"Alright, I'll be direct. That monster is nothing now. Perhaps someone else has already taken everything. So you must choose: either we, who trust and rely on you—or a corpse that may no longer hold what you want. What do you choose?"
Leona's voice filled the space, cutting sharply through the relatively dark silence, broken only by the soft breaths of Naivy and Edward in the background.
Anas stared down at Leona, his tone flat: "Let go of my hand."
Leona trembled, eyes widening for a moment, the shiver running into Anas, but she quickly regained composure. She pressed on his wrist with all the strength her delicate fingers could muster: "I won't let you. I won't allow you to leave us. We need you."
"Why should I listen to you? You mean nothing to me. You may betray me, leave me. I am the one who will have to protect you. While the weapon I make from that monster will protect me—it will stay with me, won't betray me." Anas said.
Leona frowned, shouting: "Will you measure humans only by their usefulness?! Compare humans to some lifeless object?!" She paused, lowering her gaze to the ground, letting go of his hand, folding her arms across her chest. "…I have nothing left. My mother is dead, my father abandoned me. All I have is myself and my noble title, which is useless here. So if you want usefulness… I offer myself."
Edward shouted, eyes wide: "Fool! What are you saying?!"
Anas stared at her for a moment, tilting his head to the right, then turned and started walking, hands slipping into the pockets of his black pants: "I don't want you. I hate those who exploit others' weaknesses to do filthy things."
Leona opened her mouth to speak, but the words froze in her throat.
Her hands instinctively rose to her chest as she thought: This boy… is he really one of the commoners?
Naivy approached Edward, who exhaled in relief, and tugged at his shirt: "Edward, we have to stay here. You must protect us."
Edward turned, seeing Naivy, cheeks flushing, stepping back slightly, stammering while turning his face aside: "Y-yes, of course! I will protect you, of course!"
Naivy nodded, leaning back against the damp, grimy sewer wall and sliding down to sit.
Then she felt something soft and warm fall over her.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Edward had removed his upper shirt and thrown it over her.
Her eyes widened slightly: "Why are you doing this?"
"Because girls are weaker than boys. The strong must care for the weak. No argument."
Naivy smiled slightly, slipping on Edward's long shirt, sleeves longer than her arms, hem falling below her knees, thinking: It's soft, so soft. I never imagined something like this.
The scene looked like a painting to Leona, who was still staring toward the direction Anas had gone, muttering: "Selfish! I hate you."
Anas continued walking, gradually increasing his pace until he began running, thinking: Hmm, seems Priscilla's doubling of my healing is doing its work and more. Good. I need to hurry before everything from the monster's corpse disappears.
Anas ran until he reached the sewer opening.
He began climbing to lift the cover but remembered the sounds from earlier under the ground, deciding to open it slowly.
Sunlight made him close his eyes abruptly.
His eyes hadn't seen sunlight in a long time.
He rubbed them until his vision adjusted.
As clarity returned, he saw the area was empty and stepped out quickly, running lightly, careful not to step on anything that would reveal him.
He remembered how he had come here—the battle site near the colony wall gate.
Suddenly, he remembered something important: "Bianca and the strange girl… where did they go?"
Anas slowed gradually until he stopped.
His black coat stretched behind him like a shadow clinging to his form.
Suddenly, a familiar childish female voice sounded: "Heheh. I made you forget about them. Someone rescued them while we were talking… didn't rescue you with them."
"I didn't ask for your interference, Priscilla," Anas said.
A burning pain touched his hand where the black mark was, as Priscilla spoke: "You're doomed to me. I'm not some super-being controlling your mind. I only gave you curiosity, and you got distracted by it—you crave curiosity more than anything. And if I hadn't, you'd still be searching for them, and you and I would be counted among the dead."
Anas sighed, continuing his walk. The monster's corpse appeared in a circle of ash, and he muttered to himself: "Alright, I admit—you defeated me without touching me. Thank you for your concern."
Suddenly warmth spread from his right hand to his entire body—a strange yet familiar feeling, soothing and reassuring.
Anas continued toward the corpse. When he reached it, he placed his left hand on its belly and his right on its face, exhaling.
He saw the monster's corpse—but everything was gone.
The teeth, claws, horns—everything had been taken.
Anas stared at the dead creature for a moment, then noticed its right eye was still intact.
He approached it, drew his dagger, and began carefully removing it, slowly, cautiously, so as not to gouge it out.
---
Far from Anas and his group, on the other side of the black market, entirely different events were unfolding.
Men stood lined up in front of a dilapidated house, cracks visible, old wood barely holding together.
They were engrossed in conversation: "When will that bastard arrive?" whispered one. Another replied, "I don't even know why Kyros cares about a bastard like him. Maybe we'll defy his orders and kill him if—"
The first man didn't finish before the house door creaked open.
Crrrk… tik tik tik tik… thud.
A man stepped out, dressed relatively well.
He wore black trousers, black shoes, and a black buttoned shirt.
His hair was dark black, eyes as blue as a clear sky.
He yawned, raising his hand to cover his mouth.
One of the men whispered: "Look at his body… he's strong."
Yes, a glimpse of his muscles appeared as he raised his hand to cover his mouth while yawning.
The man stared at them for a moment with sleepy eyes, then said in a rough voice: "Shut up, you scum."
Suddenly… an extremely intimidating presence radiated from him. A pressure that froze the whispering men as if blood in their veins solidified. Eyes wide, asking silently: What is this?
But no one dared speak it.
The man scanned the men, randomly choosing one: "Heh, you. You told Kyros I discovered the intruders. Why send such a small number?"
"T-the lord Kyros said… the owl will handle everything," the soldier stammered.
The man rubbed the bridge of his nose, saying: "So that bastard wants me to do all the work again. What trash. (His voice lowers slightly.) He deserves to die. Heh."
He pulled his hand from his face, raised his head, and said: "Alright, fools. I will lead you to catch the rats. And by the way, call me… The Owl."