Laughter is brightest in the place where food is good.
Milo and Zane proved it as they laughed while eating the food Jammy had brought for them.
More than the food, Zane was satisfied by the content face of Milo after eating her fill.
"That scary uncle wasn't bad. I will apologize when I see him." She said, thinking about Jammy.
Zane simply nodded and stored the empty tiffin in the plastic bag.
He would have thrown it away but he figured he could use the tiffin in future. The tiffin felt too valuable to get rid of.
About the bag, he would use it to carry a few things for the Citadel.
He didn't have that many essentials in his house and since he only had a kitchen and a bathroom, he didn't have to look for too long.
Though, his eyes fell on the idol of the First Flame.
Should I leave it here?
Zane wondered but quickly shook his head.
If someone from the church saw it here by chance, they might get angry at Zane for leaving the idol on the ground alone.
Let's just take it.
Zane gave up thinking and placed the idol inside the bag.
He didn't shift the relic and the Remembering Needle from his pockets to inside the bag as he didn't want to lose them.
"Let's go, Milo. It's time."
"Okay."
Milo got up from the bed and held Zane's finger.
They both walked towards the exit of the hut and turned around one last time.
"We just ate for the last time here, right?" Milo said.
Zane nodded. "Yeah. Probably the last peaceful supper."
"Last peaceful? Are we in danger in the big building?"
He smiled. "No. You are not in any danger. I only meant that there would be lots of work for me in the big building to eat in peace. That's all."
"You can do it, brother. I believe in you."
Zane laughed and patted Milo's head.
"Let's leave now."
Milo nodded and like that, both siblings left their home.
The sun was peeking at the horizon and in no time, the bells of the church would ring for the first prayer of the day.
In the morning, the Ashen slums looked empty.
Not because the residents went to work.
It looked empty because most of them were passed out. Either by prolonged hunger or alcoholism or drug abuse or simply death.
Zane and Milo walked on the rough path decorated with excretions and sewage water and he made sure nothing touched Milo. She was already ill, things could get worse if she got exposed to more filth.
Zane was also thinking about the reactions of the residents as they had only seen Milo a year ago. For the past year, she never came out of the house.
Mickey knew about her and if he met him along the way, he would also be able to grasp the situation in the Cinder Row after Zane became their leader of some sort.
They crossed the Ashen slums as fast as they could, Zane had carried Milo for some part as she couldn't use too much strength unless she wanted to vomit blood.
In no time, they reached Cinder Row and as soon as the residents saw Zane coming, they beamed.
"Good morning."
"How are you?"
"I was just going to work."
"The white shirt suits you."
"Ready for the Citadel?"
The people greeted him with smiles and bowed heads as they left their huts to their jobs.
Zane replied to each one of them with the same smile as them.
They also saw Milo and waved at her. They didn't ask anything about her from Zane.
Milo waved back at them.
"Everyone likes you, brother. I knew it. You are special." She chirped.
Zane shook his head and carried on walking.
Soon, he heard laughter coming from in front of him and he instantly knew what it was.
It was the sound of children playing.
As Zane and Milo reached closer, the children also saw them and they came running towards Zane.
Among the children was Mickey as well.
Zane stopped and let them come to him.
"Are you leaving, big brother? You too, Milo?!"
Mickey shook Milo's hands with vigor, he even went on to hug her but Zane shifted Milo aside before Mickey could do that.
No boy is hugging her in front of me.
Mickey didn't understand and he would be in shock to know that his friend was many years older than him in reality. She was five years old only physically and mentally.
"Yes. She is also going with me." Zane said.
"What happened to your eye?" Milo asked.
Mickey scratched his head.
"My fathe—"
"He hurt himself. There is no need to know the details." Zane cut off Mickey's words.
"Tell me this, is your father fine now?" He asked a question of his own, shifting the topic. Milo shouldn't know more darkness. She was already suffering enough from it.
"Yes. He is fine. He even stopped drinking after your words." Mickey replied and a smile came to Zane's lips.
His words weren't proved meaningless.
The other children also asked different questions to Zane like will he come back and play with them? Will he bring gifts?
Zane gave them truthful answers, instead of lying to make them happy and the children smiled nonetheless.
After some more talk, they carried on with their playing again and Zane carried on walking.
But he couldn't walk further as Milo's feet had stopped.
Her eyes glued to the running children and Zane's heart glued to the melancholy on her face.
"Don't be sad, Milo. Once you get better, you will run faster than everyone in the world."
"... Hmm."
Milo slightly nodded and turned her gaze away.
Zane's heart drenched in agony.
He inhaled a deep breath and finally carried on walking.
Soon, he reached the area of the prostitutes and the scene made his eyes widened.
All the women were standing outside their shacks and as soon as they saw Zane, their eyes lit up.
They walked towards him and Zane gulped.
Please don't take me in the shack.
He waited for them to come to him and Milo hid behind him.
Zane eyed all the ten women coming towards him and one such woman was the same one whom he had given her tunic. She wasn't wearing it right now though.
They all stopped in front of Zane, smiling and then they bowed their heads.
Zane heaved a sigh of relief.
They were only here to show respect or gratitude.
"Please don't do that. I don't want it."
The women raised their heads and among them one woman stepped forward.
She was the same one who got his tunic.
Zane took a step back but the woman didn't mind.
Her hands were behind her back and drifting her eyes away from him, she brought her hands forward.
Zane didn't feel any harmful intent so he didn't back off further and looked at the item she held on her palms.
It was a cloth. A black cloth.
"What is this?" He asked.
"It's a handkerchief I made for you. Please don't refuse it. It's my gratitude. I could have gifted you something else, but you didn't seem like a person who would accept that offer. So I am only giving you this."
Zane's lips twitched.
What else was she planning on giving me?
He didn't go deep into thinking about that and since it was only a handkerchief, he didn't mind.
"Thank you." He took it.
It was folded neatly but he still opened it to see it fully.
The cloth used for it wasn't premium or soft but Zane couldn't care less about the material. He only saw the thought of the woman.
He turned the handkerchief around to see the other side and frowned.
Two alphabets were written on this side.
S.A.
"What's this?" Zane asked the woman.
The woman stared at his feet.
"My name is Shelly. So I put an S in there."
"... Okay. What about the A then?"
Shelly's face turned red and before Zane could understand, with fidgeting fingers, she revealed the meaning of A.
"It's your surname."
"…"