The walls of the inn room felt smaller with each passing hour.
For days, he had done nothing but eat, sleep, and polish the gauntlets out of habit. Rest was necessary—his body demanded it after the brutal fight with the guardian beast—but now rest had turned into restlessness.
He leaned back in the wooden chair, staring at the ceiling.
"…Bored."
"I told you," the gauntlets snickered in his mind. "An assassin with no contract is just a man waiting to rust. Go outside. Break something."
He ignored the jab, but the idea wasn't wrong.
So, for the first time since arriving in the city, he stepped out not as a hunter or assassin, but as a man with time to waste.
The city was loud. Merchants shouted their prices, the smell of roasted meat wafted from food stalls, children darted between carriages, and performers juggled in the streets. For a man who lived in shadows, the noise was strange—almost overwhelming.
Still, he wandered.
He tried food from a skewer vendor, hot and dripping with spice. He paused at a blacksmith's forge, watching the hammer fall rhythmically against glowing steel—something about the sound tugged faintly at his lost memories. He even tested his hand at a street game, tossing darts at a painted board. His aim was unerring; the vendor gawked and shoved him away, muttering about cheaters.
Hours passed. For once, he wasn't fighting, bleeding, or hiding. He was just… living.
But the world has a way of disrupting peace.
"Oi! You again!"
The voice was unmistakable. Turning, he saw Ryn pushing through the crowd, blades clattering at his sides. Behind him, Sera followed with a smirk, while Lena trailed close, smiling as always.
"Shadow," Sera said, hands on her hips. "Didn't think you knew how to walk around in daylight."
"…Coincidence," he muttered.
Ryn barked a laugh. "Don't give me that. You were bored. Admit it."
Lena's eyes softened. "It's good to see you. You look… healthier."
The gauntlets hummed faintly, almost approving. "Three names again. Told you they'd find you."
Against his better judgment, he didn't walk away. Instead, he let himself get swept into their day.
They dragged him to a bakery famous for sweet bread; Sera teased him for eating in silence while Ryn tried to out-eat him and failed miserably. They wandered the marketplace, Lena stopping at every stall with trinkets and charms while Ryn groaned and Sera rolled her eyes. At one point, they passed a group of street performers, and somehow, he was roped into trying knife-throwing at targets. His perfect aim earned cheers—until he vanished back into the crowd to avoid attention.
By sunset, they ended up on the city's outer walls, overlooking the glowing horizon.
"You're not as scary as you look, you know," Sera said, leaning against the stone.
Ryn smirked. "Still scary, though. I like that."
Lena giggled softly. "You fit in better than you think."
He didn't reply. The words stuck in his throat. But as he stared at the sky, tinged with orange and gold, something unfamiliar stirred in his chest.
For once, the gauntlets were quiet. No snide remarks. Just silence—peaceful, almost content.
Maybe, just maybe, bonds didn't always mean weakness.