Zyler quickly left the alleyway and blended in with the night market's city folks. Well, at least he tried to. The people who recognized Zyler quickly cleared the way, making a makeshift small path for them to pass by as if not wanting to get involved with him.

An old lady they passed by tilted her head in amusement.

"I guess that greenhorn of a kid caused trouble again...hm? The young priest?"

She tapped her cane gently, wondering why the young priest she came across earlier noon was being dragged along by the olive-haired teen ahead of him. A small smile slowly bloomed at her wrinkled face as she rubbed her hunched back.

"Ah...youth indeed." A gush of wind passed by the side of her face as several large goons followed closely behind, shouting.

Because of the crowd and the narrowed space, they found it hard to catch up as the distance was slowly widening.

"Curse those rats!"

"But brother, who's that guy he took with him?"

"Like hell would I know? He's probably in it too."

"But he looks like a priest...?"

When the goons saw the two head left towards a narrow passageway, the tattooed man ahead gritted his teeth and ran faster. When he passed by and entered the same passageway, they were already gone. They quickly looked around trying to find their presence.

"Disperse!"

Behind the old wooden door of the tavern was Zyler's earthen hazel eyes peeping through a small hole, quietly observing the goons. He held his breath as he watched them slowly leave. Aster stood awkwardly behind his back, feeling the sharp stares of mercenaries drinking on the circular tables.

Finally, he opened the door and stepped outside, still firmly holding Aster's wrist. He relaxed his shoulders and finally breathed.

"hah hah...ah, they're finally, hah, gone..."

Aster frowned, snatching back his hand from Zyler's grip. The latter gripped his knees and caught his breath.

Zyler bent his back, stretching his arms upward to stretch.

"Ugh. That was seriously a close one, Leo. Just why did we have to run into the Scorpion Gang of all people?" But as he turned his head, he was surprised to find an unfamiliar person in Leo's place.

"Wait, who the hell are you?" Hearing him, Aster's eyebrow twitched.

'Is this dumbass being serious?'

Lost in thought, the olive-haired teen suddenly exclaimed.

"Huh? Ah!" He knocked his head and scratched it vigorously. He just realized that he gripped a stranger's hand and dragged him all the way to another street without noticing it. No, when he thought about it, the stranger tried to resist and told him to stop.

It was him who was too preoccupied by his adrenaline that he didn't realize.

Then, with swift successive movement, Aster's hand reached for Zyler's neck and pinned him against the bricked wall, incapacitating him. The latter's hazel eyes widened, quickly clenching his hands onto Aster in attempt to break free.

It took all his remaining patience to not show his claws and dig it into his throat. Zyler's face was slowly reddening from lack of air.

"Bud-buddy let's talk this out, yeah? It was a mistake. A—cough! Mistake."

[—ster. Aster.]

[Calm yourself.]

[He's not an enemy, Aster.]

[Technically, it was your fault that you ended up all the way here.]

'What did I even do?'

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[You did nothing, and that's precisely why.]

He slowly loosened his grip of Zyler's neck, gently rubbed his wrist and tidied his clothes, walking away without a word.

For a brief moment, Zyler's carefree eyes turned serious as he quietly clutched his neck. He quickly fixed his expression and tried to catch up.

"Look—"

"Save it. I've heard enough nonsense today."

The olive-haired man fidgeted quietly. He cleared his throat and matched Aster's pace, his eyes quickly wandering towards his onyx cleric robe.

He shut his eyes tightly, realizing his stupidity once more.

'So that's why he's so vicious...he's from the Cathedral.'

"Ehem, sir priest."

"I'll make it up to you somehow. I could buy you a drink—"

"I don't drink."

"Then perhaps food..?"

"I'm full."

"Uh...money—?"

"I don't need yours."

Zyler sighed in resignation.

"Then, I promise in my name that I'll grant a favor if we ever come across each other again...sir." He belatedly inserted formality at the end, trying to sound as polite as possible.

Aster simply ignored him without giving a fuck for favors.

Watching him continue walking and treating Zyler like an invisible wall, he stopped his pace and simply watched Aster walk ahead of him.

'What a snob. Is he a noble? He certainly looks like one.'

He placed his hands in his pockets and leisurely walked in the opposite direction.

Zyler stared at his palm intently. Even if he was playing around, how could he not realize that the wrist he grabbed was more slender than Leo's? But then again, he didn't even resist that much for someone capable of pinning him against the wall with one hand.

'Is he actually timid?' He quickly recalled the priest's expressionless face, dismissing the thought. He then realized that the noirette had pale eyes looking quite out of focus and was instantly consumed by guilt.

'So he's visually impaired...now I feel more awful for some reason.'

He caught a glimpse of a tall man in similar onyx robes quickly heading to the snob priest's direction with a worried look, whom he presumed to be his guardian. Zyler decided it would be better to leave him be.

'ah, right. Is Leo okay?'

He looked back at the direction they ran from for a last time, thinking of his brunette companion that he 'accidentally' left behind. Zyler shook his head dismissively and lightly whistled.

'He should be fine.'

Meanwhile, the two now stood face to face as Vontravis wore a hesitant expression.

Aster didn't stop walking and passed by Vontravis, who was standing still and tightly clutching his silver pocket watch.

Vontravis drew a long breath and proceeded to follow Aster, maintaining his distance. He knew it must have been a humiliating experience to Aster, but his focus was elsewhere.

He worriedly gazed at Aster's wrist that the human grabbed, and he immediately knew.

Aster was deeply scratching it, leaving trails of red marks that soon bled at his sharp nails. Vontravis quietly observed the back of the young Adonis.

Of all the little details that Vontravis learned in all his years staying with Aster, he had taken particular note of one thing: the young boy was repulsed by skin contact.

He didn't bother inquiring for the reason. He knew he wouldn't receive a proper answer anyway.

All he confirmed was that it wasn't mere disgust for dirt, nor does he think Aster perceive everyone else as too lowly.

Vontravis glanced at his own hands, ensuring he was wearing the gloves he always wore, before daring to separate Aster's hands from each other.

"Aster."

Aster lowered his head, perhaps not wanting Vontravis to see his expression. His raven bangs obscured his scarred face.

"...It's dirty." Vontravis understood that he wasn't referring to the olive-haired boy's hands, but his own wrists.

"I know."

"He grips too tight." He also knew Aster would have easily resisted if he wanted to. But at the same time, he also knew he couldn't.

"I know."

"I need to wash it off."

Vontravis gently nodded.

"I understand. We could enter an inn. There should be one with a private bath nearby."

It didn't take long for Vontravis to find an unassuming tavern. As they entered, booming voices of other customers who were drinking heartily immediately greeted them.

"How can we serve you, dear sirs?" A small middle aged lady with a crooked nose and a business smile regarded them.

"How much for a night?"

"A room for two?"

"Separate ones, please." The lady paused for a moment before answering.

"2 pounds and 12 shillings. Light breakfast included."

"Right away."

Vontravis reached for his robe's left pockets, trying to find his pouch. When he found it empty, he maintained his composure and searched his other pockets, trying not to alert the old woman.

"What? Don't tell me you can't pay?"

"That's..." A nervous chuckle escaped Vontravis' mouth as he continues patting his robe.

'Where the hell is it?'

A few awkward minutes had already passed, and he was still patting his robe stupidly, while Aster stood unmoving like a statue, consumed by his own thoughts.

Noticing something was off, the tavern owner's face quickly distorted.

"These frauds...!"

The other customers turned their heads, figuring how two people were trying to sleep in for free.

"I think I dropped it on the way, would it be okay if the payment comes a little later? Right now, my companion urgently needs rest, so..."

"You think I'd buy that?"

"I can assure our identity to the Cathedral, we do not have any malicious intentions—"

"You think this is the first time I've encountered people like you? There's plenty ones here who've done that! Promising to pay later then running off in the middle of the night! You dirty liars!"

"Lady, that's too far of an accusation! We just arrived in Lestissine."

"These insolent brats even dared to impersonate Abyssal priests! Are you not afraid of the deities' wrath?"

Vontravis lightly fixed his monocle with a slightly tense expression.

'This isn't good. I wasn't permitted to use soren as much as possible unless it was of absolute necessity though...'

"But only the Draconem are full of wrath—"

'Well, that one musclehead of the Seven Sins is an exception, but...'

His eyes gleamed a faint ruby glow, not quite noticeable for the others to realize. Just when he thought the tavern lady's eyes would go momentarily blank before going under his control, he was whacked in the head with a broom.

Caught off guard, he still managed to dodge the other flimsy blows as he immediately turned to Aster with a confused expression.

His hypnosis didn't work, feeling as if the faint flow of soren he released was being impeded, much like water flowing through a clogged passage.

"I wasn't born yesterday, you frauds! Scram! Get them out of here!" They were quickly dragged out of the tavern as the wooden door loudly slammed shut at their backs.

Aster simply sighed.

Vontravis quietly stared at his hands and removed his gloves. The ruby glow of the runes etched in his fingers were fluctuating like flickering lights. It wasn't supposed to fluctuate that way.

He felt like the rune's power was being repressed the moment he activated it, preventing his soren from manifesting effectively.

Consequently, he stared at the faintly glowing hexagons in translucent amber, encasing the sky like a dome.

His expression darkened as he realized something.

Aster grumbled as he walked.

"So useless."

"What? But I'm the one reason we were able to bypass through Aegis Dome, yes?"

"Useless. Birdbrain."

"No, I feel wronged! Utterly so! Hey!"

Aster silently sat on a brick and crossed his arms.

"Look, I recall that greedy Phantom saying there were private lodgings in the underground branch. They said there was a hot stream flowing at the mouth of the west wing."

"We'll return looking like we rolled on dirt? After putting on an arrogant show?"

It didn't take long for a beggar to pass by them, laying a pile of cartons across them. He comfortably laid down, looked at them with a confused expression, then proceed to snore without a care.

Aster stared at himself, then at the beggar, whose greasy belly was moving up and down.

He sighed inwardly and shot a piercing look at Vontravis, who whistled his way to avoid it.

[Officially, I declare myself exhausted of this world's shitiness.]

[Forget Kaisellin, let's just die together.]

"Let's just...head back to the Cathedral."