The coldness of the winter pierced the bones of land dwellers. The sun was already set, leaving nothing but a sleeping town that appeared to be in its coldest night of the year. It was snowing and no sign of life could be seen except for one building. There, a couple of men were seen quarreling over something in front of that dim-lit building.

"Look! This is why I told you to give her a proper meal!"

"Now you're blaming me for this?"

Beside them, a dirty sack that seemed to contain something was lying around. It was easy to know that someone was inside it, as a bulge that seemed to be a head was protruding clearly from it.

"Ah fuck this! How are we gonna tell the boss then?"

One of the men scratched his head in frustration. His bloodshot eyes reflected his fear and anxiety. On the other side, the other man that seemed to be younger crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"I have an idea…"

"What is it? Don't tell me…"

"..."

The older man looked at him with a dumbfounded face.

"You know what I'm thinking, right?"

"Ugh… Alfred, if the boss finds it, we'll be dead for sure…"

The men looked at each other and gulped their saliva.

"Let's go. We don't have much time."

"..."

Without saying anything, the older man only sighed and approached the sack. He then lifted and carried it on his shoulder while the younger man, Alfred, walked slowly in front of him.

"O' fire. Appear before me."

Alfred clicked his fingers, and almost instantly, a small floating fire around the size of a tennis ball appeared in front of him. He then guided the older man through the cold and dark alley.

"Alfred, can I ask something?"

The older man opened his mouth, resulting in Alfred turning his head while continuing to walk slowly.

"Ask away, old man."

"Why did you join us? With your talent in magic, you could've gotten a better job."

"..."

"As an adventurer for example. Isn't it easier for you to make money that way?"

Alfred continued to walk. After a little bit of time, he turned his head back and replied.

"Listen, old man. I don't like working for other people. I just wanna live the way I want. That's it."

"But you don't have to—"

"Herman! Stop it!"

Alfred yelled as loud as he could, rendering the older man, Herman, speechless. Herman realized he had just stepped on a landmine and could only regret that. With no more converse going, the two of them continued heading on their destination. Not long after, a big canal appeared not far ahead. Seeing that, Alfred smirked and hastened his legs.

“Listen, old man. You go dump that sack along with the girl. She won’t survive and there’ll be no evidence left.”

Hearing Alfred’s command, Herman, once again, voiced his doubt.

“Are you really sure we’re doing this?”

“Just do it. I’ll make up the excuse for the boss. I’ll go back first to make sure if nothing is left.”

Alfred slowly walked back the path the two of them had taken before, leaving Herman with his dubious look on his face. With a tremendous feeling of guilt and anxiety, Herman approached the canal and prepared himself to throw the sack. Just right before he threw it, the girl inside the sack jolted and began to squirm.

“Please, don’t hate me for doing this. If you want to blame something, blame your own fate, girl.”

He threw the sack with all his might, ignoring the guilt that accumulated in his heart. The sack made a loud splashing sound as it made contact with the water surface. Slowly, the sack sank while the girl inside made her final struggle. Bubbles started forming on the surface and Herman, who thought it was okay to leave the place, turned his body and walked away. But then, he heard another splashing sound behind him. He quickly turned his body back again to check.

“Hmm?”

He searched for the source of the sound, yet he spotted nothing.

“Was it just my imagination?”

Herman scratched his head and continued walking towards the opposite direction of the canal. He then entered the dark alley, but he felt like someone was watching him closely. Even though he was working as a smuggler, he really knew that he was a coward. Cold sweat started to ooze from his forehead, albeit it was a cold, snowy night.

“Who’s there!?”

He began to panic, while turning his body left and right. The longer he was there, the scarier it was, that was what he thought at the moment. A moment later, he could feel a presence behind him. Again, he quickly turned his body. And there, a scene that was worthy of a horror movie happened.

In front of him, a scrawny, drenched girl stood like a stone statue. Her rib bones were bulging from her slightly tanned skin, while her golden pupils gleamingly glowed. The girl’s long hair was as dark as the starless night, as snow started to pile up on her head a little. She could be described as outworldly beautiful, if only she was well fed and not malnutritioned. Yes, she held the beauty that would make even queens and princesses of legends open their mouths in envy.

But it wasn’t the case for Herman. He knew her. He knew her too well.

“N-No… Don’t come closer!”

He fell on his butt and crawled backwards, until his back hit the cold and snowy wall behind him. Meanwhile, the girl slowly approached him.

“A-Al… Alfred! Alfred! Help m-ghhhhh!!!”

The girl leaped to him and covered his mouth with her cold hands. Herman struggled and no matter how hard he resisted, he couldn’t muster the strength as he was scared to death.

“... Don’t scream. Just answer my questions.”

The girl spoke in a hoarse voice. Without much to do, Herman only nodded his head frantically. The girl then pulled her arms slowly and opened her mouth.

“Who are you? And where is this?”

Dumbfounded, Herman stared at the girl.

“I-I’m Herman…”

Herman paused for a brief moment.

“This is Agate, the Port City of Vanaris Kingdom…”

Silent.

The girl went silent and only stared at Herman blankly.

“Vanaris… Kingdom?”

“Yes.”

The girl stood up and looked at the sky and there were two moons in the sky. She then started looking at her own body like something was missing. A confusion could be seen on her face. The girl was wearing a dirty rag with holes here and there.

“Why am I alive?”

The girl muttered softly. It was as if she had amnesia and it made Herman more dumbfounded. She slapped her cheeks with both palms and clenched her fists. Gradually, she regained her calm and asked another question.

“What were you doing to me?”

A single question, yet it pierced Herman’s heart. He was about to dispose of her in the canal, but he couldn’t tell the truth. Herman only gazed at the canal behind the girl. Seeing that, the girl turned her head and giggled sinisterly.

“I see… You are the one who threw me there, aren’t you?”

Another heart-piercing question. And once again, Herman couldn’t tell her the truth. A lot of memories started to flash in his mind, starting from when he was young until the last time he had drunk with Alfred. After mustering a little bit of courage left, Herman finally opened his mouth.

“I… We had no choice. You were on the verge of dying and I don’t want the boss to be mad at me.”

“We? So you had another accomplice, then…”

Herman nodded slowly.

“Was that the name you screamed before? What was it again? Alfred?”

The girl placed her hand on her chin, as if she was thinking about something. She then turned her gaze to Herman once more.

“Okay, let’s pretend this didn’t happen, shall we?”

“Eh?”

It was way too suspicious. But that wasn't the case for Herman. He was too scared to even think rationally, and only nodded quickly.

“Come on, get up.”

The girl smiled and extended her hand to help Herman up. He took her hand and with a single pull from her, he was already back up.

“So, here’s the deal.”

The girl stepped backward once and began to speak.

“Would you mind telling me who I am? I seem to have hit my head earlier and can’t remember anything.”

She paused for a moment.

“Just tell me that and I shall never appear in your life ever again.”

Filled with guilt and atonement, Herman could only agree to her. Herman then began to explain about everything he knew, starting from how the smugglers had abducted the girl and branded her as a slave, and fortunately she wasn’t sold since she was considered a defect.

“A defect, huh?”

The girl looked at her body again.

“Yes. In this world, people who aren’t able to use magic are defective. With magic, you can be anything you want, as long as you have the skills. Most of those people became adventurers.”

After hearing his explanation, the girl stared at Herman and asked.

“Adventurers? What kind of job is that?”

“I don’t know the details but mainly adventurers hunt monsters and sell the materials to the adventurer’s guild.”

Herman crossed his arms.

“Rumors said that some adventurers raised themselves into nobility by achieving great feats.”

“I see…”

The girl was seemingly thinking about something until all of sudden she turned her glance towards Herman.

“Uhm… Say, is that man your accomplice?”

She pointed her finger towards the direction behind him. And as gullible as he could be, Herman turned his body back. He then felt like something was snatched from his back pocket and by the time he realized he had just been lied to, it was too late. He looked down and spotted the tip of his dagger that should have been inside his pocket all the time protruding from his left chest.

“Too bad, old man. You fell for this simple trick. Well, at least I can keep my promise that I won’t appear in your life ever again.”

Herman couldn’t muster any strength and fell down, while holding his left chest. The girl then made a strange gesture while smirking eerily. She covered her face with both palms and grinned.

“This is awesome…”

She then looked at Herman’s lifeless body and drooled.

“Well, it’s time to eat.”

Countless black tentacle-like objects appeared from under the girl’s feet and slowly dragged the corpse into her shadow.

“Thanks for the food.”