Crow frowned concernedly when Penelope explained that the next battle would happen in two days. If that was the case, then he and the other thieves would need to prepare to leave in the afternoon tomorrow in order to reach Whitebridge and warn the people on time. The location was also concerning to him. It hadn’t been that long since the last battles that had happened near both of those villages. He was worried they wouldn’t be ready to defend themselves so soon when their homes had been ravaged less than a month ago. Even though he understood to a degree why the knights would want to fight the Younisians this way, he wished they had chosen a different place to attack so the villagers would have a chance to recover.

In addition to that, he was also concerned about the risk of a second battle happening directly after the first. Villagers’ safety aside, he didn’t even know if he and his companions could handle something that intense. They almost always took injuries after every major fight, since they didn’t have armor and were far fewer in number than the knights. So, even if they all made it out of the battle in Whitebridge intact, he doubted they would fare so well in Grimsby. He feared that attempting to fight in both battles would leave them in bad condition, and that was if they all made it out alive.

At her final words, Crow averted his gaze without answering. He wasn’t quite sure what to say. He didn’t want to worry her, but he didn’t want to lie to her either. Unfortunately, he had to choose one or the other. After a moment, he let out his breath in a sigh. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said honestly. “All I know is that I can’t just sit around and do nothing while people are dying.”

Looking up again, he held her gaze stubbornly, “No matter what I decide to do, I promise I’m going to be careful. You can trust me on that. I don’t intend to put myself in a position where I might lose consciousness, because I meant what I said to you before.” He colored slightly as he went on. “That future we talked about… I want that. Even though I have to help protect the villagers, I’m not going to risk our life together if I can avoid it. So please, don’t worry. I’ll be alright.”