“Shit… So, that’s why...”

“Hm? Are you alright, sir?”

“Oh, uh... it’s nothing, Claris.”

Ajax is currently walking along the sidewalk of this foreign city with Claris beside him.

There are very few streetlights, even though it’s the middle of the night in this city. As he walks along the street, which is a single lane road not fit for heavy vehicle traffic, he notices that at the end of this block there is a single pole with a crystal emitting light.

While he’s been walking with Claris, Ajax has also been listening in to the interrogation that Shaula has subjected the scumbag Dirn to, making effective use of his superhuman hearing. Now, he understands the reason why that man had tried to kill Claris.

A fire burns in his chest as he feels anger towards the vile person with Shaula right now.

Sigh...

Ajax lets go of his anger. He listens in to Dirn begging for his life.

A son. The kid is better off without this shithead for a father… Is Shaula… going to… 

Gasp.

“Sir? Are you alright?”

“N-No, it’s… it’s nothing.”

Ajax hears it. The moment of Dirn’s fiery death. He isn’t surprised that Shaula has taken such an action. Ajax is uncertain if he would have been able to kill Dirn but... he would have at least taken an arm and a leg, just like the bandits…

Those bandits… No, not again, forget them…

Ajax smells the burning of Dirn’s flesh… A somewhat familiar stench like burnt pork, turning to the scent of burning charcoal.

Ajax comes closer to the street light with Claris. He looks closely at the light and sees that… it isn’t a light bulb. Actually, Ajax hasn’t seen any kind of wiring or anything electrical as he’s walked through this area, so of course it isn’t a lightbulb.

But, the light isn't a fire either. It’s… a rock, a glowing crystal. Ajax stops beside it to examine it a bit closer.

“Claris? This streetlight here... What’s that light made of?”

“Huh? The light?”

“Yeah, I’ve never seen this kind of… glowing rock thing before.”

“You haven’t? I’ve seen lights like this all the time in Linis… Um, I don’t exactly know what it’s made of though, a kind of magic crystal or something? It’s charged with special mana… Sorry, I’m not very knowledgeable on these things…”

Claris lowers her head with a slight air of defeat. Couldn’t she offer something to this man, this man who saved her? At least something small like information about the streetlights… Ajax notices her face.

Aw...

“O-Oh, d-don’t worry about it! It’s just something I was slightly curious about, no need to--”

“Um, sir… I-I wanted to ask...”

Claris has walked with Ajax without saying a single word except when her saviour speaks first. She wishes to be respectful to her saviour. But, she does wish to know…

“Why did you save me, sir?”

“Why? Is it odd to help a stranger in their time of need?”

“N-No, it’s n-not but… that’s something that’s normally kept between members of the same race, at least… at least in this city…”

“Really… So that’s how it’s like here? Well, where I’m from, members of different races live together as equals. It… might be slightly different than here s-since the distinction between races is... less obvious, I guess, b-but it’s the work of the good Samaritan to save another in need regardless of their race or any other ‘identifier’ or whatever.”

“...‘Good Samaritan’? I’ve never heard of that, what’s that?”

“Oh, I guess, hm… You don’t have that story here, probably. Well, it’s a parable about a man who’s lying half dead in the street and three people pass him by without stopping to help him. He’s only helped when a Samaritan shows up, the ‘good samaritan’. At least, I think that’s how it goes...”

“What’s a ‘Samaritan’ then?”

“Oh, that’s… Well, it’s an old race of people who lived i-in… well, probably somewhere you’ve never heard of; e-even I don’t have a good memory of it!”

Ajax feels slight anxiety at trying to explain things about his original world. His ability to communicate with idioms is severely damaged, since all of his idioms refer to things known in his home world.

Would ‘hit a home run’ make any sense? ‘Jesus Christ’? ‘Hit the brakes’? ‘It’s raining cats and dogs’?

Are there cats and dogs here? Shaula found the cute and friendly raptors and all, so it’s not like she thinks about dogs a lot here but…

 “Hm. Actually, Claris, you know, I’ve met these really friendly animals in the woods outside the city but I don’t know what they’re called. Do you think you might know?”

“Uh… Maybe?”

Claris is confused at the very sudden topic change. She can tell that Ajax is a bit nervous though, so she doesn’t think too hard about it.

“Ok, well, they’re large, they have sort of white feathers, they stand on their hind legs, they have long jaws and pretty sharp teeth… um, they--”

“Oh! Do you mean land dragons!? Are you alright!?”

“Huh? Y-Yes I’m fine. What’s--”

“Sir, you have to be very careful!! Land dragons are very aggressive creatures! I’ve heard that they hunt in packs and can sometimes even take down merchant carriages!”

“R-Really? The ones we met were friendly though! Shaula and I saw a lot of them and none of them ever harmed us! Their feathers are really soft and fluffy.”

Claris looks at Ajax with large eyes, wide with amazement and fear. Perhaps the kind of anxiety you might have when you hear of someone being so close to the edge of death but avoiding it and even speaking fondly of it in its aftermath…

“U-Um, just who are you, sir?”

“Well, we’re just people who came from out of town. Uh… Oh! By the way Claris, you don’t have to call me, sir, just call me, Ajax.”

Ajax smiles benevolently at Claris. Claris feels the warmth of his expression. No ulterior motives. He doesn’t even seem to be after her body…

“S-Sure, A-Ajax, sorry about that...”

“Don’t apologize. But Claris, are you going to be ok? What will you do now?”

“I’m… I’m going to talk to Inalim, he’s sure to know what’s going on… I’ll have to report to him that Dirn just tried to kill me… He’ll know what to do.”

“Ok… Who’s Inalim?”

“Oh, well… Well, Dirn mentioned it quite loudly but, I am, in fact, a prostitute. Inalim is the one who protects me and makes sure the men pay me properly.”

“So...”

Ajax remembers. Dirn had mentioned a pimp while Shaula was interrogating him. Ajax’s smile slowly fades as he realizes that Claris is talking about returning to the pimp who… put a hit out on her…

“Ajax, are… are you ashamed of me selling my body? Are you… Are you sure you wanted to save someone like me?”

Claris, who noticed Ajax’s smile vanish, asks this self-deprecating question. Ajax himself feels the sadness in her voice. In truth, Ajax has never really put any deep thought into the world’s oldest profession or of its moral nature.

It doesn’t seem so questionable to him to make money this way and he wouldn’t really care one way or another if someone he knew were a prostitute.

But, regardless of all that, he isn’t ashamed to save someone from a certain death.

“Yes, Claris. It doesn’t matter to me what you do for a living. It’s your body and your life. I’m glad I saved you; you, at the very least, deserved to live in this world more than that scumbag.”

“...Thank you, Ajax.”

“Also… Are you sure you want to go to Inalim?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Claris looks over at Ajax in confusion.

“Claris… Shaula just interrogated him and Dirn said… that your ‘pimp’ was the one who ordered him to kill you. Is that Inalim? If it is...”

Claris looks at Ajax with a look of… desperation. Her eyes tremble.

“...What? That’s… that’s impossible! Inalim w-would never do that to me! H-He wouldn’t...”

“Claris, that’s what I heard...”

“H-How could you hear something like that? You were walking with me the entire time! You couldn’t have heard what Dirn said from here!”

“Well, it may be hard to believe but me and that woman Shaula… we both have some… abilities that normal people don’t have, at least, I would think normal people can’t do what we do.”

“N-No! You’re lying! Inalim… He isn’t… he isn’t capable of that! E-Even if he were to try something like that then… then Plenty would stop him! Sh-She wouldn’t let something like that happen!”

Claris slowly backs away from Ajax as her face shows a desperate anxiety.

Ajax can only guess that Claris trusts Inalim deeply. It even looks like there is something more to their relationship than just the ties of business and protection between a ‘procurer’ and his ‘escort’.

“Claris, please listen to me! I just want to help you!”

“Y-You’ve done that already, so… I’m going to Inalim… D-Don’t follow me please, Ajax!”

Claris runs from Ajax into the darkness of the slum streets. Ajax sighs.

“So… are you going to let her go? She did tell you she wanted to handle it herself, right?”

“Well… I don’t think I can. Someone like her… she seems like someone taken advantage of over and over… We… We can just track her to the pimp, right? I remember her scent. I-If something goes wrong, we can intervene, right? Just that much should be fine, right?”

“I… I know you heard me kill him, Ajax… In this place… something like that might happen again. By either me or… you.”

“...I know, Shaula.”

Shaula walks beside Ajax. She has heard his conversation with Claris, at least the last part of it, and reunited with Ajax right when Claris ran away.

Shaula wanted to see what Claris would do from a distance. She didn’t really want to interact with her.

“But still… I can’t just… I can’t just let her die… And if we do nothing, I can’t see an outcome where she lives through the night. Are… Are you alright helping me out?”

“As if you even need to ask, moron. Let’s go.”

~

A small room with a wooden floor, lit by candlelight. Starshine seeps through a glass window. A man and two women stand in conversation.

“Master! Do you know where Claris is? It’s been hours since she checked in with me! She never stays out on the streets this late!”

One of the two women has a desperate expression. A beautiful woman wearing a long-sleeved green dress. She has yellow eyes and pink hair; her ears are on the top of her head like those of a fox. Not that foxes exist in this world.

“Hm. I’m afraid I don’t know, Hila. Where did you see her last?”

The man in the room replies. A man with black hair, slicked back and wearing a dark-red gentleman’s vest over a slightly baggy dress shirt, with black pants to complete his outfit.

His expression is focused on Hila, the pink haired beastkin.

“I… I think I saw her with Dirn last. She didn’t seem like… no, nevermind. But, I think she was with Dirn. Where is he tonight?”

“I sent him on an assignment to my uncle. He might not return until morning I’m afraid.”

“Hila, are you sure there’s anything to worry about? Does… Does Claris always tell you her whereabouts?”

“N-No, she doesn’t, Plenty, but… but I thought you let her stop going out there, master… so I don’t think she was with anyone the whole night...”

Hila replies to the other woman in the room, named Plenty. A beautiful woman with sharp eyes, curly, dark-blue hair and fox ears on the top of her head.

She is wearing a long-sleeved, magenta dress with a partially white skirt. Her sleeves are narrow at the upper arms and wide at her forearms.

Plenty looks at Hila with a friendly expression. Plenty is a… friend, perhaps… Hila doesn’t truly trust her but she isn’t confident enough to confront her strict manner.

She is somewhat like a strict mother compared to the man, named Inalim.

Meanwhile, Inalim… Hila thinks Inalim is a good person. Compared to Inalim’s uncle who took care of Hila before, Inalim is not as violent or foul-natured. Even when Inalim disciplines his girls, he always apologizes and takes responsibility for it.

He never hits them so hard they’ll bruise and he never strikes their faces. He’s always sorry he has to use such methods especially if he hurts them in anger. He cares for them… That’s why Hila and Claris love Inalim.

Inalim even allowed Claris to stop selling herself. He offered to let her stay with his other girls in the meantime while he decided what she would do next to pay off her debt.

“I-I think I’m going to go look for her tonight. Can I cancel my--”

“No, you may not, Hila. Our clients expect service and don’t handle cancellations well. Don’t speak such--”

“Plenty...”

“I’m sorry, master, but I think it would be unwise to make such a fuss about this, I’m sure that Claris is fine. She can take care of herself.”

“Yes, but Hila wants to search for Claris, we should know if Claris is safe, right? Losing clients is something I don’t want but… Even if we lose clients, losing one of our girls is--”

“M-Master, wait! Master, it’s… it’s alright. I apologize for trying to make such a big deal about it. I wouldn’t want you to lose any customers tonight...”

“...Are you sure, Hila?”

“Y-Yes, I’m sure that she’s… she’s probably alri--”

Suddenly, the door to the room opens. A woman enters.

“Claris! Where have you been, Claris!”

Hila runs towards the person who entered the room, Claris, and embraces her tightly. Claris hugs Hila back with a smile on her face.

Inalim looks… perplexed. Plenty’s expression doesn’t betray any of her true feelings at seeing Claris right now.

“Claris, where were you? I-I didn’t know where… What happened to your neck!? Are you alright!?”

Hila notices bruises on Claris’ neck.

“I-I was almost killed by Dirn, Hila. He… He didn’t tell me why he did it… He held me down and fucked me and then… tried to kill me...”

Claris starts tearing up as she remembers the sensation on her neck… and the feeling of her accepting her death.

“D-Dirn did that? Claris, how did you get away from him? Where is he now?”

Plenty asks Claris this question. Her normally narrow and sharp eyes are wide currently. Hila is also showing surprise at Claris’ revelation. Dirn is Inalim’s trusted guard; he would never do anything so heinous. He always seemed solemn and good natured.

Hila does remember Dirn using her to satisfy his lust a few times, but he wasn’t too violent. Sometimes, he insulted her beastkin ancestry, but that was typical of all of the humans who paid for Hila. She didn’t expect Dirn to go as far as to try and kill Claris…

“Claris, how did you escape from Dirn? Where is he?”

“I-I don’t know, Master Inalim. He w-was… about to kill me when… two people stopped him.”

“Who? How did they stop him?”

“The two of them were human and I think their names were Ajax and Shaula. The woman, Shaula, is incredibly strong. She held him off long enough to allow me to escape with the man, Ajax.”

“What happened to them then? Who would be foolish enough to confront Dirn?”

“The woman said that she wanted to interrogate Dirn. She… didn’t show any fear towards him. She and the man, as well, were… human.”

“What!? Humans would save you from Dirn?”

Plenty interjects in shock. Suddenly, she realizes something. Claris notices her face.

“Hila, would you leave the room, Inalim and I need to speak to Claris alone right now about Dirn.”

“O-Oh, a-alright, I’ll be right outside in the hallway.”

“No, Hila, the master and I would prefer if you could get to your clients now.”

“The next one I’m supposed to see doesn’t show up for some time, I can still--”

“Actually, Plenty… would you mind if Hila stays in the room?”

Claris looks over at Inalim. She sees the expression on his face. One of… impatience. Claris was just saved by Ajax and although she doesn’t believe him about Inalim, her master’s intentions, she… cannot shake what he said.

Could… Could Ajax have been making things up? Why would he do that? Even though most humans she’s met have not had good intentions, there are good ones like Inalim.

Perhaps, Claris would feel more comfortable if Hila were here with her. Hila is, after all, her best friend in this entire world.

“No, Claris. Hila, I’m afraid you need to leave right now.”

Inalim interjects with an expression of irritation, as lines appear on his forehead.

“Um, master...”

Hila looks over at Claris. Claris is in anxiety currently. She was just almost strangled to death. Hila doesn’t want to leave her alone.

“...master, I think it would be best for Claris if I were to stay with her. She seems traumatized by what happened to her and--”

Smack!

“M-Master!”

Inalim strikes Hila with the back of his right hand. He is wearing a ring right now which adds to the pain of the strike. Hila falls to the floor and holds her right cheek as it throbs in pain.

Then… Inalim’s face turns upset and remorseful at what he has done. He kneels to Hila and strokes her right cheek with his left hand. He pets Hila’s head and strokes her hair and fluffy ears.

“I’m sorry, Hila. I just… I just got upset because I want to talk to Claris alone. I didn’t mean to strike you so hard… Are you alright?”

“Y-Yes, master, I’m fine… Is… Is your hand ok?”

“My hand?”

Hila asks whether the hand that Inalim struck her with is in pain. Such is the nature of their relationship.

“Yes, my hand is fine, Hila. So, will you leave now? Leave the building as well, would you? We don’t want you to be late for your next client, right?”

“...Ok, master Inalim.”

Claris looks at the two of them. Her suspicions grow from Inalim’s erratic actions. Inalim does get angry but… did Hila do anything right now to set him off like that?

Claris still doesn’t believe that Ajax could be right… He can’t be right, of course, because Inalim is such a loving man… Even now when he struck Hila, he apologized right afterwards!

A human apologizing to a beastkin? Such a thing is rare among procurers, something that Claris’ ancestors must never have heard at all from any human!

The only man that Claris has ever truly learned to trust.

And yet… the thought lingers… Would… would Inalim have…

Hila rises to her feet and enters the doorway. She looks at Claris as the door shuts closed with slightly fearful eyes. Inalim locks the door behind him so no one may enter.

“Now then… Claris… What are we going to do with you?”

Huh?

Claris sees Inalim’s face change from its smile to a cold expression. His voice betrays his lack of interest as well. An indifferent voice…

“Sigh… so… Dirn failed...”

Plenty speaks. Claris looks over at her.

What… What did she just…

“It seems so, yes… Something so simple… Incompetent… no wonder uncle Brai pushed him down to me… fucking useless!”

“Wh-What do you--”

“Forget it, Claris… It doesn’t matter.”

Inalim walks over to Claris. Slowly. His hard shoes echo even in this small room. Or perhaps Claris is hearing the piercing noise of his footsteps because of how much she… how much she fears him right now.

Her eyes narrow. Inalim raises his right hand to… she doesn’t know actually because she’s focused on his left hand which is currently holding a knife.

She feels the pace of reality slow to a crawl. Claris… is a fool… and she will die a f--

Knock knock!

Inalim stops moving towards Claris.

“...Is that Hila? Sigh… Can’t she follow a single--”

Bang!

Suddenly, the wooden door to the room is smashed through. Splinters fly across the room. Inalim and Plenty walk backwards from the door towards the window. Claris doesn’t know who it--

Ah… So… Is this who I can trust now… Can I believe in you now? Can I, Ajax?

“Claris. Are you ok?”

Into the room walks a young man with a concerned expression. He walks over to where Claris is, looking for any cuts or wounds on her face and neck as well as any blood coming from her body.

“I-I’m fine, Ajax! I’m fine!”

“Ajax, she’s fine. Leave her alone. At least now, she knows that this guy is trying to kill her. Do you see it now, Claris?”

Before Claris now stands Ajax and Shaula. The two who saved her twice from a certain and meaningless death.