The Runic Alchemist-Chapter 495: Saved or Doomed ? Part - 2

[Titan’s Battleground, Unknown Planet – Einar POV]

The first couple of days were fine. They worked together to find a way out of their situation, tried to ignore the bound knights groaning in the middle of the circular golden floor, and waited desperately for nightfall, hoping the scorching sun would finally relent. They clung to the fragile hope that Damian would come for them with his unique Waygate spell.

But on the third day, Einar caught snippets of a conversation within Kamisen’s group.

"They have two full containers of that cooling potion.." one of them muttered.

"And she’s only giving us barely a sip," another added.

"That elf princess gets to drink as much as she wants," someone else chimed in.

"It’s unfair.. but she’s the strongest and nobility, while we’re just weak commoners."

When Einar turned to look at them, they immediately fell silent and walked away, retreating to their designated corners. Evrin had built a small hut for each of them, a shield from the unrelenting sun. Her wood-style magic wasn’t perfect, and even this much had taken her two days. Meanwhile, Einar had confiscated all their spatial storages and weapons—under the guise of safekeeping. They had no choice but to comply if they wanted the cooling potion.

She couldn’t trust them. Einar knew that. It was why she had Evrin place their huts on the opposite side of the golden platform, keeping herself, Evrin, and Kishi in a larger one. After much argument, Einar had reluctantly allowed Evrin to construct at least a roof over the suffering knights—if not full huts. The princess simply couldn’t accept the idea of abandoning them entirely. Letting them suffer, giving them false hope of kindness, was even crueler than simply letting them die.

Kamisen never took part in these conversations, but he was aware of them. On the third and fourth days, the whispers only grew louder—loud enough that even Evrin could hear them clearly.

On the fifth day, they came to request more potions.

Einar refused them outright. The two containers wouldn’t last a month, and she had no idea when Damian would come. She had to prepare for the worst—rationing everything, surviving on the bare minimum. Instead, she told them to use water spells to cool themselves.

But water didn’t stay cool for more than a few minutes. It was a temporary relief, nothing like the cooling crystal that allowed them to sleep in peace for hours.

The fifth day was also when all the Highsword knights.. died.

They finally unbound them and, one by one, pushed them down. It left a mark on everyone. Many of them had been innocent knights, but she couldn’t afford to take the risk. Once, they had been her idols. Now, they were just more bodies in the pile of corpses she had climbed to survive. No matter how logical it was, it didn’t feel right.

But she could live with it.

It was her duty to protect her princess. If her parents had taught her one thing, it was to always fulfill the duties she was trusted with.

The sixth day.. they were attacked.

The commoners had found a knife on one of the dead knights and, drunk on desperation, saw their chance. Their greed for the cooling potions drove them, but the words they shouted—their justifications—were the same ones they had learned from the streets and their families.

Guardian killers. Tyrants. Beastmen haters. Slavers.

Excuses, all of them.

Still, Einar beat them back into their huts. She wanted to stop giving them the potion entirely, but once again, Evrin forced her hand.

Meanwhile, Kamisen hadn’t left his hut in days. His condition was worsening. Even after Evrin’s insistence that Einar give him more cooling potion, he barely improved. The potion wasn’t very effective on beastmen. Even Kishi showed signs of heatstroke now and then.

Einar had stayed awake for six days, keeping watch. But on the night of the seventh day, exhaustion finally won.

Her eyelids grew heavy. For just a few minutes, she fell asleep.

She didn’t know whether it was fortunate or misfortune, but the second her eyes snapped open, she saw Kishi’s lean figure, sword in hand, poised to pierce the sleeping princess’s chest.

Einar reacted on instinct. Before she even registered what she was doing, a burst of red aura shaped like a small fist shot from her real fist, slamming Kishi away from Evrin.

In the next breath, Einar was on her feet, her Crimson Talon raised to Kishi’s throat.

She couldn’t describe the feeling in her chest.

Even Kishi?

Why?

Kishi’s gritted teeth and bloodshot eyes were all the answer Einar needed. No, this one wasn’t after the cooling potion. Her goal was something else entirely.

Behind her, Evrin stirred awake, her shocked gaze darting between them. She was sharp enough to understand what was happening. Even though the betrayal stung, she couldn’t deny the truth.

"Why..?" Einar whispered.

The thought was unbearable. The innocent young girl she had almost considered a younger sister.. had come for her princess life in the dark of night. The disappointment inside her boiled into frustration, which burned into something cold and sharp.

Anger.

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"Why?" Kishi echoed, her voice laced with venom. Her amber eyes burned with barely contained fury. She trembled—whether from fear, rage, or the weight of everything crashing down on her, even she probably didn’t know.

"You took everything from us," Kishi spat. Her ears flattened against her tangled hair, her tail puffed with tension. "My family. My home. You talk about kindness while standing on the bones of those you trampled. So tell me.. Why? Why does she get to live in luxury while we starve in the gutters? Why do you stand there, look at me like I’m the villain?"

Einar—her captor, her judge—held her gaze, unflinching.

And yet, there was no scorn in her expression.

No disgust.

Only something far worse.

Pity.

It was like facing her past self in real life, the same self that often haunted her nightmares.

Kishi’s grip on the dagger tightened.

She didn’t need pity.

She needed justice.