In the city — on the streets, in the alleys, against the walls — eyes were everywhere.
The witch’s familiars, sprawled beggars and addicts, traders bargaining loudly, hunters and seekers hurrying somewhere, and guides who paused their reading to glance out from tall buildings… all of them watched.
In the labyrinth, it was practically common sense to keep your senses on edge and question everything around you with paranoia.
So those who kept silent under the shadow of Heimvig saw it all.
The hunter returning home with a young girl.
The hunter leaving alone.
The madman breaking into the house, knowing only the girl would be left behind.
The witch’s laws were both strict and lenient — they wouldn’t interfere unless they smelled blood and rarely bothered to peer into private homes.
In a city where violence was strictly forbidden, there was a reason Hans taught Alje how to kill.
He knew the witches wouldn’t step in for what happened behind closed doors.
And because he didn’t want Alje to meet a cruel fate.
“Tch, too late.”
Even the thugs eyeing the beautiful girl and the enemies of the arrogant hunter took a step back at the madman’s arrival.
They couldn’t guess the madman’s intentions — but they knew better than to get involved with a lunatic.
And as for anyone righteous enough to save a fragile flower from grave danger… well, such people didn’t exist above ground.
Maybe below, but certainly not here.
Even after the madman entered the house, the persistent stares lingered.
Everyone waited, anticipating the cruel climax of this silent play.
No one’s happiness would improve from another’s misfortune — yet they watched anyway.
And then.
BOOM.
The quiet house erupted with a crash.
The ground shook.
Those dozing off snapped their heads up, eyes fixed on the house.
“You bastard! You think I’m someone you can mess with?!”
Shouts, screams, and the sounds of struggle spilled from the twisted door.
The harsh roar of a grown man echoed through the quiet street — but it wasn’t the voice of the madman.
The madman had long forgotten how to speak.
“Guhhhkk!”
The most he could manage was a guttural, mangled groan.
No one knew if the hunter had never left or if someone else had slipped inside unnoticed.
The process remained unclear — but the outcome was obvious.
The cries fell silent.
The ruckus faded into stillness, leaving behind only an eerie calm.
Creeeeak.
The sudden screech of metal shattered the quiet.
The sound of someone struggling to fit the twisted door back into place.
Fixing something was always harder than breaking it — and trying to mend a battered iron door spoke far louder than simply smashing it.
One by one, the watching eyes withdrew.
The curious shadows hesitated, then ultimately gave up and left.
With the door now firmly shut, no more sounds escaped.
The madness faded.
The street returned to its usual, uneasy stillness — as if nothing had happened.
Inside the house, only one girl remained.
Alje sat with a tearful, trembling face, gently rubbing her throat.
“Ah… ah… kehuk.”
She cleared her throat a few times and coughed softly.
“Ah, my throat hurts…”
Her voice, usually high and lively, had become rough and deep — and forcing it into such an unnatural range had clearly strained her vocal cords.
But then again, if you weren’t human, such things were possible.
The pain was mostly exaggerated.
With her healing abilities, a minor injury like this would vanish quickly.
Still, Alje took great pride in her voice and singing.
She didn’t enjoy altering her vocal cords just for the sake of mimicry — no matter how effective the performance.
Maybe the fact that she forced herself to do something so unpleasant meant she was growing up a bit.
The thought brought a hint of pride.
“Haaaahm.”
Yawning, Alje flopped back onto the bed.
She adapted quickly — the dirt and grime around her no longer bothered her at all.
The wooden ceiling above looked like it might collapse at any moment, half-rotted and brittle.
In the corner, a large fly danced its final steps as a spider lovingly wrapped it up.
Matching her fingers to the twitching of the spider’s legs, Alje played along for a while, until even that lost its charm.
Soon, she simply lay there, blinking slowly at the ceiling.
“When’s Uncle coming back?”
Despite the chaos outside, inside remained peaceful and quiet.
*
After all, standard practice after returning from a labyrinth was at least a week, sometimes up to a month — of rest.
But this time, there was no choice.
Hans grumbled, but still clutched the scroll Gretel had given him tightly as he walked.
Sure, those long rest periods were mostly because the hunters were lazy — if they really needed to, they could set out again right away.
It wasn’t like they’d pushed themselves too hard in the last dive, anyway.
‘The Eye of the Three-Eyed Hound, the Feather of the One-Winged Angel, the Witchflower, the Gallstone of the Pentagonal Serpent…’This time, Gretel’s request included two simple items — and two troublesome ones.
Before heading home, Hans bought a backpack nearly as large as himself and several specially treated pouches for preserving samples.
With that, his outing for the day was done.
The steps home were faster than usual.
He’d had no choice but to leave Alje behind — but the unease in his chest made his heart pound faster than normal.
The streets were quiet.
Whether nothing had happened… or it was already over… was hard to say.
Arriving at his house, Hans’s heart sank at the sight of the broken lock and twisted door.
“Which crazy bastard…?”
With one hand on his weapon and his senses sharp, Hans shoved the door open.
Inside—”…Alje?”
“Uncle!”
No danger.
No crisis.
Just a perfectly unharmed girl greeting him with a bright smile.
“Alje! Are you okay?”
He barely got the words out before the girl flung herself into his arms.
“Waaah! Uncle! It was so hard for me!”
“What happened?!”
But even as he asked, something felt off.
For someone who’d supposedly been in danger… everything looked way too untouched.
The house was intact.
The girl was intact.
Not that he was complaining — but still.
“I… I really…”
“Yeah, I’m listening.”
“…I was so bored waiting here alone I thought I was going to die!”
“…What?”
Hans blinked, wondering if he’d misheard.
“You… were bored?”
“Yep!”
Like the poorly fitted door, a strange sense of wrongness settled into place.
But there was no obvious sign of violence.
No noise from the streets.
And Alje… Alje was exactly the same.
Innocent.
Cheerful.
Completely untouched by fear or malice.
“If I’d at least had something to read! At this point, even an encyclopedia would be entertaining.”
So, it seemed… nothing had happened after all.
The uneasy feeling lingered, but Hans pushed it aside.
He already had enough on his plate.
Gretel’s ominous hints, the errands she’d left for him — and more pressing still—”Well, if you’re that bored… want to head out of the city?”
“An adventure? Are you coming too, Uncle?”
Seeing her eyes light up, Hans gave a wry smile.
“Of course I’m coming. After today, there’s no way I’m leaving you alone again.”
“Were you worried?”
“Of course I was, you idiot. But you don’t have to worry — I’ll be with you.”
“Yay!”
Even though he knew she probably wasn’t really listening, Hans added one more line as the girl let out her bright cheer.
“It’s not going to be much of an adventure, though.”
At least… not the kind of adventure she was hoping for.
The labyrinth was far too much of a hellhole to be the setting for any kind of fairy tale.