t willing to part with the smile.

Silence filled the space between them. They were grateful that Layland didn\'t get weirded out by their lovestruck gaze. Unfortunately, the soft smile left Layland\'s face not long after. The world moved at normal speed as he opened his mouth.

"We have arrived."

It was only at this moment did they register the fact that they were no longer flying. They had landed in the area of his residence, which no one but him and his company could enter.

Expecting Layland to say something insulting or flustering, the girls sighed at the very normal comment, "Ah...."

"Get down. Abigail and Gabriela must have been waiting for us--I am sure you can get more juicy details from the two."

Millonia looked at Layland like he was a madman at his words. She asked him if he knew what he was doing with her eyes but he just smiled and waved her off.

Being his first friend in this world, she was dissatisfied that Lunea and Winerva could get to know about his past within a very short time; she had to be beaten to the brink of death every day to even earn his trust. Still, she didn\'t say anything as she was also curious about the juicy detail.

The gate of the residence was opened a second after Genelos assumed his little lizard form and perched on Layland\'s shoulder. Every eye behind the gate turned toward them as their figures became visible to the people.

"Shadow..."

The people tried their best to suppress their cheers of joy. They were well aware that Shadow didn\'t like being hailed as a Hero and people cheering for him. He did what he did because he deemed it right. He didn\'t need people\'s gratitude. They respected him for that, so they honoured his wish to the extreme.

Of course, it was something that Layland wanted the people to think about him. He didn\'t mind being hailed as a Hero--he didn\'t mind being hailed as anything people wanted to hail him because he didn\'t care what people thought about him as long as it didn\'t put his scheme into jeopardy.

As Layland and the girls walked past the gate, the crowd parted. They bowed lightly and then watched as Layland and the girls headed to the city hall.

Everyone would bow from time to time as they passed by but no one made a noise. They stopped doing whatever they were doing whilst their liberator and his company were still in the vicinity but no one crowded the pavements.

As they reached the city hall, they immediately went to the garden which had limited access. Abigail was there to greet Layland with an admiring look.

"Your influence on these people is simply immense, Layland."

Layland simply tilted his head to the back slightly to let her know that he was asking what she was implying. She shook her head faintly and refused to elaborate.

"How are you?" Layland asked.

"I am fine. Two hours is enough time to let my body completely heal," she answered.

Since Layland wasn\'t too fond of the idea of letting Abigail and Gabriela see what kind of brutality he could commit against their classmates, he had asked Teanosvera to teleport them out first.

Teanosvera had teleported them to one of the Teleportation Gates he had marked with his shadow, allowing them to reach Achtreal in a short time. Because of that, they had enough time to rest.

"I am very curious about what happened but I guess you won\'t say a word about it," Abigail said before turning to the girls. "That\'s why I am going to ask you guys instead."

Layland lightly shrugged in a \'do whatever you like manner. He walked up to her, snatched the helmet she was holding on her side and then put it on her head.

Patting it lightly twice, he said, "No citizen is daring enough to trespass the city hall\'s garden but there is no guarantee that Assassins and Bounty Hunters share the same sentiment."

He walked past her and entered the city hall from the back door, leaving her holding her helmet in astonishment. She couldn\'t tell if he was extremely careful or paranoid.

In the hall, Layland encountered Gabriela. She walked coyly toward him while holding her helmet on her side and he ruined it by doing what he had done to Abigail.

"Naïve," Layland muttered to himself. "They are misunderstanding the people\'s favour to loyalty. Hungry dogs favour those who feed them--that\'s it. There is no guarantee that they won\'t bite the very hand that feeds them."

Layland didn\'t consider the people to be a threat; however, he couldn\'t let Abigail and Gabriel\'s lax near the people who seemed to be his allies become a habit. One should not be distrustful of everyone but one still has to choose whom to trust carefully.

These people wouldn\'t be his true allies until he put them under his hegemony.

Clack!

"Ah, welcome, Lord Shadow."

The door to the office was opened and six figures bowed before him. Among the six, one was Felix, his right hand in Achtreal; meanwhile, the others were the representative of the territories that sought his help to liberate their home.