“So… Onyx…”

“… Yes?”

“Your friend’s a bit of a glutton, isn’t he?”

“… It would appear so.”

It had already been a good while since Hei started feeding the eyeball with spirit roots, and yet there hadn’t been much of a change at all.

If it was said to be dormant at the start, then it was currently asking for five more minutes of sleep.

“I depleted my whole stock, I even dipped into those soul essence things, and what do I have to show for it?”

“…”

Hei sighed.

“I wouldn’t say there hasn’t been any gain, Hei.”

“Oh?”

“The tendrils that were fusing with your body have retreated back into the sphere.”

Hei focused his spiritual perception inward and examined the area around his left eye.

“Ah. You’re right. That should mean I can remove this thing.”

“But if you do that, you’ll be missing an eye.”

“So? It’ll just grow back, won't it?”

“Will it?”

“… I don’t know… It should, right? Why not?”

Tianlan shrugged his shoulders.

“I suppose if your healing ability isn’t enough on its own, there are probably miraculous medicines that would be able to recover your eye. But none of that is guaranteed, right? Why don’t you just keep it? Isn’t it a powerful artefact?”

Hei shook his head.

“I can’t keep it.”

““Why not?””

Tianlan and Onyx asked that question at the same time.

Hei raised his hand to the bridge of his nose and adjusted the pair of glasses that appeared there.

“It’s all according to keikaku.”

He stood up and dusted himself off as he turned to Tianlan.

“Where’s the boy? What happened to him?”

“I left him over there. He lost consciousness before I got to him.”

“So he didn’t see what happened?”

“He might have caught a glimpse, but he probably didn’t see anything detailed.”

“Excellent.”

Hei grabbed Onyx and tossed him back into his storage space before heading off in the direction Tianlan had pointed out.

“Uh… Hei?”

“Come, Tianlan. It’s time to execute the rest of the plan.”

“Plan? What plan?”

***

Everywhere hurt.

That was the first thing that came to mind as Shin Mu began to regain his consciousness.

The pain was mostly concentrated at his stomach which had remained empty for several days now, but it was radiating outward, covering just about every inch of his body.

As he moved his head, he felt the rough surface of the floor scratching against his face.

He opened his eyes, only to be blinded by the light, causing him to cover them with his hand.

“Hm?”

That was when he noticed the warmth that was radiating toward him and the crackling sounds of wood as it burned.

He had somehow found himself next to a fire.

He raised his sluggish body from the ground, managing to sit himself upright, and as he rubbed his eyes with his forearm, he let out a careless query.

“Where am I?”

What he didn’t expect, was that he would get a response.

“So you’ve decided to stick around a little longer then?”

Shin Mu slowly lowered his arm, and as his vision adjusted to the orange glow of the fire, he saw that he wasn’t alone. Within the cave-like environment, he was together with two other people.

“Good morning,” said the shorter one who was seated on a log by the fire.

“It's not morning yet, Hei,” said the other, who was stirring a pot over the flames.

Shin Mu observed the scene in silence.

“What? Is there something on my face?” said the shorter one.

“…”

There was something on his face. A black eye patch emblazoned with a golden character “Shao”.

And that wasn’t the only thing. He had skin darker than any tan would give and had his hair woven into braids, a style Shin Mu hadn’t seen before.

Covering his rather small frame was a black suit and tie combo with a dark purple shirt underneath. His feet protected by black leather boots.

On top of the suit, he wore a black long-coat with golden accents along the seams. His fingers had golden rings to match.

Seated beside him was a taller boy who, as far as Shin Mu was concerned, had a more normal appearance. He was similarly dressed but wore a dark blue shirt instead of purple and allowed his long black hair to flow freely.

That said, he had his own striking feature: eyes that resembled a clear blue sky.

Surrounding those eyes, was a face so aesthetically pleasing that it caused Shin Mu to acknowledge his inferiority.

Handsome and pretty. Somehow, both words seemed to fit perfectly. It even caused Shin Mu to have the unsettling thought that this young man was even more beautiful than the princesses of the local clans.

“… Not very talkative, are you?” said the shorter one as he stoked the fire.

Once he was done, he raised his hand into the air, and in the next moment, a roll of bread materialised above his hand and fell into his palm.

Shin Mu’s eyes opened wide and he absentmindedly spoke out loud.

“Are all of those... spatial rings?”

The shorter one chuckled.

“So, you can speak.”

“…”

The shorter one shrugged his shoulder and summoned a knife, which he used to cut the bread open. He then held the bread out toward the taller one who poured a ladle of what was in the pot onto the bread.

“Here.”

He tossed the bread into the air, almost causing Shin Mu to fail to react in time.

He looked down at the bread in his hands and watched as the steam rose up, carrying the aroma into his nose.

The fragrance caused him to swallow a mouthful of saliva.

“It tastes even better than it smells, you know?”

Shin Mu was pulled out of his trance when the shorter one spoke again. That was when he realised what he had in his hands.

It caused tears to well up in his eyes.

“There’s no need to cry. It’s just some food.”

Shin Mu wiped his tears away, then stood to his feet and walked around the fire until he was beside the shorter one.

“Thank you, but I can’t eat this.”

“Oh? Are you allergic to bread?”

“No. It’s just…”

Shin Mu handed the bread back to the shorter one and turned toward the entrance of the cave.

“I told you it was pointless to save this boy. He’s already lost the will to fight.”

Shin Mu jolted and his fingers curled slightly, but ultimately failed to clench into fists. He looked toward the darkness beyond the cave’s entrance and began to walk toward it.

As he neared the cave’s mouth, he heard a sigh.

“So, you want to die. Is that it?”

Shin Mu stopped in place. He turned to face the shorter one and hesitated for a moment before nodding his head.

“Why?”

The tears returned to Shin Mu’s eyes and a lump formed in his throat.

“My parents are going to be executed, and it’s all my fault.”