I stopped walking to button my shirt, my trembling hands and dark sky were not making it easy. I don't know if it was cold or adrenaline, but I couldn't stop my hands from shaking. I didn't feel mentally stable enough to call on the light. Blessing the potions was tiring even though it brought good money. Potions blessed by a demon, I was looking forward to the feedback.

''What's the matter with you? Murder is okay but you're trembling with fear over a shitty letter,'' The fox said.

''I'm not in fear, it's cold,'' I said and it was really cold. It was not a normal cold, it was as if the ice demons had add pain to the cold for everyone else to suffer. Every breath I took was hurting my nose and throat, I could feel pins in my lungs.

At least, the shoemaker did not lie about the boots. They kept my legs pretty warm but my upper body was freezing. The white shirt wasn't hiding erect nipples. After buttoning enough buttons to cover my breasts, I headed to the hostel room I rented.

The town's modest quarters were quiet, but prostitutes' street was awake and alive. It was even more crowded than in the morning. My next-door neighbor, Adele, was waiting in front of the hostel for clients.

She looked at me nervously, ''Girl, I saw the soldier leaving your room. If you are going to do business here, you have to pay taxes. If you want I can introduce you to my pimp,'' she said.

''It wasn't for the money,'' I said.

''I'm sure so,'' Adele said. She didn't seem to believe me. This is probably what all illegal sex workers say that. I frowned and stared at her, it'd be stupid to get in trouble over such a ridiculous thing.

Adele raised her hands over her head as if surrendering. ''Look, I'm not a tattler. Just watch your back,'' She said.

I sighed, ''Sure.'' She probably wouldn't believe me no matter what I said. After all, it was an innocent version of the truth. I hadn't gotten money from Anderson, I had gotten life energy.

''Fox, what exactly do the people I feed on lose?'' I asked as I climbed the stairs.

''Hmm, it depends,'' The fox yawned. ''It depends on how much you steal their life energy. If you are seriously injured or drink too much for some other reason, it's not surprising for them to die,'' It said.

''What about other cases?'' I asked.

''Feeding only once on someone is totally fine. It's like donating a little blood, they share their lives with someone in need. Of course, if he or she is on the deathbed, for example, if he has been poisoned or is very old, it may still be the cause of death,'' The fox explained.

''I see,'' I entered my room and locked the door.

''Furthermore, if you feed on a completely healthy and young person every single day, for instance that sweet nun, you will kill her slowly.'' The fox appeared on the bed. I think it liked to be in physical form.

''That makes sense. You can't donate blood every day,'' I said for a second I didn't know what to do or to say. By the time I got here, I had calmed myself by focusing on the goal of returning to the room.

I put the leather bag on the floor and sat down on the bed. After taking a deep breath, I visualized the system window and looked at the last photo I took. Actually, it wasn't exactly a photo. The system was able to reproduce a moment you saw as a perfect photographic memory, but you had to record it while you lived it.

{Dear En, please meet me and my commanders in the akagac woodland on the next full moon night.

-Captain Kang.}

I took another deep breath and rubbed my forehead. ''Is that all? Was all that stuff just for one sentence?'' Then I read the letter again, En... it couldn't be him, right?

''Is this our famous devout captain?'' The fox appeared on my shoulder.

''I guess he is. Who else will it be? That's all. I quit. I am not a spy. Hiding in the shadows is not for me, it is obvious that I am not successful at spying. I've been struggling for days and I have nothing,'' I said and lay down on the bed.

''As you wish honey,'' the fox said. ''So you go to demon zone?''

''Damn, not yet,'' I read the letter one more time. ''Akagac woodland, I know that place. On the way to the demonic beehive, we passed nearby. Whatever they're hiding in the forest must be there,'' I said.

''Captain and his commanders, something important must be going on. Will you try to infiltrate?'' The fox asked.

''While the captain and his commanders there? Hell no. I'm not suicidal,'' I said.

''What will you do then?''

I patted my chin, ''I'm thinking,'' I said.

''I think you're complaining in vain. I mean, you have to be extremely lucky for them to choose the opposite room to leave the letter. Such knowledge could be the turning point for many spies, and you only got it through luck,'' The fox said.

''It wasn't luck,'' I said. ''At least not entirely by luck. When I was looking for a hotel that was not high end and could ignore and cover things up when necessary but would not end up in the middle of a gang war or someplace robbers couldn't enter freely, that hotel was first on my list. Someone else must have made the same list.''

I bit my lips, who the hell was 'En' that someone important enough that the captain and commanders would meet with face to face? If it was the same person I think of, running away as far as I could be my best option. Ender was the last one I'd ever want to see on the other side.

******

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