“…”

‘What do I tell him, Grandpa?’

The man’s gaze was neutral, but it was still fear-inducing. I didn’t know what to say, which belatedly made me realise I was still inexperienced with human interactions.

‘Keep quiet. We’ll figure it out as we go.’

“Usually, I’d get offended if one used [Identify] on me without permission, but looking at your condition…”

The man gave me an up-and-down sweep with his eyes. 

Somani was still bloodied and looked as if he had been back from war. The boy had become unsensitised to his dirtiness. It had come across me to clean him, but the water bucket had run out, so I decided to put it off until we reached the city. That was a mistake; humans were more sensitive to dirtiness than animals.

“I’ll let it pass. I’m actually more surprised that you have the [Identify] skill. How did you get it?”

‘Through scanning objects using microscopic vision.’

‘Should I say that?’

‘No, no. I… I was just thinking aloud.’

The man waited for my answer. Not getting one, he rolled his eyes.

“At least tell me your name, kid.”

Before I could give permission, Somani answered.

“S-somai.”

The man frowned. He approached me and croached down until his eyes were level with mine.

“A southerner accent… A republic’s name, eh, kid?” The man asked, his voice low, but grave.

“I-I!” Somani wanted to shout, but a hand to the mouth quickly silenced him.

“Look, Somani. I don’t know how you escaped enslavment, but if anyone finds out… you’ll be killed. I’ll help you, but you’ll have to listen to me. Now, I’m going to remove my hand from your mouth, so don’t shout.”

The man looked at Somani’s watering eyes, waiting for confirmation.

‘Grandpa!’

‘Do as he tells you.’

I could probably escape and survive by scavenging the wilderness for food, but I had chosen a human as my new host for their knowledge, and to get that knowledge, I had to learn how to interact with them. 

This Mana Blade man looked… dangerous, but from what I had learned of empire people, they despised republicans, so not killing me at first sight was in and of itself good. Plus, if he wanted to help, for whatever reason, I had no better choice than to accept.

Some humans seem to be… different. He might be like the kid’s elder—helpful without any apparent reason.

Somani nodded weakly before the man slipped his hand and gave him a nod back.

“Follow me, kid.”

We walked behind the man, keeping a short distance between us.

“A-are you really going to help me, Uncle?” Somani asked without my permission.

“Although your accent isn’t a dead giveaway, I’d prefer if you didn’t talk, and you can call me Hambara.”

The man answered without stopping.

His legs were long, and his strides longer, making Somani struggle to keep up.

Getting closer to the huge bridge that crossed the moat, I saw the gate. It was made of metal and stood at twenty times the height of the boy. It was wide open.

People and their belongings waited in lines, getting inspected by heavily armoured guards before entering.

The bridge felt steady under us, but was a bit cramped.

I heard the sound of swishing water. Looking down, the water was brown, smelled terrible, and had strong currents.

Hambara ignored the middle and left lines, which seemed to be grouped in a certain order. He stood at the back of a small one to the right. Here, men wore armour and held different weapons.

‘Adventurers’… Somani’s thoughts were full of excitement.

The adventurers mostly wore leather armour. Some held wide swords, others had weird boxes strapped to their sides that glowed with different colours. Some held bows made of… glass? Others had their chest bare, showing their battle scars proudly.

‘Adventurers? What are those?’

‘Some of them used to sell monster meat to my father. They were cool and strong. I used to want to become one before… the war.’

I made a deeper thought, not wanting the kid to hear me. Is this the same war Kamos died in?

My thoughts were cut short as Hambara turned to face me. He whispered something in my ear.

“Kid, you’re now Stello. Am I clear?” 

“W-what?”

“If anyone asks for your name, it’s Stello. Understood?”

‘Say yes, Somani.’

“Yes.”

Soon, we reached the guards standing at our section of the gate.

“Back early, huh, Hambara?” A guard wearing plate armour that covered him from head to toe, leaving only a small slit for his purple eyes, asked Mana Blade.

I didn’t use [Identify], having learnt my lesson.

“None of your business, Coloom.”

Hambara handed the man a silver card that had swirling lines on it. I felt some Mana coming off it.

Coloom snickered as he took the card. He didn’t seem offended. Putting a weird cone-shaped metal device on the card, it glowed red before giving a tinge sound.

“All clear. You can pass.”

Hambara snorted, but before we could pass the man…

“By the way, is this slave recorded?”

My heart dropped.

“No, I bought him from a random merchant.”

Hambara held my hand, not waiting for the man’s answer; he dragged me inside.

“Then you should put a collar on his neck!” The guard shouted after us.

The city was… overwhelming.

Lining the brick-paved wide road, vendors shouted their wares. From spices, perfumes, food, and handicrafts, you could find anything.

The place was brimming with people of different shapes; there were also many slaves. Somani struggled to keep up with Hambara. He would’ve lost him if the man wasn’t basically dragging him.

Taking a side street after being harassed by countless vendors, we walked for a few paces before taking another turn, then another and another.

It was a maze of winding paths. Some were wide, had carriages, and stores; others barely fit two people walking side by side. Everywhere we went, black stones made up everything, giving the place a gloomy and plain look. Although through my peripheral vision, I saw inside the walls, which were fancier than outside, with some having central courtyards and fountains.

We came into a small plaza that had wide wooden doors at its end. After greeting a guard, we passed. As we walked here, I noticed there were fewer businesses. Hambara got greeted by a few passing or sitting men—no one paid me any attention.

Passing a place that had a man cutting hair, we stopped in front of a simple wooden door reinforced with two metal slabs.

Hambara took out his keys and opened the doors with a twist.

Inside, it was simple. After a short corridor, we came to the living quarters that had simple wooden furniture, a chimney, and were only illuminated by a window in the ceiling. There were two other rooms. One led to a food storage room; another to a bedroom with a large chest and an untidy floor bed.

“Don’t shit on my floor, kid. As a matter of fact, don’t touch anything. When I come back from the guild, I’ll take you to the bathrooms, then we can talk. Again, don’t touch anything, am I clear?”

Somani nodded.

***

Somani stood there, doing nothing. It had been a while since Hambara had left, and I was still thinking of what had happened.

Should we escape? I thought, reconsidering my earlier choice.

The hard part of entering the city had been done, but I now knew that I had no hope of achieving anything without help. The winding paths, the guards, and the business; it was complex.

Hambara had found out that I was a foreigner from my accent and name; things I hadn’t realised were different until now. There were many things that I didn’t know, which meant a lot of trouble could find me without even knowing how.

Hambara could’ve killed me from outside the walls; He didn’t need to get me into his abode to do that. But why is helping me? What does he want?

I knew that if push came to shove, I could at least escape, probably.

‘…Grandpa.’

‘Hmm. What is it, Somani?’

The boy seemed to hesitate before answering.

‘C-can we go and find my mother?’

Yes, but not now. I lied. The boy belonged to me now, and me only.

An idea crossed my mind: a way to get me to train both of my hosts’ skills at the same time.

‘We’ll only see your mother after we become strong. You’ll have to train hard so that we can kill the magus and save your mother.’

The boy nodded, determination burning in his eyes.

***

After Hambara came back, he gave me a few pieces of bread from his food storage, then took me to the bazar. We bought a pair of green linen shirts and brown pants. They were thick, and combined with a leather jacket and boots, they’d keep the creeping cold away.

I didn’t put them on immediately; we had another destination first.

Another bland dark wall, but inside…

Under a high dome with mosaics of men fighting disfigured beasts was the reception, a circular sitting place in front of wooden closets for your clothes and belongings.

We were given white towels, a green soap bar, and a sponge. We were asked to rinse alone in small rooms. 

Hambara joined me.

“Nice scar, kid.”

These were Hambara’s first words since haggling with the merchant for the clothes; it cost him five silver coins.

Somani looked down at his stomach—the place where he was impaled. It had completely healed, but the skin had a pink colour to it.

“Healed by a healer, eh? Your parents must have had the shining yellows if you had a healer, and knew how to acquire [Identify], too.” 

Don’t answer.

And Somani didn’t. He just looked at the man meekly. 

Hambara shook his head. He sighed before starting to scrub my skin hard.

Somani didn’t like the rough texture of the sponge on his nude body, but I loved it

Through magnification, I could see how the dead cells were rubbed off, letting the live ones below them breathe.

A cold bucket to get rid of the foam later, and we got out of the small shower area, walking into a larger vault, where men, wearing only towels, were lying around.

I had been getting cold, but hot steam filled the area here, giving me much-needed warmth.

A sudden slap to my naked back made me almost fall onto my face.

“Straighten your back, kid.” 

Hambara had a proud smile on his face. Looking at my back, five red fingers could be seen.

“Y-yes, Uncle.”

“Hambara. I told you to call me Hambara.”

In the steamy area, we got a beat down that could pass for a massage if you were like me and had a high level of pain tolerance. The massage was combined with another scrub that made even more dead cells fall.

After that, we went back to the reception, where we were served cold drinks and fruits.

Somani asked for the bathroom and answered his call of nature in a hole in the ground.

“T-thanks, Uncle Hambara,” Somai said.

Hambara gave him a small smile.

“Finally talking, eh, kid? Well, if you really want to thank me, I want you to answer some questions. What do you say?”

‘Don’t answer his question, Somani.’

‘But Grandpa… He’s been so nice and good to me.’

Hm… If we don’t answer, he might get suspicious.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll take control.’

“Of course, Hambara,” I answered personally.

The man, weirdly, didn’t ask anything immediately. For some reason, he frowned.

Did he notice me taking control? No, that’s impossible.

“How did you escape enslavement, kid?”

This is going to be hard.

I tried to think of a valid answer that would sound reasonable.

“My chains broke, and I escaped,” was the best I could come up with.

“Ha! Either you’re lying, which is the case, or the army has dropped to such lows. Kid…” Hambara's gaze turned icy cold. “The thing I hate most is lying. If you don’t want to answer, I won’t force you. But no lying!”

He slammed the table in front of us, making his juice fall to the ground.

How did… I’m really bad at human interactions.

I didn’t know how to lie, so I only had one option left—the truth. But I wasn’t going to share everything.

“I used a skill.”

That seemed to catch Hambara’s attention.

“A skill, eh?” He stroked his chin. “Care to share?”

I shook my head.

“Fine by me, but like I said, no lying. My second question. Are your parents important people?”

I shook my head again.

“Yes or no?”

“I don’t want to share.”

Hambara frowned, but didn’t press me.

“Still not chatty, eh? Anyways. The last question. What are you going to do now?”

This time, I didn’t lie, nor did I have the intention to do so.

“I want knowledge,” I spoke with more intensity than intended.

“Knowledge… What kind of knowledge are we speaking of, kiddo?”

“I want knowledge to deceive, grow stronger, and…”

Exact my revenge, and increase my all!

“And what?”

“Protect my mother and go back home.”

This time, Somani answered.

Our goals were clear, and we would try to achieve them.