Kumiho makes the group a quick breakfast of some bread and eggs. waking up a few of the drunkards who were passed out all night, giving them a drink or quick breakfast if they asked for it. They then go through the day like normal: Going to class and then working at the tavern, just with Hrafn tagging along and even becoming chatty with some of the tavern goers as he begins drinking a dozen too many drinks.

  Fang and Sune carry the hiccupping Hrafn up the steps to the room, his eyes filled with popping bubbles as he mumbles random nonsense. When they reach the door Hrafn’s woozy voice is heard, “He-hic... Needs to speak with Kumiho... Please everyone go... inside?”

  The children stare at the drunk man, “Kumiho you-” Sune speaks

  “Listen to him. We have something to talk about.” Kumiho quickly cuts her off with frigid eyes.

  “Uh—Okay. Fang, Hollie, let's go.”

  “Wait but-”

  “Shhh” Hollie shushes and puts a finger over Fang’s mouth, cautiously nodding to Sune and then Kumiho.

  As the door quietly closes, Hrafn’s still bubbling eyes suddenly begin to slow and stop completely as his hunched and wobbly form straightens and calms. The lines in his eyes becoming completely motionless, Kumiho’s hand staying in her right pocket as her body tenses.

  “Knives are dangerous girl.” The man gives her a poor imitation for a smile as his cold voice cuts through Kumiho.

  “What did you want?” She keeps her hand within her pocket.

  “I’m going to be taking the boy and the black-haired one for a few days.”

  As he finishes speaking, her right hand comes out of her pocket and a black light flashes, the small, sheathed knife she was holding disintegrating into black specks of light.

  “I know you probably weren’t going to use it, but can you blame me for being safe rather than sorry?”

  “...” She glares at him with narrowed eyes but make no more moves.

  “Now as I was saying: I’m going to take those two because your guardian, Oswin, said I would be the best teacher for them. And I thought to tell you alone because out of all the children you’re the most likely to give me trouble: The lily is too kind to hurt someone; the black-haired one is too timid and scared, and the boy doesn’t have much fight left in him. So that leaves—” He pokes the small pendant resting over her shirt, pressing it softly against her chest. “—Just you. The only one remaining who’d willingly stab that clueless lout if necessary.”

  “And how do you know so much about us?”

  “I’ve spent over ten times the number of years you’ve lived working with your, ‘nice,’ and ‘caring,’ guardian. A spy for him if you will, I find things on people and decide what their punishment should be, even if it isn't me who deals the punishment in the end. Recently people have been calling me the 'Prosecutor' because of those new laws, but names don't mean much to someone like me. So do you really think I'd have trouble learning about a couple of children?” His tone despite displaying emotion feels off, the face not matching the words, his cold smile never fading regardless of the emotions he shows in his voice.

  “Okay...” Her cautious response leads to no change in the man’s expression, “Why are you telling me so much if you’re a spy? Shouldn’t you—Like, hide these things?”

  “He told me to.”

  "And you expect me to believe you?” Her voice becoming less and less confident as the conversation continues.

  “Do you have a choice?”

  She silently bites her lip; her mouth slowly being overwhelmed by the strong taste of iron.

  “I’m glad we both could come to a consensus.” The man's fake smile grows wider as the lines in his eyes slowly begin to move again and bubbles begin popping within them. His body slowly beginning to wobble as his strange smile morphs into the nauseous face of a drunk. “OhhH! Eyy Kumi-hic-hO!”

  Kumiho sighs before turning and opening the door to the room, quickly entering it and going to bed, aggravatedly muttering to herself all the way to the bed. The other children strangely look at her but don’t bother her for the rest of the waking hours.

  Once everyone has fallen asleep Hrafn’s still eyes examine the room as an odd dark light encompass Hollie and Fang. A strange grin appearing on his face as he locks eyes with a pair of glowing green eyes shining in the darkness. “You could make a good Judge one day.” His body slowly dissipates within the dark light and the three forms disappear.

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  As the morning rays come Kumiho still feels restless due to a sleepless night, deciding to cook some food even though Sune won’t wake for a while. The delicious smell of her cooking waking up the few drunkards that seem to sleep on the tavern floors more often than their own home. Kumiho giving the men some of the food for some coppers, and some morning drinks as well that the men claim is: "completely necessary for their health." Which she doesn’t bother questioning and simply responds with a nod. Sune’s yawning face finally gracing the morning with its presence, Sune quietly sitting at the table with the gruff drunkards and begin to silently eat with them. The men offering the tired girl a drink that Kumiho slaps out of Sune’s hand when she tries to drink it. The meal Sune eats is eight small pieces of seared meat cut into various shapes: a winged bird, a deer, a snake, and more. Sauces and herbs placed thoughtfully on the different shapes to give them other details such as eyes, or in the case of the bird shape Sune is currently munching on, green herb feathers.

  “Humm~, what's with the cute little shapes Kumi~?” Sune wipes away the tired look on her face to a more cheerful one.

  “Kumi...?”

  “Oh! It’s a nickname I thought of. Isn’t it pretty?”

  “Mhm, I was just confused. No one has called me that for a while.” She mutters under her breath after responding.

  “What did you say Kumi?”

  “Nothing. Just I was bored this morning, so I cut the meat into little shapes.”

  After finishing their meal, the drunkards happily leave, profusely thanking Kumiho and almost falling multiple times as they stumble out the door. Sune is lost in thought as she bites into the wing of a ‘bird,’ Kumiho spending the rest of the morning cleaning the kitchen and putting things back while occasionally talking with Sune.

  “Where’s Fang and Hollie by the way? Oh, and Hrafn’s gone too.”

  “They had to go do something, nothing to worry about.”

  “So... What are we going to do today with them gone? I would say a restaurant, but we just ate sooo...” Sune pauses for a long moment while gazing at Kumiho

  “We can do whatever you want.” Kumiho’s response causes Sune to frown for a moment before regaining her smile.

  “Then let’s go shopping!” She happily bounces over to the confused Kumiho and grabs her hand tightly before dragging her out the door.

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  “Oh my Divines! You’re so pretty~!” Sune merrily chirps at the red-haired girl’s dress: A simple long sleeve scarlet red one-piece dress that goes down to her ankles. The gold pendant’s chain tightened around her neck with the centerpiece close to her neck like a choker and the chain taut. The excess of the gold chain resting in her red hair along with a clump of white flowers towards the front of her head; a few strands of hair tied to two ends of the chain, the rest of the golden chain falling and creating a semi-circle shape in her hair. “Do a little spin!” Kumiho looks at her oddly but after her continuous pleading Kumiho does a short and quick twirl with a completely deadpan face.

  “This feels awful to wear...” Kumiho complains while tugging at the dress and a rather disgusted expression on her face.

  “Okay... But won’t you wear it?” Sune’s eyes go wide as she clasps her hands together in front of her face with the brightest eyes she can muster, “Please?”

  “No.”

  Sune looks heartbroken.

  “This is okay...” Kumiho calmly speaks while looking down at herself. She wears a red and black plaid skirt that falls to her knees and a long sleeve tight-knit black sweater with cuffs that cover her entire hand and a very open and large neckline. The gold pendant hanging right below the base of the neck in the middle of the neckline opening, the excess chain making a semi-circle in her hair like before.

  “Yes!” Sune happily jumps into the air, “I can’t believe you’d be so picky on what you wear, this was the fifth one!”

  “I just don’t like dresses.”

  “Haaa... What do you think of my outfit by the way~? You haven’t said anything about it yet.” She lightly pouts with puffed cheeks. She wears a fine-knit white long-sleeve shirt with a knee length black skirt. Her hair braided into a simple half-crown braid on the back of her head.

  “It suits you.”

  “You’re so curt Kumi... Just lighten up a bit!” Sune practically jumps on Kumiho with a big hug to her neck that causes her to almost fall over due to Sune's shorter stature.

  Sune continues to try and get Kumiho to wear dresses that she constantly shuts down until Sune finally gives up and Kumiho gets an array of black and brown shirts and long pants, Sune forcing to get a few more skirts. On the other hand, Sune gets a wide variety of dresses and skirts and some simple short and long sleeve shirts with long and short pants as well, all the clothing being either black or white in color. They don’t bother trying on any of the other clothes they pick out as they already know the proper sizes, walking out of the store wearing what they both originally picked out. Leaving all the other clothes they bought and the clothing they came in wearing with the store to be properly cleaned and sent to the tavern, so they don’t have to carry all the clothes themselves to the tavern.

  “You know what I just realized Kumi?” She says excitedly

  “What?” her eyes glance at Sune who is happily skipping.

  “This is the first time it has ever just been us! At all other times everyone else was there.”

  “Hmm? I guess it is.” Her eyes trained on the road in front of them, scanning the road constantly.

  Sune pouts at Kumiho’s less than excited demeanor, “Don’t you think we should go somewhere for this occasion?! Like!—A cake place!”

  “Cake? What even is that...?” Kumiho lightly tilts her head while trying to think of what ‘cake’ means.

  “You don't know what cake is!?!?” Sune’s shell-shocked voice leads to Kumiho freezing in confusion.

  “My village was rather far from common society, so—” Kumiho is suddenly cut off by a much too loud voice.

  “And they didn’t have cakes there?!”

  “No... We mostly just hunted, scavenged, and farmed for food.”

  “Then this won’t do! You must try some now!” While exuberantly speaking, she grabs the still confused Kumiho’s arm and begins running towards a brightly painted building in pastel colors. The next thing Kumiho knows she's sitting on a pastel chair in a building that is much too bright and filled with brightly colored food, a strong aroma wafting through the entire room. As she sits there idly, Sune comes over with a large wooden plate and places it on the pastel round table Kumiho sits at. On the plate is a circular cake: The sponge of the cake a bright yellow with honey pouring out of almost all of its small holes, with bright pastel colored syrup covering the whole top of the cake and oozing off the sides. The honey and pastel syrup mixing into a strange mix of gold and pastel blues and pinks all over the sides of the yellow cake. Before the cake is even on the table for a single second Sune quickly cuts it into equal parts with practiced ease and places a slice of the cake on a small plate and shoving it in Kumiho’s face with her own face barely containing her excitement. Kumiho picks up a small piece of the slice with a fork and brings it close to her mouth, the strong smell made from the combination of the sugary syrups and honey causes her to shudder. And as she places the food in her mouth, she almost immediately gags but covers her mouth before Sune can notice. The overwhelming cloying taste of all the different ingredients mixing together in her mouth creates a more than chaotic taste for the unprepared taste buds of the unsuspecting Kumiho.

  “Is it good?” Sune’s sweet voice makes the situation even worse for Kumiho as she gulps down as much of the cake and syrups as possible but even then, the overwhelmingly sweet taste of the cake will not leave her mouth and she attempts a friendly smile towards Sune.

  “It’s... Great...” Her awkward smile twitching with every accidental touch of her tongue against the sugary walls of her mouth.

  “Then why is mine bitter?” Sune questions strangely while taking bites of the deathly sweet cake, not attempting to hide her confusion as she continues to take bite after bite. “Was yours sweet Kumi?”

  “Overly so...”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes?” Kumiho tilts her head in confusion.

  No matter what Sune does the bitter taste won’t leave her mouth. "Why is it so bitter... And what is that smell!” Sune stands up out of her chair and yells before freezing and looking around at all the customers and staff staring at her. Her whole body beginning to feel prickly as the walls cave in and everything goes dark, her breathing becoming ragged and strained, the prickling feeling becoming a stabbing one until suddenly all of it disappears and the world returns. A warm feeling coating her entire body, a protective shield from the stabbing gazes, and that warmth all comes from the young girl who lightly tugged at her bright white sleeve from behind: Kumiho.

  “Are you okay?”

  The bitter taste in her mouth is suddenly replaced with a sweet syrupy one as Kumiho's question resonates in her mind. The strange smell that had been plaguing her completely disappearing, a new smell assaulting her nose, the sweet aroma of the pastel store. “It’s gone...? It’s finally gone! Kumi did you do something!?”

  “Uh... No? I just grabbed your sleeve because you seemed out of it.”

  “It had to of been you though.” She speaks confidently.

  “Uhm, excuse me.” A young white man with blonde hair in an all-white outfit walks over to the two girls with a cautious gait, he speaks Imperial. “Is everything okay over here? You seemed to be complaining about the smell and taste of the cake?”

  “Oh! No! I mean—the cake is great! I was talking about something, else there's no need to worry.” Sune forces out a smile while continuing to profusely apologize to the man for a long time, using every Imperial word of apology she knows. While Sune is rapid firing the flustered man with apologies, Kumiho gets a square pastel painted wooden box for the cake with a small silver latch locking it shut and a cloth handle crudely nailed to the top. She stands right by the door holding the pastel box in her left hand while staring at the somehow still apologizing Sune, the young man looking like he’s about to pass out if the apologies go on for any longer.

  “Kumiho I think I know what my ‘feeling’ is.” Sune speaks while they walk out of the store and onto the dirt roads of the small town, the sky a light orange and the sun halfway covered by a tall mountain in the distance.

  “You mean that thing Hrafn said you should have because you’re a half-elf?” Her green eyes focus on Sune’s moving form.

  “Yeah... I think I can taste truths and lies, and my other senses are also related to people’s emotions but I’m not sure how yet.” She speaks ever so lightly while looking up to the sky.

  “Is that the bitterness you were talking about?”

  “Mhm~... It only got worse every time you answered my questions and was replaced with sweetness when you wholeheartedly wondered if I was alright.” Her lips curl into a small smile as she looks at Kumiho, softly laughing at Kumiho’s bothered expression. “I know you lied for a reason, so I won’t bug you about it. I trust you wouldn’t lie for fun—Especially since I can tell your worry for me is real~.” Kumiho’s faint grimace causes Sune to laugh again.

  “Hrafn took them for training, or at least that's what he told me.”

  “Hmm~, bitter yet sweet. What do you suppose that means Kumi~?” She lightly teases with a cheeky smile.

  “Hrafn’s voice told me he’d take them for training.”

  “Now that was completely sweet, but you said the same thing...”

  “Did I?” Kumiho smirks at Sune.

  “Did you just mock me? The ever-serious Kumiho knows how to tease someone!?” Sune acts overly shocked before laughing loudly, causing Kumiho to lightly chuckle before covering her mouth with the black sleeve hiding her hand and pretending to cough when Sune stares at her dumbstruck. “You laughed! You found what I said funny!” She says while shocked frozen before happily jumping around with her fists pumped into the air, “I won my bet against Fang!”

  “...” Kumiho stares at the shameless girl bouncing around before shaking her head with a content smile across her face. “Let's just go home.”

  “I hope Fang is there so I can tell him the great news!”

  The chipper young girl beginning to skip quickly towards the familiar wooden building of the tavern they have been living at for a few days while yelling at the "slow walking" Kumiho to speed up. Entering the bustling tavern just as the sun sets and the small town is engulfed in the darkness of the night.