The village gates closed behind them with a heavy thud. Night had fully settled now. Torches burned along the walls, their light dancing across stone and packed earth. Smoke rose from chimneys, and the smell of cooked meat drifted through the streets.
Kairo walked behind Dren, Lysa, and Bram in silence.
The streets were still filled with people.
"Settlement active during the night cycle."
Bram looked back. "You really do talk like that all the time, huh?"
"Yes."
"That's weird."
"Observed repeatedly."
Lysa laughed softly.
"You'll get used to it," she said to Bram.
"I don't want to."
They turned down a narrower street lined with small shops and homes. Kairo's body was still covered in dried blood, dirt, and claw marks from the day's hunting.
Lysa wrinkled her nose dramatically.
"First thing first," she said. "You need a bath."
Kairo looked at himself.
"Contamination is visible."
"Very visible," Bram said. "You smell like dead things."
Dren crossed his arms. "And if you walk around like that, people will think we dragged in a corpse."
Kairo considered their words.
"A bath requires water and a place to bath"
"Yes," Dren said.
"I do not have money."
Bram groaned. "Of course he doesn't."
Lysa reached into a pouch at her waist and tossed him a few small metal coins. Bram added two more reluctantly. After a sigh, Dren also handed over several. Kairo caught them and examined the pieces.
'Currency acquired.'
He looked at the three of them.
"Why are you giving this to me?"
Bram shrugged. "Because we had a good harvest today."
Dren corrected him. "Good hunt."
"Same thing."
Lysa smiled. "And because we're helping you."
"As friends," Bram added.
Kairo's head tilted slightly.
"What are friends?"
The three of them stopped walking. Bram stared at him. Lysa blinked. Dren pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You don't know what friends are?"
"No."
Lysa folded her arms, thinking. "Friends are people who choose to help each other."
"People you trust," Dren added.
"People you drink with," Bram said proudly.
"People you care about," Lysa corrected.
Kairo processed the information. Mutual support. Resource sharing. Emotional attachment. Voluntary risk.
"Inefficient."
Lysa burst into laughter.
"What?"
"It sounds stupid," Kairo said honestly.
Bram pointed at him. "I knew I liked this guy."
Dren sighed. "Take the money."
Kairo closed his hand around the coins.
"ok."
They continued walking until they stopped in front of a modest two-story building with a painted wooden sign.
An inn.
"Stay here tonight," Dren said. "Cheap rooms and even hot water if you're lucky."
Lysa stepped backward, walking away while pointing at him.
"After your bath, meet us at the bar near the square."
"We'll give you a proper welcome," Bram said.
"A treat," Lysa added.
Kairo looked at them.
"Why?"
"Because friends do that," she said.
"Still inefficient."
She laughed again.
"Just come."
"Understood."
---
The innkeeper barely looked up when Kairo entered.
"I need a place to stay." Kairo said
"1 coin for a night stay." The innkeeper replied
He gave him 1 coin and took the key
The innkeeper pointed at the door of his room. The room was small, but the bath downstairs was warm. Kairo stood beneath falling water and watched dried blood spiral into the drain. The cuts across his arms had already begun to close.
"Recovery is progressing."
He examined his reflection in the metal basin afterward. He had dark black hair and grey eyes with a very good looking face for human standards. Like a handsome devil.
---
He left the room wearing the same clothes. Then paused when he saw the innkeeper's wife stare at him from behind the counter.
"You shouldn't go out looking like that," she said.
Kairo looked down. The shirt was torn in several places with strains of blood still visible.
"Visual issue confirmed."
She suggested he buy new clothes from them. So he listened to her advice and bought some clothes. He left wearing plain dark trousers, boots, and a fitted grey shirt. Clean and simple.
When he arrived near the square, Lysa was the first to spot him.
She stared for a second. Then smiled.
"You actually look good."
Kairo glanced at himself.
"Clothing successful."
Bram snorted.
"She means handsome."
"I know what good means."
That only made them laugh harder. Dren gestured toward the building behind them.
"Come on."
---
The bar was warm, crowded, and loud.
Lantern light filled the room. Voices overlapped in every corner. Laughter, arguments, clinking cups, and the smell of roasted meat mixed in the air.
Kairo paused at the entrance.
'Dense human gathering.'
"Try not to analyze everyone," Lysa said.
"No promises."
They found a table near the back.
Food arrived first—bread, grilled meat, stew. Then drinks.
Bram raised his mug.
"To surviving another day."
Dren nodded. Lysa smiled.
Kairo copied them and lifted his cup. And they all drank.
"Unpleasant."
Bram nearly spat his own drink laughing.
"You'll learn."
Several people approached their table over time. Friends of the hunters. They asked the same questions.
"Who's the new guy?"
"Where'd you find him?"
"Can he fight?"
Dren answered most of them.
" His name's Kairo, he is new in town. And strange as hell."
"Talks like a machine," Bram added.
"Still better company than you," Lysa said.
Kairo listened quietly while eating.
Then the tavern door burst open.And a young man stumbled inside carrying a girl in his arms. She was pale, shaking, barely conscious dark veins spread faintly beneath the skin of her neck.
Kairo's eyes sharpened as he recognized. She has been infected by his plague.
'good' he thought
The room fell silent.
"Help!" the boy shouted. "Please—someone help her!"
A woman near the counter stood quickly and rushed over. She wore white cloth wraps marked with healing sigils. A healer.
She placed both hands over the girl's chest. Pale light spread from her palms. The girl gasped.
The veins dimmed— Then returned.
The healer's expression tightened.
"I can slow it," she said. "But I can't remove it completely."
Fear spread through the room.
"What is that?"
"Curse?"
"Infection?"
The boy's voice shook.
"She was scratched while we were fighting a beast outside the southern ridge. At first it was nothing… then this started."
Murmurs erupted instantly. Kairo remained seated. But inside, satisfaction stirred.
'Transmission successful.'
Lysa looked at him.
"You're staring again."
Kairo stood.
"I am also a healer."
The room turned toward him.
Bram nearly choked.
"You're what?"
Kairo ignored him and walked forward. The boy grabbed his sleeve desperately.
"Please! If you can help her, I'll pay anything!"
He held out a pouch of coins with trembling hands. Kairo took it.
"Accepted."
He knelt beside the girl. Placed one hand lightly on her shoulder. Then reached inward. The plague responded immediately. Not removed or destroyed but suppressed. The dark veins faded and her breathing steadied. Her trembling also stopped. After a few moments, she opened her eyes weakly.
The room erupted.
"She's cured!"
"He did it!"
The healer stared in disbelief.
"I… I couldn't purge it."
Kairo stood.
"It is done."
The boy nearly collapsed with relief.
"Thank you… thank you!"
He bowed repeatedly.
Kairo returned to the table.
"Simple task."
Lysa stared at him.
"You're a healer too?"
"Yes."
Dren frowned.
"You didn't mention that."
"You did not ask."
Bram laughed so hard he had to hold the table. Meanwhile, others crowded around the boy.
"How did it happen?"
"What beast attacked you?"
"Was it alone?"
The boy swallowed hard.
"We were hunting near the southern ridge. It clawed her arm. Then she got sick fast… like some disease or curse."
Concern spread instantly through the tavern. Someone stood.
"We need to inform the village chief."
Another nodded.
"And the elder."
"If beasts are carrying curses now, everyone needs to know."
Voices rose across the room. Fear and Urgency can be seen on people's faces.
Kairo took another bite of food. Inside the girl, the plague still slept quietly, waiting.
He looked around the crowded tavern. Humans panicked so easily.
'Interesting.'