"One more thing—you should change your clothes, otherwise you might be a bit too conspicuous..."
"Huh? Really—" I felt a shiver down my back as I thought of all the gazes I received going through the cities and towns before.
"—I understand it... do you have clothes for us?"
"Yes of course!"
"Alber—" She stopped herself, waving her hand toward herself,
"Follow me I will show you the clothes!"
Mim and I just looked at each other and shrugged,
"We are coming," I said waiting for Mim to get out of bed first.
"Ah... I'm dizzy." She stumbled around after she got up for the first time in almost a day.
She brought her arms to the sides, followed by a deep breath,
"...I'm alright!"
"Sigh..." Both Katherine and I sighed seeing her able to stand rather stable.
While we followed Katherine we could hear her silently hum a song alongside us,
…do I recognize this song...?
I looked down at Mim and just saw her round eyes stare back at me, with no thoughts behind them.
I guess it's just in my mind...
She took us to a room at the end of the hall—one filled with clothes, there were mostly dresses and suits fitting them, but it also had clothes our sizes and even smaller ones.
"Uhm...." She went through the clothes, and took out a few pairs.
"This is perfect if you want to go outside today."
It was a black mantel with a leather innerwear for me, the quality seemed to be worse than what I wore now but one far better than anything I had worn in Kage.
"This should make you blend in well." Her face was radiating.
"And for Mim... here!"
She handed her a simple clean dress that could be buttoned up to the top—the same black as my leather innerwear.
Both of us looked at each other, doubting whether to take it.
We looked up at her and were met with her bright face, one impossible to refuse. We said,
"Thank you..." in unison.
As we got dressed it was obvious to even me.
We look a lot more normal... I compared both of us to the people we met in the city and towns before.
But even now the clothing felt too separating—it had no single tear, nor a single stain.
Mim fundamentally seemed not to fit in.
What is it...?
"Hm... you blend in a lot more—but you both still look distinctive..." Katherine said, entering the room we changed in.
"You are both from a noble family after all."
"...what is wrong?"
"You both look different from the others, from hair color to your looks."
She was right not a lot of people had Mim's hair color, and mine especially was unique.
I took another glance at Mim.
I hadn't realized it yet... but doesn't Mim's face look rounder than before...
Wait... I looked down at my waist, where my belt was worn looser than I did before.
"Brother why are you smiling?" I lifted my head, and was met with her widened eyes.
"Hahaha, it's nothing..." Troubled to speak through my laughter, I had been able to achieve at least one thing after all.
"Come let's go now!" I pulled Mim along with me.
"Wait, let me show you to the basement..." Katherine said, passing by me to lead the way.
"Thank you..." I said.
We walked two stairs down, and reached the basement.
The entire hall was filled with barrels and glass bottles, leading the way towards two doors.
She took keys out of her pocket as we walked over to the door on the right.
"If you continue to the end, you arrive somewhere in the city. There is nothing to be found in that area, so you should just continue straight to the city center—okay?"
"Yes, we will! Thank you very much," I said, before we went down the stairs.
"It's no problem, enjoy!" She stepped out of the way, letting us pass.
While we walked down the stairs, I held Mim's hand as I looked back at Katherine.
"See you later Katherine..." I said waving with my free hand, with Mim following my lead.
The hall we arrived in was narrow, filled with torches.
How are they even keeping that fire on...?
But it had been kept in good condition, not even cobwebs could be seen forming—unable to sense another person in this pass.
Even with the torches shining the path in front of us, we couldn't see the end of the path.
"How long do we need to walk to go outside...?" She had grabbed my hand with both of hers, forcing her trembling voice to sound clear.
"It's not that far anymore, don't worry... and nothing is here besides us—nothing will happen."
"...okay..." Her hands were kept wrapped around mine.
And as I predicted, we had reached the end of the tunnel without any troubles.
We walked up the stairs we saw, and unlocked the door from the inside with the key Katherine gave me.
I felt the warm, but fresh air go through my hair, with sounds of people around me.
I took another breath, and realized the air was different from anywhere else—it wasn't fresh.
Similar to the one we left behind, while not on the same scale—it was still similar.
The sounds that came were varying kinds of noises—from screams of agony, to laughter—even the smell of iron was present here.
It feels like home.
I understood what Katherine said, we shouldn't linger here for too long.
I lifted Mim to my shoulders and rushed through the area, towards the bright pillar in the southeast.
As I ran through the street, the screams worsened at some points and distanced at others.
There were some people lying around, one thin enough for their ribs to be visible—a state similar to our old selves.
It was unclear whether these bodies were still alive.
I had one focus—to ignore all else around me.
Mim had already covered her eyes when I asked her to.
And with that moment I ran into someone.
I had to correct my stance before I fell down.
I couldn't see their face, covered by their hood—unable to read them.
Until they raised their head, sunrays lit up her face.
It was a woman of similar age to Katherine, her lips blacked out.
"Interesting..." Those were the only words she muttered before she turned around to face me.
It was impossible to read her, but one thing was sure.
I had to escape.