El readied himself, his hands awkwardly positioned in front of his face. He didn’t know how to fight; in fact, he had never been in a real fight before, as far as he could remember. Yet, here he was. For whatever reason, he couldn’t explain, and he didn’t want to run away. This time, he would face it all.

  As these people from the underside discussed their plans to kidnap him right in front of him, his heart began to race. It felt as if it was growing hotter—or perhaps colder. He couldn’t quite articulate the sensation. It felt like his heart was beating hard for no reason, just from the anticipation of the fight he was about to engage in.

  One thing was for sure, though: he was excited.

  A strange thrill coursed through him, yet he remained acutely aware of why he was there. He wanted to reach the mayor's office to witness the execution and understand what had gone wrong with the restaurant that had led to such dire consequences.

  "Get him!" shouted Nore, who had been silently observing Sill. He noticed Sill's hand was red and slightly swollen from El's earlier punch, making him wary of El.

  The others from the underside approached El with malicious intent, determined to hurt him. One man attempted to slap El's face hard, but El dodged just in time, narrowly avoiding the blow. Just as he had done with Sill, he retaliated—this time striking the man on the side of his elbow, which was still in the slapping motion.

  *Bam*

  "Arrgh!" the man cried out, stumbling to the side and grimacing against the wall while clutching his elbow.

  The others, witnessing this, quickly shifted their strategy. They launched a flurry of real kicks and punches, trying to avoid being too aggressive or lethal with their attacks.

  This time, though, El found himself struggling to keep up. Just as he prepared to counterattack, he had to dodge another punch or kick aimed at him. Yet, his heart continued to race, as if something dormant within him that had been sleeping all this time was slowly awakening.

  From deep within his heart, bluish veins with hints of purple began to surface, clawing their way out to the surface, gradually becoming visible on his chest. The veins spread from one point, crawling curiously as everything around El slowed down for a fraction of a moment. There were many times when he could have struck back at his opponents, but he found himself too distracted by the overwhelming sensations flooding his senses.

  Outside of El's mind and sight, the others who were currently attacking him—including Sill, Nore, and the man who had been hit by El—watched the fight unfold, flabbergasted and baffled.

  They couldn’t comprehend how El managed to dodge all of their attacks, even as they took turns or charged at him together. It seemed utterly impossible. Just when Nore thought that one of the men’s kicks would connect with El's rib, El managed to dodge it by spinning awkwardly on the spot, using his feet as a pivot, his body leaning forward, and then rotating quickly away from the kick.

  "What the freaky f*ck is that???" Nore exclaimed, astonished, as the others paused their assault momentarily, equally stunned.

  But their moment of disbelief was short-lived, and they resumed their attempts to strike El. Yet, he continued to evade them—trapped in a trance within his mind, where everything around him moved slowly and predictably.

  Unbeknownst to him, his movements became even faster and smoother. His muscle memory recalled something he had forgotten, guiding him along a path that had already been paved before him.

  Suddenly, a shout from a young girl echoed through the alley, abruptly halting their fight.

  "What are you all doing now?"

  As her voice resonated, the fighting came to an immediate stop. Even El, who had been lost in a trance, snapped back to reality upon hearing her. Everyone turned toward the source of the voice, and to El's surprise, he recognized her. She was the girl he had seen from his table in the restaurant, emerging from the shadows of the alleyway alongside a boy and several other small kids who had come after the food.

  She approached from an intersection opposite to where El had originated, moving out from the deeper, darker part of the alleyway.

  “I asked what… oh…” As she scowled while drawing closer after finding no answer whatsoever, her gaze finally landed on El. She swept her eyes over the breathless group, noting Sill clutching his injured hand and Nore being his usual cautious damned self he was.

  “What do you all intend to do with him? You must be out of your minds! Let me guess, this was Nore’s idea again, wasn’t it?” She glared at them.

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  The others exchanged furtive glances, avoiding her piercing stare. Nore replied defensively, “We need money. You know that, too. What better opportunity do we have right now with a kid from the upper side here?”

  “And what if the guards come? Who will deal with them? You?” she retorted, sarcasm dripping from her words.

  “I have a plan. As long as we’re careful, everything will be fine,” Nore insisted, his frown deepening.

  “Ha! Do you mean the plan from the other day when you and the others almost got caught? Is this going to be the same scheme as before…” She narrowed her eyes, confronting Nore's decision.

  Suddenly, El interjected, raising his hand high. “Excuse me. I think we have an actual problem. I’m not from around here. I mean, I’m not from the upper side or even the city.”

  He went on to explain that he hadn’t been born in Mirthwater but came from a village far away, located on the border between the Eschaton Empire and another kingdom whose name he didn’t know. It was a free territory, somehow not officially recognized by either the Empire or the other kingdom.

  He deliberately omitted details about his lost memories—or the fact that his village had been a war-torn region for as long as he could remember. There was also a truth that its residents had refused to acknowledge for years: they would all face death sooner or later, either from hunger, thirst, disease, or bandits.

  Another thing that made it worse was that the war, for reasons unknown—though some whispered it was due to witches—had rendered the land barren, killed all crops, and turned fruit-bearing trees into sources of poison. Even the seeds that were planted all perished, unable to survive long enough to sprout.

  “What? So, it means we... no, you are being dumb then?” Sill remarked after hearing El’s brief summary of who he actually was. His gaze was fixed on Nore, who appeared sullen under the weight of the others’ stares. Nore had been the one to initiate the plan to kidnap El and demand a ransom from his supposed parents, and now the scrutiny was palpable.

  “You were the one who was dumb. How did I even know he was from the outside? He didn’t even say anything when he heard us wanting to kidnap him,” Nore defended himself, pointing an accusatory finger at El. “It’s this kid’s fault. Why didn’t you say anything before, you freaky b*stard? You must be purposely picking a fight, isn’t it?”

  The truth was, El felt tempted to agree with that accusation. He had, in fact, been looking forward to the confrontation, which was why he had kept silent.

  However, after weighing the pros and cons, he chose to remain quiet and blinked his eyes repeatedly, allowing himself to appear as the innocent lamb, which only made Nore glare at him even more intensely.

  “You…” Nore started to approach El, but Sill caught his buddy by the shoulder.

  “Calm down, Nore. It’s definitely your fault this time!” Sill whispered in Nore’s ear. “Besides, do you really think you could even land a hit on him?”

  “Tchh… anyway, you’re also in on the plan!?” Nore scowled at Sill.

  “It’s not me who talks. It’s not me who plans. It’s all on you, bro. Besides, I was the very first to suggest letting him go…” Sill shrugged, gesturing with his hands to indicate he had nothing to do with the initiation of the plan and that all the blame lay with Nore.

  “Maybe the kid is lying. Look at his face. I bet his family is rich…” Nore insisted.

  “I don’t have a family, though. The person who brought me here has been missing for a whole week now,” El interjected, feeling a wave of sadness wash over him as he remembered the man who still hadn’t come home.

  “Uh… you’re lying…” Nore replied, taken aback but still glowering at El.

  “Alright, that’s enough. By the way, what were you doing here?” This time, the girl directed the question at El.

  “Ah, right. I wanted to go to the mayor’s office. You were there too, right? Merriment Restaurant???” El mentioned, recalling the moment they had caught a glimpse of each other in the restaurant. He continued, "I heard the people who work at that restaurant will be executed today."

  The alleyway fell into an uncomfortable stillness, their expressions turning downcast and bleak.

  After a few moments of El fidgeting with guilt, the girl broke the silence, her voice cutting through the gloom. “That’s about right. We wanted to go there too. Come with us.”

  “Is it fine?” El asked, suppressing his curiosity about how close they were to the people who worked at that restaurant, given their sudden shift in attitude upon hearing about the execution.

  “Yes, it’s fine. Come with us!”

  “Alright,” El replied, walking steadily and calmly to the side of the girl, while the others exchanged glances before following El and her.

  On the other side, Nore glared not only at El’s back but also at the girl. He only managed to shake off his emotions and follow the others after Sill tapped him on the chest with the back of his hand.

  “My name is Ran, by the way. What about you?” Ran said, extending her hand to El in a gesture of greeting. Contrary to her cold demeanor, she seemed quite warm in El’s opinion, even without a smile on her face.

  “Ah, my name is… my name is El…” El replied after a moment’s hesitation. He almost blurted out the name Gabriel, but fortunately managed to hold it back. He realized he felt genuinely happy when she asked about his name, and even more so when he told Ran about it. He wondered why.

  ‘Maybe because I didn’t have a name before,’ he recalled, remembering that in the village, everyone had called him only “boy.” Now that he thought more about it, there was something strange about his time in the village. Except for those who took care of him and let him sleep in their house, many others always avoided him like the plague. The uncle and aunt who took care of him at first, as well as the elders, the grandma, and grandpa who took him in later, none wanted to name him for so long. It often left him confused.

  ‘Damn, did I do something wrong? Or am I really a plague?’ El thought, feeling a wave of depression wash over him. Yet on the outside, he managed to squeeze out a smile as he welcomed Ran’s hand with a shake. He felt fortunate that the late auntie had taught him about handshakes. She had cared for him in the village like her own son from the moment he was a baby.

  “Just El?” Ran inquired.

  “Yes, just El. How about you? Just Ran?” El asked in return, curious about her.

  “Hmmmm… I guess so…” she answered vaguely, her voice trailing off.

  * * *