## Chapter 16 – A Date?
The strangest thing was that Winia didn’t say a word about going to get food.
As expected, Winia wasn’t human, so she didn’t seem to understand the concept of hunger. How could someone live without eating? It was presumed that because she wasn’t human, she didn’t eat food but instead fed on human suffering.
This bizarre conviction had already transformed into an established fact within me. She was a monster that looked similar to a person.
—Growl.
My stomach roared like a steam train being boiled alive.
I felt like I was about to starve to death any second. All I had consumed since morning was a single bottle of holy water. Unless some miracle happened where adding a bit of divine power to water increased its calories, it was safe to say I had only drunk one bottle of water all day.
Back home, I found eating so bothersome, but after coming here, I deeply realized the importance of meals.
Surprisingly, humans were weak creatures who died if they didn’t eat. This was real. This was the first time in my life I had seen someone starve to death. And it wasn’t hard to guess that I would soon become that someone.
“Hey, Winia.”
“What?”
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Nope, not hungry.”
Damn it.
“Is our Darkie hungry?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you want to eat?”
“Of course!”
“I don’t.”
That was the end of the conversation about food.
Asking if I was hungry and then saying no. It was the perfect humiliation.
Suppressing my anger and hunger, I carried the luggage, sweating profusely, and followed Winia. I had no idea where we were going. And I couldn’t understand why she had bought so much stuff. I was so hungry that my mind became hazy. If I had brought my pouch, I could have chewed on some of the emergency rations I had stored inside, but I didn’t even bring that.
Winia headed towards a road I never traveled.
“Where is this…”
We arrived in the Magic Tower district.
It was a separate area for the upper class, formed around the Magic Tower, which I had never had any reason to go to and had only seen from afar because it was so large.
The reason this place was called the Magic Tower “district” was because the entire area was surrounded by walls to separate it from the outside. Its scale was almost similar to a lord’s castle. I had heard somewhere that all Magic Towers created their own districts like this, symbolizing the wealth and authority of the mages.
Anyway, that was why ordinary people couldn’t enter. It was just like a large, high-end apartment complex. Even the fact that there were guards was exactly the same. The people entering were clearly well-off. A beggar like me would immediately be rejected and cut off at the entrance.
“Hey, I can’t go in here. Please, let’s go somewhere else.”
I knew my place, so this kind of place was too much for me. I grabbed the hem of Winia’s robe and pleaded.
“But I live here?”
“Wow, you’re so rich. Then I guess I’ll have to leave you here. Be careful going in. See you next time. I’ll miss you so much. I really won’t be able to sleep tonight. Thank you so much for today.”
I immediately handed Winia the luggage. It seemed like it was time to part ways here, unfortunately. No matter what, there was no way I could enter this place.
Since this was her home, it was perfect for us to separate here.
“Gerk!”
Winia, who had been staring at my face with a smile, put the loop of her staff around my neck.
“Yeah. Screw you, Darkie.”
Damn it.
And then, dragging me like a sinner in hell, she naturally passed through the gate.
“Let go! People are looking at me strangely!”
The guard didn’t say anything to Winia, who looked like a mage at first glance. The guard was only concerned about me. He glared at me with an expression as if he was looking at a suspicious person, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of saving me. Do some work, you bastard… Just say one thing, “Excuse me, mage lady. This moron is prohibited from entering.”!
“Our Darkie is very conscious of other people’s gazes. But shouldn’t you only be conscious of my gaze today?”
Winia muttered after finally releasing my neck. I had no choice but to treat Winia more carefully than a young child suffering from domestic violence would treat a stepfather who came home drunk. She was someone who would happily throw a punch if you just made eye contact.
“You’re right. I’ll only be conscious of you, Winia.”
“Yeah. That’s all Darkie needs to do.”
I followed Winia like a sick dog.
This sophisticated and luxurious-looking street was clean as if only this place was a civilized zone. I felt bad because it seemed like only Winia and I were dirty existences here.
The roads and buildings were all made of pure white stone, making me feel like I was in some kind of tourist attraction, but it felt strange when I remembered that this wasn’t overseas but another world.
Walking through this kind of shitty place made me feel inferior. The not-so-friendly gazes of other pedestrians were fixed on my shabby appearance. Embarrassed and feeling hot, I walked as close to Winia as possible. No one said anything, but I wanted to emphasize, “I’m here because I’m with this person.”
Damn it… I should have brought my knife…
I’m full of confidence when I have a knife. Well, people aren’t stupid enough to act recklessly against someone with a knife. No, wait. Is that not true either? There were so many stupid bastards in the world. More than anything, there was also the difference in power.
“Darkie, aren’t you sticking too close? Do you like me, Darkie? Is that why you’re sticking so close?”
There’s no way.
“Please. Please, just this once, Winia. I’m so scared. If I get separated from you here, they’ll find out I’m a moron and beat me like a dog.”
“Kyahahaha! What nonsense are you talking about, Darkie! You’re so funny!”
What’s so funny?
“So, do I have permission? If you want to stick right next to me. Of course, you have to get my permission.”
Winia said that while smiling gleefully.
“Winia-nim. Would it be okay if I stayed close?”
“Yeah. Darkie, stay close to me.”
“Thank you.”
“Coo-hoo-hoo. Yeah, yeah. It’s so good that Darkie listens so well.”
Winia kept stroking my long hair.
“Good Darkie is so cute.”
“Thank you.”
“Darkie? If I praised you, shouldn’t you praise me too?”
“Wi, Winia, you’re so cute too! And so pretty!”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes!”
“Ah, I’m so happy that Darkie listens so well.”
This is a crazy bitch, seriously.
Anyway, it felt like I had entered a rich neighborhood in beggar’s clothes. There are people who say that appearances don’t matter, but that’s just comfortable nonsense.
If you enter a high-end restaurant wearing construction clothes covered in cement, who would look kindly on you? It’s common sense to go home and change. If you ask what fashion has to do with coming to eat, I’ll smash your head in.
“Here it is! Where I live!”
We arrived at a large building that looked like a dormitory.
It was indeed a dormitory, as it was written [Sevnael Female Mage Only Dormitory] next to the gate. And it’s for women only. I might really be screwed the moment I go in here.
Female mages who looked around the same age as Winia were entering and exiting, and the gazes that were already glancing at me didn’t feel good at all.
“Nice house! But this is for women only, so I can’t go in!”
“Oh my, Darkie can’t go in here?”
“It’s physically impossible, this. There’s also a legal issue.”
I said that and looked at Winia’s expression. And surprisingly, Winia, as expected, said with a bright smile.
“If you can’t go in? A weak woman like me has to carry all this alone and go up to my room? Is that what our Darkie is saying to me right now?”
“No, I didn’t say it that way…”
“You even went to that shitty church with me, and you can’t even do that much. And are you going to keep talking back?”
“I’ll go in.”
I decided to give up. It seemed a hundred times better to go inside and get screwed than to argue with Winia. And what could happen? If anything happens, I’ll just say that Winia told me to come. It’s not my responsibility.
“Let’s go in quickly! I want to carry your luggage right away!”
“No! I’m angry!”
Winia suddenly crossed her arms and shouted loudly that she was angry. The surrounding gazes gathered at that loud voice. I somehow thought I was screwed here.
“Darkie has to crawl like a dog!”
What did you just say?
“…What? What did you say to do?”
“Are you deaf?”
“No, did you just say to crawl like a dog?”
“So you can’t do it?”
My personality was insulted.
Actually, when I thought about it, I didn’t have any human rights. It’s a world where the slave system is still intact… Maybe I’ve become Winia’s slave. My heart was beating fast. Please… Please, how can I get out of this situation…!
As I stood there blankly, Winia was about to cast a spell right away. I went crazy and jumped up and down.
“Wh, what? Hey, wait a minute! Wait a minute!”
“Just stay still. I’m going to cast a spell on Darkie to make you listen well.”
“No, no, no, no! It’s not that, but if I crawl, the clothes I just bought might touch the ground and get dirty!”
“You have to make sure they don’t get dirty on your own.”
“You fucking crazy bitch! That makes sense… Yes, I’ll do it.”
Seeing that the spell was half completed, I immediately gave in. I lowered my pride along with my tail. I was going to punch her once and run away forever if necessary, but it was impossible because Winia’s magic seemed faster than my fist.
“Did you just swear?”
I’m crazy.
“Sw, swear? What swear? Friends can do that to each other. This is my hometown custom, we use more swear words the closer we are. Haha, I made a mistake.”
I desperately made excuses, only making things worse.
“Oh? Are we friends? Darkie is friends with me?”
“We’re friends!”
“Huh? Eueu-heut? Right? That’s right, right?”
“Huh? What is?”
Winia suddenly let out a strange laugh. This bitch always says we’re friends, so she can’t do this now.
“It’s nothing. More than that, Darkie and I are friends, so rest assured!”
“Phew. That’s really reassuring.”
“Still, Darkie has to crawl up. Now, let’s go!”
“Fucking hell. You’re a real fucking ball buster, you goddamn bitch.”
I walked on all fours in front of the audience who watched all the conversations. My heart was crumpled by their sneers. Winia kindly put all the luggage on my back herself.
Wait a minute.
I don’t care about me.
Winia lives here. Is she okay with showing this crazy behavior to the people she lives with? I was most curious about that. Or is this common sense for mages? I couldn’t figure it out.
That was when I crawled up to the 3rd floor on all fours, receiving all kinds of strange gazes.
“Eh? Winia?”
Someone greeted Winia. It was a female mage with red hair and glasses. Winia saw her and greeted her energetically.
“Bestie? Hello!”
“Oh… yeah, hello to you too. But… that.”
“Huh?”
“Is that perhaps your boyfriend?”
The woman called Bestie pointed at me with a troubled expression. I was still crawling on all fours.
“No, just a friend!”
“A friend…? Hmm…”
Her question only deepened. I understand. I felt like I was going crazy every time this crazy woman introduced me as a friend. She was a woman who needed to relearn the definition of a friend.
“Winia, your hobbies are always a bit… I don’t usually say this, but this one is really a bit much.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
Bestie was more sensible than I thought. The fact that she could react like that after seeing this situation was proof of that. More than anything, seeing that reaction, it seemed that Winia was known as a psycho among her acquaintances.
“Oh, right!”
Winia suddenly clapped her hands.
“Now, Darkie! You have to say hello!”
“What? Say hello?”
“Yeah! This is my friend Bestie! Now, say hello!”
I awkwardly looked up at Bestie’s face. The reason I looked up was because I was still crawling on the ground on all fours. She also had a flustered face.
“Aren’t you going to do it?”
“Th… hello? Nice to meet you. I’m Katt, Winia’s friend.”
I reluctantly greeted her because she whispered “Aren’t you going to do it?” in my ear. I have to do what I’m told.
“So…”
Bestie hesitated and couldn’t open her mouth. I was a little relieved by that sensible reaction. As expected, only Winia is strange. I’m also a moron for giving in to violence and doing everything I’m told.
But I don’t want to die.
“That’s right! Good job! Our Darkie did well!”
And as expected, Winia seemed to be feeling much better. It was like she was so happy that the dog she took for a walk even knew how to greet people.
Why?
Her thoughts and common sense felt as distant as those of monsters. Where is the element that makes you happy in the act just now? Are you so happy to see me suffer, you fucking bitch? You’re going to hell.
“Ah… yes… I’m Bestie… Bestie. Winia and I are… just friends…”
Bestie reluctantly answered.
“Wi, Winia? I’ll go?”
And she turned around and disappeared as if running away, terrified.
“Eueu, eu-heut! Eu-heut! Eueu-heueu-heut! Yeah, yeah! Goodbye, Bestie!”
And Winia’s bizarre laughter, which had become even happier, echoed.
I’m so scared that I feel like I’m going to throw up.
