The night sky quickly blanketed Astryra revealing its beautiful twin moons, though most were asleep at the hour to appreciate the sight.
Orion, as much as he wanted to, couldn't stay up past midnight. Despite the system healing all his wounds when it arrived, the exhaustion still remained.
And at this hour, he remained completely asleep.
Unlike him though, a certain white cat was still up, sneakily stepping around the room to ensure she didn't disturb her master, stopping just beside his bed.
"I'll be back soon master," she muttered, bent down a bit and placed a kiss on his cheek.
Forgetting that her previous plan was to not disturb his sleep.
Fortunately, Orion was too exhausted to notice anything and she stood back up and walked towards the window, before silently stepping through it.
Luna had long changed out of Orion's shirt, despite not wanting to. She now had on black pants and matching black long-sleeved top that clung to her figure, the fabric soft enough not to make a sound as she moved.
Her white hair fluttered in the wind as she dropped from the window, and the moment her feet touched the ground outside, her entire demeanor changed.
The playful, clingy smile she always wore around Orion was completely gone, replaced by a cold one.
"Now then," she muttered as she looked up at the moon, "let's hunt some rats, shall we."
With that, she vanished.
***
In a certain part of the Ashbourne Dukedom, three men exited a bar, completely wasted.
One of the three was the same man that had scammed the previous Orion, got him ambushed, beaten and eventually killed.
He was laughing heartily as he chugged down a bottle, their steps unsteady as they tried to make it back to the slums, where rats like them belonged.
"Hick~°" one of them hiccuped as he muttered, "it's not everyday we get to rob a noble brat and live to tell the tale."
The other two burst into laughter, their voices loud and careless in the quiet street.
"Live?" the scammer scoffed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, "we made a killing."
He shook the pouch tied to his waist, the sound of coins clinking together ringing out clearly in the night.
"Gold, real gold," he grinned, eyes gleaming with greed, "that idiot didn't even think twice before following me. Nobles really are brain-dead."
"Should've taken more," another one muttered, his speech slurred. "Could've sold him too, yeah?"
"Oi, don't get greedy," the first one replied, though he didn't sound like he meant it. "We already pushed our luck. Kid died on us."
A brief silence fell.
"Tch… his fault," the third one shrugged. "If he didn't want to die, he shouldn't have been so weak."
"Exactly!" the scammer laughed again. "In this world, weaklings die. Simple as that."
They all nodded, satisfied with that logic after all, that somehow helped them sleep better.
The street they walked through gradually grew quieter, darker, the lamps fewer and farther between.
"…Hey," one of them suddenly muttered, his laughter dying down a bit, "you guys feel that?"
"Feel what?" the scammer replied, annoyed.
"…Dunno… feels like—"
A soft tap echoed behind them and all three froze.
"What was that?"
Slowly, they turned, and there standing beneath the dim glow of a flickering street lamp a few steps away was a girl with white hair and silver-blue eyes.
She was silently watching them.
"…Oi," the scammer frowned, squinting slightly through his drunken haze, "what's a pretty thing like you doing out here this late?"
There was no response, she simply continued staring at them
"You lost or something?" the second man added, a grin slowly forming on his face.
The third man moved back slightly, a sudden sense of unease creeping up his spine.
"Hey, something's off."
The scammer clicked his tongue.
"Relax," he said, taking a step forward, "she's probably just another slum rat trying her luck."
He stopped a few steps away from her, his grin widening.
"Well? You need something?"
There was no reply for a few seconds, before she slowly opened her mouth and spoke, "yes."
Her voice was soft, exactly the way the three like it, after all, she sounded like a meek girl.
"I need something from you."
"Oh?" the scammer chuckled, licking his lips thinking that this was their lucky day, "and what would that be?"
They had robbed a useless noble, made enough gold that they won't have to work for months and now they were about to score a beautiful young girl to accompany them.
Could this day get any better?
Luna tilted her head slightly as her lips curved into a small smile, "your lives."
"What—"
SCHILK
His words died in his throat as the girl quickly swung her hand.
The next thing he saw was the world being flipped upside down and right in front of him was....his headless body?
"Huh?" Was the only thing he could let out before everything suddenly faded to black.
THUD!
The headless body stood still for a second before suddenly falling to the floor, blood spraying from the neck onto the cobblestone road.
For a moment, there was absolute silence.
The remaining two men froze, their drunken haze shattered completely as reality slammed into them.
Their eyes slowly moved from the headless corpse to the girl standing in front of it.
Her arm was still slightly raised as a faint trail of blood slid down her fingers.
"…Huh?"
"…W-what…?"
Their minds refused to process it.
Just a second ago, they were laughing, drinking and talking.
Now, one of them was dead?
Just like that.
Luna tilted her head slightly, her expression unchanged as she said, "one down."
That was when it finally hit them.
"R-RUN!!"
The two turned instantly, their legs moving before their thoughts could catch up.
Fear.
Pure, unfiltered fear.
They didn't dare look back.
All that mattered was getting away and that was getting far away.
Luna watched them run with a small smile on her face before she said, "run little rats, after all,"
Her eyes seemed to be glowing as she crouched low,
"The hunt just is just getting started."