Shadow Slave

Sunny stared at her, trying to understand the meaning behind the strange words.

"What do you mean?"

Effie shrugged.

"The castle belongs to a man named Gunlaug. If you want to enter and live in the safety of the castle walls, protected and provided for by his hunters, you need to pay a tribute. One shard each week."

…Of course there was exploitation going on even in this pit of despair. What else did he expect? As long as there were people, someone was going to end up as prey.

Sunny sensed a familiar dark feeling rising up from the depths of his soul. At some point, he had lulled it into a slumber and forgotten it, but now it finally returned to its rightful place.

A corner of his mouth curled up.

"What happens if you can't pay the tribute?"

The huntress glanced at him with confusion.

"What do you think? You are not allowed to step anywhere near the gates. There's a small settlement for us unfortunate wretches beneath the castle walls, where we make do with what little we have and tremble in the night, hoping that nothing comes out of the darkness to devour us. That's pretty much it."

He hesitated.

"But how are people even supposed to get soul shards in this cursed place?"

Effie gestured to the corpses of the monsters she had slain.

"By hunting. One can find Awakened creatures here and there in the city. The trick is to find and kill them without stumbling into something far more deadly. Gunlaug's people form parties and go out to hunt, with experienced pathfinders leading the way. They bring back food, Memories, materials and shards. Nothing stops people from attempting the same."

She fell silent for a few moments, and then said in a darker tone:

"Of course, without good Memories, vast amounts of accumulated soul essence and intricate knowledge of the city, those people usually don't live long. Most of them either die or turn to other ways of earning shards. There's very few independent hunters with more than a couple of successful hunts to their names. Ones that are still alive, I mean."

Sunny glanced at the dead monsters, each of them large enough to give him pause.

How many did you

Effie smiled.

"More than a couple."

she raised her hand and began folding

one, two… uh,

on one hand, she scratched her head and said with a bit

sure, but it should be around a hundred

eyes widened.

of respect. Slaying hundreds of them, however, was nothing short of remarkable, perhaps even heroic… and a little fearsome. Especially since she had hunted them alone

huntress was not as

He frowned.

then you should have had no problem paying the tribute to stay in the castle. This doesn't

The topic didn't seem to interest

just say that I

wanted to learn more, but suddenly,

said that there were… other ways of earning soul shards.

and was silent for a while, a hint of some dark emotion in her

the castle. There's not a lot of such Sleepers, so they are well-regarded and cared for. If not, uh… there are other opportunities, too. Boys can become Gunlaug's soldiers, while girls… can enter his harem. Pretty ones like the two of you especially. No one will

Sunny could see white sparks dancing in

that is… your own choice. No

Effie grinned.

girl. You get

and cold. Her

hasn't anyone… killed

The huntress laughed.

people, and everyone in-between. You can

She shook her head.

of thought, princess, but you should forget it. Just consider him to be immortal. He practically is. Believe me when

Effie sighed.

much I hate the bastard, he is the only thing that holds this place together. Despicable as he is, without him, we would have all