Shadow Slave

Effie regarded the cathedral for some time, then glanced at Sunny with doubt.

“I know for a fact that nothing comes out alive from that temple. Are you sure that this is where you live?”

With a carefree smile, Sunny shrugged. The fact that Effie knew about the danger hiding inside the ruined church did not surprise him. Even if it was situated outside of her usual hunting grounds, she had extensive knowledge of the Dark City, some from her own exploration, some from sharing information with other hunters.

Dead tired and longing to return to the peaceful silence of his home, he didn’t waste any time and told her about the Black Knight who guarded the cathedral.

The unruly huntress scratched the back of her head.

“So… there’s a Fallen Devil inside? He’s the roommate you were talking about?”

Sunny gave her a nod.

“The bastard endlessly patrols the ground floor and kills anything that comes through the doors. However, if we enter through the roof and stay hidden, we can reach my living quarters without any problem. More than that, nothing will bother us once we’re there, because the bastard never comes that way and obliterates anything that tries.”

Effie was silent for a while, then grinned.

“So, you basically have a devil for a butler. Pretty smart…”

Sunny chuckled.

‘Was that a compliment?’

“…for a doofus like you.”

‘Ah, there it is.’

Once they climbed up to the roof, there was a slight problem. Sunny failed to consider that the hole in the tiles that he used to enter the cathedral, while wide enough for his small frame, would be too tight for the tall and robust huntress to crawl through. Looking at the narrow gap between the massive plates of dark marble, Effie gave him a gloomy look.

However, before Sunny could come up with an alternative plan, she simply bent down, grabbed one of the incredibly heavy plates, and moved it aside. The words died on his lips.

‘S—strong. So strong. I wonder who is stronger, she or the Stone Saint.’

Honestly, he wasn’t sure.

Before proceeding further, Sunny instructed Effie on how they were going to get her inside the hidden chamber and watched as the huntress reluctantly dismissed her bronze armor. With only a short white tunic covering her lovely olive skin and abundant figure, she looked very… uh… comely. For a moment, his displeasure of having someone intrude upon the secluded peacefulness of his lair evaporated.

…But only for a moment.

“Don’t you get any strange ideas. Your armor is just too much of a risk. We can’t allow ourselves to make any noise, that’s all.”

Effie grinned.

“Strange ideas? Why are you talking about having strange ideas all of a sudden, huh Sunny?”

He gritted his teeth, turned away to hide his blushing face, and crawled into the hole between tiles.

‘Damn woman!’

Once they landed on the support beam of the cathedral, Sunny guided Effie’s hands to rest on his shoulders. Although the sun was still high in the sky, there wasn’t any sunlight around them. Only the floor of the ancient temple beneath them was bathed in it.

But even then, large areas of the grand hall were drowned in deep shadow.

Only it wasn’t really shadow. It was darkness. Not one born from the absence of light, but true darkness, one which even his sight could not pierce. Sunny didn’t know if it was summoned here by the Black Knight or simply obeyed him, but this was how the bastard had managed to sneak up on him unnoticed back when they first met.

In any case, he had to guide Effie across the beams of the cathedral. One wrong step, and they would plunge to their deaths.

‘What a bother.’

Feeling rather awkward because of how close their bodies were to each other, Sunny quietly sighed and took a step forward. It was hard to concentrate…

‘Strange ideas… who’s having strange ideas? Not me!’

A few minutes later, they reached the hidden balcony behind the statue of the unknown goddess. Despite the fact that nothing out of the ordinary had happened, Sunny was rather on edge.

Something told him that this was going to be a really long week.

Once they entered his hidden chamber, Sunny informed Effie that she was free to create light and speak. Not wasting any time, the unruly huntress summoned a radiant Memory and looked around with curiosity.

The beautiful and spacious room that had once belonged to the priestess of this ancient temple was suddenly flooded with soft light. The intricate engravings on the walls created an atmosphere of sanctity and elegance. Here and there stood various pieces of furniture, most made out of opulent pale wood, with a few mismatched pieces that Sunny had scavenged from the ruins.

Effie whistled.

“Have to give it to you, Sunny. You sure know how to live in style. Who would have thought?”

He smiled.

“Jealous?”

She sighed.

“The important thing is that even if Gunlaug tracks us here, none of his people would be able to enter. So we’re indeed safe.”

Slightly disappointed, Sunny shrugged.

“Well, make yourself at home. I’ll show you the back exit and other stuff later.”

With that, he furtively glanced around and tried to quickly hide a few things from sight to make his home more presentable. If he had known that there was going to be a guest here, he would have cleaned up the mess a little in advance.

Not that Effie paid it much attention. She walked around with curiosity, studying the engravings on the walls and ancient furniture.

…But then, suddenly, Sunny heard a loud giggle coming from behind.

Turning around, he saw Effie standing in front of the wardrobe hidden behind a stone panel. The wardrobe was currently open, showcasing the garments left behind by the priestess.

The huntress looked at him with a strange smile.

‘Why… why is she staring at me?’

“What?”

Effie shook her head.

“No, nothing. It’s just… you know, Sunny, when I first saw you, I thought — look at this tiny boy! He’s just like a toy! You just want to dress him up like a doll and play with him…”

Sunny blinked a couple of times, then scowled angrily.

“Who are you calling tiny? I’m not tiny… in any way, you beanpole!”

Not paying him any attention, the huntress glanced at the wardrobe and giggled again.

Then, suppressing laughter, she said:

“Who knew that you are into… playing another kind of dress-up, huh?”

It took Sunny a couple of seconds to realize what she was implying. When he did, he turned bright red from outrage.

The nerve! The gall! How dare she!

“What are you talking about?! Those aren’t mine! The priestess who lived here before left them behind!”

Effie nodded a couple of times.

“Sure, sure. You just happened to have a wardrobe full of pretty dresses. By accident…”

“That’s the truth! I never lie!”

She looked at him with a wide smile.

“But of course! It must be the truth. I totally believe you. Definitely.”

Sunny stared at her with his mouth wide open, not knowing what to say.

Effie, meanwhile, looked around and innocently fluttered her eyelashes.

“But, Sunny… we have another problem.”

Gritting his teeth in irritation, he snapped:

“What is it?!”

She lingered for a few moments, then said teasingly:

“There’s only one bed. Ah, what a predicament! Whatever should we do?”

Sunny glared at her for a long time, then spat:

“You take the damn bed! I’ll sleep on the floor!”

With that, he turned away a tried to take a deep breath.

‘Why did I ever agree to this?! Women… damn women… they’re the true terror!’

…Indeed, this was going to be a very long week.