"ZILU?!"

Mark turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw a pale-skinned woman running toward them from across the street.

The first thing he noticed was her long black hair, with streaks of intense red mixed through it that fell over her shoulders and down her back.

She had a hairstyle that completely covered her right eye, leaving only the left one visible, an amber-colored eye that at that moment was wide open.

The second thing he noticed were her ears.

Fox ears.

Two pointed ears jutting from between her hair, the same black as the rest but with red tips.

The woman crossed the distance between herself and Zilu in a matter of seconds and without stopping wrapped her in a hug so strong that Zilu stumbled backward.

"Zilu!" the woman said, pressing against her and burying her face directly on top of Zilu’s head, with her chin resting between her rabbit ears. "Where the hell have you been?!"

"Sarah, I—"

"Are you alright?!" she interrupted without letting go. "Did they do anything to you?! Are you hurt?! And your sister?!"

"I’m fine, Sarah, I’m—"

"I was so worried about you... I went out looking for you several times but couldn’t find you anywhere."

"I’m sorry..." Zilu murmured against her. "I’m sorry I left without telling you anything."

"Idiot..."

The two stayed hugging for a moment longer until Sarah raised her gaze, noticing Mark and the others.

And then her visible eye narrowed.

"Zilu," Sarah said without releasing the hug but lowering her tone. "Why did you bring humans here?"

Zilu slowly separated from the embrace and turned her head toward Mark and the others.

"It’s... a long story, but they saved me."

"They saved you?"

"Yes, but... I’d rather explain everything in private," Zilu said, glancing around briefly.

And she was right to want privacy, because at that moment practically the entire village was watching them.

"We’re making quite a scene," Zilu said with visible discomfort.

"...You’re right," Sarah said, finally releasing Zilu. "Let’s go to my house, we can talk there in peace."

"Alright."

Zilu turned toward Mark.

"Excuse me," she said in a slightly apologetic tone. "Could you wait for us a little while? I need to talk to Sarah first before..."

"No problem," Mark said, raising a hand. "Take all the time you need."

"Thank you..."

Zilu nodded and turned to walk alongside Sarah.

The two moved off down a side street, with Sarah putting an arm over Zilu’s shoulders protectively while saying something quietly that Mark didn’t catch.

Mark watched them go until they disappeared behind one of the wooden houses.

Then he saw Rose starting to walk in another direction.

"Where are you going?" Mark asked.

"I’m not standing here waiting for those two to come back," Rose said without stopping, walking directly toward a small stone fountain in what appeared to be the center of the village.

And when she finally reached the fountain she sat down on the edge.

Mark watched her for a second, let out a sigh, and ended up doing the same, he walked over to the fountain and sat down beside Rose.

Seeing them, Ely walked over and sat on Mark’s other side.

Aria followed just a second later, sitting beside Ely.

And Alice sat on one of the benches in front of the fountain, crossing her legs and resting her hands on her knees.

Yuki for her part also decided to sit down and began playing with one of her daggers.

The village’s inhabitants continued watching them from their houses and stalls, but little by little some started returning to their activities, though every now and then they cast glances in the direction of the fountain.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes until Alice spoke.

"It’s strange..."

"What is?" Mark asked, turning his head toward the cleric.

"This village," Alice said, looking around with a thoughtful expression. "Do you remember the semi-human camp we found when we were going back to the dungeon?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"I remember all the semi-humans in that camp were the same species."

Mark nodded.

"But here there are all kinds... several different races living together in the same village," Alice said, looking around.

"That’s true..." Mark said, also looking around and confirming what Alice was saying.

"Does that even matter?" Ely asked, tilting her head.

"Probably not," Alice admitted. "But I find it curious."

"Why?" Aria asked, joining the conversation.

"Because as far as I knew, most demi-humans didn’t tolerate each other," Alice explained. "At least that’s what they taught us in the clergy, that each race lived separately from the others and that territorial disputes between different demi-human races were very frequent."

"And here they’re all together like it’s nothing?" Mark said.

"Yeah..." Alice confirmed, frowning slightly. "It doesn’t make much sense based on what I knew."

Rose, who had been listening to the conversation with her eyes closed and her head tilted back, let out a faint laugh.

"Exactly the same as humans," Rose said without opening her eyes.

Alice looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"The humans don’t tolerate each other either," Rose said, opening one eye and looking at Alice. "Human kingdoms have been at war with each other for centuries, and yet there they are, trading, mixing, or simply coexisting..."

Alice didn’t respond, but her expression made it clear that the idea was giving her something to think about.

Mark stayed seated looking at the village as the conversation faded.

The minutes passed.

Ten.

Twenty.

Thirty.

Mark was already starting to wonder how much longer they were going to take when he saw Zilu appear from the side street she had gone down.

She walked toward them and stopped in front of Mark.

Her golden eyes were slightly reddened, a sign she had been crying again, but her expression was calmer than before.

"Sarah agreed to share the information you need," Zilu said.

"Really?" Mark said.

"Yes," Zilu confirmed, nodding. "I explained what they did for me and she said it’s the least she can do as a thank you."

"Thank you very much."

"You can thank her in person," Zilu said. "Sarah wants to speak with you directly, but in private."

"Just me?"

"Yes, she said she’d prefer to talk without so many people."

Mark nodded.

"That works for me," he said, getting to his feet.

But the moment he stood up, Ely did too.

"Master, you shouldn’t go alone," Ely said in a firm tone. "It could be dangerous."

"Ely is right, my lord," Alice said, also getting to her feet. "We know nothing about that woman or her intentions, we should go with you."

"Don’t worry," Mark said calmly.

Ely opened her mouth to insist but Mark interrupted her by speaking through the mental link.

"Yuki will come with me in secret," Mark said mentally to all his subordinates at the same time. "If anything happens, she’ll be there to protect me."

"You can count on me, Master," Yuki responded immediately.

After hearing their Master’s words, everyone went quiet.

"I’ll be fine," Mark said out loud. "Wait for me here."

And without saying anything more, he began walking behind Zilu in the direction of Sarah’s house.

Yuki, for her part, vanished the moment her Master turned around.