— Again?!

Hrassin's tone had a sharp note, like a snake swallowing its prey. Everything about him, from his appearance to his sibilant voice, evoked the image of a reptile. His brown scales gleamed in the dim light of the room, smooth on his neck and chest, rustling slightly with each movement. His eyes, with their large, penetrating pupils, seemed to pierce into the deepest corners of one's soul. His head, completely bald, lacked ears but was endowed with an acute sense of hearing, capable of perceiving even the faintest of sounds.

The room was a fortress of wealth and knowledge, with shelves full of rare books, each tome hiding a fascinating story. On the walls, valuable paintings depicted distant lands, inviting the viewer on an imaginary journey. A bottle of golden liquid, resembling brandy, sat proudly on a solid wood desk, shining like a trophy, while Hrassin played with a crystal glass, wrinkling his nose at the disorganized spectacle before him.

Ayun, wet and covered in mud, stood amidst the elegance of the room, water dripping from his clothes and forming a brown puddle on the white rug. Some algae clung to his damp hair, and in his hand, he tightly gripped a dead fish. It had remained under his vest, and he hadn't found the chance to discard it. Hrassin sighed, realizing that if he'd known the young boy’s condition, he would never have ordered the guards to bring him into his precious chamber.

“A fight in the street? Seriously, boy, what were you thinking?” he asked in a fatherly tone, though his gaze betrayed something else.

Sensing the trap, Ayun remained silent, his head lowered, lost in thought. Such incidents would bring him no benefit, but he didn’t understand why he had been brought before the port lord. No one ever bothered to intervene in the frequent street brawls between the port’s inhabitants.

“One of those you fought with is a noble’s son. If you'd killed him, you'd have been hanged by dawn,” Hrassin warned him. “The guards can’t save you every time.”

In fact, the guards hadn’t saved him—they’d saved the other boys. Even if he had killed the noble’s son, Ayun doubted they would have dared lay a hand on him. But he knew such arguments didn’t matter. It had been foolish to respond to the provocation, and he accepted his guilt.

“Since you have too much energy, you’ll spend twice as much time in the underground tonight,” the sovereign decided with a cold smile.

The boy’s gaze darkened for a moment, but he nodded without protest. He had brought this upon himself. He bowed respectfully and turned toward the door, accepting the trouble he had gotten into.

“I did not allow you to leave!”

Ayun’s hand stopped just a few fingers from the doorknob, sensing the weight of the silence in the room. He had already received his punishment, but he had no intention of asking questions. He looked at Hrassin, waiting patiently. There was only one empty chair in the room besides the one occupied by the city’s ruler, but he had not been invited to sit, and his caution prevented him from asserting his presence. Any conflict with the lord of Tharym was bound to fail.

Remembering his purpose in the port, Ayun set aside his pride and focused on the present moment. Hrassin, with an air of superiority, took a sip of his drink, savoring the intense flavor. Then, with a casual gesture, he motioned with his chin toward Ayun's clothes.

— First of all, get rid of those clothes and take a bath. You smell awful!

It was true—he hadn’t had the chance to clean himself after being buried under the pile of fish, and the unpleasant odor clung to his clothes like a heavy cloak.

— What's the point? he murmured, unable to stop himself. I'll just get dirty again soon anyway...

The thought of the river covered in the shipwreck's remains pushed him toward the edge of despair. It would take forever to clean it all, and by the end, he would look twice as bad as he did now. Hrassin, noticing his discouragement, smiled smugly.

— Forget about that task. I have another one for you, he said, playing with his crystal glass. There are some mice in a room on the seventh floor. I want you to bring them here.

— The seventh floor? the young boy repeated, surprised. But...

— If you let one escape, your punishment will be doubled, the sovereign added in a sharp voice. Do you understand?

Although confused, Ayun said nothing further and prepared for his new task. Half an hour later, he was climbing the stairs to the higher floors of the building. He had changed quickly, putting on a slightly wrinkled shirt and clean pants, and the rancid fish smell was gone. However, the disgusted looks of those he passed along the way continued to follow him.

He suspected that Hrassin had informed the guards of his presence, as, although he encountered a few, none dared stand in his way. The upper floors of the building were reserved for high-ranking nobles and lords from other realms, and the well-trained servants devotedly attended to their needs. He couldn't understand why the city's ruler had chosen someone like him, with no sense of decorum or manners, for such a task. Knowing how to bow before a prince didn’t bring him any benefit down at the docks.

When he reached the room he was responsible for, he carefully opened the door, quickly closing it behind him. Hrassin's threat haunted him like a specter, leaving him with an unsettling feeling. With a glance, he realized it was a place meant for someone of status. The room was luxurious, with a large bed, crumpled sheets, and a blanket carelessly thrown over the edge. The carved wooden wardrobes and the mirror framed in polished wood seemed to be used by someone important. The only light came from the full moon, shining through the open window. Beside it, a door led to a small balcony.

As he stepped inside, Ayun kicked something with his foot. He bent down and picked up a dead mouse from the floor. It was small, brown, and had a horn on its forehead. He turned it over in his hands but found no wounds. The creature appeared to have died for no apparent reason. He tossed it into the wooden cage he had brought with him and immediately discovered others, all just as dead, scattered around the room.

Normally, such mice—low-ranked yokai—were a nuisance, but he'd never encountered them in such numbers. Usually, no more than three or four would dare steal some scraps of food, but in that room, there were at least twelve, all dead for no obvious reason.

Gathering them all, Ayun bent down to pick up another from under the bed when he heard a faint sigh. He froze, his body going rigid. The blanket on the bed shifted slightly, betraying the presence of someone beneath it. His heart pounding harder, he set the cage down and cautiously approached. He didn’t know what to expect, but the tension in the air made him fully alert. He grabbed the blanket and yanked it suddenly, revealing a frail silhouette.

Someone screamed, and the attack was so swift that the boy leaped back, instinctively covering his head with his arm. Something was thrown at him, but he felt as though he’d been struck by a gust of wind, filled with sand and confusion. Completely disoriented, he dared to glance at the beds. What he found there left him speechless.

Curled up in the middle of the bed, a young girl looked lost in her own nightmare. Dressed in an oversized nightshirt that covered her fragile body, her dark hair was completely disheveled, giving her an air of vulnerability. Trembling from head to toe, she tightly clenched her right fist, as if holding onto the last fragment of control. Her eyes, as white as pearls, lacked any hint of color and were filled with tears.

Ayun stared at her, dumbfounded.

— You’re... human?! he exclaimed, unable to hide his surprise.

In a city full of yokai, the presence of a human was an unexpected and incomprehensible thing.

— No... don’t come near me! Please! the girl cried, her voice choked with panic.

He blinked, confused. Her behavior reminded him of himself at certain moments. Looking more closely, he noticed she was holding some small grains in her hand and had let them fall onto the bed.

— You’re trying to attack me... with rice? he asked, his surprise extinguishing any trace of anger.

Humans really were strange. He thought that the girl had probably been brought in to serve as a maid. Still, one detail caught his attention. Her white, lifeless eyes seemed to be staring at a point to the side, unable to really see anything. She was completely blind.

— I was told to clean this room, she said, trying to soften her voice. I won’t do anything to you.

If the girl had started screaming and waking up the whole building, Hrassin would have skinned him alive. Ayun realized that the ruler of Tharym must have known about the girl's presence and probably had plans for her. Still, Ayun decided it was none of his business. He took the cage and continued gathering the rest of the mice. Even though she couldn’t see him, she could hear him, and she made sure to keep a good distance, taking refuge in the farthest corners of the room.

Although Ayun had the ability to move completely silently, he intentionally made noise with his footsteps, giving her a sense of control. Once he finished his task, he left the room and closed the door behind him, wondering if the girl had anything to do with the sudden deaths of the creatures. Her barely perceptible sighs had followed him all the way to the door.

The thought that a poor, blind child might have caused such a massacre lingered in his mind, a mystery he couldn’t explain.