Her hand hesitated. “Wait… I will become a suspect, right?”

  Right now, it was better to leave than to stay here.

  Taking in a deep breath, she pushed the door open. The warm heat of sunlight met her again, feeling fresh for a moment.

  *Thud*

  She quickened her steps once more. The civilians around definitely had evidence now—it was simply that obvious.

  On the pavement, her mind raced. “Where do I go now?” But in fact, she knew—at least where to avoid the guards when they began searching for her.

  She couldn’t believe a pervert had decided her fate. Her fists clenched hard. Killing him a thousand times couldn’t satisfy her anger.

  “It’s okay. He deserved it.”

  Reassuring herself helped ease the anger a little.

  Either way, she was now at a crossroad. A few miles to the northeast, heading toward the higher part of the kingdom, and she should reach a guild.

  “But… does it matter?” If she got there, how long could she stay before being captured?

  Due to her short thinking time, “Let’s try anyway.”

  Actions have consequences.

  ○◇○

  The evening painted the city in a golden hue. Winds howled across the streets. The sun was going down, and Va’dia hadn’t made a single coin yet.

  What happened was that the guild had closed. Welp, that was a waste of time. Even worse, more guards would patrol in the evening. They definitely had enough information to recognize her right away.

  She was sitting on a bench, legs cramped from all the walking and running. Her throat had been dry since the afternoon.

  “I’m heading home. I need my bed.”

  She stood up and walked painfully with the cramps. Her face contorted in agony and tiredness. “Just kill myself at this point.”

  Walking up to a lamppost, she leaned against it for a moment before crossing the street. No one was around—just her, alone.

  She gasped for more air than usual. Her heart pounded faster.

  To the left, a bread shop. She stared through the glass—not at the bread, but at the sink. Honestly, it was better to keep moving than to break in.

  Eventually, what she was paranoid about came to visit.

  “Halt!”

  It was the guards. They approached from behind her.

  “Oh no. What do I dooo!?” She turned to them.

  The two men looked serious; their faces were like someone struggling to poop in the toilet.

  “You’re suspected to be the killer of that man in the guild!” said the guard on the right.

  “W-what did I do?” She tried to act innocent. He sounded… childish? Perhaps he was inexperienced to his job.

  “Don’t lie. The evidence is clear. You’re under arrest! Follow me!” said the guard on the left.

  She frowned, her body filled with anger. Their words felt like spit on her suffering from the past hours.

  They reached out to lock her hands with black-steel shackles. As a woman who wanted freedom, resistance was a must.

  She delivered a right hook to the right guard’s jaw, deforming his face and knocking him unconscious.

  The left guard pulled out his sword. “Don’t move! Or I’m going to kill you!” He tried to act and sound terrifying, but his shaky hands betrayed him.

  Letting this last guy live would be problematic, so he was going down with his friend.

  *CRACK* A simple kick to his left ribs—inhumanly strong.

  Now the two men lay there: one with a seemingly broken jaw, the other with broken ribs.

  She felt calmer and stress-relieved now. Thanks to these men.

  “What am I doing, staring at dead bodies?” Her stomach growled.

  This was not the time to be out here. She quickly ran from the scene, taking the path toward her home.

  ○◇○

  The familiar row of houses appeared in front of her. Relief flooded in—she could finally rest on that comfy bed.

  However… all of it was drained away immediately when she saw her entire house was sealed inside a cuboid magic barrier. Guards stood around it, all looking muscular.

  But her gaze focused on the “Red Knight.” He was talking to the guards.

  “Why is he here? Wasn’t he supposed to catch elite criminals instead of me?”

  Perhaps she had caught his attention somehow. Killing that pathetic pervert wasn’t something threatening to the kingdom.

  “Why me…”

  She slid her back down the wall and curled up. Muffled sobbing. Her body shivered.

  After spending some time crying, she stood up and wiped off her tears. She peeked out to see whether they had heard anything.

  That was also when the Red Knight glanced in her direction.

  Thankfully, she retracted quickly. She wondered what would happen if he had seen her.

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  She quickly sneaked into a nearby alleyway across the street.

  Her house now seized, she imagined how nightmarish it would be to live as an “alleyway dweller”—the nickname here for poor, homeless people.

  Whatever. It wouldn’t take long to get out of this filthy, trashy, smelly alleyway anyway.

  She stepped over the trash bags scattered near the walls. There weren’t many, but they would definitely stain her boots. Some leaked weird juice, and flies buzzed around them. “Disgusting…”

  Out of the trash corridor, there were two paths. Left side: straight out of here. Right side: deeper into the alleyway.

  The left looked like a good choice—no need to smell more trash, just walk straight out. However, she had only walked a bit farther from the group of guards and the Red Knight, so picking that path would be suicidal. The right path led somewhere.

  She didn’t think much. The right path was obvious.

  On the way, she held her nose. There was more trash.

  “Wish whoever threw all this trash here dies.”

  Out of the smelly area, she inhaled air to the brim of her lungs. The exit was close—she could sense it. It felt like the heaven gates had appeared to welcome her.

  Close, But at the same time, not.

  She found a fairly open area: a bonfire in the middle and a few wooden barrels around.

  Opening one of the barrels, she found bread and some apples inside. They looked like they were about to rot.

  Nothing she wanted. *Thud*

  But the rain barrel was useful. “How do I drink this?” There were no bottles or anything else to contain the water.

  Crouching down, she twisted the valve and started sucking. From an outsider’s dirty eyes, it looked like she was sucking that long thing from a male.

  After the free water, she stood up and wiped her lips. “I don’t have any other way to drink from a barrel?” Her cheeks blushed red.

  ...

  Footsteps.

  They snapped her mind back to full awareness. They came from that corridor, getting closer.

  Then, there they were—the alleyway dwellers. “Who are you?! Get out of our base!” said the leader. Some of them had knives holstered at their sides.

  “Sorry, I will go now. But could you please move?” she said in a soft voice.

  Their eyes scanned her with ill intentions.

  “Move? Who are you talking to!? Can’t you see you’re in a dire situation!?” The leader yelled furiously at the top of his lungs.

  The other men just stood there listening to this back-hunched old man ramble curses at Va’dia. He seemed stressed, as if he had never had a single good day.

  Eventually, he coughed from all the rapid-fire curses. The nearby boy had to calm him down. Their clothes were torn leather shirts and pants, and a horrible smell radiated from them.

  Three men pulled out their knives and approached. “Since you’re here, what did you steal!?”

  “Woah, woah.” She raised her hands. “I only drank some water.”

  “Then we’ll take it back!” Literally impossible. But what they meant was to cut her stomach open.

  The three men started swinging their knives furiously. She ducked and rolled through a gap to avoid a lethal arc to the throat.

  They turned quickly as she finished the roll. One charged forward, aiming at her chest. She redirected his hand to avoid the stab and turned him into a meat shield, making his pals stab him in the arm and back.

  Then she pushed them away.

  “For fuck’s sake! It’s just a bit of water!”

  While the stabbed man bled on the ground, she threw a punch and a roundhouse kick at the others.

  Now only the boy and the old man remained. The boy was shaking in fear—so intensely that his grip on the knife looked like it would fall from his hand. But he was only ten years old; wielding a weapon at this age felt wrong.

  She sighed deeply. “Can I go now?” There was pity in her eyes.

  “If you don’t hurt my grandpa…”

  “I won’t hurt your grandpa. I’ll leave now.” She made gestures to assure him.

  Eventually, he dropped his weapon and hugged his grandpa, scared that she would lie.

  Va’dia simply walked out, leaving behind a mess of violence. The old man glanced at her, then caressed his grandson’s back.

  ○◇○

  She sprinted through the trashy corridors toward what seemed like an exit. From what she saw on the other side, there was a road. The evening sunlight made it real.

  It felt like an eternity—hitting dead ends, confusing paths, stumbling into more alleyway dwellers—but she was finally out.

  “Yes! I don’t have to smell trash again!”

  Instead of running like a maniac who just escaped prison, she walked out calmly, savoring the fresh air.

  “Oh shit!”

  She heard that when she stopped at the exit. A man in black ran in. He didn’t see her somehow and was hiding from someone. His hand held a book.

  “Hello?” Va’dia scratched her head.

  His head snapped toward her. Sweat covered his face—but most importantly, his mouth.

  “AAH—”

  She managed to block the scream before it was too late.

  …The bookstore owner gazed into the alleyway but saw no one, so he continued his search.

  At the alleyway corner, she took a closer look at the man. He was pleading for his life even though she hadn’t done anything to him.

  “Oh, it’s you. You’re the guy who helped me up that morning.”

  “What?” He then recognized her too. His eyes widened.

  “So we meet again. Can I have your name?”

  His expression turned serious. “Hatek.”

  “Pfft… you don’t have to look that serious.” She giggled, on the edge of embarrassing the man with laughter.

  Hatek sighed, disappointed in her. “Shut up and remember my name.”

  Va’dia snapped back to reality from his words. Giggling like that was unlikable.

  “Where are you going?”

  This question brought back the gnawing sadness when she saw her house seized.

  “…I don't know... my house… it’s gone.”

  It was obvious she wanted help, just by looking at her face.

  “Your house is gone?” He paused.

  “I’m heading home soon. Since you have nowhere to stay, maybe you could follow me to my village.”

  Her eyes sparkled with great relief. “Really? You wouldn’t mind?”

  “Yes. But we need to get out of here first.”

  They began walking out of the corridor.

  ○◇○

  The moonlight cast a blue glow across the streets and houses. Lampposts flickered in the darkness of night; owls observed movements for prey on the roofs. They traveled through the slum, then to the damp, mossy border walls.

  Hatek pointed at a particular hole. It was big enough to fit through and get out of the kingdom.

  Va’dia raised an eyebrow.

  The guards definitely patrolled the walls, but they hadn’t patched this suspicious hole? Great protection.

  “So tight!” Even with her athletic body, she still struggled to crawl through. The jagged concrete was cold and rough. Her silver arm guard scraped against it, creating unpleasant sounds.

  Finally on the other side. A dense and vast forest lay ahead of her. Its darkness stared back. She could feel her sanity gradually degrading. Seemingly, a figure moved in the forest.

  “Did I just see someone in the corner of my eye?”

  Hatek let out a grunt while pulling himself out of the tight hole. He writhed for a while, then got stuck because of the silver detail on his cloak. “Uh… could you help me out?"

  She still stood there, staring into the depths of the forest. Her lips parted, lost in thought. “W-what?”

  “What are you doing? Help me out!” He was frustrated, still budging and squirming.

  Va’dia grabbed his arms and started pulling. Painful grunts echoed. It was like pulling out a tree root.

  Ten minutes passed. He was finally out.

  “Why are you so fat?” She complained about this of all things.

  While the woman lay on the ground gasping for air, he gathered twigs and made space to set up a campfire.

  She sat up cross-legged. “How do you light the fire then?”

  He didn’t answer. Just dragged two fallen logs near the twig pile, then sat on one of them. He began rubbing his hands together. Smoke appeared. His palms heated up like hot steel. Then he transferred the heat, lighting the twigs and pushing back the darkness.

  “You use magic?” She stood up and sat on the opposite side. The bonfire's warmth radiated through the leather parts of her armor.

  “Why ask? Can’t you see?” He seemed unhappy at the question, even though he looked calm while searching for something in his brown magic pouch.

  Eventually, he pulled out… four kebab sticks and a wooden salt shaker. Her face frowned slightly. “I’m fed up with this.” But due to hunger, she had to eat them. At least there were some vegetables to make swallowing easier.

  He rubbed salt on the meat and veggies—just enough to taste good—then cooked them over the fire.

  The sudden high winds made it a painfully long process.

  Literally thirty minutes later, it was finally done. Hatek handed her two kebabs.

  “Eat while it’s still hot.”

  There was a strange expression on his face. He looked sad—about something she would probably never know. Either way, the kebab tasted good actually. Salty and seasoned, way better than the one she ate that morning.

  The air felt calm. Rustles of leaves added to it.

  “Do you believe in gods?” An abrupt and weird question in this peaceful moment.

  "Yes…? Why did you ask me that?” Her mouth was still chewing beef and veggies. She sounded garbled.

  “Faithful, aren’t you?”

  …

  Suddenly, her head throbbed with intense pain. Her vision blurred in chaos. Her stomach spiraled, signaling to throw up, but consciousness faded faster. She couldn’t feel her body anymore. Slowly blacking out on the moss-covered dirt.

  The last thing she saw before completely passing out was him standing up.