Now that I’m really thinking about it, this was the first time I actually got to have a look at the town. The last thing I remember before Lirius’ house was the outter gate, with the creatures, guards and the damn barrels. Never trust barrels guys.

We were moving relatively slow since Kotlin advised that we wouldn’t attract much attention. Which makes sense, if I saw some people running right after an explosion I’d either think they are scared/hurt or they are the culprit. Or perhaps something along the lines. I should mention that Kotlin gave me somewhat of an hat as to be in pair with the inhabitants. He said “Lirius always mentioned that if I ever decide to sneak out of the room when he wasn’t paying attention I should by any mean wear something to hide my face. He didn’t say why, it’s very common of Lirius to do that, but he just kept reminding me. Maybe he thought a rascal as me would try his best to get a view of the city and he wanted me to be safe. Anyhow, I didn’t try my luck as I never went outside. This is the furthest I’ve ever been. To be fair, I did not have any reason to do so; I conducted a pretty okay life with Lirius’ studies and I wasn’t particularly keen to explore what’s outside. Actually, when I was younger I recall thinking that we and Lirius were the only beings alive and I might have sneaked out. I vividly remember these creatures staring at me for a few seconds, just for Lirius to intervene and everything went black. Next thing I knew, I was back to my normal daily routine. We should get going now.”

Yeah well, I don’t know why he went on telling me about his childhood, but it was pretty interesting. The city was pretty boring though. It was polluted yet it had picturesque buildings. The place was filled with shops, which I would presume you could buy anything. There was a small market which had something written in it but I couldn’t read. The inhabitants were all dull and it felt like they were robots doing something just for the sake of doing it.

“Kotlin, “ said Eve after some time. “this place looks dead. It’s making me uncomfortable.”

“Don’t let it trick you.” replied Kotlin. “It’s always the places like this that are the most dangerous ones. So keep your guard on.”

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And then out of nowhere he added “No pun intended.”

That made me rise my head just to see some guards coming our way. My heart was racing, I knew I wouldn’t have the strength to fight any more of them; let even try to outrun. At least I had Kotlin with me this time. Which also made me start thinking of his appearance. Was he human just like me? That was actually an interesting question. Why was he the only one that resembled me? Do all these creatures behind that mask hide a normal face just like mine? I had to kno—

Then Kotlin made me return to my common sense.

“Just act normally. Don’t look at them and proceed following me.” Kotlin reassured me.

I gave a positive nod.

These guards were more frightening than the previous ones. Something about them felt disturbing. I tried my best to keep my cool.

As we passed each other, one of the guards stopped and called us. My heart stopped for a second. I stopped moving. Kotlin copied.

“Where are you two heading?” asked the guard. “What are those disrespectful things you have on top of your skull?”

There was a brief silence. I didn’t know what to say, I was paralyzed. I just wanted to scream. I put my hand on my pocket and almost pulled out my dagger when Kotlin interfered.

“We bought them at..”

He said something I couldn’t understand. Maybe he had noticed the peculiar small market as well.

“The shopkeeper convinced us that these were the latest trend and we thought we should try them out. They are pretty comfy if you ask me.” replied Kotlin.

And then he smiled. I had never seen him smile, it was pretty weird but cute at the same time.

“I see.” responded the guard. “And where you are going?”

“Nowhere in particular, we just thought we’d have a walk and see afterwards.”

“Fair enough, well watch out then.”

And then they left. They freaking left. I couldn’t believe they got tricked so easily. Something made me admire Kotlin more at that moment.

“That was close” Kotlin said.

“You did great.” replied Eve. “Thanks for saving our asses. But the guard had a point, where are we heading.”

“We just need to get and the end of that road there and we’ll be at the exit of the town.”

“That simple?”

“That simple.”

Evelyn was pretty content. It had been a while since she had taken a proper rest, but she knew that their task had to be accomplished sooner than later so she held on as best as she could. Then something stroke her.

“Hmm, Kotlin.” said Eve. “I noticed that we look alike.”

“Are you human?”