Evelyn stepped through the threshold first, her boots crossing into the quiet sanctuary of House 132. She had no idea about the dark history embedded in the very foundation of this safehouse.
In fact, this home had been given to me by Chief Anton, the commanding leader of the Luminous Knight Bureau Association, when I successfully claimed my very first high-tier bounty. The target had been a vile, elusive criminal named Cletus Roman. For dragging his head back to the Bureau, Chief Anton had rewarded me with a single gold coin and the brass key to this brand-new property. Evelyn didn't know that my first taste of a safe, independent life had been bought entirely with blood. To her, this place was just pure magic.
"Woah... is this your living room?!" Evelyn gasped, her voice echoing softly through the dusty air as she rushed to touch the plush fabric of the armchair.
Before I could even close the front door, she was already darting down the short hallway like a curious kitten.
"And this is your kitchen!" she called out, marvelling at the simple iron stove and the neatly stacked clay plates.
She bounded up the wooden staircase, her footsteps light and eager. From upstairs, I could hear her amazed voice filtering down.
"Your bedroom! And a real bathroom! There's so much room!"
Every ordinary corner of a standard human house was a breathtaking luxury to a girl who had spent six years sleeping on cold, jagged stones surrounded by flesh-eating slimes.
While she explored the upper floor, I finally stepped fully onto the covered porch. Reaching up with my one hand, I unbuckled the collar of my heavy canvas cloak and pulled the hood completely off, letting the cool evening breeze hit my face. My single jade-green eye scanned the quiet street before dropping to the porch floor.
I leaned down, my leather armor creaking softly, and picked up the neatly rolled newspaper the paperboy had left on the mat early this morning. Unrolling the crisp parchment, I prepared to read the latest headlines of the capital, wondering if the news of the gold mines' liberation… or the whispers of a new Luminous Knight prodigy… had already begun to spread through Caria City.
I sat down on the smooth wooden steps of the porch, the cool evening air brushing against my scarred face as I unrolled the fresh parchment of the newspaper. Upstairs, the muffled sound of Evelyn's excited footsteps finally quieted down. A moment later, the front door creaked open, and she peeked out at me, her twin jade-green eyes sparkling with anticipation.
"Big sister, I'm going to take a bath... a warm bath. My first real bath." Evelyn said, her voice a mix of shyness and eager excitement.
Hearing that, my expression softened. I glanced down at the newspaper, tore a small, blank piece from the margin, and quickly scribbled a note with my charcoal pencil:
There are spare clothes in the wardrobe inside my bedroom. Pick something nice.
Evelyn caught the note, a radiant, grateful smile breaking across her face. She gave me a cheerful little nod and eagerly turned back inside, heading straight for the stairs.
A quiet, reflective sigh escaped my lips as I watched her go. This truly was her very first time taking a human bath. In the deep, subterranean ravines, she had been a creature of the dark… partially a slime, constantly slick with biological residue and surrounded by the damp, stagnant waters of the breeding grounds. Through the plundered memories of the Capital Knights she had devoured, she had seen vivid mental images of humans relaxing in steaming tubs, washing away the grime of battle, and feeling completely clean. It was a simple luxury she had desperately dreamed of experiencing herself.
Fortunately, since Evelyn and I shared such striking physical similarities… her developed 5'3" frame matching perfectly with my own 5'5" build… most of the casual dresses and tunics packed away in my wardrobe would fit her flawlessly. I didn't have to worry about rushing out to buy her new clothes tonight. She could finally dress like a normal human girl.
With the house falling into a peaceful silence, save for the faint, distant sound of pipes groaning as the bathroom's water heater sparked to life, I turned my attention back to the crisp sheets of the newspaper. I adjusted my posture on the porch step, brought the parchment closer to the fading daylight, and began to thoroughly read the contents to see what was happening in the kingdom we had just altered forever.
The fading evening light cast long shadows across the porch as I smoothed out the pages of the Caria Times… Thursday Edition. I scanned the text, my single jade-green eye darting over the columns until a specific headline in the local news section caught my attention, making my breath hitch in my throat.
(Caria Times- Thursday Edition)
NOTICE FROM THE LKBA: THE WINGED DEMON
The monstrous entity known as the Crimson Demon has been spotted near the city perimeters. Due to the recent economic shift and the escalating threat level, the high-command has officially increased the bounty on its head to 15 gold coins. Elite squads are advised to execute on sight.
I stared at the ink, a cold shock pulsing through my veins. The bounty on my monstrous alter-ego was not only active, but it had jumped from 12 gold coins straight to 15 gold because the stabilizing currency made every coin worth more.
A bitter, tense knot formed in my stomach. I had to be more careful than ever. My blood wings… the terrifying, bat-like appendages fused to my spine from my fifth evolution… had to stay completely buried under my heavy canvas cloak. The capital was actively hunting a blood-sucking monster, completely blind to the ultimate irony, the faceless demon they feared was the exact same bounty hunter who had single-handedly dismantled Oksana's underground drug empire, and the very same hero who had just liberated the Caria Mines. If the public ever found out that the savior who rescued the kingdom's economy was actually the 15-gold demonic public enemy, the Bureau would collapse into chaos, and a nationwide manhunt would be pinned on my back.
And the danger didn't just stop with me. If the kingdom realized Evelyn was a human-slime hybrid, they would execute her without a second thought. I took a deep, steadying breath, counting our saving graces. The only definitive, undeniable proof of her monster biology was the exposed, glowing core pulsing inside her chest. Her vibrant, bioluminescent hair tips and her glowing tears could easily be excused by the public as a rare, volatile manifestation of high-tier Rynd family magic. As long as her chest core stayed covered by her knight uniform, her secret was safe.
Hoping for better news, I flipped to the next page of the paper, only for my eye to widen at a massive, front-page headline that practically screamed across the parchment:
GROUND BREAKING NEWS: EIRENE RYND SAVES THE KINGDOM FROM THE SIX-YEAR PLAGUE!
Eirene Rynd, the younger sister of the legendary Magic Academy Principal Elicia Rynd, has successfully cleansed the Caria Mines! The S-rank bio-slime infestation has been completely eradicated. Miners are already returning to gather precious resources, causing the country's deflation to immediately drop by 10%. The economy of Caria is finally under control!
I slammed my fist lightly against the wooden porch step in pure frustration. Chief Anton, the leader of the LKBA, had always been smart enough to keep my identity fiercely guarded in the shadows to protect me. But Nautilus Cotton was the exact opposite. That arrogant, bitchless, politically driven director had plastered my real name across the entire capital just to boost the Bureau's reputation and secure his own power.
By tying my real name to the Rynd family legacy and crowning me as a savior, Nautilus had effectively turned me into a local celebrity. The chances of someone connecting the dots between Eirene the Hero, and the Winged Demon had just skyrocketed.
I aggressively flipped through the remaining pages, but all I found were cheap political propaganda columns and merchant advertisements. There wasn't a single mention of Evelyn. I let out a soft sigh of relief. It made sense, her registration had just concluded an hour ago. Nautilus and the Bureau high-command were likely drafting the official public announcement tonight, meaning her debut as the kingdom's newest Luminous Knight prodigy would take the capital by storm tomorrow morning.
From inside the house, the faint sound of splashing water and the gentle warmth of the steam drifting from the bathroom window told me Evelyn was finally enjoying her first taste of a human life. I folded the newspaper up, my expression hardening beneath the twilight sky. The world outside my safehouse was becoming a dangerous web of fame, bounties, and secrets… but as long as I had my shotgun and my cloak, I would keep both of our secrets buried in the dark.