Author's Note: Well, after every next chapter, there will be a social work extra chapter :) Really enjoyed writing it :)

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Place: Rehab House, Southern District, Wolfsteeth

Time: The first day after leaving the prison (Sophie)

Emptiness was an odd concept. For the hyena-kin sitting on her bedend and staring into the void, it was the most apt way to describe her current emotional state. It was an ominous sensation, impossible to comprehend.

Sophie was usually straightforward and joyful. However, if she felt down, she would buy some good liquor and have a lovely evening alone. The next day, she would wake up fresh and ready to continue her life as if nothing ever happened.

Now, though, she was sure that the best liquor in the world wouldn't help. There were no colors in her life anymore, only scales of grey. All her other senses became dull. Food tasted like bland mush, and singing and laughing were barely understandable murmurs. Even looking outside the window and seeing the vibrant city felt like a blur, passing her.

However, was it bad that she felt like this? Sophie didn't know, and it became hard to miss how she previously felt because she didn't care about herself. With her emotions drained, she saw no reason to put her energy into anything anymore. All she wanted to do was sleep and forget everything around her, slowly pass the time until the next day.

'Sleep, huh.'

It let her get the day over, as boredom and lack of motivation dominated her constantly. She sat and stared into the void for hours, her mind blank. However, in some moments, she asked herself again if this was bad what she was doing.

Again, the word bad. Should Sophie use such a word? Would she hurt someone if she never stood up again? She never bothered anyone when she was in prison, even barely eating since she forgot it too often, with her appetite wholly gone.

Sophie looked down. Her knees touched each other, but her legs had a big gap, not touching each other. She became skinny, barely recognizable.

Her muscles and fat were long gone. Looking to the side and seeing a mirror, she didn't want to look into it. Was it fear or ambivalence again? She didn't know, but since she didn't want to and nobody forced her, she wouldn't do so.

Sophie needed to be forced to do anything, as she would otherwise lie down and sleep again. She was only at this place because of Birbon and the promise she made to him.

Did she promise it to him because she wanted to get cured in one of her clearer moments? Yes, when she saw Ira and thought about Fred, that was definitely the case.

However, when she came to this house and as night fell, more of those clearer moments appeared, with all her urges ignoring the cure and pointing toward the ominous potion again.

The emotions she experienced while having clarity were terror, panic, and hopelessness. It was bad, something she hated, but those also gave her the little motivation she had not just to end it all.

'I guess it's time.'

She remembered what she had promised when she heard the wall clock ticking. The evening before, she had been giving a short outline of what would happen today. After an introduction, they could decide if they wanted to be part of it by signing mana contracts—a very definitive way to hold her here.

As such, because it was one of Alexander's retainers, she would at least listen to him and then decide. Even though she initially agreed to be part of it, she forgot that she had a house and would need to pay taxes. While not large in size and taxes, it was nonetheless one to two of her monthly wages for a year.

Could she pay it differently without working again? Not really. Her savings were gone since she stole most of them and spent them on Ira, not leaving anything for Fred. This wrongdoing was also why she wouldn't go after a potion when she left the house; instead, she would go immediately to work. She was still responsible for her soulmate, the most precious person.

'I am terrible.'

With Fred somewhere unknown, it was on her to get the coin. Her husband only worked part-time and was there for cooking, cleaning, etc., as he had the ideal [Divinity Line]. As such, she made much more than him, needing to at least provide a roof over his head, not wanting him to worry.

Sophie already cheated, lied, and stole. She was an awful spouse, but she would not sink lower. Her little remnants of responsibility and conscience told her what she had to do since she also swore on it at their ceremony.

Sighing, she stood up and looked around. The room was big and fully furnished, and it felt a bit like she were some mighty merchant. While everything looked simple, she could identify the expensive wood and material used with her discernable eyes as a construction worker.

When she opened the drawer, she was similarly astonished. The clothes were of excellent quality, even better than her best dress at home, even though they looked simple and mundane.

'This is quite odd.'

While putting on clothes, she fell into thought. Sophie knew Alexander and how bad luck he had since birth. Ignoring the assassination attack, which created quite an uproar, there were many more things that were unknown to the broader public.

One of her colleagues was killed because of him. She was a carpenter, and she made a crib for him and fetched a good coin. Yet, he got his tail stuck somewhere, which could only be pulled out by destroying the crib.

Afterward, healer and other folk were summoned to look after him since he couldn't feel his tail for some time. The result was obvious: She was executed for making such a hazardous crib.

However, Sophie had little pity. Working for nobles was high-risk, high-reward. If the craftsman did everything correctly, the noble would repeatedly commission them. After some years, they could even get employed and live at the estate. It was a great opportunity with a stable job.

While the Leonandra household paid okay-ish, around the market standard, security and other perks were why everyone wanted to work there. However, they would die like Sophie's colleague if such a fatal mistake occurred.

'Who is this?'

Out of old habits, she accidentally looked into the mirror before finally leaving the room. However, she couldn't see herself, as if there was only some dreadful blur of nothingness.

However, that blur accurately described her innermost emotions. She barely felt alive while still anxious and frightened. Her face was fading away and moving bizarrely, which made her suddenly feel an instinctual terror.

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Her heart rate increased, her tail sweated through the fur, and her muscles tightened. Sophie quickly turned away before falling into more severe thoughts, leaving the room as fast as possible.

Clank

Walking out, she immediately entered the living room, seeing she wasn't alone. Others were sitting on couches and chairs or standing around, waiting for someone or something. They all looked as lifeless as her.

Even after she walked inside, they only peeked at her. When they saw she wasn't someone of importance, they quickly ignored her again, continuing to wait. All of them were probably suffering from the same ailment as her.

Looking around, she saw a note on the table, to which she walked and tried to read. Fortunately, she could somehow decipher it with her terrible [Reading] skill, 'Please wait here.'

As she was about to sit beside some of her roommates, whom she didn't know, the entrance door opened, and multiple people entered.

How they walked told her a lot about them. One was aggressive and annoyed, while the other nearly tip-toed around them. It was a typical boss-subordinate relationship.

When they started to speak, one voice was familiar to her, while the other was unknown. In this case, Birbon was clearly the subordinate who feared his supervisor.

The unknown's person's voice was audibly arrogant, almost aggressive, "Birbon, if we are done here, I need your ass to do it alone."

Birbon sounded distressed, "Of course, Aurum, but..." He suddenly became more confident, "...you can't expect me to do something without even knowing what to do!"

Aurum clicked his tongue, "Can't really argue against it. Didn't you read the SOP?"

After a short silence, Birbon sounded confused, "What is a SOP? You know you have ten times more jargon than the merchant guild in Coyoteteeth, and I can barely understand you, even though I did my apprenticeship there?!"

Aurum sounded annoyed, "Fine."

"Fine, what?!"

"I will give you some instructions and maybe wipe your lazy ass, as apparently, I need to do everything for you."

Two disgruntled avian-kin, both of different stature, walked into the living room. The one called Aurum, arrogant and confident, stepped forward, gesturing them to stand up, "Come on. I don't have all day."

As they stood up, some were nervous, some frightened, and most were, like her, just lifeless. When Aurum looked at them interchangeably, analyzing them, he clicked his tongue, mumbling something under his breath.

However, he smiled at them after another moment, opening his arms wide, "Now, let me greet you first. I am Aurum, Mr. Alexander's retainer and the one who leads the charity The Helping Paw, which you may have heard about."

He looked around again, becoming more serious. "I don't know what Birbon told you why you are here, but you are victims of injustice. Cases like yours are many, and Mr. Alexander made it his goal to heal you."

Sophie became nervous, as it would now sound like an order she couldn't decline. While only a retainer, she hoped he wouldn't do it. Her livelihood and Fred's existence were on the line. The last thing she wanted to lose was her worth as a soulmate.

Gone was the love and trust toward her caused by cheating, but she wouldn't and couldn't lose her last bit of pride, even if it meant going against a noble. Her life was already worth nothing.

Yet, for some reason, when she thought about it, a moment of clarity boiled up inside her, making her forget everything else, 'Are we still...'

Her thoughts were interrupted by Aurum speaking to her directly, "Hey you! Whatever feline-kin you are! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Sophie emerged from her moment, feeling a strange wetness on her cheeks, "I... don't know."

Aurum scratched his head, looking annoyed, "Okay, in short. We need you to stay here so we can heal you and test our methods on you. Of course, we will compensate you with one small silver coin daily. Should it end earlier than the twelve-week mark, you will get the pay for twelve weeks..."

After saying it, he sighed and looked at everyone interchangeably, "...are you in? We will not force you, but the moment you walk out and notice that you need help, it will probably be another decade or more until something like this is formally established, with you suffering all the time."

Sophie nodded and decided to stay, even though something inside her wanted her to leave. Nevertheless, her responsibility toward her soulmate made her stay, as the monetary reward was what she needed.

However, two to three others shuffled in place, becoming nervous. If they had the same ailment, it meant that the inner thoughts of pushing them were strong or their will weak.

Seeing this, Birbon supported Aurum, stepping forward, "Other than that, don't forget that you are freed from prison without receiving any fine because you agreed to participate in this project. Going away, you will need to pay whatever you owe, but here, you will be compensated, fed, get shelter, clothes, and healed. You leaving now will be the worst decision you could make, trust me."

While two suddenly stopped, one still walked forward. It was a small ant-kin boy, no older than twenty, who looked like he had made his decision. He looked thin, with almost only skin and bones, and he was most likely going through something more severe than her.

Stopping before Aurum, he sounded genuinely resolved, "I... really don't want to live anymore, so please let me pay the fine and leave."

Aurum looked down on him, stoic, and emitted a pressure only experienced merchants and administrators could do, showing they were in charge. It was neither violent nor potent but threatening nonetheless.

His voice was without any emotions, "You want to leave and commit suicide?"

The ant-kin nodded, unable to look him in the eyes, only looking at his feet while shivering from the pressure, "Ye... Yeah."

Aurum pulled out a finely made dagger from under his blazer out of a strapped scabbard without a second thought. Following this, he looked down at the ant kin, cold eyes and zero pity, slowly surrounding his weapon with his energy, "Great, I need a certain skill. I will give you a small silver coin for your life or to anyone you want. How about it?"

The ant-kin boy's feelers moved in distress. Though, when he nodded, he started sobbing and crying, "I... just do it."

When Aurum reeled his arm back, everyone looked away, being in shock and distress. While life was not worth much, killing someone was still something many couldn't stomach.

Sophie knew from friends who were adventurers or mercenaries that they had dozens of skills to deal with it, and still, it was not as if they could have them permanently activated. So, if they could avoid it, they would do so.

However, seeing Aurum's indifference sent a shiver down her spine, 'That's right.'

Sophie always saw nobles as cold-blooded beasts who saw life as nothing more than to be used and bought. It was like watching the Lady doing her speech, looking down on all of them and letting them know how much less worthy they were.

When Aurum was about to stab the boy who closed his eyes, he suddenly used his other hand to touch slightly his chest. At that exact moment, the boy screamed as if he was massacred, flailing around and falling backward, "ARGH! No! Please!"

Everyone turned toward the boy. He sat on the ground, touching his chest, in panic and terror. When he saw that he had no wound, he turned, like everyone else, toward Aurum, who smirked at him.

Aurum dispersed his relatively pleasant energy, putting the dagger back into the scabbard. He did not say anything and looked at everyone else,

as if they were vegetables on a market to be inspected.

After a moment, he sighed, "Yeah, you sure are ready to die..." He arrogantly gestured for the boy to stand up, "...you will stay here. This is an order, and trust me, appealing to Mr. Alexander will not work as he would do something far worse than me."

While the ant-kin boy stood up, shaking and in tears, Sophie was in thought, not expecting them to be like this. It was very unusual for those who did charity to be this cold-blooded and decisive, as they were more amiable.

However, when she was young, she was also poor and received help from charities in central Mal-Gil. However, here in Moorgrel, she quickly got a job and paid no attention to those, except for the occasional donation to the Temple. Here, like with everything else, they weren't fucking around, doing things in a much more intense manner.

Sophie came out of her thoughts when Aurum started to talk to Birbon, visibly teaching him, "They are severely fucked and can't think normally. If he wants to kill himself, he can do it after we heal him, got it?"

While she disliked his attitude, he had something she genuinely appreciated. She couldn't describe it, but she liked it. It was like a rowdy mercenary at a bar. After punching your teeth out, he would buy you a beer and some whore as an apology.

Birbon looked confused but nodded nonetheless. Aurum looked toward them the last time, "Right, when I am not here, Birbon will be the person you ask if you have questions..." He smirked at the ant-kin boy, who flinched slightly, "...I want you especially alive the next time I see you."

Aurum turned around, leaving, "Good luck. There is a reason we pay you so well."

Like that, he was gone with Birbon staying and looking overly distressed and a little lost. He turned toward them, straightened his tie, and copied Aurum by opening his arms wide, "All right! We will start with signing the contract, and then I will explain your schedule!"