Kayden let out a short laugh, one that carried both mockery and menace.
"He's not injured. Scum like him doesn't die. Besides…" His smile thinned. "He's terrible, but he isn't stupid. He knows exactly when to disappear… and when to bite. I'm not looking for him, though. I'm looking for someone else."
He slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a small folded piece of paper. Unfolding it for only a moment, he showed the bartender the sketch of a face before tucking it away again as if it had never existed.
Then he placed a small cloth pouch onto the table without another word. It landed softly, yet somehow carried far more weight than its size suggested.
The bartender stared at it in silence before slowly reaching over and taking it. His fingers tightened around the pouch.
When he looked back at Kayden, the look in his eyes had changed.
He no longer saw a customer. He saw something else.
Leaning in, the bartender glanced around to make sure no one was listening. "You're a Hunter."
'He's that man's friend… the bartender thought uneasily. Is he hiding his Spirit Core too? I can't sense any spiritual energy from him. He must be suppressing it… Maybe he's just as insane.'
Kayden interrupted his thoughts. "What crime did he commit? I want the truth. If you lie to me, even once…" His gaze turned cold. "I'll break your hand."
The bartender looked down at the pouch for a long moment before answering. "He steals jewelry from women. On paper, it's a petty crime… but he keeps coming back. Every time he's arrested, he does it again."
"A repeat offender…" Kayden muttered with faint amusement.
The bartender nodded. "He isn't dangerous because he's strong. He's dangerous because he's clever. He melts into crowds. If you look carefully… he might even be nearby right now."
The bartender leaned closer until his whisper brushed against Kayden's ear.
"He might even be disguised as a woman at the moment." A sly grin spread across his face. "Isn't that your type?"
Kayden immediately lifted his head as if he'd caught something hidden beneath the joke.
"I don't think so." His eyes swept across the tavern.
For a split second… He thought he'd spotted him in the corner.
"Is there another exit?" Kayden asked without taking his eyes off the room.
The bartender quietly pointed toward the back.
"He just left through it."
Without another word, Kayden stepped outside and leapt effortlessly onto the rooftops.
'A man wearing makeup… Who would've thought?'
His sharp eyes scanned every street below, but something told him he wouldn't find the thief so easily.
He continued across the rooftops until a bustling marketplace came into view.
The village square buzzed like a living hive. Merchants shouted over one another, children laughed as they ran through the streets, and the smell of food mixed with sweat and countless conversations.
Yet amidst all the noise… Something else reached him.
Smoke. Not enough to suggest a fire… Just enough to linger.
' Smoke…?' His eyes searched for its source, but found nothing.
Dropping silently into the crowd, Kayden blended among the people like a shadow. Every step was deliberate. He brushed past no one, slipping between bodies as though he barely occupied space himself.
He quietly approached someone from behind…
And placed a hand on their shoulder. "Sam?"
His calm voice carried the faintest trace of amusement.
The person turned around.
Layers of makeup concealed his features with impressive precision. His eyebrows had been carefully reshaped, subtle shadows altered the structure of his face, and even his hairstyle had been changed to complete the disguise.
"So… you found me." There was genuine admiration in Sam's voice.
Kayden studied him for only a moment, yet noticed everything.
The altered posture. The oversized clothes.
Even the carefully softened voice. "You're good at disguises."
There wasn't a hint of praise in his tone.
Sam smiled as he adjusted his coat. "I'm good at many things." He chuckled. "Want me to teach you?"
Kayden tilted his head slightly, studying him like a puzzle.
"Actually… there are plenty of things I'd like to learn. Not just disguises or makeup." A brief pause. "When are you getting out of prison?"
Sam looked toward the passing crowd as though the question meant nothing.
"Probably by the end of the month. I'll pay my bail and walk out."
In the next instant Kayden grabbed his arm. The grip was so firm that Sam instinctively stopped resisting.
"But you're built like a giant." Kayden looked him up and down. "No one's going to believe you're a woman."
Silence. Then Sam smiled.
A very…Very unsettling smile.
"I just enjoy disguising myself." His voice remained perfectly calm. "I don't actually want to become a woman."
Kayden narrowed his eyes. "Don't smile like that."
His expression turned completely emotionless. "You look like a pervert."
A brief pause. "Maybe I should break your jaw… just to be safe."
The two continued walking through the village as evening settled in.
Lanterns swayed gently along the streets, casting warm light across the clay walls while the last murmurs of conversation drifted through the cool night air.
After a while, Sam spoke without looking at him.
"But I'm not a pervert." He sighed. "You're the one who keeps threatening me." After another pause, he asked, "Tell me… are you friends with that guy… Carlos?"
Kayden stopped walking.
The name meant nothing at first. 'Carlos…?'
Then something stirred in the back of his mind.
"Yes."
That was all he said. "I figured as much…" Sam muttered quietly.
Silence settled between them once more.
But Kayden noticed it immediately. The subtle shift in Sam's body.
The faint resistance. The intention to run "Are you an idiot?"
Before Sam could react CRACK!
Kayden's fist slammed into his jaw without warning.
Sam crashed onto the ground, clutching his face.
"Aaagh!! You bastard!"
Kayden didn't pay him any attention. He gave him a light, mocking kick. "Stop wriggling around like a snake and get up… I'm tired of this place."
Sam slowly got to his feet, struggling to stay upright despite the pain. He said nothing.
The two returned to the police station. Kayden handed Sam over to one of the officers without saying a word, as if he were simply discarding a burden unworthy of conversation.
As Sam was led away in handcuffs, he shouted from the distance, "Don't forget our deal… one month from now!"
Kayden didn't respond. He simply continued toward the station lobby.
As soon as he arrived, one of the officers approached him with a sheet of paper in hand and silently handed it over.
"This is your second assignment."
This poster was much clearer than the previous one, allowing Kayden to notice something he had overlooked before the date it had been issued.
He brought it closer and frowned slightly. The issue date was remarkably close to the one on Sam's poster.
He looked at the title once more as a strange thought slowly formed in his mind.
'Why are all these reports coming from the slums? Is someone deliberately driving up the crime rate there? Or… is someone testing something?'
Kayden's thoughts came to a halt as he entered the old alleyways the same kind of streets he had once walked.
His feet continued forward at a steady pace, but his mind wandered elsewhere.
Memories drifted through his mind. But they had never truly belonged to him.
He didn't experience them the way people remembered their own past. They felt more like scenes from an old film he had watched countless times.
That child wasn't the Kayden he was now.
It had been another body. Another person… Someone who no longer existed.
A faint sense of unfamiliarity washed over him, but it was the kind that inspired contemplation rather than fear.
'I'm nothing more than the heir to these memories… and this body.'
Still, Kayden wasn't weak. Arthur had trained him well. He had taught him how to fight ,how to hold a weapon , and how to shoot without hesitation. How to keep his focus fixed on the present.
Now, as old memories intertwined with reality, Kayden found himself more grateful to Arthur than ever before.
He returned to the tavern and calmly took the same seat before the bartender.
At first, he said nothing. He simply placed the same wanted poster on the counter.
"Do you know who this is?" Kayden asked, his voice carrying only mild curiosity this time, free of any threat.
The bartender glanced at the picture for a moment before smiling faintly, completely unsurprised.
"Looks like you'll become one of my customers soon, won't you?"
Kayden had no answer. "I'll think about it."
"My name's Bill. I've actually seen him before. Everyone around here knows him. Even the homeless people hiding in the deepest corners talk about him. He's an idiot… but a famous one."
Bill suddenly stopped speaking. Something seemed to catch his attention. "What is that smell?!"
His expression changed instantly.
He leaned closer and sniffed the air around Kayden. "Stand up. Now."
Kayden rose in confusion.
Bill immediately pointed toward a corner. "The restroom's over there. You're carrying a burned talisman. Get rid of it before someone else smells it. This kind draws attention fast."
He waved Kayden away impatiently before returning to wiping glasses, offering no further explanation, as though nothing unusual had happened.
As he continued polishing the glasses with a cloth, Bill's thoughts drifted elsewhere. 'He's carrying a strange talisman… That scent is unmistakable. It was made to burn itself away after a short time… so it would never actually do its job. That insane crafting style… It can only be that lunatic Adam's work. Damn bastard… As always, he's handing them out under the name Carlos. Did he trick this guy too?'
Bill glanced toward the restroom. 'Or is this man so strong that he didn't even bother removing it? Is it possible he never noticed it at all? Just how powerful is he…? The world of the strong is terrifying.'
His gaze lowered slightly. 'But Adam never approaches the weak… I've never once seen him deal with someone beneath him. So who exactly is this man? There's something unusual about him… He reminds me of someone.'
Inside the restroom… Kayden turned on the faucet and waited until the stream of water flowed steadily.
He pulled the partially burned talisman from his inner pocket and stared at it silently.
Fragments of the faded runes still glowed faintly beneath the layer of ash.
He lit its remaining edges with an old lighter, silently watched it burn into black ash, then carefully washed his hands. Standing before the sink, he stared at his reflection.
He ran a hand through his hair, as though trying to squeeze forgotten memories out of his mind. 'If the talisman burned like this… then it never worked in the first place!! Wait… What did Father say about hiding a Spirit Core?!'
Kayden began pacing in small circles across the cold tiled floor.
He even considered calling Colton just to ask what Arthur had once explained… But even that memory was blurred.
Eventually, he carefully cleaned the toilet seat, covered it with several layers of tissue as though building a protective fortress, sat down, leaned against the wall, and muttered,
'Why can't I remember? Why didn't my brain keep that information? The talisman must be the reason… But then why hasn't anyone realized I'm not hiding my spiritual power? Bill only noticed the smell…'
He buried his face in his hands before letting out a long sigh.
'Am I really that weak…? So weak that nobody can even sense my Spirit Core? Damn Spirit Core… who do you think you are?'
For several minutes he remained still, calming himself.
Finally, he whispered quietly, as though making a deal with himself.
'All I have to do is stay calm… and fool this damned Spirit Core before I fool the idiots outside. That's all.'
He stood before the mirror once more.
"I'm a completely normal person. I don't possess a Spirit Core… and I don't need one. There's no place for spiritual powers in my world."
"Wait… that's exactly what Ren Yuan used to say… I'm Kayden now."
He shook his head violently, as though driving someone out of it.
"You bastard, stay out of this! Let me finish!"
Then he smiled to himself. "I'm talking to myself now? This is insane… What a disaster. If my mother saw me like this, she'd probably stare through the crack in the door in complete disbelief."
He leaned against the wall once again and took a deep breath. 'In all the novels I read… there were always incredible concealment techniques. Truly amazing abilities not these dull tricks this annoying crippled world has. But the protagonists were always calm… always in control of themselves. So what's wrong with me? Though… I'm not the protagonist. That's the difference. And I don't even want to become one. It's disgusting… and it wastes far too much time and emotion.'
He fell silent for a moment before speaking again, as though recovering something he had forgotten. "I lived my entire life without powers… and Kayden did the same before me. All I have to do… is pretend I've returned to the starting point."
He began whispering to himself over and over until even his own mind started believing it.
"I don't have a Spirit Core… I never met Arbella… nothing happened… Everything is fine."
Suddenly, he froze, staring into the mirror.
"You can't erase your Spirit Core completely. It's part of your very existence… but you can make it silent… faint… concealed."