Chapter 100 — Gold Still Bleeds
The boy arrived at dawn.
Not carried.
Not escorted.
He walked.
Each step was uneven, one leg stiff, the other wrapped in bandages soaked faintly with old blood. His clothes were too large—dockhand castoffs—and his hands were clenched so tightly that his knuckles had gone pale.
Umbra's outer office was already awake.
Clerks whispered. Shadow-operatives stood at ease. Ledgers moved from desk to desk with quiet efficiency.
The boy stopped at the threshold.
A clerk looked up. "State your business."
The boy swallowed.
"I… I was told Umbra listens."
The clerk didn't smile. Didn't dismiss him either.
"Name?"
"Renn."
"Occupation?"
"…Courier. Used to be."
The clerk gestured to a bench. "Sit. Don't rush. Umbra does not punish slowness."
Renn sat.
His leg shook.
Kairo heard about him before he saw him.
CIEL flagged the anomaly first.
[Subject arrived with physical trauma inconsistent with city incident reports.]
[Payment source: Unregistered gold.]
[Emotional state: High suppression.]
"Bring him in," Kairo said.
Not to the inner hall.
To the intermediate room.
That distinction mattered.
Renn stared when he entered.
Not because of luxury.
Because the room was plain.
Stone walls. One table. Two chairs. Light that didn't glare.
Kairo sat first.
Renn hesitated.
Then sat.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Finally, Renn said, "They said you're young."
Kairo nodded. "They're correct."
Renn looked down. "Then why does it feel like you're… heavy?"
CIEL logged the phrase.
[Psychological pressure perception detected.]
Kairo didn't answer directly.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
Renn reached into his jacket with shaking fingers and placed a small pouch on the table.
It clinked.
Gold.
Old-minted. Real weight.
"I want a job," Renn said. "I was paid in advance once. Gold like this. To deliver medicine to the lower marsh."
Kairo watched him carefully.
"What happened?"
Renn swallowed.
"They changed the route after I left. Said it was safer."
His hands clenched.
"It wasn't."
Silence pressed in.
"They ambushed us," Renn continued. "Said the medicine was contraband. Said couriers don't ask questions."
He laughed once. Broken.
"They took the gold back. Left me alive so I'd remember."
Kairo's eyes darkened slightly.
"What do you want from Umbra?" he asked.
Renn lifted his head.
"I want someone to go there," he said. "Not for revenge. For truth. Because they're still doing it."
CIEL pulsed.
[Probability of trap: Low.]
[Independent corroboration: High.]
Kairo leaned back.
"You're not buying violence," he said calmly. "Gold doesn't purchase that here."
Renn's shoulders slumped.
"Then I'll take it back," he said hoarsely. "I just—"
"You're buying verification," Kairo interrupted. "And protection."
Renn froze.
Kairo pushed the pouch back across the table.
"Umbra doesn't take advance payment from the injured," he said. "We take obligation."
Renn's eyes burned.
"…You'll check?"
"Yes."
"Even if it's dangerous?"
Kairo stood.
"Especially then."
The marsh route was quiet.
Too quiet.
Fog lay thick across the waterlogged stone road, swallowing sound, bending distance. Two Umbra operatives moved ahead, shadows detached just enough to scout without announcing presence.
Kairo walked behind them.
This wasn't enforcement.
This was reconnaissance.
CIEL overlaid spectral readings.
[Residual blessing signatures detected.]
[Type: Suppression-class.]
"Slave route," one operative said softly.
Kairo nodded.
They found the wagons at the third bend.
Broken axles.
Medicine crates emptied.
Bodies gone.
Not buried.
Moved.
Kairo knelt, pressing his palm to the damp ground.
"Blessing: Shadow Archive"
Effect:
– Allows extraction of residual intent and memory from shadowed environments
– Limited to recent events
– Causes sensory feedback strain
Images bled into his mind.
Chains.
Marks burned into skin.
A sigil he hadn't seen before—angular, foreign, hungry.
CIEL reacted sharply.
[Symbol not registered in planetary database.]
[Probability: Off-world derivative.]
Kairo's breath slowed.
"Log it," he said quietly. "Classify unknown."
They followed the trail deeper.
That's when the marsh screamed.
Three figures burst from concealment, blades flashing, bodies augmented by unstable blessings.
"Blessing: Forced Adrenal"
Effect:
– Artificially boosts speed and aggression
– Causes post-combat organ failure
"Contact," an operative said calmly.
The first attacker lunged.
A shadow met him mid-air, folding around his arm, snapping momentum without breaking bone.
The second activated "Blessing: Venom Veins"—
Effect:
– Infuses blood with toxic mana
– Lethal on prolonged exposure
He never landed the strike.
Kairo stepped in.
"Blessing: Umbra Bind"
Effect:
– Immobilizes target by anchoring their shadow to fixed space
– High focus cost
The man froze, screaming.
The third tried to flee.
A shadow passed through his legs.
He fell face-first into mud.
The fight ended in seconds.
Not flashy.
Not merciful.
Precise.
Kairo stood over the bound attackers.
"Who funds you?" he asked.
One laughed hysterically.
"You think we know?" the man spat. "We're paid to disappear people. That's it."
Kairo crouched.
"Paid by whom."
The man's eyes rolled.
"By a mark we never see," he said. "A promise. A future."
CIEL's tone sharpened.
[Prophetic intermediary detected.]
[Threat escalation probability increasing.]
Kairo straightened.
"Take them," he ordered. "Alive."
That night, Renn couldn't sleep.
He sat in the Umbra infirmary, staring at his leg while a healer finished binding it properly—no rush, no disdain.
When Kairo entered, Renn looked up instantly.
"…Did you find it?"
Kairo nodded.
"Yes."
Renn exhaled a breath he'd been holding for weeks.
"They were real."
"They are," Kairo confirmed. "And they're not local."
Renn frowned. "What does that mean?"
Kairo met his eyes.
"It means this wasn't about gold," he said. "Gold was bait."
Renn went pale.
"Then why me?"
Kairo answered honestly.
"Because couriers are invisible," he said. "And invisible routes are perfect for building something ugly."
Renn's fists clenched.
"Can I help?"
CIEL flagged the question immediately.
[Psychological shift: From victim to agency-seeking.]
Kairo considered him carefully.
"You're fourteen," Renn added quickly. "I heard."
Kairo almost smiled.
"So are you," he replied.
Renn blinked.
"…Oh."
Kairo gestured toward the window, where shadows moved along rooftops in quiet patrol.
"Umbra doesn't recruit children," Kairo said. "But it does protect witnesses."
Renn nodded slowly.
"…Then I'll talk," he said. "To anyone you want."
"That's enough," Kairo replied.
Later, alone, Kairo leaned against the balcony railing.
CIEL spoke softly.
[This incident aligns with mercenary framework prerequisites.]
[External threats forming independent of noble structures.]
Kairo watched the city breathe below.
"Five years," he murmured again. "That's what they don't see."
[Clarify.]
"In five years," Kairo said, "Umbra won't just react."
He turned.
"It'll take contracts."
The shadows shifted, attentive.
Somewhere far away, beyond the atmosphere, a relic rotated—ancient sensors briefly aligning with the planet below.
A signal flickered.
Then vanished.
And the universe took note.