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They have been walking for almost a quarter of an hour and nothing has killed them yet, partly because of the path they had taken. Nua had never been to the Southern Temple. She knew that her becoming a guide was only the explorer's cruel joke. Most likely she was to serve as a distraction and a meal for the monsters that he would prefer not to fight.

However, as a native of Bottoms, she had absorbed certain kinds of knowledge just like people tend to absorb their mother's tongue. It was the place to avoid, and so stories circulated how exactly one should avoid it. On top of it, she had her own talent after all – a natural knack for sneaking and climbing. Small and lithe, she could look at the junkyard from the goliath's spine. The Temple's coppery tower, or rather what was left of it, a half crumbled ziggurat withered by centuries of wind and rain, was visible from afar.

Her companion was somewhat surprised when she insisted on circumventing an otherwise unremarkable ruin.

"A scorpion nest", she explained. "Can you see pieces of shells in the rubble? Swords won't do, noble sir."

"I have boots, scum."

"There's too many, sir. They are..." Nua hesitated. There was a word for it, one she did not remember. "They don't like when someone visits their home. They're not like normal scorpions. Smarter than that."

"Well, who would think." the man grinned. "Sometimes you are perceptive after all, cockroach."

"Will he ever stop doing that?" Nua felt a pang of anger. Or wounded pride. Even though she was the lowest of the low, it happened sometimes. Her adopted siblings called it a suicide instinct.

"We walk together for some time now, noble sir." she said. "And I have a name that my mother gave me."

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"Well, and what is that?"

From his smirk she could see that he was in a good mood.

"I'm Nua."

He gave out a malicious laughter.

"Nothing funny about that, noble sir."

"I can't help it. Do you know what it means in the ancient tongue? It means 'there's none'. You said that your mother gave it to you? Well, she stated that you literally have no name."

"She couldn't have."

"Yes, she did."

"My mother couldn't possibly speak ancient tongue. Nobody does, sir. Maybe some explorers like you or wizards."

"It's hard to kill a language if you don't eradicate the nation that uses it. Some of you beast-eyed who live up in the north speak some modern dialect of it. Here in the Overlord's Mercy you don't have your own language, of course." He laughed again. "You have nothing, even a name."

Nua sulked. She did not understand some of the words the explorer was using, but she got the general meaning. They walked a while in silence. It took her time to think it through, but she finally decided that this name is the only thing mom gave her anyway, right before she died. So what if it sounded funny – it's her own and she's going to use it.

Also, did that mean that her mom could be from the north? Auntie Hala said that she had arrived at her place very sick and could not speak Azurian. Interest suddenly sparked, Nua raised her head.

"Do the Unsagga have a country?"

"Gods forbid. A few villages at most." The explorer shuddered, unsettled by the very thought of it.

She nodded. That still was better than the Bottoms. Perhaps someday...

"And you, sir, do you have a name?"

"Do I? You're looking at the Flavius Aetius Ahenobarbus the Third." He stroke his coiffed beard. "Even you should have at least heard of me."

"Nope."

He shrugged.

"Oh well. The world goes on without the likes of you, I guess."

He continued humming a song she did not know. Nua could see, however, that his eyes were constantly scanning the surroundings. He was relaxed and attentive at the same time, which likened him to a stalking predator. His oiled hair glistened and muscles were bulging when he walked. She was appalled at how quickly he forgot about his guide. He considered his death a personal slight, then moved on.

No doubt he thought of himself as kind, talking to her and even letting her know his name. But he did it just for his own entertainment. He would not shed a tear if she died. Worst of it, he probably still considered her disposable.

She fought the urge of getting away as fast as possible. She needed to wait for the right moment.