Marketplace

After tying the blankets into a makeshift rope and wrapping it around the king-sized bed, I jumped down through the window with relative safety. Perhaps it was due to convenience, or a lucky coincidence that the room I was in was also right next to a back gate with no guards around. Normally, one would doubt the design of such features — it was a major hole in terms of defense, after all — but for now, I could only thank my fortune for such a case to be true.

I pushed the back gate open. A small creak echoed through, but there was no one around to witness it. And as the philosophical question would go: “if a tree fell in the forest…”

Breathing a sigh of relief, I snuck out into the streets.

As I navigated through the alleyways of wooden bars and various cloth-covered crates, I could already hear the faint sound of music. It was a lively town, I could tell.

But only after I had made it through the darkness of the back alleys did I realize just how lively this new land I found myself in was.

“Fruits! Get your imported fruits here! All fresh, guaranteed to quench your thirst!”

“Carpets woven from freshly-sheared wool here! Cool your feet with each step you take!”

“Have a look at these clothes! Made from the finest silk money could buy! A staple for even the royal family!”

I was soon surrounded with all kinds of calls and offers. Combined with the constant music from the various instrument stalls, the chirping-like bartering, the clopping of camel and donkey hooves, all of them harmonized into a symphony of bustling life. Meanwhile, the rocky buildings reflecting sunlight shone a bright gold, as if the entire scene was made of the precious metal itself. A scene whose fun was almost addicting.

“Now, where do I start…” Looking around, I mumbled.

Asking for information was my obvious purpose. Usually, in these types of situations, going to a bar or tavern would be the best choice because of two reasons: it was the gathering point of all sorts of people, and drunk people were loose-lipped. There was only one problem with that line of thinking, however.

This place didn’t have any damn water! Including alcohol!

Ever since I made my way out of the alleyway, I had been eyeing. Even if I couldn’t understand the writings on the signs, I could still vaguely guess what sort of content that the stores had. Plus, my heightened other senses meant that I could also smell, and even taste, the scents in the air. There was not a hint of alcohol anywhere.

Of course, thinking about it for a bit, it made sense. This land had no water. All of their water intake was in the form of fruits. They would never waste precious fruits to make alcohol for consumption, and not to mention drinking that stuff would only make you thirstier in the long run.

So taverns were out of the equation. But I knew of something with similar value.

It didn't take long to find the most crowded store in the market. Fittingly enough, it was that clothing store with the fine silk advertisement. And as you would know it, in front of the stall were dozens of women bartering for prices.

“3 copper coins!”

“Are you kidding me? This is fine silk! 3 silver coins, take it or leave it!”

“Why don’t you slit my throat while you’re at it? That’s 10 times the regular price!”

Yup, I could never get used to this scene. But in terms of information gathering, only aunties at a market could rival drunkards in a tavern. However, I needed to pick my timings right. I couldn’t ever hope to muscle my way in this sea of angry middle-aged women.

However, fortune always favors the bold. There was one that was walking away from the stall with a wide grin on her face, while her hands were caressing a piece of cloth like it was the greatest treasure. I had found my target.

“Excuse me, auntie,” I approached the woman, bowing both to say hello and to keep my face as hidden as possible. “I’m a passing traveler to this region, but I lost my sister along the way. Have you seen this person?”

I had already made preparations to my hands, of course — with the extra layers of bandage on my body, I was able to take off some of them and wrap them around my hands, further wrapping the two fingers together and the thumb separately to mask a normal human hand as well; a foolproof way, since a normal person looking at me would only assume I was either injured or wanted to avoid the heat.

And thus, I had no issue showing the picture of me and Reiko to the woman on the road.

“This woman… Wait, isn’t this Kana?” The woman was astonished. Immediately, her voice turned sour. “Isn’t she an only child? What is your relationship to that traitor?”

Of course, I had expected this situation as well. Going from Arja’s words, Kana was a popular figure enough for the populace to know of her as well. And her betrayal would definitely strike a nerve in quite the common crowd.

Needless to say, I had prepared my own excuse. “Oh, heaven’s no! If you look closely at the picture, this girl has brown eyes, no?” I pointed towards the top half of the picture. Thankfully, it was a rather close-up shot, so our faces were pretty clear to see.

“H-Huh, now that I see it… That’s a strange case of look-a-like though. You must have gone through a lot.” The aunty looked at me with concerned eyes.

“Truth be told, I was in a fight because of that mistake,” I feigned an awkward laugh. “That’s why I have to be in bandages all over like this…”

“Oh, poor you…” the aunty started to snivel. I’d take that as a sign of trust gained. “Well, if that’s the case, then finding your sister would be quite hard I’m afraid. Not many people would be able to distinguish her from Kana.”

“But… if someone saw Kana here, they would feel weird, right? After all, she’s…”

“Oh, she’s the worst! But that’s exactly why! Who knows what her wicked heart might think! Maybe she just likes seeing her people suffer, you know; that’s why she turned tail on our war and went to those damn Drizzle bastards’ side! She might even let out one of those monsters I heard so much about in a crowded area!”

“Oh, but I wouldn’t worry about that, right?” Seeing that the conversation was getting a bit carried away (as all aunties would normally do), I tried to steer it back in the right direction. “After all, we have the Crown Prince’s…”

Before I could finish my sentence, however, a deafening roar boomed through the market, and along with it, horrific screams and sounds of people stepping onto one another ensued. The marketplace went from a place bustling with life into a scene of pure terror in a heartbeat. And the worst part was, the reason for that carnage was already standing right in front of me.

The monster this time was humanoid — as in, it stood on two, at least. But its body was clad in a bright gold, its shoulders had a protruding layer of hexagonal shell, almost like a natural armor, its eyes were as large as a third of its entire face, and it held a pointed, needle-like sword in its hand. Yet, that wasn’t even the worst feature.

What scared people the most was the swarm of insects buzzing around it, seemingly released from the shell-like shoulder armor on its body. There were so many, it was like a miniature rain cloud; just the buzzing sound alone was enough to overcome the sound of screaming citizens around the place.

I clenched my hand. There were two options that I could take. Option one: run away as fast as I could, and pray that this thing didn’t get to me. The chance of me being alive would probably be around fifty-fifty, give or take. And by fifty-fifty, I meant that either I lived or I didn’t.

The other option: transform and beat it right here, right now. The chances of me surviving? One hundred percent. But after that… I had no idea what I would become.

However, it wasn’t a situation that I could freely choose. Between risking my life and guaranteeing it, there was only one answer.

I ripped the bandage around my right hand.

But I didn’t get to do anything after. Before I could transform, another figure dropped from the sky, crashing down on the ground in a superhero landing.

A person in shining green armor, filled with life in every one of their steps. Twin, rounded golden blades in their hands, sharp enough to cut through anything. A pair of insect-like wings behind their back. All of which combined with their black mask made them similar to a giant dragonfly.

“You’ve gone too far this time, Drizzle…” the person in the armor grunted — from the tone of their voice, I could tell they were likely a man. “Sending a Stigma in the middle of our capital! You’ll pay for this, Kana!”

Raising his arm high in the air, the verdant warrior shouted in rage, before turning towards the monster before him.

“And you! You’re dead meat! In the name of Vayu, I shall shred you to pieces!”