Shadow Slave

Sunny stared at Aiko, secretly delighted that he didn't have to look up for a change. The young woman's eyes darted into the depths of the corridor, clearly evaluating how good her chances of running away were.

...They weren't.

In the end, she sighed and turned to Sunny with a deep frown. For some reason, such a serious expression looked a bit comical on her petite face.

"Sunny, was it? Listen, buddy… uh… boss. I am really thankful to you for helping me out, but honestly, do I look like a hunter? How am I supposed to help you hunt? Maybe go ask one of your strong manly friends…"

Then, her eyes widened.

"You're not planning on using me as bait, are you?"

Sunny chuckled.

"No, no. Nothing like that. It's just that for this particular hunt, you are the only one who can help. By the way, I didn't just stumble on you by chance. I was watching you for a long time, actually."

She paled a little.

"Ah, I see. Well… to each their own, I guess. But still, I am no warrior. I really think that I won't be able to help you out this time, sadly…"

Sunny shook his head.

"Relax, Aiko. You see, the big one I'm hunting… is a friend of yours. Big, fat bastard named Stev. He's the one I'm after. And I know for a fact that you know where he is hiding. Because you're the one hiding him. So…"

An expression of utter surprise appeared on Aiko's face. With sincere confusion, she asked:

"Wait, what? Stev? The Memory Market guy? Why the Spell would I know where he is?!"

She blinked a couple of times, then said in a hesitant tone:

"Are you sure you're not confusing me with someone, Sunny?"

He sighed and lingered for a few moments, then rolled his eyes.

"Alright. I don't really want to waste time here, so we'll do it the quick way. Look there."

which then widened when the shadow suddenly turned its

"What the…"

his arms

shadow. It's an invaluable helper. Among other things, it can walk around on its own and report back to me the things it saw. Guess

paled, staring at the

back at

let's not pretend that you don't know where

and gritted her teeth.

you want

Sunny raised his eyebrows.

is walking around with a hundred

her tiny

friend. I'm not

her hand

don't be so dramatic. I'm not going to do anything bad to him. If I wanted to, I would have killed you already. My shadow saw where

hiding Stev because of how much food she was stealing every couple of days — too much for such a tiny girl to eat on her own — he had

and Sunny had avoided sending

her face. After a while, Aiko

really are not

offered her his most friendly, honest

the petite

am the most honest man in the world, after all. Two worlds,

***

sneaking through the corridors of the Bright Castle. One was a pale young man in dark leather armor, the second was a petite girl with mischievous eyes, and the

all their attempts of

corner, Sunny sighed and gave the other

are patrolling ahead. We'll have to

the two looked nothing short of comical together. Shaking his head, Sunny summoned the Endless Spring and took a few sips of water, then offered the beautiful glass bottle to

were you hiding

at him with a sullen expression, then

this mess started, I knew that people would be coming for me

Sunny frowned.

Memory Market belonged to the Host, so why didn't you just go