There were no results. If his meeting with Kisha was anything special, it was the only thing. Otherwise, even spending an entire day yielded not a single trace.
One day passed, then two, and by the third, Yujin sat on a bench, staring blankly at the sky. As time went on, his nightly cooling-off sessions in this park became a regular part of his schedule.
Since their first meeting, the white-haired Sarkaz girl had not returned to the park. He assumed she was scared; even if she had come out to try something new, almost getting pelted with stones was a deterrent for anyone.
Trying something for the first time is difficult. Challenging a new direction is something even adults find daunting. Even if you muster the courage to step out, if the results are poor or the gazes around you are unkind, it‘s natural to shrink back. One naturally reverts to their old habits.
Kisha was likely the same. Just as Yujin was starting to feel a pang of regret that he wouldn't see her again, a pair of white horns poked through the bushes. Kisha revealed herself.
"…Why are you coming out from over there?" Yujin asked, watching her step out of the foliage rather than using the perfectly functional sidewalk.
"If I use the path, people look at me... in a bad way," Kisha whispered.
"Is that why you came through the brush?"
The discrimination against the Sarkaz was growing tiresome. What had they done to deserve such singular hatred?
"Just keep your shoulders back and walk with pride. Who's going to kidnap you in the middle of a city?"
If someone tried to drag a child away by force and people just stood by and watched, there would be something seriously wrong with this place.
"Still... I‘m scared..."
Seeing her lower her head despondently, Yujin reached out and stroked her hair. At his touch, Kisha jumped, backing away instantly. She watched him with a wary, defensive gaze, looking for all the world like a cornered animal.
"Sorry. Force of habit," Yujin apologized with a shrug, and Kisha slowly drifted back toward him. "If you‘re hungry, I‘ll buy you something. I haven't had dinner yet, anyway."
He had recently discovered that this Nomadic City had delivery services—it felt remarkably like his previous life. As he scrolled through his device, Yujin debated what to order, while Kisha looked torn over whether she should accept.
"Alright, this is the classic for a night like this."
Since Kisha didn't offer an opinion, Yujin made the choice and placed the order. He turned back to her.
"Where do you live, that you ended up all the way here?"
"..."
"Well, what does your family do?"
"..."
"Good grief, help me out here. Talk to me."
Yujin held his head as Kisha maintained her silence. Had she been taught not to open her mouth to anyone? She seemed cautious of every word she might let slip.
"I‘m... from Kazdel."
"Oh, same here. I haven't been in the city very long either."
Since Kazdel was the source of all Sarkaz, their homelands were all ultimately the same.
"I'm the same. I had to leave Kazdel in a hurry with my sister."
"In a hurry? Why?"
At the question, Kisha shut her mouth again. After a long pause, she spoke quietly.
"I don't know. My sister said we had to leave now. So I followed her..."
Left Kazdel in a rush. There could only be one reason for that.
Was the 'sister' being hunted by someone?
Yujin slowly pieced together her situation, and for a moment, a flash of pure terror crossed Kisha‘s face as she added: "I don't have any family."
Yujin caught that fleeting emotion and frowned. The look in her eyes when she mentioned family wasn't just sadness; it was a deep-seated, ingrained horror. It definitely wasn't an emotion a child should have.
"Then the person you called 'sister'..."
"Someone I met a long time ago. She‘s the person who guides me."
She seemed to trust this "sister" implicitly. It made sense; the woman had likely been the one to pull her out of Kazdel.
"She must be a good person, if you trust her enough to run away together."
"…Yes. She‘s a very good person."
Kisha nodded. While they were talking, a delivery drone buzzed overhead and dropped a package at their feet.
"Drones for delivery. Modern," Yujin noted. He opened the packaging to reveal the ultimate midnight snack.
"Fried chicken!"
A half-and-half box of seasoned and original—the only correct choice. As the savory aroma wafted through the air, Yujin picked up a drumstick. Kisha stared at it, transfixed. As he moved the chicken to the left, her eyes followed it like a magnet.
"You're drooling."
"Eh? No I'm not!"
Snapped back to reality, Kisha jumped back, looking flustered. She groaned quietly as she debated with herself.
"My sister told me... not to follow anyone who offers delicious food."
"I‘m not asking you to follow me anywhere. I‘m just giving you some food. When an adult gives you something, you eat."
The tug-of-war between the chicken and her sister's warnings finally ended with Kisha taking a drumstick. Judging by the way her eyes sparkled, she found it incredibly delicious. Yujin had ordered fries on the side as well; eventually, Kisha looked up from her frantic eating and realized Yujin wasn't joined her.
"…Aren't you going to eat, sir?"
"I already had dinner. I'm full, so you can have the rest."
It was a lie, of course, but Yujin figured he could just pick up some bread on his way back to the inn. This young girl's hunger was more important.
As Kisha continued her meal, Yujin suddenly stood up.
"Hmm. I‘ll be right back. Just going to find a restroom."
"Okay!"
Her voice had brightened considerably. She nodded, her mouth full. As Yujin walked away, she watched him with a curious tilt of her head.
"The restroom isn't that way..."
She thought it was strange, seeing the direction he was taking.
"I‘m going to ask you exactly three times."
"Krrrk... khhh-aaak."
"Who sent you? And why are you following that child?"
Yujin held an unknown Sarkaz man aloft by his throat, the figure dangling and struggling in his grip. Kisha hadn't noticed, but from the moment he arrived today, Yujin had felt a repulsive gaze following them—someone deliberately suppressing their presence and waiting for an opening.
He stared coldly at the hooded man, but even when he loosened his grip and slammed the figure into the ground, the man said nothing. Kisha had said she escaped with her sister, but the creature standing before him was no ordinary mercenary. It felt wrong—alien.
The Sarkaz suddenly drew a hand-axe and lunged. Yujin unsheathed his blade. With the speed of a feral beast, the attacker swung the axe in a vertical arc. Yujin tracked the movement and stepped forward.
Sarkaz military style. Basic stance eight.
Step forward, rising slash.
Yujin's blade whistled upward before the axe could complete its descent. The light strike cleanly severed the beast‘s arm, sending a spray of blood across the alley.
"Gah—! Urgh!"
Yujin‘s hand shot out, grabbing the unknown Sarkaz‘s face and crushing it into the ground. The mask the man wore shattered as he thrashed. Finally, Yujin let go. The man lay unconscious, blood pooling from his severed limb.
"Sigh... I didn't think I‘d get involved in something like this all the way out here."
Beneath the broken mask lay a face that couldn't be called human. It was a grotesque, distorted mess—as if it had been carved up and stitched back together like a piece of discarded upholstery. This was the source of the dissonance Yujin had felt. It wasn't a man; it was a beast that had even lost the capacity for speech.
Looking down at the creature with pure disgust, Yujin prepared to deliver a mercy kill. Just as he was about to drive his blade through its heart—
BOOM!
The sound of flesh and bone being pulverized echoed through the alley. The creature simply exploded. Hot, sticky blood and scraps of meat rained down, a single piece of flesh sliding down Yujin's cheek.
"…You bastards. I should have torn you apart while I had the chance."
His mood was officially ruined. Senses he had tried to leave behind came rushing back: the cold familiarity of death, the metallic tang of blood, the stench of a fresh corpse.
Gritting his teeth, Yujin used his Arts to blast the blood and gore off his clothes and turned back. He needed to get to Kisha.
He had only felt one observer, but he couldn't rule out more threats. As he walked, he offered a brief, silent prayer for the Sarkaz who had died such a hollow death.
He didn't know what Kisharsinagh or her "sister" had done to provoke these creatures, but one thing was certain: whoever was behind this had offended him. Using living beings as disposable tools—treating people like objects to be used and discarded—was a sin Yujin could not forgive.
His platinum eyes burning with a terrifying light, Yujin stepped out of the dark alley and back into the park.
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