Arsh followed Juan through the dark streets of Thage. Eventually, they arrived at an old neighborhood and entered a two-story house that looked as if it could collapse at any moment.
There wasn't much furniture inside, and what was there looked just as worn-out and ready to fall apart as the house itself. In the kitchen area, there was an old table with several mismatched chairs around it. The people sitting on those chairs were watching Arsh intently. Some were cautious, some were curious.
"So how is he supposed to help us? He just got his siuni. You know it takes time to get used to it and to control it."
The one speaking was a tall, burly man in his early thirties. Juan introduced him as Tedor. He looked incredibly intimidating. It seemed that if he ever tried to attack Arsh, he could pin him down and crush him with a single move. He didn't seem pleased at all with Arsh suddenly appearing out of nowhere. With his arms crossed, he glared at Juan as if to say he wasn't going to accept the new guy.
"Do you know how to fight? It's impossible to keep you safe during a fight. We're already at a disadvantage in numbers," the woman with a scar over her left eye asked Arsh.
This woman, Eliz, appeared to be in her forties, but a closer look revealed she was actually in her late twenties. She might once have been beautiful, but life seemed to have taken its toll on her. The scar on her face seemed to testify to the hardships she had endured. Yet her physique resembled that of a young Kurshan warrior, agile and ready to spring into action at any moment.
"Hey Juan, how did he get a siuni? Are you sure we can trust him?"
This guy, Ray, was in his early twenties. He looked a bit sullen, as if he didn't want to be there. He had a slender build and was shorter than Eliz. It couldn't exactly be said that he was welcoming Arsh's presence, either.
None of them let Juan or Arsh respond; they continued asking questions and talking.
The last team member was Flora. She was leaning on the table, resting her face in her hands, watching Arsh with a faint smile. Feeling uneasy under her gaze, Arsh tried his best to avoid looking at her. Like Ray, she also appeared to be in her early twenties. She had fair skin, light blonde hair, and large brown eyes. She was beautiful.
When the others finally fell silent, she spoke.
"You've been too hard on him. Calm down a bit. The kid means no harm."
Her eyes were still on Arsh as she spoke.
"It's a shame… if only you were a few years older," she added, smiling again.
Although he didn't know why, Arsh felt himself blushing. Fortunately, when Juan spoke this time, his attention shifted to him.
"Look at him. He's not a child. He's nearly eighteen."
"He's got two more years to go," said Ray.
"Anyway, he has good reflexes. I don't intend to throw him into a fight, just avoiding danger will be enough."
"I can fight. I was trained in my village. I'm not sure if you know, but we desert people take pride in our warriors. I don't think I'm bad at it, either."
Arsh felt the need to speak up. He felt as if he were being treated like a child who couldn't take care of himself.
"We'll see about that," said Tedor, speaking to Arsh directly for the first time since he had arrived.
"Anyway, what's your plan, Juan? It's not like you to include a child in something like this," Eliz said, approaching the situation more practically than the others.
"Okay. Let me speak now. I'm your team leader. A little respect, please." Juan looked serious, and everyone fell silent.
"This guy has a siuni that can help us. He has the ability to find people. We don't know its full limits yet, but he thinks he at least needs to know the appearance of the people he's looking for."
"So if his ability is this limited right now, how can we use it? We don't even know the faces of these people," said Ray.
"Actually, we know one of them. That's enough for now. Just wait a bit"
He left the kitchen and went upstairs. Once again, everyone's eyes were on Arsh, and Arsh's gaze focused on a large brown stain on the table. Before long, Juan returned with a piece of paper and placed it in front of Arsh.
Arsh began quietly reading the information on it.
"Paul Smith, from Symran, 36 years old. He works as a merchant, trading goods from the colonies." A photograph of the man was pinned to the upper right corner of the page.
The man had a thin mustache with ends that curled upward. His cheekbones were prominent, while his cheeks were sunken. His eyes looked like small holes squeezed between his cheekbones and eyebrows. His hair was parted in the middle, slicked tightly back, and he wore thin-framed glasses.
"This is the man I want you to find. If you can find him, we'll at least have a lead."
Arsh looked at the man in the photo a little longer, trying to memorize every detail of his face. Then he closed his eyes and pictured the man in his mind.
He could find him. He was sure of it.
When he opened his eyes again, the golden lights were once more drifting in the air, gently swayin as they slipped out through the kitchen window.
But something was strange. There was a slight darkness surrounding the golden threads. Like a shadow, it entwined itself around the threads. Arsh didn't even think on it for too long, though.
He instinctively knew what it meant.
It was danger.
Arsh stood up and watched the golden thread stretching outside through the kitchen window. Just like when he had found Juan, he was certain that the man at the end of this thread was Paul Smith.
As he stood staring out the window, his thoughts were interrupted by Ray.
"What are you looking at?"
"I think I've found him... But going there right now would be dangerous."
"How do you know that?" Ray asked again.
"I see golden threads that show me the way. I can find where he is, but there's a faint darkness around them. I feel that getting close to this man is dangerous—at least for me."
"It's no surprise that it's dangerous. If it were an easy job, we wouldn't have come this far. Don't worry about that; it's good that you can sense the danger surrounding your target... Your siuni is actually great for us. For now, we won't make a move. There isn't much time left until sunrise… Okay, stop tracking. Let's try again tomorrow night. Everyone, get some rest," Juan said quickly. It was clear he wanted to put an end to the strange tension lingering in the room, yet Arsh could sense the satisfaction in his voice.
The rest of the team wasn't sure how to feel about finding the target they had been chasing for months so easily. No one asked any other questions after Arsh's answer.
They weren't questioning Arsh's abilities—none of them knew what kind of powers a siuni could grant, and his ability was just one of the countless possibilities one can get from a siuni.
After that, everyone went upstairs. Arsh, however, stayed behind, waiting for Juan.
"I should go too. It's already late," Arsh said.
"From now on, you'll stay here as well. We'll get your things tomorrow. Having you here makes things easier for me," Juan said.
Arsh didn't reject the offer. Even though he didn't feel particularly welcome, for him, there wasn't much difference between staying here and returning to the inn.
There was only one problem... The house was really dirty.
Juan showed Arsh a room upstairs in the corner and handed him a blanket. For a moment, Arsh debated whether or not to head back to the inn, but he felt too exhausted to return, as if all the energy in his body had been drained.
"Bear with it for today, Arsh," he muttered to himself.
...
Despite the foul smell of the blanket, exhaustion dragged him into sleep almost instantly. Yet, the nightmares forced him awake just as dawn was breaking.
Morning was calm. He could hear someone snoring in one of the rooms. The floor creaked under every step as he quietly made his way to the washroom. But it was just as filthy. After splashing water on his face, he headed downstairs to the kitchen. Even last night it had caught his attention, but now he could see clearly just how dirty the place really was.
He decided to do a little cleaning.
'How can they live here in this filth?' he thought.
He wasn't used to this. He didn't even want to eat food prepared in a place this filthy. Just looking at it gave him a knot in his stomach.
He threw away all the spoiled food and cleaned the cooking area. After wiping the counters, the table, and the floors, the place finally looked a little more suitable for preparing a meal. Using the vegetables and legumes left in the kitchen, he made some soup and ate.
No one was awake yet when he finished. He quietly headed back to the inn to gather his belongings. There, he washed up to get rid of the strange smell clinging to him before packing his things. This time, he decided to keep the hidden dagger and Will's notebook on him.
After settling his debt at the inn, he wanted to test his new ability a little and have some tea before meeting Nesame.
"A tea shop… no, no… a shop that sells the best black tea."
When he opened his eyes, the golden threads were waving before him. He began to follow the brightest one among them.
After walking for quite a while, he realized his surroundings were changing. It was obvious that most of the buildings were newly built or recently renovated.
Soon, he found himself standing before a massive building. He hadn't even imagined that a building this grand could exist in the city. The sign at the entrance read 'Royal Hotel'.
Dressed in his native clothes, Arsh immediately felt the stares of the Symranian guards and passersby. They looked at him strangely, as if he didn't belong there. He shifted his gaze back to the hotel entrance. It was clear that, in his current state, he would never be allowed inside.
'I should stick to a tea shop. There's no way they'd let me into a place like this,' he thought, scoffing at his own stupidity.
He turned his back on the hotel and began walking away, whispering to himself.
"A shop that sells cheap but tasty tea… a cheap but tasty tea shop…"