12 | P a g e dangers and much more serious consequences for failure. He could no longer do everything by himself. Fortunately, he could afford the services of professional guards. The third carriage in Bruno’s caravan was occupied by a group of adventurers he’d hired to defend it, in addition to a handful of paid passengers. The guards were the five members of the B-ranked party Counter Arrow, which had been active in the Kingdom of Asura for some time. The passengers numbered three: two swordsmen-in- training heading north to hone their skills, and one gloomy young magician in a dark gray robe. While they weren’t technically guards, Bruno expected they’d fight to defend the caravan if necessary, given that their lives would be on the line. Incidentally, the gloomy young magician went by the name Rudeus Greyrat. At that moment, he was in the back of the swaying carriage, blankly looking skyward. He had eyes like a dead fish and his mouth hung half open. He wasn’t sitting so much as he was slumped against the wall. The boy was totally hollow. There was nothing but a void within him. When you glanced at his miserable face, you could almost hear his thoughts out loud: Everything’s meaningless. What’s the point of being alive? Why do any of us even bother? I don’t know. The only thing I know is that I’m empty inside. I’m nothingness. I’m zero. I’m the Heart of Space… The boy let out a weak, lifeless sigh. Thanks entirely to his presence, the carriage felt about as cheerful as a morgue. “You’ve been doing a lot of sighing lately, kid,” said one of the boy’s fellow passengers. “What’s the matter?”