Gates of Penance-Chapter 39: Arduous Journey

Armon clearly had prejudices against his people, and Nacht couldn’t blame him. The citizens of District Nine weren’t the kindest of people. In fact, from an outside perspective, they seemed heartless and selfish. They were probably the least trustworthy people anyone could think of, and he was one of them.

Of course Nacht wasn’t heartless or completely shellfish but he did still exhibit some bad qualities, but who could blame him? People tend to behave similarly to the people around them and Nacht was no different. However, even he had trouble justifying the actions of some of his people. Nevertheless, Armon’s prejudices weren’t unfounded.

On the other hand, Magi and Mirad seemed fine with him. Well, as long as he was willing to try his chances at surviving an encounter with a tier IV dreg, which was a challenge Nacht wasn’t too fond of to say the least.

Historia seemed like an oddity to Nacht. He was yet to hear her voice and her abilities seemed to be the most unorthodox of any enlightened he had seen so far.

The enlightened sinners he had met so far seemed more human than the sinners he had met in penance. However, no enlightened was completely innocent considering the ritual each of them had to go through to become one. Nacht had to remind himself that the people he now had to live by were all murderers.

Now that he remembered, he figured that he’d have to sleep with one eye open until he could trust them, which seemed very unlikely.

Nacht got into his bed and closed his eyes to await the day ahead of him.

As he felt the silence envelope him, his last thought was tinged with confusion.

’That annoying sword has been awfully quiet.’

Eventually, his mind drifted off into the comforting embrace of sleep.

He woke up feeling very confused.

’What happened?’

Someone had grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him.

"Nacht wake up!"

His eyes widened in alarm.

’How could I let someone get this close?’

Strangely, the death march was already in his grip as he began to swing it at the person in front of him.

Nacht felt his chest cave in before he could deliver a meaningful strike. He was sent flying back and left gasping for air on the ground. The pain felt dull.

"What the hell!"

He finally took in his surroundings.

He was in a place he hadn’t recognized. Sunlight flooded the hall through the windows, allowing him to get a good look at the two sinners in front of him. Mirad had a startled look on his face while Nora’s face remained impassive.

"Dismiss your weapon."

He did as he was told.

"Apologies... you startled me."

Nacht was no longer confused with the situation. Sleepwalking was a phenomenon that had happened to him before. Even if it didn’t happen to him often, the stress he had been put under recently combined with the immense guilt he has been avoiding was bound to manifest in some way. Still, sleepwalking into the center of a camp filled with enlightened warriors was a bit much, even for him.

Nora smiled in return.

"No worries."

She turned to Mirad.

"Since you two are here, I have a job for the two of you."

Mirad straightened his back.

Nacht frowned.

He just woke up and he was already being put to work? That was just unfair!

"You two along with Magi are going to meet with the others and trade some supplies."

Nacht didn’t need to guess that by others she meant the other camps of sinners out there.

She turned to look at Nacht.

"Mirad has already been briefed on the specifics, just follow his lead and you should be fine."

She looked between the both of them.

"Hopefully neither of you will perish on the journey."

Nacht spoke in an exasperated tone. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Is this journey supposed to be dangerous?"

Nora thought for a moment.

"Not typically, no."

Nacht’s left eye twitched.

’...Not typically she says.’

Mirad put a hand to his shoulder.

"Duty calls."

They both turned and Nacht followed Mirad out into the morning sun. Many other enlightened sinners were bustling about with their duties. Cool air brushed against his face causing him to let out a small smile involuntarily.

"Don’t worry, we’re not actually going to die... I think. You never know when it comes to this place. I have actually almost died thrice already.

Nacht simply stared at Mirad.

"You’re not helping."

Nacht lingered for a moment.

"How did you two find me wandering around the camp?"

Mirad’s eyes widened before he chuckled.

"Oh that? You should have seen yourself! You were walking around with your eyes glazed over. It was honestly pretty creepy."

Nacht’s eyes narrowed.

Now that he thought about it... how had he wandered so far away from his quarters? Someone should have at least spotted him before then.

"How did I make it all the way into the interior?"

Mirad shrugged.

"Beats me."

They made it to the gate where Magi was waiting for them. She smiled and waved at them.

"Good morning! Did you all sleep well because Magi sure did!"

Mirad chuckled.

"We slept well."

He then turned to Nacht and smirked.

" In fact, I think one of us slept a little too well."

Nacht frowned faintly.

"... but I’m still tired."

Truly, Nacht felt like he barely slept at all. He even felt a little drowsy but the effects were quickly starting to fade away.

Magi ignored Nacht’s grumble and gave Mirad a backpack of sorts, then they were on their way. The front entrance to the camp opened and the two sinners keeping guard said nothing as they walked by and ventured into the wilderness.

Somewhere along the way Mirad noticed him looking at his backpack with a strange expression.

"It may not look like it, but this backpack is an extremely sought after relic. It can hold far more than what it looks.

Nacht sighed.

"How long is this trip anyway?"

He was hoping that this trip wasn’t going to be too long. He didn’t want to do more than he needed to. Like everyone else, all he wanted was to return home and he had just got here! The other sinners who have stayed here for about a year must be feeling even worse than he was.

"If everything goes according to plan, a couple days."

Nacht frowned faintly.

"A couple days? How far away are the other camps?"

A couple of days travelling in a place where abstracts lurked around every corner seemed like a bad idea to Nacht, even if they had mostly been taken care of by the sinners who inhabited the area.

"Quite far I’d say. It would be faster but we still need to take the appropriate measures to make sure we aren’t spotted."

He gave Mirad a dubious look.

"How are you going to stay hidden?"

The man’s green eyes glinted with pride.

"With this of course!"

Suddenly, Mirad was wearing a dark cloak which shrouded his features.