They were walking through a cornfield.
Eri was in the front, and since there wasn't much left of her bandages, every few steps she secretly plucked a corn cob and gave it to the little Devourer to eat.
She made sure no one noticed the tiny thing.
Eri glanced back and saw Noah looking even more annoyed and grumpy than before.
She had no idea what his problem was, so she just shrugged it off.
"How the hell did we suddenly end up in a cornfield? Are you doing this on purpose, or are you just plain stupid?" Noah, still trailing in the very back, started grumbling again.
Eri threw him a look again. "Human. You shouldn't call Master V stupid, even if he's kinda dumb sometimes!"
V finally folded the map, looking as confident as ever. "Don't worry, kids. The path's perfectly fine. You're in safe hands!"
"Safe? More like you're trying to get rid of us," Noah muttered.
Eri blinked at him in confusion. "If he wanted to get rid of us, he wouldn't have saved our lives in the first place."
"How do you even know he saved us? We were both unconscious, we didn't see anything!"
"But Master V said he took that man down with just his pinky finger!"
Noah rolled his eyes. It hadn't even been a full day, and he was already sick of Eri's gullible nature.
"Zaskar is a Severan. You really think I'm gonna believe some weirdo old man beat a Severan?"
In response, V rolled up his sleeve and shoved his pale, smooth arm right up to Noah's face. So close that Noah flinched back in surprise.
Noah glanced between V and the hand, expression flat. "…O—kay, and?"
V pushed his arm even closer to Noah's eyes. "Don't you see this flawless, perfect skin? How can you call me old?"
Noah shoved V's hand away. "It's not just your hand. I bet you cover your face and neck because you're ancient!"
The two kept bickering about whether V was old or not, until Eri finally took the last step out of the cornfield.
A two-story wooden house stood right in front of them.
Eri's eyes immediately caught on a huge, muscular man walking straight toward them.
"Wow... How can someone be that big?" she whispered.
At her words, Noah turned his attention toward her.
The moment he noticed the man coming closer, he quickly stepped ahead of V, grabbed Eri by the arm, and yanked her behind him to hide her.
Harold approached, and his eyes instantly landed on Eri's right wrist.
Noah pulled her further behind him, blocking the man's view.
"We're not looking for trouble," Noah warned.
Harold took another step forward. "That girl… is she an Out of Count?"
Noah's expression darkened. "I said we're not looking for trouble. Don't test your luck."
Realizing how tense Noah was, Harold quickly stepped back.
"Hey, hey, relax. I'm not gonna report you to the Empire."
V placed a hand on Noah's shoulder, his tone calmer than usual. "Take it easy. He just wants to help."
Harold nodded fast. "Yeah. My wife said you must've escaped from the chaos in the capital. And it's getting dark. We just wanted to invite you to our home."
Noah still held Eri behind, refusing to trust anything so easily. "You really expect me to believe there's no hidden agenda behind this? A warm house in a tiny village is the perfect setup for Bounty Informers."
"We're not. I won't force you. But with a girl who's Out of Count, there aren't places you can go."
V clapped his hands together. "Then it's settled. We'd be really grateful if you let us stay for a while."
Noah shot him a sharp glare. "You can't just trust people for no reason!"
But V was already walking off with Harold toward the house. "Loosen up a little. What happened to you that made you so damn suspicious of everything?"
Noah looked at Eri, who was still standing behind him, a bit lost.
He still wasn't sure. But Eri hadn't eaten in two whole days. And V had stolen all of Noah's money, so he couldn't buy her anything anyway.
Worst of all, he still didn't know what had happened to Zaskar—and he knew Zaskar wasn't someone who just gave up. He was definitely still hunting them.
Noah let out a heavy sigh and finally followed the others toward the house.
"Just stay close to me," he whispered to Eri.
Eri quietly nodded and walked right beside him.
Ahead of them, V and Harold seemed to be having a casual conversation.
"My name is Harold. My family and I take care of these farmlands,"
"I'm V. A traveler. I just roam around and enjoy life."
"So you didn't run away from the capital?" Harold asked.
V pointed at Noah and Eri walking behind him. "Actually, I smuggled these two out of the capital. They're my sister's kids."
"Oh, I see. Then your sister must've suffered a lot."
Harold's eyes landed on Eri's white hair and he continued:
"Her daughter's hair was white. I guess she thought making her Out of Count was the only option."
Eri tugged lightly on Noah's sleeve so he'd bend down.
"What does he mean?" she whispered.
Noah's expression softened a bit.
He thought for a moment, then decided to explain it the simplest way he could.
"When a girl's born, she gets a Code bracelet. That means she's registered in the Count System. But some parents don't report their daughters, so they never get a Code. That makes them Out of Count, named Nameless. It also means they can't exist in society. No permit to live."
Eri nodded softly. "But since I was the king's daughter, my parents had to hide me. Why would other parents take that risk for their daughters?"
"The Empire is hunting for a girl with angel blood. But angels look exactly like humans. Only thing that gives them away is their white hair. That's why the Empire takes girls with white hair. They run tests to see if they're angels."
Noah glanced at Eri's shocked face but didn't stop talking:
"Besides that, they also take girls with rare Nexus—like Light or Time. They do a ton of experiments on them, trying to transfer their Nexus to a boy. A lot of kids die that way, 'cause if the body can't handle it, it just… explodes." He explained it casually, like it was nothing.
The horror and sadness were clear in Eri's eyes. She stared at Noah with wide, trembling eyes. "That's… that's not fair!"
Noah stopped and grabbed her shoulder, looking her dead in the eyes—cold and firm. "Forget what you just said. Throw it away. Nothing has ever been fair—and it never will be."
"But..."
Noah sighed, gently brushed a lock of her hair back behind her ear, careful not to touch her skin. "Listen to me, Eri. The fewer expectations you have of this world, the less it'll hurt later. Trust me… at least on this."
It didn't matter what Eri felt. As long as he crushed her sweet little illusions before they grew too strong, it was enough.
The fall doesn't hurt if you were never that high up in the first place.
That was the only thing Noah could do for her.
"You two little lambs coming or not?" V's voice called from a distance.
Noah gave Eri one last look, then walked toward the elves' house.
Eri stayed frozen for a moment, staring blankly.
Then she slowly opened her hand and saw the tiny creature sleeping in her palm.
She softly touched its cheek with her fingertip.
Finally, she moved toward them, her face unreadable.
Harold and Rosita were standing by the door, greeting V politely.
Eri stood quietly beside Noah—just as Maya suddenly jumped out of the house, making Eri flinch and duck behind him.
"A girl!!!" Maya squealed.
Rosita instantly threw her a sharp look. "Maya, keep it down! You'll bring the whole village here!"
But Maya didn't care.
She rushed right up to Noah, grabbed his arm, and leaned her head around him to peek at Eri. "I'm Maya!"
Eri clutched Noah's other arm, still in shock. She hadn't expected this kind of reaction—or to see another girl at all.
Maya kept holding onto Noah's arm, pushing harder to get closer to Eri.
Noah's scowl deepened even more, but V just burst out laughing at the sight and walked into the house, totally unconcerned.
Harold scratched his head awkwardly, trying to calm his daughter. "Maya, This young lady is Nameles—I mean Out of Count. She's never seen the outside world or other people before, so don't scare her like that."
"What's your name?" Maya asked.
Eri tilted her head slightly so she could see her better.
"E-Eri…" she whispered.
Maya instantly looked at her mother with sparkling eyes. "Mom! She talks!!"
Rosita sighed but a small smile tugged at her lips.
Since they were elves, their life had always been a bit isolated in Arindor.
Suddenly, Maya shoved Noah aside with a surprising push, grabbed Eri's hand, and dragged her straight into the house.
She ran up the stairs, yelling excitedly, "Eri! Come see my room!"
Noah groaned and rushed after them, but before he could go upstairs, V stopped him. he just frowned in frustration but let it go this time.
Maya was about the same size as Eri, just a little taller, with short black hair. She was super skinny and wore baggy, comfy clothes. Around her right wrist, a black bracelet shaped like a hook was stuck tight to her skin—her Code.
Both of them reached the second floor.
The room had a slanted roof and a big round window in front.
On the left side, there was a small single bed, and on the right, a simple bookshelf.
"This is my room! What do you think? Hm? Hm? Hm?"
Eri gave the room a quick look, but the window immediately caught her attention.
The window… a glass frame that let you see outside even while you were inside the room.
Eri's own room had been buried in the deepest dungeon, so this was the first time she had ever seen a window.
And it just so happened that the sun was setting right then, painting the sky in beautiful colors. The view made Eri stare, her eyes wide open.
"…Noah was right. It can really hurt," she whispered, slowly walked toward the window, hesitantly touched the glass. "But I want a house with a window."
She turned to Maya, smiling, wiping away a tear from her cheek.
"Is that… too much to ask for?"
-
Zaskar was sitting in a bar, pissed off and about to explode.
The place was huge, but completely empty. Only him and the poor, terrified barista who was forced to serve him drinks.
A knight—with dark teal hair tied back—walked up to him and bowed. "Commander. According to the plan, aren't we supposed to return to the Empire? There are… other matters that require your presence."
Zaskar ignored him completely, lost in his own thoughts... downed another cup and slammed it hard on the table.
"Damn it! Why can't I remember anything?!" he yelled furiously, gripping the cup so hard it shattered in his hand.
The barista froze in terror, his breath caught in his chest, face turning pale.
But the knight stayed calm. He gently grabbed Zaskar's injured hand and slowly pried his bloody fingers away from the shards.
"Commander, if you really don't remember how you blacked out, maybe a Time Nexus was involved," the knight said calmly.
Zaskar shot him a quick look. "Time Nexus? That's even rarer than Light."
"Still, it's the only way everything makes sense."
The knight started pulling out the glass shards from his hand, continuing:
"Right when you had the girl in your grip, you suddenly fainted. Nobody can beat you except a Master. So if a Master saved her, that means she wasn't just some random girl. And you said her hair was white…"
"An angel…" Zaskar's eyes widened.
While the knight calmly wrapped a bandage around his hand, Zaskar suddenly let out a dark laugh.
"Now it all adds up! Why a Master with a Time Nexus showed up. Why that exiled prince was there. Because he wanted to deliver the girl to Emperor Nerza and claim the reward! 'Cause the girl's an angel!"
Zaskar, looking like he just got high on the thought, remembered the moment Noah called out Eri's name.
A dangerous grin spread across his face. "Eri… Eri Arindor! so a female angel finally shows up, huh? First time I've ever been glad I didn't kill someone. When I hand her over to Emperor Nerza… my name will be carved all over the Empire."
The knight ran a tired hand through his hair, looking bored.
"I'll send everyone to the nearby towns. 'A white-haired Nameless, Unseen. Capture her alive'." He spoke like he already knew what Zaskar was about to order.
But Zaskar wasn't even listening anymore.
He was still grinning, already imagining handing Eri over to Nerza.