It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are signing, flowers are blooming.
On days like these…
Kids like me…
Tend to lie outta their ass.
Yeah, I'm fuckin lying.
Today sucks.
Nevermind the fact that I haven't caught a wink of sleep for the whole night; that much, I could handle.
No, what made my day terrible were the grins of the passersby as they happy munched on delicious smelling - and probably just as delicious tasting - snacks.
Now, I could go and grab a bite myself, but that wouldn't help with my hunger in any way. After all, they only way I could get sustenance was by devouring living beings…
But Master just had to go and command me to eat nothing for a month straight.
"Tsk."
I clicked my tongue, throwing jealous glances at the humans and brought a hand to my mouth.
Truthfully, I was barely stopping myself from giving in to the hunger and taking a bite out of the first person to get a little too close.
However, I shuddered to imagine what kind of punishment I would face, were master to find out I disobeyed his words.
For that reason, I held back. Just barely.
There was a purpose to my visit, after all - and the faster I achieved my goal here, the faster I could get the hell out of the painfully crowded town streets.
With those thoughts, I set my sights straight picked up the pace.
People stared.
Almost everyone did, in fact.
No wonder, I s'pose. My clothing is rather unusual, plus the oversized straw hat - unnaturally stuck to my head - is bound to draw curious gazes.
Knowing the 'why' doesn't make it any less annoying, though.
Finding the stares uncomfortable, my steps grew faster still. I walked past the numerous stalls, all inviting me with their smell, and headed for the poorest street I could find.
This town, by the way, was very on the nose in every way, name included.
These Stone Cauldron guys are really obsessed with presentation, huh?
As if to proudly announce their affiliation to stone, the humans of this land built every single house out of dull, gray bricks.
The roofs, the doors - hell, even the random stalls were at least partially built outta rocks.
I couldn't even imagine the amount of effort that must've gone into doing it.
And the worst part? This isn't even the capital.
Absorbed in my inner world, the contents of which were full of insults, I somehow ended up in a shabby alley before I knew it.
Ahh, that's better.
The smell of rot permeated the air, dulling my appetite. At last, I could breathe without losing myself to Voracity, if only temporarily.
That was only part of my reason for going here, by the way - the true purpose was much more depressing.
I shoved both of my hands into my cloak's deep pockets to feel out the coins, of which I had… Seven.
Seven silver coins.
That was it. All of my savings amounted to a week's worth of minimum wage work.
The world is so cruel…
Not that I really cared. Money didn't really do much of anything for me, since I tended to lead a reclusive life most of the time.
"Well, whatever. This shop looks absolutely terrible, right?"
On a particularly run down building, a sign hung on by sheer hopes and prayers, not-so-proudly announcing the building's purpose:
It read - 'Slum's Finest', with the word 'clothes' messily tacked on with long withered paint.
Looks like the perfect place to assemble my disguise.
I unceremoniously slammed the back of my hand into the crumbling door, twice.
*Knock*
*Knock*
However, there was no response. Well, I knew that somebody was inside, even if they were trying to stay under the radar.
*Bang!*
"Heya! Hello? I'm here to spend money~"
Still nothing? Fine, then. I'll go nuclear.
I gave the poor door a sorrowful look, offering a quiet apology for having to cut its already unfortunate life short, and pulled my fist back.
Then, exhaling a deep breath-
"Heup!!"
I swung.
*Squeak*
Just before my fist had the chance to turn the door into a pile of rubble, it let out a dying squeak; a roughed up face appeared from behind it, brimming with irritation.
Oof, that was close…
Somehow, I reacted fast enough to just barely avoid sucker punching the apparent store owner in the face, my fist hovering mere millimeters from their grimy mug.
"What the hell were you planning to do to my cozy house, kid?!"
While the person was busy scowling at me, I began scanning their appearance from head to toe.
This store owner - they were rather androgynous, both in voice and looks. On top of that, I couldn't guess their age, even after rudely staring for several seconds straight.
An old hag? Or a young man in his twenties? No, actually - the hell am I looking at?
"Quit staring."
They spoke with disdain, words even more venomous than those of Kaela. It was almost impressive.
"Haha, right. Sorry, just got lost in thought. Anyways, I'm guessing you're open to customers?"
I scratched the back of my head, feigning awkwardness. Looked rather odd, what with the enormous straw hat.
"…I'm not. Be on your way before I kick you out."
"Aww, how can you be like that? I'm sure you're in need of a trusty customer."
"I said we're closed. Leave!"
Welp, time to deploy the ole' classic. Threats never failed me before, yeah?
Not waiting for my response, they grabbed onto the handle and attempted to shut the door on me - but it didn't budge, my foot firmly stopping it in place.
The storekeeper irritably met my eyes, yet something must've thrown them off, as they quickly averted their gaze.
That was to be expected.
Though Master had taught me to hide the red glimmer in my eyes that sparked whenever Voracity activated, I still couldn't nullify the natural fear induction - only suppress it.
But, that in an of itself was strange.
At this level, only a mundane human should've gotten intimidated from locking eyes with me; but this strange storekeeper didn't seem mundane to me.
Just the fact that I can't guess their age or gender at a glance means sorcery is involved… So why did Voracity's intimidation have an effect on them?
Puzzling as it was, I didn't feel like delving any deeper, as getting tangled with random weirdos never ended well. And so, I chose to return to the topic at hand:
"I think… No, you're definitely open."
"Is that a threat?"
"Mhm? As blatant as it gets. I'm threatening you, my dear storekeeper."
My words were spoken in the friendliest tone imaginable, and accompanied by a peace sign to top it off.
"Fine… But make it quick. I'm busy as is."
Through ground teeth, they complied.
"See? How easy was that?"
"Tsk, get on with it already!"
"Yep, yep. Don't ya worry~"
I strolled inside the dimly lit store with a dismissive wave of my hand.
In the back of my mind, though, I'd already began to piece the picture together:
To test my theory, I recalled the storekeeper's face.
Or rather, attempted to recall it. But that was the thing - I couldn't remember how they looked, now matter how much I racked my brain.
Heh. I think I get what's going on here.
Of course they chose such a secluded, rundown part of the town to settle in; it was bound to receive little to no attention from Stone Cauldron's powerful individuals, and no mundane human would've noticed the strange incongruity, brushing the storekeeper off as somebody unremarkable enough to forget their face.
The storekeeper's unusual lack of identifiable traits, combined with the extreme wariness for me in particular.
They are suspicious of me, that's for sure.
Thinking back on the exchange I'd just had with them - all the while picking out some clothing and accessories that could do the trick - a self deprecating smile naturally formed on my lips.
If my assumption was correct, then they weren't scared of me in the first place; rather, it was a masterful act, all in an effort to appear mundane.
I've been tricked, eh?
Naturally, I din't show any of my thoughts outwardly, keeping my eyes glued on the clothes.
Im only here to do some shopping for now, so I'll just leave it at that, but…
Yeah, it might be worth coming back here on a full stomach.
Rennie, during our years spent together, had taught me quite a lot about sorcery. For that reason, I knew right away - this seemingly innocuous person was a sorcerer of incredible level.
High enough, even, to spot Voracity's influence.
Oh, but I should also bring Rennie over when I next visit - I'm sure she'll be ecstatic to have a new slave… Uh, a new underling to help with her research.
I picked up the final piece of my amazing disguise, if I do say so myself, and fairly paid for it all.
The storekeeper gave my items of choice a weird look but didn't say anything more, clearly dying to shoo me away.
Well, I'm also not in the mood to stay in a human settlement any longer than necessary.
With those thoughts, I briskly left the building behind, giggling with gleeful excitement all throughout.
The coming month was promising to be a fun one:
An epic escape from Master's sadistic training, a reunion with Rennie, and a tournament against a load of powerful opponents under the disguise of an up-and-coming star.
"Hehehehe! So many fun events ahead."
I felt like nothing could ruin my perfect mood.
…Anyways, you already know how it goes - as per usual, shit hit the fan.
***
I stared at the dark figure in front of me in horror, sweat tingling at my cheeks.
That impenetrably dark cloak, combined with a hood that somehow masked the wielder's face in shadows even under direct sunlight.
Without a doubt, it was the uniform of my Master's organization - the Black Lake Healers.
Right, makes sense…
Except it doesn't!
What is a Black Lake Healer doing in the here, middle of Stone Cauldron's reconnaissance camp?!