I always thought Subtramuros was a gloomy place, but I didn’t think it could get any gloomier in the Under Sectors.

Wandering around the cobblestone roads of Sector 24 wearing a hooded black cloak and a metal cat mask, I spent a long time getting familiar with the surrounding areas.

At an architectural standpoint, it was surprisingly similar to the Over Sectors, yet so distinctive in nature. Buildings of bricks and stone towered over the streets, but their walls were littered with cracks, openings and stains from discoloration. The windows and lamps have long since lost their light, giving off a completely depressing atmosphere than a place like Sector 1.

Everyone had to resort to lanterns and campfires to be able to see through all the darkness. Most of them just hung around the fires to keep themselves warm, with some on the floor begging for food and water.

I thought it might have been a good idea to give them some bread, so I moved my hand over to my leather bag and handed a small piece over to a frail old man.

“Thank you, cat boy,” the old man smiled.

“No problem,” I smiled back.

Being called a cat boy is pretty embarrassing…

There's nothing embarrassing about it, it's fun being a cat person!

Before I could leave however, the old man grabbed onto my cloak.

“But this isn’t enough! Can I have more?!” he yelled.

The next thing I knew, many people started to flock around me like a hivemind, all touching me in various places and begging persistently.

“Please! It’s not fair! We all need food! Not just him!”

“I-I……”

One person tried to open my bag, but I slapped his hand and ran away. D-Damn it! I can’t help all these people.

Next time, you shouldn’t give something up when you don’t have excess to give. The moment you display a sign of generosity to one person, that is when other people will force you to extend your kindness.

Someday, I’ll have the power to help everyone! Just you wait!

Still naive.

For now, I’m stuck with this job, hunting down runaway slaves. The problem is that I don’t have any leads on where they could be. Best I can do is make a good guess.

I hid myself inside an abandoned house and unrolled a map of Sector 24. I summoned White and used the Shine ability to light up the room.

At the south side would be the Midas Mines. The railways to Sector 22 and 23 would be at the northwest and northeast side. Knowing that 3 of these areas are guarded by Hector’s men, I’d assume that they won’t be hiding there. If it were me, I would stay away as far as possible from the south, since it’s the place I’m running away from. Then I would hang around an area close to the tunnels to wait for an opening, but not too close, which eliminates north, where the railways connect. This means I’ll have to narrow it down to either the east or west side.

Go west.

Why?

Left is always lucky.

Where’d you get that line from?

I just made it up, fufufu.

Seriously?

Just pick a side, there’s probably slaves hiding on both sides anyway.

Fine, I’ll go left.

From there, I began my hunt westward. Running around aimlessly wouldn’t work, so I decided to try three different strategies. The first would be to make it obvious that I had a collar on my neck, to show that I was a fellow slave. Hector’s men were already informed that ‘the boy with the cat mask’ works directly for the boss, so they won’t try to capture me.

The second would be to ask people for information on where other slaves could be hiding and asking for protection. That method backfired however, with most of them ignoring me and even trying to distance themselves in fear. Being associated with a slave meant involvement with Hector’s gang, the Midas Hogs, so I can’t blame them.

My last strategy was to ignore the most open roads and explore tighter enclosed streets and empty alleyways in the deeper parts of the Sector that I deemed as inconspicuous.

It was even darker around these parts, to the point where a slight anxiety creeped over me. There weren't any people around, so I was practically all alone. The feeling that there could be eyes secretly watching me from the shadows made me feel uncomfortable. If I were the old Lars, I would have been having panic attacks by now. Yet for some reason, I felt calmer than ever before.

That’s because you’ve been through much worse things at this point. You’re becoming more of a man.

T-Thanks, I guess.

“Psst.”

“Huh?” I turn my head around, searching for the source of the sound.

“Over here!” a girl’s voice spoke out.

I turned towards the direction of the voice and spotted a pair of eyes peeking from a slightly open wooden window.

“You’re a slave, right? Come on! Get in, quickly!” The window opens, revealing a little girl with black hair gesturing at me.

I enter the window and the girl closes it down. She covers it with some curtains and grabs my hand to guide me around the house.

"Follow me!"

We ran down some stairs to what seemed like the basement and stopped by a closed wooden door. The girl knocks on the door two times.

“Hey guys, it’s me, Isa!” she whispers.

The door opens, revealing a little boy peeking his head out. He looks at me with an intimidated face and points toward my mask.

“H-Hey! What are you doing with an adult?!”

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“He’s a slave, just like us!” Isa said.

“I thought we weren’t supposed to trust adults!” the boy contested. “Look! He even has a sword!”

“Then I’ll let go of the sword,” I handed over the sword to the kid and raised my hands. “Now you can say I’m not dangerous.”

“That isn’t enough to-”

“Don’t you recognize that mask, Bryan? It’s the Iron Cat from the legends!” Isa proclaimed.

Iron Cat?

“But I thought he was dead!” Bryan said.

“Stop arguing and let us in already before anyone else finds us!”

“Fine!”

Bryan finally lets us inside and locks the door behind him. The room we were in was fairly spacious, with some boxes, barrels and chests scattered everywhere. At the very center was a small campfire, where children were sitting down and roasting some meat on a stick. There were around 7 of them in total, including Bryan and Isa. I noticed that they all wore metal collars on their necks, which made me feel disgusted.

Even children were being used as slaves, what the hell, Hector?!

It is cruel, indeed. But it’s not just Hector. There are many other people in the Under Sectors who use children as slaves, so it’s something you have to get used to.

I can’t accept it.

The children tried to move away from my presence, but Isa stopped them.

“What is going on, Isa? Why did you let an adult in?!” a boy complained. “And with a suspicious looking mask, too!”

I don’t think being 17 counts as an adult though….

“Is he a friend?” a girl questioned.

“Guys, don’t you recognize him? A metal mask resembling the face of a cat cut in half, it’s the Iron Cat!” Isa said happily. “He’s here to save us all!”

“Woah, it is him! I thought he was dead!” a kid proclaimed.

“No way, he’s real!”

The children’s distrust of me slowly dwindled down and started to lower their guard.

“W-Wait, I’m not here to-”

Keep quiet, Lars. This is your chance to capture one slave for today. And they’re all children. It’s easy prey.

It would be easy to capture a child and carry them all the way back. They would be too powerless to resist. If I do that, I’ll be able to rest for the day and recover my energy for tomorrow. It’s that simple. These children are too innocent for their own good. I can take advantage of this, right?

That’s right. Your mission will be over in an instant.

Then I-

A girl tugged to my cloak with beaming eyes. “Is it true, Mr. Iron Cat? Are you going to come and save us?” The kids flocked towards me with hopeful looks on their faces.

“I….I….” I step back a little, but Isa stops me.

“O-Of course he is! He is the Iron Cat of the legends, after all! Right?!” Isa turns towards me with a serious expression and nods.

“Y-Yeah.”

“That’s awesome!” Bryan said, still clutching onto my sword. “Eh..this is really heavy!” He tries to swing it down, but falls down on his face.

The children laugh at his antics, but Isa remains serious and gestures at me to follow her at a corner.

“I know you’re not really the Iron Cat,” she whispered. “I don’t even believe he exists. That mask of yours just reminded me of him, that’s all.”

“H-Huh? Then why did you-”

“Your eyes. There’s something about those eyes that make you different from the rest of the adults. I just had a gut feeling that I could trust you. You’re a good person, right?”

“I can’t say…”

You should have said yes.

“Please play along with this act,” Isa placed her hands together. “The children have been depressed for a while now, they could really use a Hero that can cheer them up!”

Hero…..

“I’m no Hero…”

“That doesn’t matter. It doesn’t have to be real. I-I just don’t know what to do anymore, it’s too hard to keep their hopes up all by myself! Even Bryan is-” Isa starts to leak out tears from her eyes, but she wipes them away quickly. “Sorry, I just couldn’t hold it anymore.”

I patted her head to comfort her, but there was something inside of me that made me feel squeamish. Brian takes a peek of us talking from a distance, but he continues playing with the rest of the kids as if he were distracting them away from us.

Lars, don’t do it. Don’t say it.

Please stop ordering me around. I thought I was supposed to be the master.

I’m just trying to give you advice.

“No, I’m the one who has to be sorry,” I tell Isa.

“Huh? Why?” Isa tilts her head.

“I didn’t come here as a slave, but as a slave hunter. I need to capture a slave and bring them back to the mines. It’s my duty.”

So you ended up admitting it after all….

“What?!” Isa looks at me with a pale face, but shuts her mouth immediately and tries to conceal her voice. “I don’t understand. Why is a slave like you acting as a slave hunter?”

“I don’t have a choice,” I said and bowed down. “I’m truly sorry.”

Look at what you did. Now she’s going to tattle on you. The worst that could happen is you having to knock them all down with White. This is a complete blunder-

“No, it’s all my fault,” I looked up to see Isa quivering her lips. “I was too overconfident with my intuition.”

She grabbed my hand and grasped it tightly. “You only need to take one person, right? Then, take me.”

“Why would you-”

"But in exchange, you have to promise me that you won’t capture any of these children in the future and keep them out of harm’s way, you got that?!” Isa stared at me with a firm gaze of resolution.

I wasn’t expecting this. Another selfless human being? In the Under Sectors? No way.

I thought about it silently, but Isa’s grasp on my hand tightened even further.

“Please!”

I grit my teeth and clench my other hand into a fist, but I calm down and take a few deep breaths. There’s no reason to hesitate. I know my answer, no need to complicate things even further.

I gently put her hands away “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“Huh? Why? Then I’ll tell everyon-”

I placed my hand on her mouth before she could say another word.

“I’m saying that I won’t capture any of you. I refuse to do it.”

“Why? But isn’t this your biggest chance?”

I would have to agree with Isa, this is the best chance you have of capturing a slave.

“I can’t capture children, you’re all too young to handle this sort of treatment,” I patted Isa’s head. “Especially not a kind and caring person like you. You don’t deserve it.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah,” I smiled.

You’re too kind, Lars. As much as I don't like this decision, it’s still pretty admirable. But I wish you’d care more about yourself.

It’s fine, Gray.

I walk towards Bryan and politely ask him for the sword and to open the door.

“You’re leaving already?” Bryan said.

“Yeah, there are other places I have to go,” I said. “I have a job to do.”

“Woah, does it involve fighting the bad guys? Are you going to take down the evil Midas Hogs once and for all?”

“I will.”

“Wait!” Isa calls me out. She grabs my hand and whispers to my ear. “You don’t have to keep up with this lie anymore. I’ve changed my mind. It’s a stupid idea. Don’t force it.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” I stare straight into her eyes. “I’m being serious.”

“What?” Isa looked at me confusingly.

“I promise you all, I’ll take down the Midas Hogs and save Sector 24. Just wait here and I’ll be back here soon. As the Iron Cat.”

Isa stares at me in disbelief, but once she notices the look in my eyes, she smiles.

“I guess my intuition was correct after all.”

I may not be a Hero, but that won’t stop me from helping everyone.