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Angor had a really long dream, yet he couldn’t remember what it was that he dreamed about. He only sensed that someone had been chattering non-stop beside his ear, as well as a pair of hands which had been moving all over his face.

A series of strange laughter and the moving hands finally woke him up from his dream.

Angor opened his eyes and immediately found himself staring into another pair of eyes.

Those eyes looked passionate and... charmed?

Angor’s doubt quickly vanished when he felt those hands in his hair.

“Such beautiful, soft hair... like the most expensive silk! Ahh... it felt so good...”

“Get, away, from me,” Angor said and realized that his voice sounded rather hoarse.

“And those eyes... pure blue like the sky without a single cloud or the untainted sea brightened by the very sun...”

Angor reached out a hand and pushed the harasser away.

At the moment he used force, he quickly felt something burning through his chest.

The pain quickly reminded him of what just happened. “What have you done, Shadow?”

Shadow was still praising Angor’s looks as if singing an aria. “Oh, how I wish that you’re my trophy... No, I’ll keep you in my collection and leave you there for eternity.”

While enduring the pain, Angor pushed himself up from the bed and looked around. It was a plain bedroom with several simple furniture, as well as a bow hanging on the wall.

The room looked similar.

Angor remembered that he “bought” some clothes from a ranger’s house when he was on his way toward Water Grasse, and the bedroom in that house looked exactly the same as this one.

The ranger’s house?

Next, he thought about how he saw something “opening up” right inside his chest and three tiny figures showed up from it...

“You knew that would happen, right?” He looked up at Shadow, who was still talking nonsense.

Shadow stopped grumbling and grinned. “So what? I told you that you should leave.”

“You intentionally guided me to that seat, eh?”

“Nah. The covenant won’t let me live if I even think about killing you.”

“I see. So you did bypass the covenant. But why save me?” Angor also remembered how Shadow was smiling back there, which meant the pact did not blame the man for the accident. The “door wound” was mostly his own fault.

So why did Shadow decide to help him when his death was certain?

“Because you have brilliant hair and eyes. If I let you die in there, my teacher will scold me dearly,” Shadow said with a sincere look.

Angor wasn’t convinced in the least. He quickly went over what was written on the covenant.

“The agreement forced you to do so, no?”

“Heh. Bingo, smart guy.”

Angor shook his head and chuckled. “Not really... or I wouldn’t have fallen into your little trap.” He then put a hand on his chest and tried to get out of the bed.

“Your ribs aren’t stable enough. I suggest that you stay put, or I’ll have to open up your chest and set your bones again,” Shadow said.

“... How long do I have to stay like this?”

“A year or two. Maybe.”

“Very funny.” Angor tried to press his chest to feel the pain. Using his own medical knowledge, he assumed that he would need at least a few months for his bones to heal.

“Right. Two months, if you’re willing to take it slow. Or only a week, if you know how to cast Heal at yourself,” Shadow said.

Heal?

Angor thought about his previous study which would grant him the cantrip in another three days, which also meant he’d spend another ten days or so at Water Grasse.

Spending ten days with someone who planned to kill him with all kinds of smart moves wasn’t a wise choice, but there was no way he could ask Shadow to carry him to Silent Hill.

Only the devil knew what kind of evil plot was in the making.

Angor considered and decided to study Heal on himself. He would then leave on his own.

“How long was I out? Where’s Toby?”

“Less than two days. And what the hell is Toby? That freaking winged beast?”

Angor gave Shadow a really cold look.

“You have him there,” Shadow said as he pointed at Angor’s pillow. “It won’t stop attacking me when you fell. It broke my hand too! Look! I still tried to get you back. I demand compensation.”

Angor looked around and saw Toby sleeping nice and sound.

“Hey, I didn’t do it. It fainted on its own,” Shadow quickly said as he waved a hand to deny the possible assumption that Angor was thinking about. “I already checked. The bird got no wounds. Not outside, not inside. Now that’s weird. You woke up, but it’s still sleeping.”

Angor put a hand on Toby and felt the healthy warmth as well as heartbeats.

“See? So, my compensation?” Shadow chuckled.

“Ha, I see. So what do you want?”

Shadow crept closer and said in a timid voice, “I want no physical reward. How about... you? I mean, give me your shadow. Oh man, I want to put you in my display case. You’re not a mortal anyway, losing your shadow won’t do anything to you.”

“And you think I’ll agree? Did you ask Krakoks to collect shadows just for your collection?”

“Yeah. I’m going to present a gallery show in Floating Mech City, filled with the shadows of blond hair and blue-eyed beauties!”

“You can’t see anything on a shadow anyway. It’s all black.”

“I’ll just have to turn them into puppets!”

A Krakok giggled and appeared on Shadow’s hand as it presented him with another twitching sack.

“Someone’s shadow again?”

“Yup.”

“Not interfering with mortals was the first lesson I learned after coming to the wizarding world,” Angor commented as he stared at the moving sack.

“Are you asking me to set them free?”

“I’m simply reminding you to stay low.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about me. Let me see... I can return all the shadows if you give me yours. What do you say?”

Angor only gestured toward the door. He wasn’t going to trade his own freedom for the lives of someone else. He wasn’t a saint, nor would he become one just because someone asked him to do some moral-related stuff.

When Shadow had left, Angor put a hand on his chest again— to feel his heartbeat this time.

At least he was alive. This was what mattered.

When he saw the terrible wound on his chest back in the dark room, he hated both Shadow and himself.

He regretted not killing Shadow when he still had a chance. He blamed himself for being stupid since he never noticed Shadow’s “hint”. His arrogance almost cost him his own life again.

Now that he was alive, he still had a chance to amend his naive mind.

He was determined to never underestimate any opponent from now on. Even when the world’s consciousness was governing their pact, a small smart move could still ruin the whole situation.

...

For the next few days, Shadow didn’t come to visit. Angor’s spirit feelers told him that Shadow did not remain in the ranger house. However, the man left two puppets behind, one of which was Magician.

Without minding the puppets, Angor began to study to cast Heal.

After two days, he succeeded. The cantrip created a pale-green light that slowly sank into his broken ribs.

Using his spirit feelers, he could feel his bones slowly fixing up under the light.

Since the cantrip was working, Angor planned to get out of the ranger’s house... on condition that he could walk back to Water Grasse without tearing up his wound again.

He checked and assumed that it would be fine, as long as nothing intentionally shocked him.

He spent another night on his bed. When he was getting his clothes, he found his overcoat in a bad shape. It gained a big hole in the chest area which couldn’t be repaired.

It meant his valuable magic coat had officially lost its magic after having served him for only half a year.

“Ugh... such a waste.” He shook his head and put the coat inside his bracelet. The built-in magic was beyond repair, but at least, the fabric was still useful.

He found another casual outfit.

Without the strange-colored overcoat, his top hat would only appear weirder now; therefore, Angor put away the hat before he stepped out of the bedroom.