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Chapter 05
There was no way she had a Dark attribute ability.
Unlike the Light-type abilities that were fairly common, even those were things she didn’t possess.
She remembered envying a neighborhood older girl who could make tiny flowers bloom at her fingertips.
Nine out of ten children in her area had some kind of trivial Light ability like that.
Light-type users: 90%. Dark-type users: 1%. Non-ability users: 9%.
She was one of that rare 9%.
The girl looked back and forth between Max, who stared at her expressionlessly, and Seth, who seemed worried, then took a deep breath and continued.
“I promise. If you accept me, I can do anything. I won’t tell anyone anything. I won’t be a burden at all.”
“Hm.”
Max stroked his chin as if thinking. She added quickly,
“I’ll live like I’m not even there.”
“That won’t be necessary. We’re not that cold-hearted.”
Huh?
At the unexpectedly gentle tone, she looked up. Max now had a faint smile on his lips. Strange. Was he actually accepting her?
“D-do you mean… you’ll let me stay?”
At her desperate question, he nodded heavily.
Oh my god. It was real. They were really accepting her. Is this a dream or reality?
She tried to hold back her excitement, but her lips still trembled upward.
“Boss.”
Seth seemed like he had something to say.
“Talk later.”
From their exchange, it was clear Max was the leader here.
So she had been accepted by the leader himself.
She bit her lip from the urge to smile. Finally… she had somewhere to belong.
The organization she joined was called “Solipa,” meaning darkness in the common imperial language.
But contrary to its name, the people there were kind to her.
It was overwhelming kindness. It filled the emptiness she had carried for so long.
So this is a place where people can actually live…
Max, in particular, treated her like a niece. She later found out he was only in his mid-twenties, and she nearly lost her composure.
And there was Adele. Adele was one of the first to approach her warmly.
At first, she was shy, but soon they became close friends.
“Teah, look at this.”
“Huh? Your eye color changed!”
“It’s one of my abilities. Cool, right?”
Adele had changed her eye color from brown to green in front of her.
She learned that Dark-type ability users often also had Light-type abilities, and usually disguised themselves as Light users.
It was also considered extremely rude to ask someone directly about their ability.
However… for some reason, she could somehow guess what abilities people had. It was only a feeling, though.
Well, whatever. It’s probably not real.
She never trusted her luck anyway.
At least, not until that incident.
It had been a little over a month since she joined Solipa.
Seth often went out on errands for the leader, but always told her when he would return.
That day, however, felt different. The sky was heavy with clouds, and by noon, heavy rain and thunder began to pour endlessly.
Why isn’t he back yet?
Seth had once said he disliked rainy days because one of his abilities didn’t work well in the rain.
I have a bad feeling.
She wrote a note saying she was going out and left.
The streets were slippery and cold. Asking people for directions only made her realize she was heading the wrong way.
And then—
A faint voice cut through the rain.
It was Seth.
She ran toward it immediately.
In a narrow alley, she found him.
But something was terribly wrong.
One side of his black shirt was soaked in blood.
“—Seth!”
“Teah?”
He clutched his side, barely turning toward her.
“Why are you here? Run. The guards are after me.”
Guards—imperial enforcers who hunted unregistered Dark-type users.
If they caught him, he would be taken away and controlled with suppression devices.
She couldn’t let that happen.
Even if she had no ability at all.
She rushed to support him.
“Why… what happened? You’re strong…”
“I can’t read their ability… the rain makes it worse.”
He whispered urgently in her ear.
“Don’t get caught too. Run.”
But it was too late.
“Over there!”
“There’s the black-haired one!”
“And a kid next to him!”
“Capture her too!”
They were coming.
She quickly spoke,
“The one on the left uses invisibility binding and mental control—don’t look at his mouth. The right one is a sniper-type, but he’s using coordinate targeting. Disturb his coordinates—”
“W-what?”
Seth looked stunned.
“Please. Just trust me.”
And then—
A flash of light burst through the alley.
When she opened her eyes again—
The guards were gone.
“…Did you kill them?”
“No.”
Seth smiled faintly.
“…Maybe it was my blood you smelled.”
Only then did she realize how badly he was hurt.
She began treating his wound with a medical kit.
“Let’s go. We can’t be caught again.”
“There’s no need.”
“What?”
Seth murmured an incantation.
“Activation.”
His body began turning transparent.
She screamed in shock—and then realized she was becoming transparent too.
“W-what is this?!”
“Hold on tight. We’re going back.”
In an instant, they were inside the hidden base.
Everyone turned toward them in shock.
“Why is Seth here with Teah?”
“Wasn’t he on a mission?”
“His shirt is covered in blood…”
“And the guards are starting to move again…”
Whispers spread through the room.
