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?'

he gestured for the young man to lead

way to Harper's hovel, Sunny couldn't help but feel like they were surrounded by walking

of these people were already dead.

…But he did.

of this knowledge was slowly

to let the cold wind in. Inside, there was nothing except for a pile

least there

looked around with embarrassment and invited Sunny to sit on the floor in front of the table. Then, he dug a glass jar from beneath the seaweed and placed it in front of him like a rare treasure. Producing a crude iron knife from somewhere, Harper then opened the wax seal of the jar, placed the knife on the table, and poured a milky white liquid into a chipped clay

"Here!"

the cup to Sunny and

who had drowned themselves in the bottle or killed themselves with cheap stimulants and drugs. Luckily, he was always too paranoid to allow anything to alter his mental state. Plus, for a long

not too

breath and downed it in one go. A pleasant warmth immediately spread through his body, bringing with

can see the

too bad,

refilled the cup and

gods, you have survived an encounter with a Spire Messenger! That must have

lingered for a

just stood at the

man shook his

you have been with Lady Changing Star from

didn't know that Harper was a spy already, he would have sensed something strange at

long as you show

the

In fact, if it wasn't for me, she would have been long dead. Do

pettiness and jealousy to loosen his tongue worked. However, the next words

his teeth, he suddenly

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

and forced

bad… what am I

the sign of the liquor

must have fought side by side with Lady

his head, then

"Yeah."

for a few moments,

you must have

remembered his first battle after meeting Nephis. Back then, she asked him if he had ever dissected a dead carapace scavenger to learn

the cowardly Sleeper was doing right now. Dissecting them. Even though they weren't

It can be used

Harper eyes gleamed.

Lady Changing Star very well. Everyone knows that she's

'Good…'

was limited to healing. There had to be other spies in the slum, of course. With them collaborating on

would ever assume that her flames could both heal and