“Excuse me,” Lilith said with a smile. But, there was no response. An interaction which Lilith had to deal with for the past two days trying to deliver her mail. People refused to converse with strangers, and when she got close, they fell silent. There was a lot of effort she had to put in to get the attention of the people in need of their mail, and more times than not, it took several times to do so.

She knocked again. And again. And again.

Taking a deep breath, she announced herself far louder than earlier, saying, “I have a delivery for-”

The door swung open, cutting off the rest of Lilith’s sentence. A man holding in his curses looked around, and after seeing it was clear -something that happened almost every time- did he finally grab the letter from her, then slam the door shut.

Although it wasn’t too much of a surprise after the first day of deliveries, it truly made Lilith wonder why they acted in such a manner. She understood why people were in hiding, or trying to have a low profile, but wouldn’t this just cause the most suspicion? It was hard to make sense of it.

Reaching into her bag, she took out the map, and after marking off one more red dot, Lilith looked over the list, checking which place was next. She had a game plan to minimize the risk of delivery. She broke up the map into sections, and each section would be the deliveries she did for the day. Before she left, she would unload all the letters and packages for the day into her bag. Then, before even knocking on the door, she would take out the deliveries. She made sure no one saw what type of magic she was using, even if it meant going into alleyways or waiting as long as she needed. This, alongside the hassle of getting someone to even answer a door, made the workday a long one.

However, there was one worry that fostered as soon as she started. These people seemed far from trustworthy. She didn’t plan to stop these deliveries, but she couldn’t help but think that one of them would sell her out in order to survive, which could lead to far more trouble than she would like. It also didn’t help that Lilith was a bit underhanded with these deliveries. They only answered their doors when she spoke loudly about a delivery, so she wouldn't be surprised if they held some resentment against her.

With a heavy sigh, she looked around. It was the slums. A place that wasn’t all too pleasant to walk around in, but during the current climate of the city, it was more peaceful than she expected. There were definitely some who would stare at her from windows or from alleyways, they never tried to do anything and maybe that was why. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. No one here was trustworthy, and just as quickly as someone would sell herself out, they might just do it to each other.

After finishing the last few deliveries she had for the day, she headed back to the mailroom and met with Gabriel. There wasn’t much to talk about, but she had some questions and thoughts she wanted to mention, hoping he could answer them.

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Gabriel asked, putting down the paper he was reading. “I can’t say you’re wrong to worry about it, but as long as you’re just handing out the mail, it will be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Lilith asked.

“Hopefully.” Lilith’s eyebrows lowered, squinting together as she narrowed her eyes at Gabriel. At first, he tried to ignore the stare he was receiving, but the longer he went saying nothing, the more he felt it. “Let me ask you this. Why do you think things seem normal?”

“I’ve been wondering that since I came here,” Lilith responded.

“It’s because they don’t randomly arrest people whenever they feel like it.”

Her stare lightened. “So they… Grab people in groups?” She asked.

“Close. They definitely do, but they do it after a certain amount of time. They make a list of everyone they suspect and when it’s time, they go arrest them all.”

“Then wouldn’t I be on their radar then? And wouldn’t this backfire on everyone here?”

“Since you're someone from outside of the city, it will be very easy to feign innocence. That said, they won’t believe it, but they can’t do anything about it.”

“So you’ll use me as a scapegoat,” Lilith said. Her voice getting softer with each word.

“Yes, but this is your own mission. You signed up for it.”

“No, you’re right.” Lilith agreed. Although she wished he mentioned this earlier, it was on her and no one else. She was thankful for the help with the map and list, but she was the dumb one to take this one to begin with and it wouldn’t be hard to pinpoint who Lilith was and when they do, everything would come together and make sense. However, there was one thing that tied her to Gabriel. Well, maybe two. “How about the delivery I did for you?”

“That shouldn’t be an issue because of the letter. There should be no recordings of you entering the church, only people who saw you, but I doubt any of them bothered to notice.”

“Then how about me coming in here?” Lilith asked.

“That should be no issue as well. They have no right to question my employees. Plus, only one other person knows you entered my office. Either way, worst case, I just tell them I had no part in what you did. If anything, they would have issues with Mystal’s branch and not ours.”

“Would they do anything about that?” Lilith asked, worry showing in her eyes. She didn’t wish to bring trouble to others, so if that ended up being the case, then she had to think of a different way to go about it or cancel the rest of the deliveries.

“They will either become extremely strict at the gates. Far stricter than before, or not allow any Carriers in. However, they won’t become aggressive with another city. That would not only backfire with the populace and even most of the church, but the moment they attack, or show hostility, then it’s over.”

“I’m assuming everyone would side with Mystal?” Lilith asked.

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“In a heartbeat, so do what you came here for, but if things get bad, then leave as soon as possible.”

Lilith agreed with that statement and kept to herself for the next two days. She continued her deliveries, but made slight adjustments to her sections, deciding to do as much as she could to cover as much ground as quickly as possible. She had a new goal now, to finish these deliveries and leave the city as soon as possible.

“Is this it?” Lilith mumbled to herself while comparing the address on the paper to the one in front of her, and after checking, she tossed the paper in the bag and took out the letter that matched. “Hello, this is Lilith. I have a letter and a package for a Ms. Jade.” Silence met Lilith’s words just like the other ones before.

Knocking a few more times, she took a few steps back and looked at the window. Red eyes stared directly at Lilith with black hair that was almost identical to her own. While in a surprised daze, the eyes got ripped from view by a pair of hands followed by the closing of what seemed heavy curtains to not allowing even a speck of light into the house.

Lilith looked around, and after making sure no one was in sight, she put the letter and package away into the void and knocked on the door again and again until someone finally opened it, although only slightly. A woman a head taller than Lilith looked through the crack of the opened door. Light brown hair and brown eyes. Different from the young boy she saw through the window.

“Hello, I have a letter for a Ms. Jade right- oh!” Lilith checked her pockets and bag, putting on a fake display. “Ah, that’s right.” She said as the lady behind the door watched with a confused face, which turned into surprise as Lilith reached into the void and grabbed the letter she put away. “I take it you’re Ms. Jade?” This was a risk she was well aware of after her conversation with Gabriel, but at this point, it didn’t matter all too much. They were no longer in the slums which meant the eyes watching her every move were nearly gone and although nearly may not mean every single one, from what Lilith could tell, there was no one at that moment who had an interest in what she was doing.

With wide eyes, Jade poked her head out far more than before and looked around, making sure no one saw what Lilith had done. She was in a state of bewilderment, which quickly turned into relief, knowing she didn’t have to worry about the lady in front of her telling anyone about her son.

“Do you mind if I come in for a bit? I won’t take long.” Lilith smiled, and Jade, although reluctantly and silently, let her in.

The inside fit the outside. Rundown but still in good enough shape to live in, unlike the people who she came across the previous days. There was a proper roof over their heads and appliances which the more unfortunate could only dream of having alongside beds, although at a glance looked more like straw beds.

Lilith handed over the letter to Jade and turned her attention to the boy who was hiding behind the door while peeking his head out.

“It’s alright,” Jade told the boy who, after hearing that, came out from hiding with slow and steady steps.

“Hello,” Lilith said softly. “How are you?”

The boy looked at his mother, who nodded, and then looked back at Lilith. “I’m fine,” the boy said while his eyes looked up at Liliths then down at the floor.

Crouching down to meet the boy at eye level, Lilith smiled gently, then said, “I have a package for you and your mother. Would you be so kind to accept it?” The boy looked up, and as he did, Lilith reached into the abyss, pulling out a small package that accompanied the letter she gave to Jade. This action caused the boy’s eyes to widen with surprise. “You can do this too, right?”

The boy aggressively nodded, and a light sparked in his eyes after seeing something he was familiar with. There were weird limits to the magic a cursed can do and even to Lilith, who had done her own research, couldn’t pinpoint any similarities. It just simply made no sense, and as for the weird storage magic, it was something everyone on record could do. It was as simple as breathing for them, but it was also recorded that it was more than just a storage.

Lilith smiled, then turned her attention to Jade. “Do you mind if I ask him a question?”

“Sure?” Jade said as a question.

“What’s your name?” Lilith turned her attention back to the boy.

“Theo,” the boy responded.

“Is that short for Theodore?”

The boy nodded. “But I like Theo.”

“Alright then, Theo.” Lilith patted the boy's head. “How familiar are you with your spacial magic?”

“Spacial?” The boy asked, his head tilted slightly.

“Sorry, even I don’t use that phrasing all too often. The magic you used to store things. It’s mostly called void magic, storage magic, or abyss magic. They all mean the same thing.”

The boy stood there, listening intently.

Lilith smiled. “Anyway, how familiar are you with it?”

The boy put a finger up to his lips, thinking, before responding. “I know how to put stuff inside, but I also recently learned I could go in there myself! But mommy told me never to do that.”

Lilith looked up at Jade, then back at Theo. “Your mom isn’t wrong. It could lead to something terrible. However, I want you to remember that option. If something so bad happens that you need to run away, then do it without a second thought.” Lilith looked back up at Jade. “I think your mom would agree with me on this.”

Jade's eyes were wide open as she looked at Theo and Lilith.

“When I say this, Theo, I really mean this as a last resort. Do you understand what I mean by that?” Lilith’s voice was gentle but stern. She took up Alex’s way of speaking when talking to someone younger.

Theo nodded his head in agreement, although both Jade and Lilith could tell he didn’t fully grasp the situation.

“Very good,” Lilith said, patting his head once again. “Your mother will explain more about it later. Now then. Do you mind if I talk to her alone for a bit?” She asked Theo as gently as possible, who nodded his head and went to his tiny room.

“What do you mean by that, ma’am?” Jade immediately asked in a hushed voice as soon as he disappeared behind the curtain blocked doorway to his room.

Lilith stood up, and after letting her sight linger to the doorway, she brought her attention to Jade. “First, I have a question I want to ask you.”

“O-only when we go out,” Jade responded with a hint of hesitation. “We can’t afford to have it dyed all the time.”

“Then do you plan to stay in the city?” Lilith followed up.

“We have to. There’s no way we can leave.”

Lilith crossed her arms, thinking of a solution, but couldn’t. Even if she were to leave, it was already too late. If her travel to the city wasn’t already a sign, there was no way she could make it to the next city, let alone an Inn without dying. “Hmm. There is one way you might make it there, but it is extremely risk.”

Jade shook her head in response. “I don’t think anything we do will be safe.”

There wasn’t much she could do with a response filled with that much denial as that. The only way Lilith could think of is giving them the experimental barrier so they could travel, but there would be far too many variables and risky to bring such a young child along. “I understand. To be frank, the idea I had was pretty out there.”

“So, about what you said earlier,” Jade brought the conversation back to her initial question. “Why did you say that to Theo?”