Throughout my life, there was something I often heard people say.
How could a person be so cold-blooded?
Every time, I asked in return.
How could a person be so stupid?
..
..
Kael turned around, intending to shake off the child's hand.
But at that moment.
"...."
It felt as though an invisible hand grabbed his arm.
The hand of a faintly sensed presence.
As if telling him he shouldn't.
Telling him that if he turned away here, he might survive longer,
but he would become no different from the things he despised.
"...."
Kael exhaled a low breath.
'Fine. Understood.'
In the end, he turned back around.
Instead of prying away the filth-covered hand, he took hold of it.
"Get up."
The frail child couldn't muster any strength, so Kael ended up lifting the kid up.
"Ngh...."
It had been a long time since he smelled something this awful, not since his first day being shoved into a dumpster.
***
Kael opened the door and stepped inside.
The room that came into view was as modest in size as ever.
Setting the child down on the floor, he pointed toward the bathroom.
"Wash up."
"...."
"You stink."
The child flinched slightly and hung their head low without uttering a word.
Seeing that, Kael sighed.
"...Need help?"
At those words, the child spoke for the first time.
"I-I can wash up... on my own."
"Alright."
Kael didn't pry any further.
Instead, he took down the least frayed shirt and pants hanging on the wall.
Since they were all Kael's clothes, they would naturally be far too big for the child.
But there was no other choice right now.
"Wash up and change into these."
The child took the clothes with both hands.
"Th-Thank you."
Hesitating for a moment, the child cautiously stepped inside the bathroom and closed the door.
A moment later, the sound of running water could be heard.
..
..
At last, the bathroom door opened tentatively.
Kael turned his head to look, momentarily struck speechless by the sight.
For after washing away the filth and blood, the child's appearance was completely unrecognizable from before.
White hair cascading down to the shoulders, pale skin, and blue eyes.
"So you're a girl."
At his words, the girl flinched and spoke in a tiny voice.
"I-I'm not a child."
"...."
"I turn twenty-two this year. I'm an a-adult."
Kael quietly scrutinized her once more.
Twenty-two.
She didn't look that age, but such things were not uncommon in the Underground Level.
Most people suffered from malnutrition, after all. Scrawny, diminutive bodies were a common sight.
However, this woman was a different case, something deducible from her appearance alone.
'She's definitely not from the Underground Level.'
Falling from the transport pipe aside, she was undoubtedly someone from the Surface Level with a complicated past.
"Right."
At his terse response, the girl cautiously studied his face, gauging his reaction.
Kael pulled out a black mask sitting in the corner.
An item Harun had thrown in as a freebie back then.
Harun claimed it was dust-proof, but in reality, it was cheap junk that barely kept out foul odors.
Still, it was good enough to conceal a face.
He tossed the mask over, and the girl scrambled to catch it.
"Wear it."
"Pardon?"
"Roam the Underground Level with that face, and you won't last a day."
The girl's hands froze.
"You'll be kidnapped and sold off."
Kael stated plainly.
Without a word, the girl stared down at the mask, then slowly nodded.
"So."
Kael tossed a question at her.
"Why did you fall from the transport pipe?"
But she didn't answer.
She merely kept her head hung low, clutching the mask tightly with both hands.
Kael waited for a moment, but only silence lingered.
"Fine."
Kael gestured toward the door.
"You washed up, got clothes, and got a mask. Now get out."
The girl slowly raised her head.
Her blue eyes wavered, but Kael deliberately hardened his expression.
"You said you're an adult. Then you should be taking care of yourself."
The girl parted her trembling lips, but no sound seemed to come out.
Kael waited.
For her to continue speaking.
At last, she whispered in a tiny voice.
"C-Could you... could you please let me stay here for just a little while...?"
Her grip tightened around the mask.
Without a word, Kael fell into deep thought.
From the looks of it, she wouldn't last a single day in the Underground Level. That was undoubtedly true in reality as well; kick her out, and she certainly wouldn't survive long.
Kael exhaled a short breath.
"Let's make a deal."
The girl slowly lifted her head.
"...Pardon?"
"Since you clearly don't want to talk about your situation, I won't ask."
Leaning back against the chair, he continued.
"Who's chasing you, why you fell from the transport pipe, where you came from originally—I'm saying I won't ask any of that for now."
At his words, the girl's hands flinched.
"I just want to confirm one thing, though."
The girl looked at him cautiously.
Kael lowered his voice.
"You came from up above, didn't you?"
Silence fell over the room.
"...."
She didn't respond to his question, but the silence didn't last long.
The girl nodded.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
He had expected it, but having it confirmed only gave him a bigger headache.
A human from above. And one dumped into a transport pipe in such a state, no less. Judging purely by her appearance, she was not someone who belonged in a place like this.
In that case, whatever trouble she carried couldn't possibly be ordinary.
Even so.
Tap, tap.
Kael lightly tapped his fingers on the table.
"Good. Then there must be something you can offer me as well."
"Something... I can give you?"
"Knowledge."
The girl froze.
Kael looked straight at her with a serious expression.
"Knowledge of the Surface Level. The lifestyle up top. Transit procedures. Corporate structures. How citizenship is managed. The way Artificial Magic Circuits are registered. The relationships between schools, hospitals, the Public Security Bureau, and Megacorp."
He paused briefly.
"Just as much as you know will be enough."
Flustered, the girl parted her lips.
"Wh-Why would you need that...?"
"Because I need it."
Kael answered curtly.
"I need to understand this city. But the information picked up in the Underground Level is limited, and most of it is bullshit. If you came from above, you at least know things I don't."
"...."
"Tell me what you know."
Kael pointed around the cramped room with his finger.
"In return, I'll provide you with food, clothing, and shelter."
At his words, the girl's eyes widened slightly.
He calmly added an extra term to the deal.
"And if someone comes looking for you, I can fend them off, at least within what I can handle."
The girl's shoulders trembled.
"You'll... protect me?"
"It's a deal."
"...."
"Just an exchange of what each of us needs."
Lowering her head, the girl hesitated for a moment.
Kael did not rush her.
After a long pause, the girl spoke in a very faint voice.
"I... don't know very much."
"You don't need to know a lot."
"I'm not sure if what I know will be of any help."
"I'll be the judge of that."
Clutching the mask tightly to her chest, the girl slowly nodded.
"...Alright."
Kael looked at her.
"Is it a deal?"
After hesitating for a moment, the girl nodded again.
"Yes."
"Good."
Rising from his seat, Kael pulled open a metal box in the corner, took out a worn blanket from inside, and tossed it onto the floor.
"There's only one bed."
The girl looked at him in bewilderment, but unbothered, he pointed toward the mattress.
"You use it."
"But...."
"I can sleep in a chair."
The girl looked down at the blanket.
"Thank you."
She offered her thanks with a gentle smile.
"What's your name?"
When the girl's expression froze at his question, Kael immediately added,
"If you don't want to give your real name, you can make one up. I just need something to call you."
Kael didn't press her.
A moment later, the girl spoke in a tiny voice.
"...Rin."
"Rin?"
"Yes."
The girl nodded.
"Please call me Rin."
Kael didn't ask further. That was enough for now.
"Alright, Rin."
Now it was his turn to give his name.
"My name is Kael."
"Sir... Kael?"
"Drop the 'Sir'."
Rin blinked, momentarily caught off guard.
"Then... Mr. Kael?"
"Drop the 'Mr.', too."
"...."
Hesitating for a moment,
"Ka-Kael...."
she adjusted her address.
"That's good enough."
Kael slid the worn blanket toward her.
"Get some sleep tonight. I'll start asking questions tomorrow."
Rin accepted the blanket with both hands.
She stared down at the blanket for a moment, then cautiously bowed her head again.
"Y-Yes... I mean, got it. Kael."
***
Upper Level 3rd Water and Wastewater Treatment Facility.
Transparent glass tubes and silver pipes stretched endlessly along the ceilings and walls, with corporate logos embedded across various surfaces.
A logo depicting silver wings wrapped around a blue water droplet.
Neat lettering glowed underneath it.
[A clean city begins with a clean cycle.]
Beneath that slogan, a man was standing.
Pale.
He was a man clad in a black suit.
With a gloved hand, he lightly brushed along the underside of a pipe.
There were dried bloodstains that seemed to have hardened over time.
Pale raised his head.
In front of him, a man who appeared to be the facility manager was breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Fell in here, you say?"
At Pale's question, the facility manager spoke while trembling violently.
"Y-Yes... A pressure abnormality occurred in the transport pipe, immediately followed by a waste backflow warning... We initiated shutdown procedures right away, but...."
"And yet, you lost her."
"I-It's highly likely she was swept toward the lower transport pipe. However, considering the pressure at the drop point and the waste compaction process, the chances of survival are nearly...."
"Nearly."
When Pale cut him off, the manager promptly shut his mouth.
Pale slowly approached him.
"I despise words like that the most."
"P-Pardon...?"
"'Nearly dead.' 'Nearly finished.' Nearly, nearly, nearly...."
Pale seized the manager by the jaw.
"The problem usually arises from that very 'nearly'."
"I-I'm so—"
Crack.
With a short, dull snap, the manager's body slumped powerlessly to the floor.
Thud.
Pale did not even spare a glance down at the collapsed corpse.
He merely drew a handkerchief to wipe off his gloves.
"Can't even handle a simple thing properly."
None of the surrounding employees dared to move.
After a moment, the woman standing behind Pale cautiously spoke up.
A security guard dressed in a grey uniform.
"What... should we do now?"
Pale folded the handkerchief, tossed it onto the chest of the dead manager, and slowly turned his head.
"We have to find her."
"The Lower Sector connects to the Underground Level. There are too many unofficial tunnels and waste transport conduits, so tracking her will take—"
The moment his gaze landed on her, she immediately clamped her mouth shut.
"We must verify the corpse."
Pale stated flatly.
"Th-The corpse?"
"Yes."
The corners of his lips twisted upward.
"Because it would be troublesome if she were alive."