That evening, while Lily prepared dinner, Zenos and Arty went out shopping together. The setting sun on the western horizon dyed the scenery in the hues of twilight, and a flock of birds chirped loudly as they flew across the crimson skies.
Passersby kept calling out to Zenos as the pair walked down the road.
“How’s it going, Dr. Zenos?”
“Not bad, not bad.”
“Our harvest this autumn is pretty good. I’ll bring you some veggies.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Doctooor! I can run again! Thanks!”
“Just try not to fall again.”
“Everyone loves you,” Arty remarked, impressed. “Despite you being an unlicensed, shady healer.”
Zenos snorted. “Ha ha, you’re not wrong. I just know a lot of the people around here.”
“I wonder if people will be that excited about my cooking someday,” Arty muttered, dropping her shoulders dejectedly.
“You’re dedicated. Just give it a bit more time and you’ll get good,” Zenos offered, smiling sympathetically.
“Right... I just need time...” Arty trailed off and looked up at the sky with a worried expression. “Time...might be a luxury we can’t afford for much longer.”
Noticing Arty had fallen behind, Zenos turned around. “Hmm? What’s up?”
Arty pressed her lips together, then said quietly, “Hey, Zenos...there’s something I wanted to tell you.”
“Yeah?”
“There’s an ominous star...”
“A what?”
A rough voice suddenly rang out, cutting their conversation short.
“Out of the way, you filthy rats!”
Further ahead, a group was marching in formation, striding arrogantly down the road and shoving aside the poor.
“Ah, crap,” Zenos muttered. “The Royal Guard.”
The soldiers’ armor bore a crest depicting a sword and shield protecting the sun. They didn’t seem to be simply on patrol either—they had to be searching for the saintess.
“Arty, go back to the clinic.”
“But we have shopping to do...”
“I can handle that. You may be in disguise, but it’s best to avoid these guys. You remember the way, right?”
“Y-Yes. Okay. Be careful, Zenos.”
Arty slowly backed away, turned the corner, and hurried off toward the clinic. But she’d only made it a short distance when angry shouting rang out from another street up ahead, and she stopped.
“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!”
“This is an official investigation. Be quiet and cooperate.”
A scuffle had broken out between several knights trying to force their way into a house and a group of residents. The knights’ armor bore the same familiar crest.
“The Royal Guard is here too,” she murmured to herself as she quickly took cover in the shadow of a building. With her wig, glasses, and headdress, no one would recognize her immediately, but it was obvious the search party was closing in on her whereabouts.
“We told you, we don’t know this pink-haired woman!” a poor man shouted angrily.
“If you have nothing to hide, then cooperate,” quietly replied a bearded knight at the center of the group.
“This place stores dried meat for shipment. I don’t want you knights trampling all over it!”
“Get inside,” the bearded man commanded.
“Yes, sir!” the knights replied as they began to force their way into the building.
“Hey!” a poor man shouted, attempting to stop them. “I told you—”
“This is obstruction of justice,” the bearded man said as he drew a magical gun from his waist. He pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang.
“Gah!” the poor man cried out. Clutching his side, he was sent tumbling to the ground, blood gushing between his fingers.
“H-Hey! What the hell was that for?!”
Several men, likely the first man’s coworkers, grew agitated and moved toward the Royal Guard.
“They’re disturbing public order. Fire,” the bearded man commanded.
“Yes, sir!”
The other knights opened fire with their own magical guns, explosions ringing out through the area.
“Gaaah!”
“It huuurts!”
“Gwaaah!”
As the poor men fell to the ground, the bearded knight stepped over them and ordered the others to search the house. After a moment, a knight emerged from the building.
“Sir Seagall, we checked everything—even the shelves and the floorboards—but found no signs of a woman with pink hair.”
“I see.” Seagall stroked his beard and turned on his heel. “Let us move on, then.”
“W-Wait! You’re leaving?! You can’t just go, ‘Oh, whoops,’ and move on!”
The surrounding residents were seething.
Seagall cast a cold glare at the bloodied victims. “Remember this: You filth are lucky to be allowed to exist in the royal capital at all. Our mission is far more important than the lives of trash like you. Interfere with our investigation again, and this will be your future.”
He swept his magical gun from side to side in a threatening gesture, forcing the crowd to back away.
“Search every house that looks like it could have the resources to shelter someone or offer a hiding spot. Break into all of them.”
“Yes, sir!”
As the Royal Guard moved on, the family members of the fallen men clung to their bodies.
“Dad!”
“Honey!”
“H-How could they?” Arty whispered, clutching her chest as she watched the scene unfold from her hiding spot.
The area was growing chaotic.
“Shit, his breathing is...”
“Hurry! Call Dr. Zenos!”
People rushed out in a panic, sprinting past Arty as she stumbled forward into the street.
No... There’s no time, she thought as she gazed upon the collapsed men. Several were bleeding badly enough that she could practically see their souls slipping away.
“A lot of people in the slums have no money, and even those who do can’t go to regular clinics because of where they’re from.”
“Like...hope, or faith, or ethics... I think Zenos is pursuing all those things, and just does what he can. That’s how he chooses to live.”
Lily’s words flashed through Arty’s mind.
“Do...what I can,” she said quietly, clenching the hand she’d placed on her chest before she took off running toward the injured.
“Dammit! He’s unconscious!”
“Didn’t people go get the doctor?! Aren’t they back yet?!”
“Huh? Wait, who’s that lady?”
Everyone turned to look at Arty as she stumbled into the chaotic scene.
She took a deep breath and said, “I’ll help them.”
Arty slowly raised both hands forward, and a golden ring manifested into the air. Within it, complex patterns spun counterclockwise, glowing with a faint phosphorescence.