Shadow Slave

Harper stared at him with that pathetic timid smile frozen on his lips. In his eyes, there was fake friendliness, worry, and desperation. For some reason, Sunny felt a violent urge to erase the smile of his face.

'You scum…'

In his rattled state, he was having trouble controlling his emotions. Something must have shown on his face, because Harper suddenly blinked and took a step back. But in the end, the desire to be allowed back into the Bright Castle won over his caution. He forced himself to stay still, hesitated for a few moments, and said:

"I… I wanted to thank you for inviting me into your home this morning."

Sunny looked at the gaunt young man. In the twilight of dusk, his pale face was hidden in deep shadows. Finally, he answered:

"Yeah. We can talk."

'Think, Sunny, think…'

But his mind was refusing to obey. Most of it was drowning in the sea of cold terror that had been summoned by the revelation of the future. What little remained was utterly disoriented.

Sunny raised one hand and rubbed his face.

'He's a spy. He's here to make it easier for Gunlaug to kill us. What should be done?'

In the morning… yes, back before everything changed, Sunny had seen Harper reporting to one of the Guards. He wanted to give the cowardly young man a beating and throw him out of the lodge… but that would be a wrong decision.

The best thing to do was not to expose the unfortuante spy, but to feign ingnorance and feed him false information. Yeah… that was the optimal way to deal with moles. As an aspiring spy himself, Sunny knew these things well.

But would he even able to deceive Harper? By accident, the failed informant had chosen a perfect person as his mark. Sunny knew a lot of secrets and was incapable of lying.

But he was also a master of deception. So…

"Sunless?"

Sunny flinched and glanced at the gaunt young man.

"Sorry. Uh… I'm a bit out of sorts after today's hunt. You wanted to talk?"

Reassured, Harper smiled again.

"You see, I wanted to thank you for everything that you had done for me, and for all the people here in the settlement. When I left the castle, I brought a very special item with me. I thought of sharing it with you!"

Sunny frowned.

"A special item?"

'I should see what his plan is exactly, feed him a couple of little truths along with the lies, and then report to Neph in the morning. R—right?'

Harper, meanwhile, was nodding energetically:

"It's a… a bottle of liquor. Every month, a few are sold by the Artisans working in the garden. Getting one is very hard, but I was lucky. Would you like to come and try? My hut is nearby."

Sunny got distracted for a few moments, but then forced hismeld to concentrate. What was Harper talking about? Artisans, liquor, luck…

'...Why not?'

a nod, he gestured for the young man to lead the way and

slum dwellers on their way to Harper's hovel, Sunny couldn't help but feel like they

people were already dead. They just didn't

…But he did.

weight of this knowledge was

pathetic than the other hovels in the slum. It was crudely constructed out of rotting pieces of wood, with plenty of cracks to let the cold wind in. Inside, there was nothing except for a pile

least there

of him like a rare treasure. Producing a crude iron knife from

"Here!"

cup

the bottle or killed themselves with cheap stimulants and drugs. Luckily, he was always

Sunny was not too familiar

his lips, he held his breath and downed it in one go.

can see the

wasn't too

hurriedly refilled the

heard about the latest hunt. By gods, you have survived an encounter with

for a

just stood

young man shook

I hear that you have been with Lady Changing Star from the very beginning, surviving more than two months in the Labyrinth.

Sunny didn't know that Harper was a spy already, he

as you

because of the liquor,

she would have been long dead. Do you know how many

use pettiness and jealousy to loosen his tongue worked. However, the next words came out of Sunny's

his teeth, he suddenly paled

for this? This wasn't supposed to happen. How did this

grabbed his head and

what am I

of the liquor

must have fought side by side with Lady Nephis a

lowered his head, then

"Yeah."

for a few moments,

must have seen her Aspect

his first battle after meeting Nephis. Back then, she

cowardly Sleeper was doing right now.

be

Harper eyes gleamed.

Lady Changing Star very

'Good…'

believe that Neph's Aspect was limited to healing. There had to be other spies in the slum, of course. With them collaborating on that statement by recounting how

ever assume that her flames could both heal