Luca lay on the bed, listened to the sound outside the door fade away, and after confirming that Cole was gone, she turned over and jumped out of bed, walked to the door and looked around.

Luca draped the jacket that hung outside the house to dry, and walked around but couldn't find her dagger. Silence had returned, and Cole should have walked away, and Luca crouched down, fiddling with the dirt on the ground with her fingers, discerning the different marks.

Soon Luca found a trail of newest footprints leading down the hill, "Didn't you say we couldn't go a long way—" Luca muttered, making sure Cole was still in the surrounding area.

Following the direction of the footprints, I found a ruined village at the bottom of the mountain, where the number of people moving around gradually increased, and the footprints were no longer distinguishable in the chaotic flow of people. However, it is clear that the people here are not doing well, and the criss-crossed wooden houses have either collapsed into ruins, or some are barely supported by ropes and canvas. Some people were filling their clothes, others were trying to nail planks to their crumbling dwellings, and no one paid attention to Luca, an alien stranger. The entire village is gathered at the foot of the towering castle, and the ornate gates contrast with the dilapidated village.

Luca's keen gaze cut through the flow of people, positioned beneath the city gates, and the familiar, wide, ill-fitting coat and silver hair that shone in the sun were recognizable. Luca ran through the crowd towards the city gates, but Cole had already entered the castle through the gates.

"You're not a laborer, go back." The guard at the gate stopped Luca, who wanted to enter, looked up and down, and shook his head, "It's not time for the next selection, let's go back." ”

"I'm not interested in what to choose!" Luca looked uneasily inside the city gate, "It's my — uh— friend who just went in. Let me go in and find him! ”

The guard didn't say much and pushed the other man away. Luca staggered to the ground, looked at the guard with resentment, turned and picked up a plank on the ground and rushed up again, with her agility went around the guard's back, and struck the guard on the back of the neck with the plank, and the board broke in two. However, the guard turned around unaffected, grabbing Luca's arm and throwing him a few meters away.

"Ahem-" Lucca rolled on the ground a few times before stopping, clutching her chest from an old wound that was still in pain, "What kind of monster is this—"

"By the way—it should be—" Luca patted the dirt on her body and sat on the side of the road and muttered, "Watch me summon you—you're my contract, right, I'm going to summon you now—" Lucca closed her eyes and called out to Cole in her heart, but it didn't work, nothing happened, "Isn't it right—do you need a password or something?" Luca looked at the towering castle with reluctance.

"I'm sorry - did you see a brooch with a green gem embedded in it?" A cat secret woman in a ripped apron cautiously approached Luca to ask.

“？” Luca shook her head, "I didn't see that. ”

"Mom-" The little girl behind the cat secret woman took her hand and whispered, "Is it also a day without food today?" ”

"No, no, no." The cat secret woman picked up the girl, and her voice was a little choked, "I'll find it, no problem." ”

"That-if you see when the brooch is, please inform me, this kid hasn't eaten in two days - I was going to exchange the brooch for a meal, but now it's a real trouble."

Luca turned his back and pulled out an emerald brooch from his pocket, which he had taken with him as he had just walked through the crowd, and despite the urgency of the situation, it had become a constant habit for him. Luca frowned and dropped the brooch on the ground, "Look, did you drop it?" ”

The cat secret woman, who had just walked a few steps, trotted back, leaned down to pick up the brooch, and held Luca's hand tightly, "This—thank you so much." It's okay if I'm hungry for a few days, but you're a great help, kid! Luca smiled awkwardly, her hungry stomach twitching slightly.

"I'm hungry too—"

"I knew I drank that bowl of soup."