In the middle of a back alley thick with night fog. Luyen was nonchalantly shaking blood off his white gloves after finishing off the Messengers who had failed their Prescripts. The silver cylindrical Caduceus spun smoothly in his hand.

At that moment, Luyen noticed a woman at the entrance of the alley, looking at him with a face full of joy and innocence. Her eyes were far too sparkling for someone peering into a blood-soaked alleyway. This was despite the fact that she was clearly a civilian who hadn't received a single common augmentation procedure.

Empty eyes were a dime a dozen in the City, but he had never been looked at like that before. While Luyen was momentarily and unusually flustered,

Beep—

At the distinct beep, Luyen's hand reflexively fumbled through his suit pocket to pull out the terminal.

[Keep that woman alive.]

Right then, she tossed aside the grocery bag she was holding and ran over to wrap her arms around Luyen's black-suited waist. Even with a blood-stained slaughterer standing before her, the woman's eyes just sparkled brightly.

...What on earth is this human?

Luyen had seen all sorts of bizarre people in his life, but he had never encountered this specific brand of lunatic even during his days as a Proseltye.

Luyen gazes blankly at Guest, who is sitting in front of him, fidgeting with a napkin and smiling as she says, "My son, you shouldn't be a picky eater, okay?"

Covering his golden eyes, which are clouded with deep and heavy fatigue, with his white-gloved hand, he seriously wipes his face and repeats a pointless hypothetical for the umpteenth time in his head.

...I should have cut her down just 0.1 seconds faster, before that beep sounded.

But since there was no way to undo a delivered Prescript, Luyen soon lowered his hand and put on his characteristically smooth and gentle smile.

Don't worry about me, and wipe the sauce off your mouth first, Guest.