The main hall of the mighty castle was grandiose and majestic in appearance. The gentle light of the morning sun was cascading through the tall windows and reflecting from the white marble walls, filling it with a bright radiance. The walls were decorated with intricate carvings that span dozens of meters, creating a regal tapestry.
At the far end of the hall, a set of stairs led to a dark alcove. The back wall of the alcove had numerous small holes cut through it, and with sunlight shining through them into the deep darkness, it seemed as though a fragment of the starlit night sky was somehow locked within the castle.
Beneath that light stood an empty white throne.
Sunny stared at the throne for a few moments, then lowered his gaze and glanced at the several hundred people that were looking at them.
Long wooden tables were placed along the length of the grand hall, with a motley crowd of Sleepers sitting on crude benches behind them, busy consuming their food. There was some sort of hierarchy in how they were grouped, but Sunny couldn't understand it yet.
Currently, most of them were staring in his direction.
Sunny gulped.
It took him a couple of seconds to realize that all these people were not, in fact, looking at him. They were all looking at Cassie, clearly startled by her loveliness.
'Crap.'
Just as he had thought, this smelled like trouble.
The blind girl, meanwhile, was oblivious to the commotion her appearance had caused. Sensing the sudden tension in his muscles, she asked:
"Sunny? Why did you stop?"
He narrowed his eyes, gave the crowd of Sleepers his most menacing scowl, and answered in a flat tone:
"Just taking in the view."
Then, Sunny walked over to the young women rationing the food, received two plates of steaming monster meat stew, and guided Cassie to a relatively empty spot at the end of one of the tables. He even got two cups of something that closely resembled tea.
Sitting down, he put the crudely made utensils into Cassie's hand and stared at his plate.
He didn't like all this attention one bit.
"Look at that, Cas! They even got vegetables. I swear there's at least two pieces of a… uh… tomato in my stew. Or is it a carrot? What's that thing that looks like a red potato?"
Sunny had only seen vegetables in the Academy's cafeteria, so he was not well-versed in differentiating them. Teacher Julius had also only mentioned them in passing, since the chances of encountering a vegetable from the real world in the Dream Realm were not very high.
To be precise, he had briefly showed Sunny pictures of the most common Earth vegetables and said that if he ever was to find something that makes him think "huh, that thing looks familiar!"... he should turn around and run.
Cassie smelled her stew and said with a smile.
"I think it's a beetroot."
Sunny blinked.
"...Never heard of it."
While they were innocently chatting, he was observing the Sleepers through his shadow, waiting tensely for things to go wrong.
And pretty soon, they did.
Sunny gritted his teeth when two rough-looking young men suddenly rose from their benches and headed across the hall toward them with unpleasant excitement burning in their eyes.
'Here we go.'
Who would have thought that the thing that landed him in trouble would be Cassie's beauty, of all things? Usually, it was either his sharp tongue or his general obnoxiousness.
Never, not even once, had it been his looks.
'Ouch. I shouldn't be jealous, right?'
The worst part was that the two approaching Sleepers were obviously a part of Gunlaug's gang. It was apparent from their armor and the fact that they carried their weapons in actual sheaths, like a pair of idiots. Memories could be freely summoned out of thin air, so the only reason to keep them visible at all times was for the sake of intimidation.
He had noted that detail after meeting the castle guards yesterday.
What had Harper said? If there is a "misunderstanding" with one of Gunlaug's people, remember that these guys carry a heavy burden. Treat them with respect.
In other words, swallow it.
The young men approached their corner of the table with vulgar smiles. They were clearly undressing Cassie with their eyes. Sunny turned his head and looked up at them.
The Sleepers sitting nearby turned away with heavy looks, clearly afraid and uncomfortable.
'Maybe they just want to say hi.'
Sunny opened his mouth...
'Respectful… remember… be respectful…'
...and said:
"What the fuck are you degenerates staring at?"
***
The whole hall was suddenly enveloped in silence. Once again, Sunny had found himself in the center of attention.
But this time, everyone was actually staring at him instead of Cassie.
'I… guess that's better?'
The few nearby Sleepers who had pretended to not notice anything a few seconds earlier lowered their heads, as though trying to become smaller and disappear completely.
Sunny glanced at them with disdain and turned back to the pair of young men who were currently towering above him, a dark and dangerous light dancing in their eyes.
To be honest, his incendiary reaction had caught Sunny by surprise. The anger had taken the better of him for a moment, forcing the words out of his mouth. But the damage had already been done.
It seemed as though his brotherly instincts were not only still alive, but also somewhat overwhelming.
'To hell with this. They want to see dark and dangerous? I'll show them.'
He glared at the two idiots, knowing that, at this point, there was no way back. Beside him, Cassie turned her head, an alarmed expression on her face.
One of the idiots grinned.
"Huh. We were just hoping to politely introduce ourselves to this lovely little doll, but hey, we can get acquainted with the ugly little clown first. How about it?"
He glanced at the other Sleeper, who was looking at Sunny with no humor in his eyes whatsoever.
Cassie frowned, then said:
"Why are you…"
However, at that moment, the second young man took a step forward and growled, interrupting her:
"What did you just say, clown? Do you know who we are? Fool, we're Gunlaug's men."
His hand was resting on the pommel of his sword.
Sunny knew that escalating the situation was not a wise thing to do, but at this point, he didn't have a choice. Backing down now would only lead to a disaster. He knew this type of people well: the moment they felt a weakness, it was all over.
They understood only two things — fear and strength.
Outstretching one hand, he scowled, looked the young men right into the eyes, and said:
"Congratulations. Now get lost before I make you dead men."
Perhaps recognizing something in his voice, or maybe in his eyes, the Sleeper who had his hand on the pommel of the sword hesitated. For a second, Sunny almost believed that his threat worked. But then the young man furtively glanced around, and this tiny hope evaporated.
If they were alone, maybe the Sleeper would have reconsidered his desire to antagonize Sunny any further. But with all these people watching, he couldn't show fear.
Sunny failed to account for one crucial detail. All bullies were cowards… but what they feared the most was people finding out about their cowardice.
Gunlaug's man bared his teeth in a threatening grin.
"Those are terribly big words, coming from a puny weakling like you. You know what? I think your girl needs to keep better company. Why don't we help her out by making you disappear?"
Sunny smiled.
'...I guess I'm going to kill a couple of fools today.'
Cassie, meanwhile, was not happy with what was happening at all. The frown on her face deepened.
"I'll decide what company to keep myself. Now, please…"
However, they weren't listening to her.
Sunny was already bracing himself for the worst-case scenario, prepared to summon the Midnight Shard at a moment's notice.
But then, suddenly, a calm voice sounded from behind his back.
"Leave them alone, please. They are my friends."
Caught by surprise, Sunny hurriedly shifted his perspective to the shadow and glanced back.
Behind him, a tall and confident young man stood calmly with his hands resting at his hips. He had brown hair and a gentle, handsome face. His eyes sparkled with friendly humor.
It was…
'Caster?!'