Why did he run away? In his heart, Ellyad knew very well, and he felt afraid again. He was a nameless one, and in this land created by the goddess Elena, all nameless ones could never receive the love and companionship of others throughout their lives. It was like a curse, and that was why he could never believe that Thrett would be willing to stay by his side.
Whenever Ellyad faced his status as a nameless one again, he would become suspicious of Thrett, fearing that once Thrett knew he was a nameless one, he would abandon him without looking back. The momentary fear made him flee from Thrett, and he didn’t even have the courage to confess to Thrett.
Unconsciously, he found himself completely lost. Stopping in his tracks, he looked around, and the scenery was completely different.
In the deeper and darker alleyways than the tea house area, there was no sign of human presence. The paths became narrow and damp. The walls that he could touch were all sticky with wet grime, and there was a stench emanating from the ground. Although it wasn’t pitch dark, it was almost impossible to determine the directions, and he couldn’t even figure out the direction he had come from.
Ellyad started to panic. He tried to find familiar landmarks, but in this pitch-black area, there were no significant markers.
“What should I do now…”
Originally, he thought of calling Thrett. As long as he called his name, Thrett would immediately appear. However, this would require explaining the reason for his escape.
But Ellyad wasn’t mentally prepared to confess yet, nor had he thought of a way to convince Thrett not to abandon him when the time came. Therefore, Ellyad couldn’t bring himself to call Thrett’s name.
Just then, a white figure suddenly flashed before his eyes. When Ellyad’s gaze caught the figure, he couldn’t help but be startled. It was a man with long, elegant white hair, dressed in pure white attire. From hair color to skin tone, everything about him was gracefully fair, and his eyes shimmered with a light golden hue. He stood just a few meters in front of Ellyad, taller than him, and his handsome face didn’t pale in comparison to Thrett.
The man stared at Ellyad with a cold gaze for a while before leisurely speaking, How could you really lose the power of the goddess? It’s truly a disaster.”
Judging from the man’s words, it seemed he had already seen through Ellyad’s true nature, making Ellyad stare at him warily. Seeing Ellyad’s guarded look, the white-haired man chuckled and continued, “But your eye color is quite nice, symbolizing the abundance of the earth like ripe ears of rice.”
Unexpectedly, the man uttered words similar to Thrett making Ellyad even more alert. Clad in pure white, his eyes shimmered with a faint golden glow, but it didn’t give off any sense of brightness. If Thrett seemed like the only radiance in the darkness, this person was the opposite, as if he were the darkness existing singularly in the light, exuding an atmosphere of a ‘void.’
“Who are you?” Ellyad was about to approach and ask, but the man suddenly disappeared before him, leaving Ellyad alone again.
Ellyad’s first instinct was to chase after, but his arm was firmly grabbed from behind.
“Ell.” Thrett pulled Ellyad back from behind, displaying a nervous expression he had never shown before.
“Ah, Thrett.”
“Where did you intend to go?”
“Uh, just now, there was someone… No, it’s nothing. I’m just looking for a way out of here.” Ellyad originally wanted to tell Thrett about the appearance of the white-haired man, but in this darkness, the figure came and went without a trace, even appearing without a hint of presence. Ellyad couldn’t help but be confused, wondering if it was his own illusion. Not wanting Thrett to worry unnecessarily about something minor, Ellyad decided to temporarily ignore the incident.
Hearing that Ellyad was fine, Thrett finally relaxed and said, “Just now, I felt an uncomfortable sensation here. I thought something happened to you.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Cc ecmbwobgajyif rfcrjalbc?”
“Tfjt, tbk rtbeiv P qea la?” Ktgfaa qbcvfgfv obg j wbwfca. Ktfgf kjr j qbkfg atja lcralcmalnfis gfqfiifv tlw pera cbk, yea fnfc Ktgfaa tlwrfio kjr ecmfgajlc jybea ktja tjqqfcfv. Vb, tf vlvc’a xcbk tbk ab fzqijlc la ab Siisjv jcv vfmlvfv ab rxlq la obg cbk. “Cr ibcu jr sbe’gf bxjs, ifa’r cba ajix jybea atja.”
Ellyad nodded, only now realizing that he had been avoiding something he didn’t want to face. But with Thrett standing in front of him now, Ellyad had no way to escape.
“Let’s go, let’s leave here quickly,” Thrett didn’t let go of Ellyad’s hand, but directly led him back.
“Uh, yeah.” Despite Thrett pulling his hand, Ellyad always felt a bit embarrassed about this move. Just as he was about to ask him to let go, Thrett spoke first:
“You just now… why didn’t you call me?”
“Huh?”
“Weren’t you lost here just now? Why didn’t you call my name?”
Calling Thrett’s name would invoke the contract, guiding him to Ellyad’s side. This way, Thrett wouldn’t need to fumble in the darkness for a long time, only to find no trace of Ellyad, making himself anxious.
Ellyad couldn’t explain the reason to him, so he ultimately chose to remain silent. Thrett stopped in his tracks and turned back, saying, “I’ve had this feeling that you’ve been avoiding me since this morning. It’s not just my imagination, right?”
After Thrett’s words, Ellyad suddenly remembered another thing. Wasn’t it this morning that he avoided Thrett, precisely to conceal the ugly act of taking advantage of someone when they least expected it, kissing someone without their knowledge! Now, thinking back, it made Ellyad want to run away even more than the incident with the nameless person.
Seeing Ellyad even more silent than before, Thrett couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. He walked closer to Ellyad, suddenly embracing him and resting his chin on Ellyad’s shoulder.
“Thrett?”
“Lately, something seems off with me. When I see you smiling at someone else or hiding something from me, it makes me feel a bit irritated.”
“Huh…”
“So, no matter what happens, call me immediately, so I can be by your side.” Thrett murmured in a low voice. This was the first time in his life he had begged someone, making him feel doubly embarrassed. He didn’t want Ellyad to see his current expression.
As a Demon King who stood above all things, he never needed to humble himself to anyone. The concept of begging had never occurred and would never occur in the thousands of years of the Demon King’s history. However, this Demon King, because he didn’t want Ellyad to deliberately keep his distance, let go of all his pride and dominance.
Thrett’s unusual behavior momentarily made Ellyad forget his own embarrassment. He quickly agreed, responding to Thrett’s plea. However, neither of them considered it an expression of possessive love.
The demonic race could not possess such profound emotions as ‘love,’ and Thrett, being the Demon King, had always held this understanding. On the other hand, Ellyad, marked as the nameless one, never believed he deserved to be loved. The only thing he was unwilling to give up was the right to keep on living.
Even though he was well aware that, for all nameless ones on the vast Sipistole Continent, merely staying alive was already a luxury.
—
Amidst the bustling streets, a black figure darted through the crowded thoroughfare, colliding with street vendors and pedestrians, sending them sprawling in all directions, as if fleeing for their lives.
“Quick, catch him! Don’t let him escape!”
“Hurry up and stop him!”
“There’s a reward for catching him!”
A large group of soldiers chased after the figure, creating chaos in the streets. Some people tried to catch up, while others attempted to avoid the commotion. Unfortunately, everyone ended up in a chaotic mass, and the tumultuous scene spiraled out of control, allowing the black figure to narrowly escape unscathed.
Just as the figure was rushing past a certain alley, it was suddenly grabbed and pulled into the alley by a hand.
“Let go of me!” Crow struggled in panic, shouting loudly.
“Don’t yell. What are you doing? Why are the soldiers suddenly chasing you?” The one intercepting Crow was a tall man wearing a strange animal-headed mask.
“Who are you?” Crow had never seen this person before. Although unsure if he was being rescued, Crow preemptively drew his knife in a defensive stance, just in case.
Ah, I forgot to change back…” The man muttered quietly, then immediately raised his head and cheerfully said to Crow, “Can you also change your bad habit of drawing your knife at the slightest provocation? Your swordsmanship is not that great, and constantly making that move only makes you more prone to trouble.”
This unfamiliar man seemed to have insight into Crow, making him quite uneasy. Crow stared at the man, and the motion of drawing his knife remained unchanged.
“Tsk, really troublesome… um, I’m a fortune-teller? Yes, yes, I’m a fortune-teller. I can see your past and future, so I know about you.”
As soon as Crow heard this, he instantly unsheathed his knife and shouted at the man, “Then I must kill you to silence you!”
“Ah, um, I’m such an idiot… Anyway, calm down first. If I knew your details, wouldn’t I have reported it to the palace long ago? Why would I specifically come here to find you? Please use your brain a bit. I came to help under the request of your princess.”
“Did Miss Snowlight ask you to do this?” As soon as Crow heard Snowlight’s name, he immediately lowered his guard.
“Yes, yes, that’s right. If you don’t believe me, take a look.” The man reached into his pocket, pulled out a cute light blue brooch, and said, “See, this is a token from your Missy. She said that if you don’t believe I should show you this.”
Crow immediately recognized it as one of Snowlight’s common accessories. At this point, there was no need to be wary of the man any longer. He finally sheathed his knife and respectfully said, “Please forgive my rudeness to Miss Snowlight’s guest.”
‘This guy is not easily fooled.’ Suppressing the irony in his heart, the man introduced himself to Crow, “I’m called Infierno, in short, a fortune-teller.”
“In short?” Crow found the man’s flippant way of speaking somewhat impolite but he decided to let it slide. “I’m Crow.”
“So, Crow, why were you being chased by soldiers just now?”
“Don’t you have the ability to see the past?”
“Don’t bother me with that. Just answer my question quickly.”
Seeing Infierno’s quite irritable temperament, but considering he was brought by Snowlight, Crow didn’t want to argue with him. So, he could only obediently answer, “There have been rumors lately about people wielding Damascus swords, the guards of the fugitive royal family. That’s why I was targeted.”
“Indeed, it’s that foolish sword’s fault,” Infierno exclaimed in his mind. The Damascus sword on Crow’s waist was given to him by Infierno, Snowlight, a long time ago for self-defense. Initially, he thought the sword might attract attention, but seeing the worn-out scabbard, he thought it didn’t matter. He didn’t pay much attention afterward, never expecting it would backfire.
“Then just stop carrying that sword.”
“I can’t. This is something Princess Snowlight entrusted to me. I absolutely won’t let it leave my hands.”
“This is bad, a foolish person with a foolish sword.” Infierno couldn’t help but rub his forehead. When he transformed back into Snowlight later, he would definitely command Crow to throw away the sword!
The commotion on the street seemed to be calming down a bit. Infierno then realized he couldn’t let Crow stay here any longer. Since the soldiers found Crow in this area, they would strengthen patrols nearby. Therefore, before the search expanded, he needed to get Crow away from here.
“Actually, I came to find you at this time to deliver a message from Snowlight.”
“Then why didn’t you say so earlier? What did Miss Snowlight say?”
“Hmph, you lolicon… She said she’s currently on the southeast avenue of the second level in the northern district. She wants you to come find her immediately.”
The northern district of the Iron Gray Kingdom was mostly a dangerous area with abandoned buildings and collapsed bridge piers. Besides vagabonds and beggars, hardly anyone approached that place. To reach there, one could only pass through dark alleys, as the other routes required crossing empty bridges or the surface roads of the first level.
“Why is she in such a remote place!” As soon as Crow heard the location, he hurriedly dashed deeper into the alley, desperate to reach Snowlight as quickly as possible.
Watching Crow’s figure rushing into the alley, Infierno replied, “Of course, I had to get you out of the way and let you lay low. You’re a simple-minded guy, but the future of this country and my life will depend on you. It’s really unsettling.”
Snowlight’s identity is so confusing!
I made a mistake with the last paragraph and mixed it up with something else it has been edited now. Snowlight is a disguise for the mysterious person who’s name will be revealed next chapter!