The dangerous individual had taken us to an expensive restaurant for lunch. I was struck by the buffet he ordered and watched as he devoured it at a brutal speed. I don’t know if it was my imagination, but it seemed to me that his teeth were sharper than those of an average person, as if they were slightly pentagonal.

  By the time he finished his meal (and I still had mine untouched), I asked him:

  —Where did you get that theory you explained in class?

  —It’s from the basics I was taught —said Ash while he kept eating.

  —By whom?

  —My master. A very grumpy man, demanding and dangerously emotionally unstable. No one you know.

  —And how is it that you know that and the rest of the world doesn’t?

  —Why would anyone share it?

  —You did.

  —I am a very special case. Before (or rather, even today) knowledge is power. I don’t know about now, but before people were very jealous of what they knew. It was rare for the population to know many basic things that are known now. I should clarify that I’m talking about when I was a child, long before the war. Besides, I thought I wasn’t saying anything unknown —(he let out a small laugh)— but now I realize that what my master said was true: “people forget many things all the time.”

  —Are you implying that this was already known?

  —If he knew it, someone else must have known it. But I never had knowledge of that, I was too busy worrying about surviving and eating.

  —I think you’re telling me more than I want to know. You’d better ask something yourself.

  Ash took a sip of water from the glass beside him, and then, bringing a hand to his chin, thought for a moment. Then he asked:

  —Tell me, what happened to your brother for him to be like that?

  Cain’s naturally serene expression changed to a cynical one. He replied with another question:

  —What use is that to you?

  Ash placed his hands on the table and, leaning forward, said:

  —It’s part of the trade to know your companions —then he settled back into his chair and finished his statement — And besides, I want to annoy him. It’s something that entertains me a lot.

  —That doesn’t motivate me much to tell you the reason, if it’s going to harm Dante.

  —You don’t have a choice, if you want him to have a better chance of surviving.

  Cain, calm, pondered Ash’s comment. Then he said to him:

  —If I tell you… promise me that, no matter what happens, you won’t let him die.

  And he fixed on Ash’s eyes a gaze as serious as the request.

  Ash, confident and utterly serene, smiled and said:

  —Consider it done.

  Cain leaned back in his chair, took a breath, and began:

  — I was about two years old, so this is the story I was told. My brother used to go often to the forest that surrounded the village where we grew up, and it wasn’t a safe place. Some beasts or dangerous people passed through there from time to time.

  Ash interrupted him:

  —Why did you live there?

  —It turned out to be a safer place than the other options... but that’s another story. As I was saying, even after a certain incident, everyone believed he wouldn’t be so reckless again. But it seems he kept going, and more and more often. He became arrogant, he even started bringing back “trophies.” Seeing that, even my parents were carried away by pride. And they weren’t the only ones: my uncles and some of my cousins also started inflating Dante’s ego. That exploded when the glass was filled by the drop from my grandfather.

  So one day he took my older brother, Noel, the second son, with him on one of his adventures. What everyone later learned was that Noel had died. I don’t know the details, but from what I was told, Noel had asked Dante to take him to the forest to look for some excitement. They were little, they couldn’t have been more than eight and six years old. It was the first time Dante had taken someone with him, but it was the worst day: a dangerous creature was wandering there... and in the encounter, it killed Noel.

  —Now I understand —said Ash— so Dante lives with the guilt of having killed his brother.

  —You should know that Dante killed the creature. It’s not something a child could do, so I suspect that something else happened and he didn’t tell anyone —said Cain while looking out the window, unaware that Ash was smiling furtively— After that, Agnar started paying him more attention and urged him to join the army. I think he wanted to help him overcome the trauma and give him a reason to move forward. But it wasn’t enough. I don’t know what he was like before that happened, but ever since I can remember, he has always been a good brother to me and to Aisha, my other older sister.

  —You have a sister? Is she melancholic like your brother?

  —I don’t think it’s necessary to answer you. I’m sure that sooner or later you’ll hear about her.

  —Now I’m curious. Changing the subject... do you want to go bother your brother?

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  —There’s nothing I could use to bother him —said Cain, hopelessly.

  —Oh, but tonight he’s going out to dinner with Nair. I’m going to spy on them just to see how he fails again —said Ash in a Machiavellian tone.

  —I wouldn’t miss it for anything —Cain replied without hesitation.

  Flying in the sky, Ash carried Cain on his back, and he asked him:

  —How can you fly for so long? It should be an enormous mana consumption.

  —It’s because I can store a lot, but a looooot of mana. Though also, everything I eat I can absorb as mana —explained Ash, shouting to be heard.

  —That explains a lot.. —murmured Cain.

  —We’re here! —said Ash, and landed on the roof of a small building. Cain got down and walked toward the edge of the terrace. He looked down at the street and searched with his eyes for the meeting place. Then he noticed a very elegant restaurant and kept watching it, realizing there was no other possible place.

  —And how are we going to do it from here on? —asked Cain.

  Ash, who was at the rooftop door looking for something, exclaimed:

  —I found it!

  He pulled an electronic tablet from there.

  Cain, curious, asked:

  —What are you doing?

  —I hired a private detective to place cameras where the dinner would take place. There are microphones too, so we’ll be able to know everything that happens —said Ash while holding the device up in the air.

  —How do you even have time to do all that?

  —I haven’t slept in two days.

  The two of them gathered to watch the cameras and, at that moment, they saw Dante and Nair chatting naturally. Both were well dressed for the occasion, it seemed they were halfway through their dinner and had their glasses half drunk.

  —It looks like they’re talking about something intimate, turn up the volume —Cain demanded.

  Ash did so, and both fell silent to listen.

  Nair, resting her head on her arms, listened attentively to Dante, who was saying:

  —And that’s how my grandfather beat them all at cards.

  —Hahaha, why had you never told me that?

  —I never thought it was interesting, but now, after some time, I see it differently, more… pleasant.

  Then Dante took a sip from his glass of wine and looked at Nair to ask:

  —And how have you spent this evening?

  Nair looked at Dante mischievously, holding back her words for the right moment. She took another bite of her dinner and chewed and savored it slowly. When she finished swallowing, she answered with another question:

  —How did you want to spend it?

  Dante leaned back in his chair, letting his arms rest on the table, and replied:

  —The way we’ve spent it so far. Or do you have something better in mind?

  Drawing a mischievous smile with her lips, Nair proposed:

  —Maybe a couple of things.

  Dante, controlled by his nerves, finished his half-full glass in a vain reflex to hide them.

  While Ash and Cain watched this, Cain said:

  —I think he’s taking her tonight.

  Ash, with a serious attitude, exclaimed to him:

  —You mustn’t take anything for granted, he can still ruin it.

  Then Dante, with the handful of luck and courage he kept in his pocket, asked her:

  —How about we skip dessert and go somewhere more “comfortable”?

  The two snoops watched as the couple paid and left the restaurant. No longer needing the tablet to spy on them, they used their own cameras —which they called “eyes”— to follow the scene. Without losing track of them, Ash said to Cain:

  —Alright, we need to keep a low profile and not draw attention.

  Cain, in response, raised his thumb optimistically. Ash grabbed Cain by the waist and they jumped to the next building using a powerful but undetectable impulse with his fire. They kept out of the couple’s sight and concealed any hint of detection, whether from simply being seen or from them sensing that they were being watched.

  At one moment during the stealthy pursuit, Cain said:

  —Stop!

  The two crouched behind the building’s cornice and watched attentively. In a moment when no one was on the streets, whether because it was too late to be wandering through the dark road or simply a moment of luck and solitude, the couple suddenly stopped. It seemed they spoke about something and then turned toward each other and looked into one another’s eyes. The conversation continued, and Dante, slyly, crossed his fingers with Nair’s, merging the action into a tender holding of hands.

  Ash and Cain watched closely, waiting for whatever it was that had to happen. Cain whispered a few words of encouragement to his brother:

  —Do it.

  But just when it seemed Dante was about to make his move, the couple turned to look behind them, because someone had caught their attention. From a few meters away, Aghat was greeting them both.

  Seeing this, Cain carved his body with anger and frustration, achieving a pose worthy of a berserker. To suppress the shout struggling to come out, he exclaimed in furious whispers:

  —AGHAT! YOU IDIOT! I LOVE YOU LIKE A BROTHER, BUT RIGHT NOW I COULD KILL YOUUU!

  Ash, indifferent but pointing out a fact, remarked:

  —It seems your brother just has bad luck. I expected him to achieve something or ruin it, but this is as bland and unsatisfying as air.

  Disappointed, he flies away with Cain without being seen by the trio.

  After leaving him where he asked, they talk a little.

  Ash says:

  —I suppose today wasn’t the moment.

  —This isn’t your doing, right? You were very eager for something to go wrong.

  Ash, placing a hand on his balls, replies:

  —I swear I haven’t done anything.

  Cain takes a breath and reflects for a moment before telling him:

  —Yes, I believe you. Besides, if it had been you, you would have done something more complicated or particular.

  —Exactly —Ash replies, extending his index fingers toward Cain.

  Cain exhales a deep sigh and complains:

  —It’s very frustrating that nothing works out for Dante. I know he has been a bit of an idiot in the past, but this is already too much.

  Ash, watching Cain’s frustration with amusement, asks him in an childishly curious tone:

  —How strange… you talk about this as if it had happened to you.

  Cain freezes at the question and, as if giving an excuse, replies:

  —Well, technically my brother being happy makes me happy.

  Ash, unsatisfied with the answer, begins to walk around Cain like an animal looking for the weak point of its prey, and asks him:

  —What are you hiding?

  Cain, as if he had been bitten by a venomous snake, freezes upon hearing the question and replies, stuttering:

  —I… I… it’s not that… that I’m hiding anything, it must be your imagination.

  —Mmm… well, you know, I don’t care. Your affairs don’t interest me —says Ash.

  Cain sculpts an expression of composure and lets Ash walk away and distract himself with the scene the trio is carrying out.

  Apparently, Ash observes that Aghat brings bad news about an important matter, and Dante and Nair only look surprised and worried.

  Unable to contain his curiosity, Ash immediately lets himself fall to the ground and, shortly before reaching it, cushions the impact with his fire propulsion. Then he walks to meet the trio.

  He arrives naturally at the meeting and greets them:

  —Oh, what a coincidence to find you here! Were you going out to celebrate?

  An ironically mediocre performance, but without giving rise to suspicion.

  —What are you doing here? —Dante asked aggressively.

  Ash replies:

  —What a simple question, it’s obvious that I’m taking a walk.

  Nair responds:

  —No, it’s not obvious, in fact, you arrived at a good moment.

  Ash looks surprised and says:

  —That is strange, what’s the problem? —with great intrigue.

  —The Zhong guo people failed to capture Shāng —Aghat reported with concern.

  After saying that, the trio waits for Ash’s next move, and he, without producing even a whisper of wind, turns around and takes about four steps away from them.

  From motionless he turns into an ordinary man celebrating without saying anything, but miming like someone who has just seen his favorite fighting team win.

  After finishing, with all the composure of a serious man, he said:

  —There’s no problem.

  

  

  chocolate.