Not having to do anything was not only an even more accurate description of Willem’s job than he thought, but also more painful than he imagined. Come to think of it, for the past six months he had always been pressed for time, running from one low paying job to the next. From early in the morning until late at night, or sometimes until early the next morning, he worked until he could work no more. As for sleep, his only choice was to sneak in a few hours whenever he happened to be free, regardless of the time of day.

So getting a good night’s sleep in a soft bed and waking up to the sun’s warm rays just by themselves were incomparable comforts for Willem. But he had a difficult time adjusting to his new situation of not having various tasks looming over him 24/7. His mind, taking advantage of this freedom, brought back memories he would rather forget and lingered on thoughts he would rather not think about.

Willem was also still not totally comfortable in his new home, the so-called “warehouse”. In total, about thirty children lived in the facility, all of them girls, with ages ranging from seven to fifteen. Moreover, they all had vivid, almost transparent brightly colored hair. The palette of colors seemed almost otherworldly, like something out of an abstract painting, but for some reason the girls’ hair didn’t feel unnatural to Willem, perhaps because the colors were not dyed on.

None of the girls had much experience with adults, especially with men, so almost all of them remained wary of Willem or even outright avoided him. He figured that the bunch who burst into his room on the first day must have been an exception. Well, he couldn’t blame the girls. They had been raised in their own little world, completely isolated within the warehouse. It was only natural that a sudden intruder, and a strange looking, large one at that, not receive a warm welcome.

Walking through the hallways, he always sensed a few presences hidden in the shadows. But whenever he turned around, he could only spot the backs of small children running for their lives. After a while, Willem began to feel guilty just getting out of his room and walking anywhere.

Of course, even if he just holed up in his room all day, there was nothing to do. He had no notable hobbies, and working out didn’t have much meaning anymore since he no longer fought. Willem didn’t mind sitting by the window and just staring outside once in a while, but wasting away the next few months like that didn’t seem very appealing.

He decided to change things up a bit by visiting the nearest town. It consisted of around a hundred stone buildings lined up on a gentle slope surrounded by the countryside, forming an idyllic setting drastically different in feel from the gloomy 28th Island.

As he walked down the streets, Willem noticed that none of the pa.s.sersby seemed to take a special att.i.tude toward him, despite him not wearing a robe or hood to cover his markless features. He decided to grab some lunch at a nearby restaurant and ask the owner about that.

“Hmm… well I guess we don’t really mind around here.” The young man, with a head like that of a chestnut colored dog’s, explained to Willem while shaking a frying pan around. “Talking behind people’s backs just because they look like bad guys from centuries ago… no point in doing that. If you want to, you can gossip about the guys doing bad things right now.

“Well, I guess in some places there are so many bad guys around that people just give up and target the markless. Since they’ve been discriminated against for generations past, it’s easier that way. Don’t even have to think about it. Us out here though, living peacefully and carefree, don’t want any of that.”

I see… that’s how it is around here.

“Also… you may not know since you’re not from around here, but there’s someone that lives nearby. A markless thousands of times more terrifying than any Emnetwyte of the past. Anyone who sees that smile will forget about history and just be grateful that they’re even alive.”

… I see.

Half listening to the chef’s talk while absentmindedly waiting for his food, Willem suddenly heard a voice from behind.

“Hm? Oh, it’s you…”

A familiar face walked over. The girl with the clear sky blue hair.

“Hey, Kutori… and…”

Two other girls followed behind, both about the same age as Kutori. All together, they were the three oldest of the children living in the warehouse, although that wasn’t saying much.

“Oooh, the handsome man everyone’s been talking about lately!” A girl with faded gold hair came running up and stuck her face right in front of Willem’s. “Also, only greeting Kutori by name? Since when did you guys become so close, hmm?”

“Cut it out.”

“Fiiinee.” She drew back in response to Kutori’s cold voice.

“It’s not like there’s anything between us… I just happened to meet him earlier than the others, so I got a chance to tell him my name… that’s all.”

“Hmm… well if you say so.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Okay, okay. Well then, Second Enchanted Weapons Technician, it would be great if you could remember our names as well… this noisy girl right here is Aiseia, and that –.” She turned around and pointed at the third girl, sitting at a table in the corner with a blank face. “The one minding her own business over there is Nephren. Pleased to meet ya.”

“Well that was a creative introduction… I’m guessing you already know my name?”

“Of course! Also, your favorite food is spicy meat, you aren’t too picky but Reptrace lunch boxes are no go, you like kindhearted older girls… right?”

“Wait, Aiseia… I didn’t hear about any of this.” Kutori, apparently not informed by the little girls from the avalanche, looked at Aiseia suspiciously.　

“Hehehe… those who control the information control the island. A little spying can go a long way, ya know…”

“Tell me!”

Energetically going back and forth at each other, the pair moved over to where Nephren sat.

“What’s this all about? You’re acquaintances with the young ladies from the warehouse?” The dog headed Lucantrobos came by to deliver Willem’s lunch: a baked potato, a.s.sorted vegetables, thick strips of bacon, a small piece of bread, and lastly a cup of soup.

“Yeah… recently moved into that warehouse for my job.”

“Hmm? That warehouse… living in….” For some reason, all the chestnut color began to drain from the cook’s face. “AHHH!!” With terrific speed, the young man drew back and stuck his body against the wall, limbs trembling. “S-Sorry please don’t kill me please don’t eat me I have a family to take care of!”

An unexpected reaction, but Willem could see where the misunderstanding might have sprung from.

“I’m not a troll, you know…”

“I’m still in debt from this restaurant so I probably don’t taste good and — eh? What’d you just say?”

The Lucantrobos stopped his flailing motions for a second and blinked.

“I said I’m not a troll… I know it’s hard to tell the difference between markless races, but I’m not going to eat you or anything, so calm down…”

“B-But, surely you must be the same race if you live under the same roof as that ‘Red Stomach’.”

“Wait… have people from this town been eaten before?” Watching the young man’s terrified face, Willem thought of a possibility he really didn’t want to consider. If it were true… that would be no good, to say the least. While the different islands of Regul Aire foster varying cultures, they are all tied together under common laws. And according to those laws, the murder of any intelligent life form const.i.tutes a serious crime, even for hungry trolls.

“Well… no… but….” The young man’s dog ears drooped. “Until just recently, there was a shady Orc organization around here. Named ‘Black Fur’… well anyways this organization –”

“Ah, that’s enough… I can see where this story is going.”

Willem figured that the Black something or other organization did something to the girls, then Naigrat went to obliterate them and was witnessed laughing maniacally while covered in blood. Not surprising really… she would definitely do something like that. But, well… Naigrat helped Willem out in the past, was one of his few acquaintances, and was now his coworker, so he figured he should try to back her up.

“Naigrat doesn’t just go around eating people for no reason. She might be misunderstood… or rather feared because of moments like those, but normally she’s a nice lady. That is, if you ignore her impatience or short temper or how she always talks about eating people… well anyway, there’s nothing really to be afraid of.”

In general, when she smiles and asks “can I eat you?”, 90% of the time it’s a joke… a rather dark joke. But you know she doesn’t actually intend to eat you, so there’s no reason to be scared. Willem preferred to not think about the remaining 10%.

“Wow… you’re amazing.” For some reason, the cook stared at Willem with a great amount of respect in his eyes.