Shadow Slave

Sunny spent some time in a crowded carriage of a public train. Since personal transport vehicles were rare, expensive, and demanded a special government license to purchase, most people in the city used public transportation to move around. Magnetic trains, usually simply called trams, were the cheapest and most popular form of it.

During his time in the outskirts, Sunny rarely had a reason to use one, but when he did, people didn't pay him any attention. Sometimes they even went out of their way to not notice him.

But now, things seemed to have changed. Sunny had his eyes closed, observing the carriage through the shadow in case there was danger. There wasn't… however, he was surprised to notice that people, especially young women, threw curious glances at him from time to time.

'Huh… is the Soul Serpent showing?'

But no, his sleeves hid the coils of the Shadow completely.

'Strange. Must be the clothes, then.'

Sunny had not ventured out of the Academy a lot during the past two months, but on one of those expeditions, he had bought himself some unassuming, but pricey civilian clothes. According to Kai, they were "understated" and "stylish", whatever that meant. Sunny basically just went for the only comfortable thing the store had in dark colors.

He sighed.

'That just shows how shallow people are. A simple change of wardrobe, and suddenly, I'm at the center of attention. Why are girls so materialistic?'

…To be fair, many guys stared at him, too.

By the time Sunny reached his stop, he was a bit flustered. Leaving the crowded train behind, he sighed with relief, hid his hands in his pockets, and walked out of the familiar tram terminal.

The part of town he came to was somewhat near its center, as far removed from the outskirts as one could imagine. It was peaceful, quiet, and green.

as fresh as that of

hives Sunny was accustomed to — weirdly, they were all very low, no more than two or three stories high. The ground itself rose and fell in artificial tiers, each street existing on its own wide terrace. Out here, the snow was already gone, revealing beautiful lawns and greenery. The whole district looked

either reasonably wealthy or worked for the government… however, as far as citizens went, they were not of the highest ranks. There were other, much more affluent districts in the city, and the real elites — as

about this place. He could do without being around other Awakened all day, every day.

it much faster by jumping through the shadows, but he preferred to not use his Abilities outside of the Dream Realm and the Academy. It made him feel more

going to be his, and stared

big window opening to the view of a spacious living room. There was even a garage for a PTV, and a hedge fence to separate it from the neighboring

was like something out of a

'Extravagant…'

"Ahem… Awakened Sunless? Sir?"

was aware, of course, that a PTV had just parked nearby and that a man got out of it, approaching him from behind. He

the

suit and an antique luxury watch. Despite his

him with a dubious expression,

"...Lanard, right?"

was the representative of the agency responsible for outfitting Sunny's new home — nodded

Ah, the fact that you have remembered my name is very flattering,

gestured to the home

you

feigned indifference and

"It's fine, I guess."