Twitching, Thalric opened his eyes from deep slumber, to a beautiful sound of humming. He turned on his bed and saw that it belonged to Belladona. She was rustling through the kitchen—for it seemed they were in a small space that only had a sleeping bed and a kitchen to cook. The smell coming from whatever she was making made him hungry.

  Graa!

  Screamed his empty stomach at last, failing to bear the yearning for food any longer.

  "You're awake, timely," said Belladona. Then, she brought a plate of roasted eggs and bacon to his bed.

  "Eat in a hurry; we're getting close," she said, handing the plate to Thalric. "You eat these things, right?"

  "I do, yes." Thalric sliced the egg and tied it together with the bacon before stuffing it into his mouth. While eating, he looked up at Belladonna.

  "What's happening to me now?" he asked.

  Belladona, who was preparing to leave, turned around and looked at his puffy face. She stayed there for a few moments before saying, "Nothing, you look fine."

  "That's not quite what I asked," said Thalric. He was going to clarify what he really meant, but in an unexpected turn of his head, he saw the very sword with a dark blade and star-patterned hilt—the one Belladona called Silent Night—resting against the bed.

  "Did you say my deceased father held that sword?" he asked.

  "Indeed. A fine sword, fitting for a fine man. I remember it like yesterday when your father slaughtered a group of opposite assassins in the dark of the night. It was silent, and no scream came with their deaths—thanks to the sword's ability, of course. But it takes a specific man to wield that sword like that, and your father was the perfect match for it," said Belladonna, taking the dark blade into her hand.

  "And now, it's ownerless, awaiting its next exceptional wielder." saying this, she looked at Thalric.

  Then came the cry of a bird—not an unpleasant one like the sickly crows Thalric used to hear in Prison Gap, but a pleasant sound. And Belladona stood up after that.

  "Well, that's all for now. Hurry up and finish eating, then come to the place I marked on this map. I could bring you with me, but if I did, they'd all think you only survived because of me. Now, I can't let my old friend's legacy be shamed like that. So, giddy up and come as soon as you can. And here—I already packed a bag for you," said Belladonna, handing Thalric a bag and a map.

  Then, she opened the door and flew away as a bird—just as Thalric was looking into the bag.

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  "Pardon me, perhaps clarify that one more time," he said, taking his head out of the bag. But Belladonna was no longer there.

  "She even took the blade with her," he muttered, placing the bag where Silent Night had previously rested.

  Then, Thalric hurried through his food, stuffing it into his mouth and swallowing the egg whole. Afterward, he cleaned himself up and put on the new clothes Belladonna had prepared for him—a leather jacket, leather boots, and a cozy shirt and pants. They fit him perfectly.

  With the bag on his back, the map in his hand, and the hat on his head, Thalric opened the door and stepped out.

  Alas, there was no ground beyond the house to support his step, for Belladonna's little house was built upon a large oak tree, standing in the middle of the Featherkin Forest.

  There fell Thalric, hitting and screaming against the branches of the trees and struggling for his life to catch onto something to save himself—which he failed to do miserably. Pointy branches assaulted him like an enemy; some hit him in the eyes, some in his nose, all over his face, and some on his head. Among those, large branches stood in his path, and as he fell, they gave him excruciating pain. And His scream was like never before, for it even managed to scare away all those wretched creatures from the sarounding.

  Assault was not the only thing he suffered, for as he got closer to the ground, the tree branches began to rob him of his things. First, it was the hat he wore. The nice little hat was grabbed and torn away by a thin tree branch as Thalric passed by. Then, it was the coat, which was yanked away forcefully from him by another branch, followed by the bag. Only after they had taken everything, and the earth was getting really close, did Thalric finally manage to grab onto a herd of vines hanging down from the branches. Although it wasn’t much of a grab, instead of mangling into it, at least he was safe now. When he halted, he was inches away from the ground, and his backside almost felt the touch of the earth.

  Thalric’s whole body was covered in bruises and swallow marks, and it took him a certain amount of time before he could lift his head again. With a grumpy face , he looked up at the tree and saw all of his belongings hanging from the branches. Shaking bit by bit, he loosened the vines wrapped around him and jumped to the ground, which unexpectedly had sharp thorns waiting for him. But he was safe and sound, thanks to the boots he wore, which were the only thing those tree branches failed to steal.

  Task! Then came a sound from above. Thalric looked up to see his traveling bag falling from above, probably because the tree branch that had grabbed it wasn't strong enough to hold it any longer. It fell right onto his back. Than once again, Thalric fell flat on the ground.

  Thalric got up again, this time irritated and frustrated—for one, it was toward Belladonna, who hadn’t warned him at all about this wretched tree or anything about being in high above, and for the second, it was about his bag. If not for its falling, he wouldn’t have gotten pierced by the thorns on the ground.

  Thankfully, though the other things were lost, the bag was finally recovered, which was enough to satisfy Thalric’s funky ego. And because he held the map in his hand, it was safe until now.

  Putting the bag back on his back and looking at the map, he strode forward, knowing he was too powerless to do much about this misfortune. But before that, he once again looked up to see his newly gotten hat (which sadly torn to pieces) and coat hanging high above in the tree, never to be returned to his hands again.

  Up in the sky, high above the clouds, flew the golden eagle of Belladona. She flew gracefully through the air, letting her wings carry her to her destination. Then, she flew down like a meteor and fell straight into the area, a bit devoid of trees. There were already a few people there, all looking at the eagle that descending.