A few minutes later, after finishing his meal, Zavi stood up and looked at Isabelle, who was still in his room, standing in the same position as before.
At a glance, it might look completely ordinary for someone to stand near a window and admire the cloudy sky and pleasant weather like this.
But Zavi's thoughts were very different. Instead, he felt that his younger sister was hiding something, something she could not tell anyone, not even him as her older brother.
"Why?" Zavi exhaled slowly. "Is something bothering you? Like heartbreak or something like that. If there is, you can tell me. If you don't want to, that's fine too. I won't force you," he said gently, though worry lingered beneath his tone.
Isabelle slightly lifted her head, hearing his words, but her lips refused to open.
"Huh… I didn't expect things to turn out like this. Should I tell him? Or keep it to myself?"
Isabelle thought uneasily.
Behind her, Zavi continued to stare, waiting for the answer he hoped for. After a long silence with no response, he spoke again, his voice slightly restrained. "Get out of my room. I want to change my clothes."
Hearing that, Isabelle's eyes widened. She quickly left her brother's room and ran as fast as she could toward her own.
In truth, "changing clothes" was merely an excuse Zavi made up. Today was Saturday, and he planned to leave the house. Without fully understanding what had happened to his family, he chose to search for the purpose of his life in this new world and investigate what was truly going on.
"Ah, right. I just remembered. It's already been a week since I was thrown into this world."
"So what caused it? Why am I in this world, in this body?"
The questions suddenly surfaced in his mind, leaving Zavi slightly confused. He decided to find the answers another day.
Without realizing it, he was still holding a plate in his hand. Panicking, he quickly carried it to the sink and washed it when he had the chance.
After that, he took a bath, feeling filthy after not bathing for three days. Then he prepared his belongings: a lighter, a revolver and its ammunition, money which he considered the most important item, and his wristwatch, which had been dead but was now ticking again.
At the moment, he was wearing a black coat with a shirt beneath it, fitted neatly to his body. He took a deep breath, then stepped out of his house.
He walked along the narrow path in front of his home, then entered Street Number Eleven. Contrary to his earlier assumption that today was Friday, it was actually Saturday.
Coincidentally, today Zavi was supposed to work together with a man he had met before, none other than Moreira. They planned to cooperate so their respective goals could be completed quickly, allowing them to live safely and peacefully afterward.
But suddenly, something bothered his mind. As he walked along the path, searching for a passing horse carriage, a strange feeling crept in.
"Did I forget something?" he thought, confused. "But what is it? Something feels wrong."
After thinking about it for a moment, he continued walking, heading northeast toward the Hava district.
…
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Zavi, he was being followed by two mysterious figures. Both wore black trousers and knee length coats. One of them wore a bowler hat and dark glasses. They observed Zavi as he had just stepped out from Street Number Eleven. Street Number Ten. They were standing beneath a road sign.
As soon as the target left Street Number Ten, the two figures revealed themselves. It could be said they were bounty hunters, hired by the sect involved in the earlier kidnapping, seeking revenge for Zavi's interference that ruined their ritual.
Why did they plan to attack or kill Zavi? Simply because they believed he was an ordinary human, without possessing or mastering any of the fifteen known supernatural abilities, unlike Ren or Veranica.
That assumption was completely wrong.
They were two bounty hunters from a well known group called Xlender. Even without Abilities, they were capable of killing ten people within a minute or more.
A famous name. Zavi himself had read about them in newspapers before, involving the destruction of a castle. He never expected to face them one day.
The man wearing dark glasses and a bowler hat pulled a cigarette from his pocket, placed it between his lips, took out a lighter, and lit it. He inhaled once, then calmly exhaled the smoke before speaking.
"How's your preparation? Does that guy have some kind of…"
He lacked detailed information while tailing Zavi. He had simply nodded when his partner accepted the hunting job.
Before he could finish his sentence, his partner calmly cut him off.
"He's just an ordinary human. Not like our previous targets. Besides, the one who hired us already said so. Oh, right… I forgot. You didn't get the full briefing, did you? Hahaha."
The man in the bowler hat removed his dark glasses. His blue eyes widened, not in shock, but in anger at being laughed at. His mood was terrible, volatile, and would only settle after finishing the job and reporting to their captain.
"Ah, ah, Mister Calvert. Don't look at me like that."
The other man raised both palms defensively, his expression uneasy.
They truly were part of a famous hunting group, doing dirty work by killing targets at a client's request. Of course, the group did not kill indiscriminately unless they held a personal grudge.
Calvert and Nawai, both orphans, had been together since the age of seven. They were sent to the same orphanage on the same day, a place called Yawana in Forgenatte. That shared fate led them down the path of becoming hunters.
They had endured far too much for children their age: hunger that felt like their stomachs were tied from the inside, mental pressure that turned sleep into a luxury, and the merciless cold of Forgenatte's districts.
Forgenatte lay on highlands where the wind pierced bone and nights felt like punishment. Without firewood, rooms turned into iceboxes; water froze before it could be touched. They were forced to gather as much wood as possible just to keep warm or earn a sip of hot water, rewarded with something pitiful: a worn blanket to survive until morning.
It sounded cruel. It was cruel. But it was the only way to live. The orphanage caretakers, whom the children called sisters, had no choice. Money was nearly gone, and compassion could not light a fire.
Since that rule was enforced, Calvert and Nawai happened to meet. Unlike other children their age, they did not merely want to work. They wanted to survive.
They chose a cunning path.
Nawai spread rumors about a forest monster that could drain human blood dry. Ironically, such creatures truly existed in this world. But they did not know that. It was all fabricated fear.
Calvert played the role of that lie, wearing a terrifying costume made from torn cloth and fake bones. The plan worked. Children gathering wood fled in terror, abandoning the piles they had collected with great effort.
The wood then changed hands. From frightened children to exhausted ones, clever enough to survive another night.
…
They remained at the corner of a building beneath a road sign. From there, it was difficult to lock onto their target. Zavi seemed to be looking around, as if searching for something amid the crowd.
Through the flow of passersby, they finally saw him wave his hand. A horse carriage traveling from Street Eleven toward Twelve stopped beside Zavi.
They watched as the coachman spoke with him briefly. Moments later, the crack of a whip echoed, followed by the neigh of horses reverberating between buildings.
The carriage curtain was drawn shut from the inside. The carriage moved slowly, then disappeared behind narrowing rows of buildings.
Unwilling to lose their target, the two immediately moved. They ran through the crowd, pushing past pedestrians, occasionally shouting harshly for people to move aside.
Twenty minutes later, after passing through bustling crowds near the district border, Zavi arrived in Hava. He stepped down from the carriage and approached the coachman to pay the fare.
"Fifteen Zen, thirty Sen, right?" Zavi asked to confirm while scanning his surroundings.
That night, it was agreed the cooperation would take place between Friday and Sunday. Remembering that, he suddenly laughed, unsure whether his partner was still at the location, unaware of his arrival and without bringing anyone else along.
"Thank you for your payment, sir."
The coachman tipped his hat briefly, then left Street Number Two of Hava district, searching for another passenger.
Zavi let out a long breath. Each inhale felt heavy, as if doubt and determination were piling up in his chest.
He did not know whether this reckless decision would endanger himself or the new family he had in this world.
"Calm down. I already said I'll do what needs to be done."
That murmur became his final resolve before he walked along Street Number Two, Kurs, toward a house with plate number twenty five.
A few minutes later, he arrived. Before him stood a house at the edge of the area, surrounded by vast land over fifty meters wide. From the front, a forest stretched endlessly. From the side, the sea crashed violently against the coastline in a chaotic rhythm.
"Ah… this really is the house?" Zavi murmured. "The plate matches."
He stepped closer, standing right in front of the door. He raised his hand to knock—
Sret.
A dagger shot toward his chest.
Zavi's eyes widened. An instinct he barely understood made him tilt his head a fraction of a second before the blade grazed past him and embedded itself in the w
all behind.
Silence.
Two unfamiliar figures emerged from the side of the building. They exchanged glances, assessing him.
Zavi swallowed, his eyes sharp and alert.
"Who are you," he said quietly, "and was that a warning… or an attempt to kill me?"