The sun in the late morning of the capital was shining brightly as always.

  On a fine midday when most people were stuck within a forest of buildings, the central plaza was resting still with a peace of mind. A small rainbow was floating in the air above the fountain, and the children were running around in circles with melting ice creams in their hands. The gentle breeze carrying a sweet scent of freshly baked cookies flowed from one side to another, shaking the leaves on a tree to produce a refreshing sound of tranquility and dropping one leaf on top of Foreigner’s head.

  She was standing in the shadow with a smile escaping from her cheek, waiting for the promise that was made three days ago. However, there also was a worry submerged beneath her excitement, as she wasn’t sure if this meeting was still happening after the incident three days ago.

  The restaurant ‘Frilly Ribbon’ was indefinitely closed until further notice. Chef Eskandar explained that the permission to operate a business from the government had been revoked for safety reasons, and it would not be reissued until the proper follow-up actions occurred. At least that was the reasoning provided on the surface level, though Foreigner had a feeling that there was something else going on below the papers.

  First, there were way too many police involved on the scene for an incident that happened at a small restaurant. Second, Chef Eskandar was having a conversation with someone in a suit, and his back was getting narrower for every word the stranger spat out. But the strangest thing was that everything happened too quickly, as if the restaurant was under surveillance at the time of the incident.

  Regardless, all of these were minor issues compared to the true problem she was facing — the fact that she was currently unemployed. For the past three days, she had left the inn at the usual time in the morning and returned at the usual time in the late evening. And for the past three days, she had been going around the streets for an opportunity to earn some cash, only to return home with an empty stomach and tired legs. However, she couldn’t rest easy in her bed either, as she kept her circumstances a secret from Octavia and Pafnuty. There was no apparent reason to keep it a secret, but she did anyway.

  As the looming awareness of having no apparent plan for tomorrow choked her neck from behind, Foreigner grew uneasy and felt the invisible pressure squeezing her heart from every direction. In a desperate attempt at clearing her head before the others came, she shook her head left and right rather violently until she bumped her head on something soft.

  “Good afternoon.“

  Only after seeing Sakurako staring at her from above, her face turned red at the realization of what the soft sensation was about.

  “G—Good afternoon, Ms. Sakurako!“

  She jumped away from Sakurako and almost fell into the puddle filled with mud behind her, but Sakurako grabbed her hand before that misery happened. With a stony face, Sakurako pulled Foreigner back up to the proper standing, but once she realized she was holding onto Foreigner’s hand covered by the white gauze, she quickly drew her hand away and clasped it with the other. At such a sudden reaction, Foreigner lost a chance to express her gratitude, and they both had to suffer the awkward silence under the shade of the tree.

  While fidgeting with her hands and wondering if she had done something wrong, Foreigner took a glimpse at Sakurako when she was looking at her wristwatch. There stood a mature lady who was wearing an outfit closer to being formal than casual, with her entire skin covered under a black pantsuit despite the weather being hot and humid. Her hair was tied in a ponytail just like when she was at ‘Frilly Ribbon’, but instead of the usual black tie with a plain texture, an orange-colored tie with a small pom-pom held it with a few strands of hair freely roaming around. The silvery eyes behind the lensless glasses were gleaming with clarity as always, yet somehow they felt remorseful as she looked at the children running around the plaza.

  “Oh, wow! It sure is hot today!“

  Foreigner intentionally said with twice more energy in her voice than usual, but Sakurako stayed silent.

  “I—I heard that the rainy season is about to start and it would rain quite heavily later tonight. Do you like rain, Ms. Sakurako?“

  She tried it again, but the result was the same. At such, she dropped her head to the ground and rolled the little rock having the rest of its life with her foot.

  “Your hand.“ Sakurako mumbled through her mouth as she glanced at Foreigner before averting her eyes to the ground. “How is it?“

  Foreigner lifted her head back up and looked at Sakurako. She was still squeezing her right hand as if to suppress her feelings from showing, yet she couldn’t hide the regret swirling in her irises. Although the flow of the conversation was a bit unnatural, Foreigner wondered if this was Sakurako’s way of expressing a worry.

  “Sorry I’m late!“

  But before Foreigner could say anything, it was Crescencia who took the turn to join the conversation. She ran across the plaza and spent a good moment panting while sweating heavily from all over her body. Despite her wearing a cool outfit with short pants and a top that exposed most of her skin and belly, she was releasing a tremendous amount of heat from her body. As the three piercings on her right ear glittered under the sunlight, she took a deep breath to calm her lungs, but still needed two or three more before she could return to her regular respiratory cycle.

  “You are late by seven minutes and twenty-three seconds.“ Sakurako glanced at Foreigner’s hand before speaking out without a filter for her annoyance.

  “I’m so sorry! I lost track of time and my lesson got lon—Wait, Amonet! Your hand!“

  Crescencia grabbed Foreigner’s right hand and shoved it into her face. Sakurako got startled and looked at Foreigner with her eyes widened and trembling lightly, while Foreigner herself was confused as to why both Crescencia and Sakurako were overreacting at her hand.

  “Your wound has all recovered! But how? It’s only been three days!“

  As Crescencia gave out the examination, Sakurako released a sigh of relief and cleared her throat, hoping that no one heard it. Foreigner, with her hand still being observed thoroughly by Crescencia, noticed the care she was getting from two directions and couldn’t help but let a dumb grin escape from her grasp.

  “Ehehe. My friend is a really good doc—“

  “Don’t talk about us outside unless you really have to.”

  A sudden memory struck Foreigner’s brain, specifically of the conversation she had with Octavia just a day ago.

  “Why?“

  “Well, the last thing we need to grab is attention. It just makes everyone’s life difficult, so just don’t. Especially about Pafnuty being a doctor. People go mad when they learn about a free sack of medicine walking around.“

  “I have ears, Octavia.“

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  As the recollection faded away, Foreigner laughed out loud nervously to cancel out the words she had just spat out. In order to honor Octavia’s request, she had to divert the attention away, and she soon blasted out the gibberish at a remarkable speed while hoping that was enough.

  “I always had a super recovery since I was young! I would roll around the playground and come back home with scrapes all over my body, and the next morning I went back in perfect condition! Would you like to hear my nickname from back in those days? It was an axolotl because of my regenerative superpower, and I used to look like one!“

  Only after she finished her speech, she wondered if she said anything inappropriate for her social reputation. Luckily for her, Crescencia seemed beyond confused in the context of the conversation while Sakurako released an abrupt laugh from behind while murmuring axolotl.

  “Wait a second. Does that mean you haven’t visited a doctor’s office yet?“

  As the light came back to Crescencia’s eyes, she raised a question in a tone that got sharper for every word she spoke out. Foreigner slowly nodded once with her eyes closed and leaning further away from Crescencia, as she knew that was not the answer Crescencia was looking for.

  “What?! Have you forgot what I said?! Ugh, I should just treat you myse—“

  Crescencia shouted at Foreigner with a loud voice for the entire plaza to hear, only to pause abruptly in the middle. She bit her lip and frowned without further sermon, but soon released Foreigner’s hand and smiled brightly while speaking in her usual cheerful tone.

  “Make sure to visit a doctor, okay? You may have an infection, you know!“ Both Foreigner and Sakurako stayed still without a word for a couple of seconds, and Crescencia shifted the topic away before the subject came back up to the surface. “Anyhow, now that all three of us are here, let’s go!“

  “Ms. Crescencia. What are we planning to do today? I haven’t heard anything about that.“ Sakurako looked at Foreigner as she spoke calmly, which Foreigner responded to by nodding her head twice as she had no idea as well.

  “Well, I wasn’t sure of that. But now I am.“ Crescencia crossed her arms and pretended to raise her glasses up, even though she had none on her face. “You two. Look at each other and tell me what you see.“

  After Crescencia took a step away from the group, Foreigner and Sakurako stood side by side and looked at each other. Crescencia waited for them to figure out by themselves, but by the time they both tilted their heads in confusion, she blasted out the answer.

  “Your clothes! What are those clothes you two are wearing! You two are nothing like what a young, shining maiden should look like! Sakurako! You wear like a serious office worker who only does the job and knows nothing of fun!“

  Sakurako stood still with her head held high, but her eyes shook lightly. Foreigner got mindful of Sakurako and tried to ease out what Crescencia said with a nervous smile on her face.

  “Ahaha. I think you look great, Saku—“

  “And you, Amonet! You wear like an adolescent during their rebellious period!”

  When Foreigner heard those cruel words from Crescencia, she got sandwiched between shock and awe. Although what she was wearing was technically not hers, as Octavia never officially gave it to her, she still quite liked it. And the small part of her heart thought it looked cool, especially the jacket she had over her shoulders instead of wearing it properly. She had a hunch that it looked a bit edgy, but hearing it out loud from someone else was a different level of blow.

  “So, Ms. Crescencia. How would that be related to our purpose of meeting today?“

  Sakurako became partially defensive after the criticism, but she still remained calm in her mind. On the other hand, Foreigner lost herself in the trauma with her mouth wide open and a lack of focus in her eyes.

  “You asked well, Sakurako.“

  “Please don’t call me like that. I’m not your fri—“

  “There is only one place in this city where a youth can truly stay as a youth! Let’s go! We don’t have much time to waste. The day is short, my comrades in maids!“

  Crescencia raised her fist in the air as she rushed across the street. Foreigner finally snapped out of her devastation and watched Crescencia running away while Sakurako stood next to her with an expression overflowing with irritation.

  “That woman really ticks me off.“

  Sakurako mumbled to herself and walked Crescencia’s path, but she stopped after a couple of steps. She turned around to check on Foreigner and waited for her to follow. Only after Foreigner fully understood the situation and approached her in quick steps, Sakurako resumed her walk towards Crescencia, who was waving her hands at the two from afar.

  Near the central of Pasargadae, the sound of liquid boiling echoed in the small room of the abandoned building.

  As the chilling wind howled in, the air contaminated with dust swirled around the empty hallway filled with fine particles of asbestos. The glass shards and rusty nails infested the floor, alongside the fallen debris from the pillars sustaining the weight of the structure with its internal rebar being exposed to the outside. A barrel housing burnt firewood and ashes was sitting silently in the corner, and the evidence of a person living remained calmly for an unknown period for its owner to return. In a small room at such a place, Pafnuty was reading a letter in his hand.

  Ever since the arrival at Pasargadae, he had been spending most of his time in this grey room filled with the stench of rust and dead animals. As expected from the exterior, there were no lights or water flowing into the architecture, and the only things the building provided were a floor and ceiling with signs of collapse visibly showing. Yet, he did not mind them, and, in honesty, he rather liked it.

  While it was true that he wasn’t a hard person to please, a major benefit of this place was that there was no one to disturb him. The drunkard or vagrant did not walk all the way up to the level where he was stationed at, and the occasional visitor trying to earn fame by adventuring in a haunted building or young couples trying to find a place to prove their youth were easily repelled by throwing some smoke bomb that included a substance causing a minor nerve damage. And one minor benefit was that he did not need to obtain a proper license to handle toxic waste.

  He closed the letter and placed it on top of the cleanly opened envelope before reaching out to the jar on the dusty table and finding out it was empty. He shook his head regretfully, as the ingredient he was looking for was essential to create the medicine his client requested, and what that implied was that he had to go outside to gather it.

  The process of gathering ingredients was a painful job, as most of them were high-risk substances that needed a proper license and monitoring process to obtain. Luckily, there were a couple of dens used by the gangs that housed those ingredients for their own business in the nearby alley, and he knew exactly how to interact with them. While loading his crossbows with two hands, he carried a big bag that contained all the necessary materials that he might need during the ‘negotiation’.

  After leaving the building and turning the corner twice, Pafnuty bumped into a boy hurriedly running from the other side. The boy turned around the immediate corner after the accident without a word, and it was obvious what just happened. Without feeling the need to haste, he followed the path where the boy headed, and thankfully, the young boy was ignorant enough to leave his trace all the way to the destination.

  Around the corner, into the narrow alley filled with rusty pipes of two buildings, a constant coughing lacking vigor leaked out. A girl and a boy, who seemed to be older than the girl but still too young, were huddling together despite the weather being steaming. It was the girl who was the source of the coughing, and she was shivering heavily from the chill while the boy tried to warm her up.

  “It’s okay, Celia. I’ll get you medicine soon. I promise.“ The boy talked to the girl without knowing if she could still hear him, as the girl had already lost focus in her eyes.

  There was no way for him to buy the medicine with what he had. Three dukelt. That was all Pafnuty had. After all, he rarely carried cash on him since this kind of thing happened every thirty minutes or so in this godforsaken city.

  “Making a promise you can’t keep. Don’t you think that’s a bit too irresponsible?“ Pafnuty informed the two of his presence.

  The boy was frightened when he saw his stalker and tried to carry the girl on his back but failed miserably and collapsed on his frail legs devoid of nutrients. They were now both on the ground, and even in this helpless situation, the boy stood between Pafnuty and the girl to make his futile attempt at becoming a hero.

  Pafnuty looked into the eyes of the boy, illuminating with the courage and determination that a young boy of his age shouldn’t have. Once a low wind swept the ground and the coughing of the girl intensified, he reached into his bag and pulled out a plastic bottle full of pills. He threw it at the boy, who caught it in midair with his two tiny hands, and turned around cynically.

  “She has a textbook case of pneumonia. Take that twice a day for two weeks. She will recover after two pills, but don’t quit or she will die. And you should take it too. I’m certain you would have it if you were huddling around together like that.“ Pafnuty chuckled as he left the scene, walking into the shadows until he was completely drowned in them.

  The boy remained there with the bottle in his hand. He did not express gratitude, as he couldn’t be certain whether what the strange Aranaim said was true or not. Still, he had a chance to save the girl, and that was what held meaning at the moment. He carried the girl on his back, and while he struggled to maintain the balance, he walked away to their shelter.

  Once the silence settled in the alley, a Vaz in great physique came out of the darkness, with a wanted poster featuring an Aranaim with a buffoonish mask.