Shadow Slave

Sunny spent some time in a crowded carriage of a public train. Since personal transport vehicles were rare, expensive, and demanded a special government license to purchase, most people in the city used public transportation to move around. Magnetic trains, usually simply called trams, were the cheapest and most popular form of it.

During his time in the outskirts, Sunny rarely had a reason to use one, but when he did, people didn't pay him any attention. Sometimes they even went out of their way to not notice him.

But now, things seemed to have changed. Sunny had his eyes closed, observing the carriage through the shadow in case there was danger. There wasn't… however, he was surprised to notice that people, especially young women, threw curious glances at him from time to time.

'Huh… is the Soul Serpent showing?'

But no, his sleeves hid the coils of the Shadow completely.

'Strange. Must be the clothes, then.'

Sunny had not ventured out of the Academy a lot during the past two months, but on one of those expeditions, he had bought himself some unassuming, but pricey civilian clothes. According to Kai, they were "understated" and "stylish", whatever that meant. Sunny basically just went for the only comfortable thing the store had in dark colors.

He sighed.

'That just shows how shallow people are. A simple change of wardrobe, and suddenly, I'm at the center of attention. Why are girls so materialistic?'

…To be fair, many guys stared at him, too.

By the time Sunny reached his stop, he was a bit flustered. Leaving the crowded train behind, he sighed with relief, hid his hands in his pockets, and walked out of the familiar tram terminal.

The part of town he came to was somewhat near its center, as far removed from the outskirts as one could imagine. It was peaceful, quiet, and green.

The air was almost as fresh as that of the Dream Realm.

The houses in this district were also the opposite of the human hives Sunny was accustomed to — weirdly, they were all very low, no more than two or three stories high. The ground itself rose and fell in artificial tiers, each street existing on its own wide terrace. Out here, the snow was already gone, revealing beautiful lawns and greenery. The whole district looked like a garden.

Obviously, not everyone could allow themselves to live here. Most of the locals were either reasonably wealthy or worked for the government… however, as far as citizens went, they were not of the highest ranks. There were other, much more affluent districts in the city, and the real elites — as well as most Awakened — lived there.

But that was one of the things Sunny liked about this place. He could do without being around other Awakened all day, every day. Or anyone, really.

It took him around fifteen minutes to walk from the terminal to the desired address. Of course, Sunny could have reached it much faster by jumping through the shadows, but he preferred to not use his Abilities outside of the Dream Realm and the Academy. It made him feel more human.

Finally, he stopped in front of the home that was going to be his, and stared at it for a few minutes.

The house in front of him was two stories high, with grey walls and a slanting tile roof. It had a synthwood porch, a lawn, and a big window opening to the view of a spacious living room. There was even a garage for a PTV, and a hedge fence to separate it from the neighboring homes.

…It was like something out of a fairy-tale.

'Extravagant…'

"Ahem… Awakened Sunless? Sir?"

Sunny was aware, of course, that a PTV had just parked nearby and that a man got out of it, approaching him from behind. He was just too consumed by the weight of the moment to show it.

Turning around, he glanced at the person who called out for him.

It was a short, overweighed man wearing a very expensive tailored suit and an antique luxury watch. Despite his outward appearance, the man was full of confidence and had a wide, polished, professional smile plastered to his face.

Sunny stared at him with a dubious expression, then said:

"...Lanard, right?"

The man — who was the representative of the agency responsible for outfitting Sunny's new home — nodded with enthusiasm.

"That's me. Ah, the fact that you have remembered my name is very flattering, sir. Really."

With that, he gestured to the home and smiled.

"How do you like it?"

Sunny hesitated, then feigned indifference and shrugged.

"It's fine, I guess."

Lanard lingered for a moment, then smiled even wider.

"Of course, a person of your caliber must be accustomed to much more luxurious accommodations. But I can assure you, you won't be disappointed by our work! This home might not be as high class as what you're used to, but we did everything per your specifications. Although… I must admit, your choice of location gave us a challenge, especially with the need to keep the exact nature of the modifications discrete."

Sunny kept a straight face and tried to understand what the hell Lanard was talking about, and who he thought Sunny was. To be honest, when he had decided to buy a home, he just contacted Master Jet, told her where he wanted the house to be located and a couple of things he hoped to fit inside, and instead of giving him advice on how to proceed, she simply arranged everything with a couple of phone call.

And now, here he was.

Meanwhile, Lanard glanced at him with a bit of curiosity, hesitated for a couple of moments, and then asked cautiously:

"By the way… if you don't mind me asking, sir… how does this beautiful house stack against your previous place of residence? I am interested from a purely professional standpoint, of course. Think of it as a client survey!"

Sunny looked at the cozy grey home, thought for a bit, and then answered honestly:

"Well… my previous place was about a hundred times bigger, built mostly out of natural stone and marble, with antique wooden furniture and a very special secret dungeon. Oh, and security was taken care of by a Fallen Devil."

Lanard stared at him for a while with the same wide smile.

His face, however, had slowly turned grey.

After a while, he coughed a couple of times and said hoarsely:

"Wonderful… that's wonderful…ahem. Shall we take a look inside?"