The two were silent for some time after that.

Then Obed spoke,

"You really are pushing it, kid."

Nero had nothing to say to that.

Obed snorted out a laugh,

"It is also very strange, you know."

He scratched his head,

"A lot of people won't bat an eye even if they have to scrape out and devour the insides of their own children, much less you and I..."

Nero gave him a strange glance. Obed cleared his throat,

"All I'm trying to say is this... Your selflessness is odd. And a bit off-putting, if I might add."

Nero shrugged, "Odd is a bit of a stretch, isn't it? It might just be the survivor's guilt."

Obed hummed deeply,

"I see..."

There was another stretch of silence. Then Obed spoke again,

"You are special, Nero."

Nero looked up to him, meeting his gaze,

Obed had a solemn look on his face,

"You could go places, kid. I can just tell. You aren't a regular urchin like myself and Garrick had been. You are something more. A real diamond in the rough. But you'll get snuffed out if you are scrubbed too much."

Nero sighed and ruffled his hair, "I know..."

Obed shook his head and spoke seriously,

"But you don't."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously as he leaned forward and spoke in what was just barely above a whisper,

"Envy births hatred, Nero. Both of these things are a cancerous poison and are equally as dangerous."

Nero frowned, "What do you mean?"

Obed shrugged, "I mean exactly what I said. There's already rumors beginning to spread about who and what you are, Nero, with some of them even saying you are an Abomination in disguise trying to slip through the cracks and enter the city."

Nero felt his heart skip a beat,

"What? That's not..."

Obed shook his head,

"It doesn't matter if it's true or not. They aren't exactly entirely baseless either..." Obed muttered out the last part, but Nero heard him perfectly.

"Crap." Nero cursed out loud.

Obed shook his head,

"It might be novel since you haven't lived in a city before. But an inquisition from the church truly is a terrifying thing. Even those words stand to gain nothing from it will gladly throw you underthe carriage. And I heard their torture methods are personally crafted. You'll stay alive for days, even weeks without any organs."

Nero trembled again, his pale face turning even paler.

"That sounds terrible..."

And terrible it was.

Nero frowned to himself.

Forgetting the root of these rumors and allegations. That didn't matter for now. What truly mattered was how he would beat them should they become a threat to him.

Since the church was already aware of Aisha's condition, then perhaps she would be safe. Plus, he could sense that she normally didn't give off any signs of corruption.

He on the other hand, was a completely different story.

Both the Yin and Yang form of the Black Body Transformation gave off extreme Ein Sof signatures. Both were transformations of corruption, only the corruption both tended towards opposite directions.

He frowned, wondering if corruption could be detectable when he was in the Yin form.

"There's no use thinking about it too much, although I believe you should be more cautious from now on."

Nero chuckled bitterly,

"You are telling me all this so I don't go out there anymore, right? What use is it to risk my life for people willing to spread those foul things about me, right?"

Obed was blunt,

"Yes. That is exactly it."

Then he sighed,

"Although, something tells me you aren't exactly doing it for the gratitude. Perhaps you do really have motives you are hesitant to reveal..."

Nero nodded,

"Yes. It is as you think. I do have my own reasons for doing this."

He smiled softly,

"So you can be rest assured. I'm not trying to throw my life away. Nothing like that..."

Obed scratched his head then sighed,

"Is that so..."

Then he chuckled, "With my arm healing up, maybe I can join you sometime..."

Nero chuckled, "Maybe."

They both fell silent, letting the crackling of the embers fill up the void.

Nero huffed lightly as his lips parted, a tuft of white seeping out in a jet, lingering for a moment, the dissipating into the air.

"What does life in the city look like?"

Obed seemed surprised by this question.

He was silent for a bit. Then he chuckled,

"It is Hell."

Seeing Nero's surprise, he chuckled,

"What, did you think it'll be better?"

Nero nodded.

Obed grimaced,

"Well, it isn't. At least not to me."

"The poor forever remain poor and the rich are always rich. It never changes. The Church asks that we pay our taxes from what little we have, but it rarely offers relief to those on the dirty streets and market roads..."

He chuckled bitterly,

"And don't even get me started on all the terrible atrocities those damned nobles commit. The devils will run you over on an open road and won't even think twice about it. All just for a laugh."

Nero remained silent while Obed spoke.

Eventually, he sighed,

"Of course, it isn't all that bad. Compared to the towns, there is more of an abundance, although recently, there seems to be a shortage in the Empire. We might be see a widespread famine in our time. I doubt a lot of us will live through it..."

Noticing that he had gone off on a tangent, Obed cleared his throat,

"If you want to survive in the city, you'll have to be ruthless, especially in our line of work."

Nero smiled wryly. Obed already considered him one of them...

Such a thing was endearing. In a rather twisted way...

Still, he didn't mind it.

Obed's eyes narrowed as he dragged his thumb across his throat,

"And cutthroat. You cannot hesitate to take a life, beit man or monster. Most of the time, you won't even be able to tell the difference."

"I see... Thanks for the advice " Nero muttered then scratched his head.

Obed chuckled, "Anyti—"

BANG!

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