Chapter 7:

  Rin got off her motorcycle, and Moli followed her as they headed together toward a shopping mall to buy clothes for him and for Sez. Rin couldn’t identify a clear reason for her gratitude toward them, but that feeling alone was enough to push her to do it. Moli was already wearing clothes different from his old ones—outfits she had chosen for him from her late brother’s wardrobe. Shinji had always been obsessed with fashion, following Gen Z trends despite belonging to the millennial generation. Perhaps that was why the clothes suited Moli so well; he didn’t look any older than Rin herself.

  Rin suddenly turned, as if a memory had crossed her mind, and after a moment of hesitation, she said,

  “By the way…”

  Moli answered, slightly confused,

  “By the way??”

  “I don’t know how old you are.”

  He stared at her with wide eyes, and she quickly turned her face away.

  “Never mind.”

  He spoke again, as if he had understood her intention,

  “You mean my age before I was frozen?”

  She nodded.

  “Yes.”

  “Twenty. I was twenty years old… and Sez too, if you’re curious about him.”

  They finally entered the shopping mall. The place was vast, filled with lights and people, many of whom cast curious glances at Rin and Moli. Rin sighed in annoyance, which Moli noticed.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

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  She replied with faint sarcasm,

  “you look like a Latino guy or someone from North Africa, and the way we look together makes us seem like a couple… and that’s not common here.”

  He answered indifferently, his eyes wandering between the stores,

  “And why does that matter to you?”

  Rin suddenly laughed and nodded innocently.

  “You’re right… I don’t think it does.”

  They entered a men’s pants store. Rin’s cheeks flushed red, and she lowered her head, avoiding people’s eyes. Moli said flatly,

  “You won’t find what you’re looking for if you don’t lift your head.”

  She snapped,

  “I come through here all the time—this place is never this crowded!”

  Moli looked at her with sudden interest. She tilted her head questioningly, but he only glanced around at the people nearby, then toward the entrance where a man stood watching them, before turning his gaze back to her.

  “They think we’re the ones who killed the Katakai sorcerer.”

  Rin’s eyes widened. At that moment, a man approached them. Her heart trembled, and she looked at Moli… his expression remained calm. A sense of reassurance crept into her chest, and she turned her gaze forward—only to find the blade of a knife stopping just an inch or two from her nose.

  A split second before it touched her, Moli caught the knife with his right hand. It vanished from the attacker’s grip and instantly appeared in Moli’s left hand, which he hurled into the enemy’s neck in the same moment.

  Several men wearing black masks gathered around them. One of them pulled at his belt; it unraveled in his hand and transformed in the blink of an eye into a long katana. He stepped forward slowly and said,

  “Surrender and hand over the girl. We outnumber you.”

  Moli frowned mockingly.

  “Really?”

  He raised his index and middle fingers. A tense silence followed for a few seconds—then small beaver-like creatures began bursting forth from every direction: from inside clothing, from beneath the floor, as if they were being born from the womb of the earth itself. The shop filled with them, and then they lunged at the men, biting off their heads with their wide mouths and leaving behind crimson cascades that horrified Rin.

  Moli said as he stepped forward,

  “Looks like they’re beginner magicians.”

  He exited the shop, and Rin followed him. But he stopped at the entrance when he found three men surrounding him, each drawing a weapon: an axe and two swords.

  Moli tilted his head calmly.

  “And you… are wizards.”

  One of them shouted in a booming voice,

  “Stay away from the property of the Katakai clan, or you will become its enemy!”

  Moli glanced at Rin in confusion.

  “Property?”

  Then he approached them without caution.

  “How I’d love to fight you—if only to warm up my muscles after thousands of years in the ice.”

  He patted the middle man on the shoulder. The three froze in place, as if the air itself had solidified around them.

  “But I don’t want to drag her into trouble… so we’ll just run away.”