With the addition of sixteen men, the fire had grown bigger and so had the camp. It felt crowded and was bound to attract a predator, but nobody complained so it was fine.

  The men who had been kneeling in the dirt before were now scattered in groups around the flames, sharing information with Duskfall and eagerly waiting for their share of food. They didn't have their fill for the night.

  Marcille and Temperance had returned to the pot, now joined by Arthur, Lu Shuren and two of his companions. One pot was no longer enough, they needed either a bigger or additional ones.

  Luckily, they had some on hand. They fetched three big ones from the carriage and set them side by side over the flames.

  While Arthur worked closely with Temperance, Lu Shuren knelt beside Marcille while stirring the broth with ceremonial care. Two of his own men fetched bundles from their pack which were composed of dried fish wrapped in paper, jars of pickled root, and strings of sun-browned mushrooms.

  They were really glad of not being killed or chased off, which was proven when they were more than willing to share anything they had,

  In time, the smell in the air changed. The soup thickened, gaining a richer aroma. And when it was done, bowls were passed around again. Seconds were offered to anyone still hungry.

  Unfortunately, when a steaming refill of mouthwatering soup was pressed into Yuzuriha’s hand, she politely turned it away.

  As much as she wanted to taste the many delicious dishes this world has to offer, she was full. Yuzuriha had never been a heavy eater, it looks like it worked about the same in this new body as well.

  Her stomach was content, but her mind was still empty.

  Introductions followed shortly, one by one, names were passed around through the firelight like offerings. Duskfall gave theirs and the sixteen newcomers went around, most of them were men of Tinsel.

  Lu Shuren, set his empty bowl down and proceeded to introduce himself again, but this time he wasn’t begging for his life.

  “I am Lu Shuren, son of Lu Fenghua of the Inner River Ward, Ganling Street, Fourth District. I am a humble silk trader…well, most days. My thanks for your fire and your food”

  He bowed with both palms pressed together. Next came the elves. They didn’t so much speak their names as give them.

  “Riven. This is my brother, Sylas. We are from elsewhere”

  That was all they gave. Finally was the horned one. He watched the others before leaning forward.

  “I suppose this is how we are doing it. The name’s Daigo. That’s all from me as well”

  His voice was deep with an edge that made the hairs on her arms rise.

  ‘So mysterious…’

  Now that introductions were complete, there was one thing that still clung to Yuzuriha’s mind. And this time, Lu Shuren didn’t mention it again in his introduction. That was…

  “...Godfather Republic”

  She murmured under her breath, so low that nobody heard her. From the bits of information she received from memory, it was a northern nation. Hugging the upper borders of the Auren continent.

  The one other thing she knew about it was that it held on to the belief of human supremacy, with every other race as animals beneath them.

  Arthur aimed to address that.

  “Forgive me if this question is strange, Mr. Lu. How come you travel with elves and a demon? I thought your Republic looked down on non-humans”

  ….so her guess was spot on, Daigo really is an oni, well, demon. But this wasn’t a good time to celebrate as right now, the subject had gotten dangerous.

  “I left my country years ago. My mother gave me a message for my father, somewhere in these lands. I intend to find him, and perhaps earn enough along the way to return home…with dignity. The men you see here…”

  He gestured to the group.

  “...I met them one by one. Some for coin, some for need, some for the promise of better roads. We became what we are now”

  His tone turned grim when he started to talk about the rat man.

  “We crossed paths with that man. The one you call Remy Oswald. He told us carriages would be passing by, poorly guarded too. He forced us to take it. And…well, you know the rest. For that, please, accept my sincerest apologies”

  He finished by bowing his head down again. He was followed by his companions soon after.

  That was when Yuzuriha understood why Duskfall had begun to treat them normally all of a sudden. And why they had been allowed to kneel instead of bleed.

  The ambush had been a chain pulled by another hand.

  ‘What is that guy’s problem anyways?’

  That question wouldn’t leave her alone. That strange rat man was clearly after Marcille. If he was serious about robbing them, he might have recruited people who were actually capable of taking on a team of Vultures.

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  There was also the way he had spoken to her, it was as if they had history, dark history. He mentioned something about a debt and how time was running out.

  And he seemed very amused when he talked about it too. As if certain that she wouldn’t run far enough to matter.

  ‘Favorite plaything…’

  That made Yuzuriha feel uneasy. Her eyes drifted to Marcille, just a shoulder beside her. She was still eating, her spoon moved mechanically from bowl to mouth. Her astris felt dim, as though its color had been washed out.

  ‘She knew about his Sealed Technique too’

  Marcille had explained in detail, down to how the clone was made. That was more than enough to prove they had history. It was surprising that nobody questioned that.

  This led to another thought.

  ‘Is she in trouble? More importantly…do they know?’

  According to what Yuzuriha has seen of them so far, the others in Duskfall seemed like decent people, in their own dangerous way. If one of their own was in danger, surely they’d leap in to help.

  “...Marc–i”

  She found herself speaking before deciding to ask, but was immediately cut off right after.

  Marcille looked up for the briefest moment…then stood and faced the circle.

  “I owe you all an apology. To you men, and to my own companions. All of this was my fault. I put you all at risk, and I’m sorry”

  A brief silence fell over the fire until Temperance said something.

  “What’s the matter, Marcy?”

  Marcille hesitated. And then, the words left her mouth like something she had been holding for far too long.

  “I’m…in debt, with the Chunjiheti Guild”

  The name Chunjiheti rang something in Yuzuriha’s mind the moment Marcille spoke it. It was the same name Remy Oswald said, but she felt like she heard it before that. Twice even.

  Digging deep through her memories she remembered the first time she heard it was on the day she had arrived in this world.

  Two men had cornered Willow and Leopold and killed Yor Drapes in a filthy alley. One of the men had cursed them with the name as he fled in terror from Leo.

  Back then she was still having an existential crisis in her new situation, so she didn’t take it as seriously, it was just another strange word in this strange world.

  The second time was when Grace Windsor mentioned it when she was explaining where she had acquired the materials that created the Azure Ooze.

  At first, Yuzuriha never thought the two could be connected. In fact, she never thought about that day again until now. But Marcille’s confession left no doubt in her mind now.

  The same people who killed her little sister had shackled the poor girl with debt.

  The very thought caused Yuzuriha to feel something hot and heavy bubbling up from her chest. It was anger.

  She immediately clenched her fists and quietly grinded her teeth in an attempt to contain it. Luckily, it worked. No attention was drawn onto her.

  Arthur spoke first after Marcille.

  “The Chunjiheti Gild. A mercantile syndicate that operates as both an elite trade consortium and a private network of smugglers, rare resources, auctioneers of things best left unmentioned. They operate in the shadows, but their reach is long. And expensive. Is this the same one we’re talking about?”

  Marcille nodded her head, after which Temperance asked in a curious but edgy tone.

  “Marcy, tell us. What kind of debt are you under?”

  She hesitated.

  “I…cannot say. Not here. I’m sorry. You have all been dragged into danger because of me already”

  Like that time in the bar, she didn’t feel comfortable sharing personal stuff with other people. She and Yuzuriha had that one trait in common.

  Lu Shuren inclined his head with grave courtesy.

  “All is forgiven. One’s burdens, Miss, are seldom chosen. And if fate sees fit to place them upon your shoulders, it is not ours to demand they be laid bare before we offer our hand”

  This guy's formal speech and mannerism was starting to grow on Yuzuriha. With that said, Marcille still offered them some measure of clarity.

  “The debt in wens…is crippling. It’s the equivalent of ten generations’ worth of a Magister’s lifetime earnings”

  That statement left everyone in shock. Nobody spoke for several moments after that. There was nothing they could say, even Arthur who usually had something to say was quiet. That’s when Yuzuriha knew how serious this was.

  The camp carried on after that, but its earlier warmth was gone. Conversations still continued to lighter, pointless things until one by one, everyone went to sleep. Except for the few that had to stay up and keep watch.

  Most slept beside the fire under the blanket of the night sky, while others folded themselves into the carriages.

  Yuzuriha shared the latter with Marcille, sleeping on the seat of the carriage they rode. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t sleep.

  ‘Not again. Why does this keep happening?’

  It’s been a couple of unkind hours now and she still laid restless. Her thoughts kept circling on all the new stuff she had learned today. And also, that name didn’t want to leave her mind.

  ‘That's it!’

  Finally had enough, she rose and stepped carefully over the two who had taken the carriage floor. She unlatched the newly repaired door and slipped outside into the cool air. The metal clicked shut behind her

  “Man, it's cold. It’s times like this I miss my regular vision. The night before dawn usually looks beautiful”

  Yuzuriha said while hugging herself, attempting to contain the warmth she left with from the carriage. The night was chilly enough to make her wish for a coat.

  She inhaled deeply, tasting the faintly damp of earth and distant smoke before exhaling out a long breath.

  “This feels so much better. That space was way too cramped”

  Dawn was not too far; she could smell it. She would have to make the most of what little solitude remained before everyone woke up again.

  And so, she got to it. First, she needed to find a secluded area. Not too far from camp or too close to interrupt them with sudden noises.

  She padded quietly over to the rear of the carriage. Once she confirmed there was no one or anything nearby, she began to relax a bit.

  ‘Alright, this will do. But just to be safe’

  After a moment’s thought, she stepped a little further into the open patch behind and deemed it good enough to practice.

  She closed her eyes and lightly clasped her hands together. Then, she began taking deep breaths, letting air cool her lungs and exhaling until the knot in her chest loosened.

  ‘Clear your thoughts…’

  She repeated that multiple times, remembering the words Marcille told here when they were doing astris practice.

  There were a couple of failures, three to four times before she managed to feel something. She could feel the energy steadily rising beneath her skin and eventually, enveloping her entire body.

  Yuzuriha held onto it and stretched her right hand forward, its palm faced down. She directed all the astris she was feeling, channeling it toward the center of her palm.

  She could feel it collect there like heat pressing against her skin. So far so good, but now came the tricky part, which was drawing it out.

  “Come on…come out already”

  Her brow knotted as she pushed her will into it, and that was when she felt something. Something slick and cold moving beneath her skin, pushing to get out.

  A shiver crawled down her spine, but she kept pressing. She was almost there…!

  “What are you?”

  That voice was so close and so sudden, it freaked the living hell out of her. Yuzuriha yelped as she stumbled backward, landing hard on her tailbone. Which hurt a lot, even on this plain grassy field.

  “Ouch, what the hell?!”

  She hissed while rubbing her sore butt.

  Detecting the intruder didn’t take long, in fact she didn’t even need to look up. Also, she didn’t need to see the horns to know who it was.

  Compared to when they sat around the campfire, his astris had dimmed down like the warning growl of a predator.

  It was the demon…

  “Daigo…?”