A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

Triss let out a long sigh and let the last word she said hang in the air for a while before she continued,

"Stefan consoled me as best as he could. I eventually stopped crying and cleaned myself of the bastard's blood. We took anything we could from the house that was worth anything and set out. There was nothing left for us there.

Sometimes when I think about it, it seems so surreal. Sometimes I can still feel his life draining— His pulse slowing down against the arm I had around his neck."

Triss held up her hand and clenched and unclenched her right hand for a while before looking to the side at Henry who was looking at her with an empathetic look in his eyes.

"Oh don't give me that look," she said while rolling her eyes.

"Sorry," Henry said but the look in his eyes did not change.

"Well," Triss said, "I think what I especially hate about it all, and has stuck with me the most over the years, is how— sad I felt. I mean, I cried for Heaven's sake."

Trias laughed at the end of the sentence like she was playing it off. Henry heard the pain underneath her words and could not indulge in the levity with her. He just ducked his head as he said quietly,

"Of course, you were sad. Scumbag that he was, he WAS your father."

Triss snorted,

"Hardly," she said and then she sighed,

"But I suppose you're right. I can never forget that day. It's some horrible part of me. It has been clearer in my head than every moment since."

She looked at her hands for a while longer like she could still see the kitchen knife in her palm and then she shook her head and grabbed her horse's reins before she glanced at Henry,

"So there you have it. My first kill in all its unglamorous detail."

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"You did what you had to do," Henry said gently with an understanding look in his eyes.

"Hell yeah, I did," Triss said in a low voice and a bit of a grunt before flashing him a small smile.

Henry returned the smile before he asked kindly,

"Do you ever feel guilty?"

Triss let out a breath,

"I'd like to say 'No' but the truth is Yes, sometimes I do. I don't know how to put it— I believe so strongly that he deserved what he got and yet I still feel like I shouldn't have been the one to deliver it.

But if you ask if I'd do it again? Fuck yes, I will! And I'll probably bawl my eyes out again."

The clip-clops of horse hooves were the only sounds for a few meters before Henry said almost out of the blue,

"You're right."

"Hmm?" Triss asked, confused. Her recanting of her traumatic patricide had caused her to forget what the topic of discussion had been in the first place.

"About Yelena," Henry clarified,

"She's as much of a killer as any of us in her actions but I think, in her mind, she's not quite there yet.

That's what I was trying to say.

When I said she's not like us, I didn't mean it as an insult to you or me and what we've had to do to survive. I meant it as someone who can understand that not everyone can survive what we went through. Not everyone can give themselves into killing and retain enough self-control to tell friends from foes.

I saw something in her eyes and heard something in her voice when she told me about her first three kills. I saw something on the verge of breaking and I couldn't bring myself to watch it break. There's an innocence there that I think should be protected.

That's why I went out with her yesterday. I've resigned myself to taking lives. So I offered to do it instead of her. I believed she needed my help and she accepted it."

"I— I think I understand," Triss said and her cheeks gained a twinge of red, "I'm sorry I went off at you for a bit there."

Henry shook his head as he waved her off,

"No need to apologize." He said graciously and Triss' cheeks burned even redder as she looked away.

Henry might be waving it off as a matter of little consequence but Triss couldn't shake the knowledge that she had not gone into her short rant just because of a dispute on the word 'Killer'. If it was just because of that word, the image of Henry's arm around Yelena's waist would not be flashing over and over in her mind.

Henry didn't take note of this. He was preoccupied with the fact that there was more to his Yelena assistance than he could share.

'Yelena has lived the most of three centuries in isolation. Her mind seems held together well by her immortality but I think that's bullshit.

The mind is different from the body and I dare say anyone can snap. Especially an Immortal Witch who has been 'promised to Hell'.

An Immortal Witch who's also an 'Infernal Spawn'."

There was something ominous about that phrase and added to the System's Quest to kill Yelena, Henry didn't think letting her mind crack because of the guilt of killing would help things. He didn't want to be forced to kill her. Not after he had already decided to defy the System and free her.

"There," Charles called out suddenly from ahead in a mellow tone of voice as he pulled his horse to a stop.

Triss and Henry pulled their horses to a stop alongside him. Where the three had stopped was on a slightly higher elevation and gave a clear sight of the Mine up ahead. There was a Mine railway leading out of the Mine opening that was held up by wooden braces. Across the railway were minecarts filled with mostly rocks and some pieces of the ore being mined.

A few meters away from the mine opening was a wooden Wagon laden with boxes all marked with writings and symbols that were slightly hard to decipher from the distance but Henry was certain were warning signs to urge caution for handling them because of the Explosives they contained.

Guarding the Wagon were guards hired by the Mining company in charge of the Mine. Some strolled about on patrol while a few others sat around a wooden table playing card games with bottles close at hand.

"So how are we doing this?" Henry asked Charles.

"Why don't you decide?" Charles told him with a smile.

"It's your operation," Henry said.

"It's all of ours," Charles retorted, "Decide."

Henry acted like he was giving it some thought, and then shrugged as he said,

"I can consider paralyzing them but I'll need to get closer for that. A revolver's range is only so good, after all."

Triss nodded as her pretty brows furrowed,

"If we pick them apart with a rifle or repeater, the moment the first dies, the rest will react and in the chaos, a misfire will hit the Wagon. I'm willing to bet they're not all that smart."

Henry pursed his lips,

"I'll approach them then. Or at least get closer."

"We'll support you from here and ride in when we have to," Charles said.

Henry nodded and nudged Nyx's side but as his horse began to trot, Charles called to him,

"Hold on. Approach them on the proper path. If you go at them from here, they could spot Triss and Me. Diverge their attention."

Triss nodded in agreement,

"Smart," she said, "Be the distraction."

With a sharp nod, Henry agreed and got Nyx trotting again. As advised, he took the main path to the Mine.

As they watched him gallop closer to the target, Triss asked,

"He'll be alright, won't he?"

Charles chuckled and leaned forward in his saddle,

"He'll do far better than you and I would, that's for sure."