Petals scattered at a lonely corner in an alleyway within the great City of Goldcrest as warm lives poured out and tainted the ground a deep red. Three humans — ones unmistakably deprived of life— fell and embraced the stone floor as the petals hovered over them, reflecting within their empty eyes. Their bodies slowly withered and became mere dust, however, there was no wind to carry them.

Of course, that was only natural; for in that alleyway, there was nothing 'alive' present. The three humans, all lifeforms, even the ground, the air, the wind, and all sounds; everything was deprived of life — they were all 'killed' by something else. A lonely alleyway, neither hot nor cold, where there were no sounds nor wind; there was nothing, save for one sole figure who stood in the midst of that 'dead' lane.

A single woman — an alive, breathing creature — who seemed to be immune to the 'death' that lingered within that area. A dark hood and cloak obscured her face and body, almost making her blend with the darkness cast by the black night. However, when one inspected further closely, there was something in her hand—

"I killed again…"

She spoke in a sorrowful tone with her face cast downward as she held a single knife in her hand, and the red elixir of life trickled down its edge, dripping as it softly fell and tainted the earth with its color. Despite her voice that was filled with deep pain and sadness, no tears flowed from her eyes, or perhaps…

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

She sobbed as she fell to her knees, dropping her knife that never touched the floor. She sobbed alone in the quiet corner, covering her face with her hands that were tainted by blood. As if she were someone who was trying their best to cry, as if she were someone who was overcome with despair and anguish — she continued to sob alone as the night engulfed her form and carried her away from the lifeless alleyway.

However, the sound of her crying still persisted. The sound of the lonely girl who was still oblivious—

—oblivious to the fact that her tears had already dried up long ago.

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The Lower Rank of the City of Goldcrest,

The Eighth District's Commercial Street.

It was currently morning, the sun had just started rising as the first rays of light shone on the vast lands. Despite it being the time when people normally begin to wake up, the ever-present, endless stream of people filled the street as usual without any regard to the current time as if it were the natural order of things.

The Eight District's Commercial Street was one of the closest commercial streets to one of the largest housing areas in the city, and it was also extremely close to the southern gates, which explained the reason for its lively, never-ending crowd. Lots of people from near and far regularly come to the City of Goldcrest which was universally considered as the heart of humanity and one of the last Great Settlements — a fact that attracted many to come and live within it.

Among the countless people were a certain pair of figures that had traveled from the plains located southwest of the city—one was the man once known as the Judge, and the other was the nameless girl who blindly searched for something she couldn't remember. The man — Lynx had a mostly neutral expression that showed no emotion on his face as the two walked down the street, however, the girl — Mary had a look of interest, curiosity, and wonder as she looked all around her.

"This the first time you've been here, kid?"

Lynx casually spoke to her as he sent her a brief glance before fixing his gaze forward again. In response, Mary stopped looking around for a moment and gazed at his face as she answered him.

"Yes, at least as far as I could remember… But, there's a feeling inside me telling me that I've never seen this many people gathered in one place before…"

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"I see, well that's just how it is for most people. Humans have been mostly scattered around the lands in small settlements ever since that day…"

"That day… Are you talking about the 'end of the world' that happened long ago?"

"Yeah, almost nothing of the old world remained after that, other than the Three Great Settlements like this one."

"That sounds sad, for an entire world to disappear just like that…"

"It is what it is, that's just how things are."

"Maybe you're right… But still, I wonder just how the world used to be before."

"There's no use thinking about things you'll never get to see, kid. Focus on the real instead of the imaginary, it's better than doing something useless."

"You're no fun!"

In response to her, Lynx merely shrugged and continued to gaze forward as the two worked their way through the crowd and eventually into a relatively emptier street. The street, while it had less people, was definitely still 'crowded' as one would say when asked. Various stores and restaurants lined the streets, with a couple of inns that could occasionally be found. The two's destination wasn't far off from here as they walked for a few more minutes before entering a smaller alleyway with minimal amounts of people.

"It should be around here somewhere…"

Lynx mumbled to himself which Mary heard. He looked around the area for something when Mary asked him a question.

"Hey Lynx, where are we going? You still haven't told me yet."

"Hm? Oh, we're going to my old apartment to stay there."

"Apartment?"

"Yeah, but I haven't been there for ages so I might've forgotten where it was a bit."

"Let me help you find it then!"

"Huh? Sure if you want to, I guess you can help."

With that, the two began to search for Lynx's apartment together. Mary ran around the street, searching high and low for the apartment, she even asked the occasional passerby if she encountered one. However, the entire time, she seemed to be happy; that was the reason Lynx didn't stop her, and instead, he softly chuckled — a sound that nobody else heard.

"Just like those days…"

Eventually, the two found the apartment and entered Lynx's room. Mary opened the door and was greeted by a dusty, yet comfortable-looking room. Small rays of soft sunshine illuminated the room through the windows, shining on various pieces of furniture that were scattered throughout the room. Lynx took a seat on the sofa that stood in the middle of the room along with a large carpet under it as Mary curiously looked around.

"Kid, you should take a rest. We've been traveling for days without rest and you ran around the place when helping me, you're definitely tired."

He suddenly spoke to her.

"Eh? But I'm not tired…"

"Not physically, but you're mentally tired, I can see that clearly. We're going to have to go out later for something important too, so you need rest."

"Something important?"

"There's a reason I came to this city, and I have to fulfill that no matter what…"

For a moment, his expression shifted, but Mary couldn't see it.

"I promised after all… There's someone I need to kill…"

"I see…"

Mary answered simply and went over to the bed. She didn't need to question it, because she could understand his feelings from his words. She dusted the bed and changed the sheets before she laid down on it and positioned herself comfortably.

"Don't push yourself too hard, kid."

Those were the last words she heard before sleep took her, and as she slept, on her face was a smile. Lynx watched her for a moment from the sofa, but this time, his expression was different. Perhaps he himself didn't realize that fact, but his expression was simultaneously sad and kind — a bittersweet expression.

He took his eyes off her and stared out the window. He spoke once more, but those words didn't reach the person they were spoken for…

"It's been a long time since I last saw you, hasn't it? This time I'll do it right, I'll save you…"

He clenched his fist—

"...and I'll grant you an easy death."