One by one, the children stepped forward.
Some moved quickly, just to get it over with. Others hesitated at the boxes, fingers hovering over the bracelets like the wrong choice might kill them. Maybe it would. No one knew the rules yet.
Mayex reached in and pulled out a red bracelet. He slipped it onto his wrist and stepped back.
That woman is insane, he thought. I just want to sleep.
He was still looking at the bracelet when he noticed someone standing in front of him.
A girl. She hadn't made a sound when she approached. She wasn't looking at him — her eyes were aimed somewhere slightly past his shoulder, like she was watching something that wasn't there. She just… stood.
Mayex looked at her wrist.
Red.
His face broke into a wide grin.
"So you're my partner!!!"
He grabbed both her hands without thinking.
She didn't react. Didn't flinch, didn't pull away. Her eyes stayed fixed on that distant, invisible point — empty in a way that made Mayex's smile falter for just a moment.
"Hello? You in there?"
Nothing.
He let go of her hands and straightened up.
"Well — whatever! I'm sure we'll get along great. I'm honestly so happy I got a cu—" He stopped himself. "I meant nice. Nice was the word. A nice partner. Yeah. That's what I meant. Please don't take that wrong."
She said nothing.
When everyone had found their match, the room stilled. The fear hadn't left — it had just gone quiet, settled somewhere under the skin.
Melon Violet stepped forward.
"How wonderful~ All of you found each other."
She folded her hands.
"Now. Let me be clear about what this all means."
She began walking slowly between them as she spoke.
"You are our new members. You will carry out missions — stealing, delivering, collecting, occasionally rougher work. The missions vary. But they pay. We earn money, and money is what keeps this organisation alive." A pause. "You will learn to love it too."
She gestured upward.
"You are currently underground. Specifically — beneath a monastery. A mixed one, open to the public. No one outside suspects a thing. No one ever will." She smiled. "Down here you have everything. Bathrooms, sleeping quarters, training rooms, even a room just for playing. Make yourselves comfortable."
She turned toward the door.
"Tomorrow is a big day. Get some rest."
She stopped with her hand on the frame.
"Oh. One more thing."
She didn't turn around.
"No one leaves without my permission."
Then she was gone.
The room sat with it for a moment — then, slowly, quietly, everyone began to move.
"Wow. That was a long speech."
Mayex looked at the girl beside him.
"…Right, partner?"
She was already staring at nothing again.
"Oh — I forgot, I never introduced myself." He turned to face her properly. "My name is Mayex. And yours?"
Silence.
Three full Minutes of it.
Then, quietly —
"…Elara."
Mayex stared at her. Then his face lit up completely.
"What a wonderful name!!!"
Elara didn't respond.
Inside her head, there was only darkness. A void with no edges, no floor, no exit. The real Elara was somewhere deep inside it, hidden. The voices of others simply did not reach her. Not even a drip of light.
Mayex looked at her for a moment.
Then he shrugged.
"Well — let's go then."
They walked together through the corridor — or rather, Mayex walked, and Elara drifted beside him.
He spotted it on the way to the sleeping quarters. A large board mounted on the wall, covered in papers. Missions, he assumed — though he couldn't read most of it. His English was conversational at best. Reading was a different problem entirely.
But one thing on the board he didn't need to read.
A photograph.
A girl, roughly his age — red hair, green eyes, freckles scattered across her face. Below the photo, bold text he couldn't decode. But the layout of the page, the way it sat above everything else on the board —
Most wanted, his gut told him.
She looks my age, he thought.
Why would someone our age be most wanted?
He stared a second longer than he meant to. The red hair was unusual. Striking. It gave him a feeling he couldn't name and didn't try to.
He pulled his eyes away and kept walking.
Then he noticed Boran.
Standing completely still in front of the same board. Staring at the same photo. Not moving.
Mayex watched him for half a second.
Then kept going.
"I'm so excited for tomorrow! I bet it'll be interesting — right, Elara?"
He turned.
She was already several meters ahead, walking at a steady pace like she hadn't heard a word.
"Hey — wait for me!!!"
He jogged to catch up.
Behind them, at the edge of the corridor, Melon Violet stood and watched.
Her eyes followed the boy as he ran — loud, bright, completely out of place in a room full of frightened children.
"That boy…" she murmured softly.
She tilted her head.
"He's energetic. I hope he can keep that~"
She smiled to herself and turned away.