The sound of the horse hooves pounding on the pavement and the rapid rumble of the wheels fades as the carriage skids to a halt, and Raia and Sunshine dismount from the horse-drawn vehicle. They push their way through the throngs of people and amble along the city's roadside stalls.

Sunshine's head turns side to side as she searches for potatoes with Raia in tow.

Their duty as Aragons does not include shopping, but when they ran out of potatoes, Sunshine insisted on going shopping and dragged Raia along with her. She thought it was the perfect opportunity to get closer to her, thus the two of them ended themselves in this crowded and noisy place.

Since they're not on duty as Aragons, they dress simply in order to blend in with the crowd.

Sunshine squeals with delight, and Raia assumes she's already found what she's looking for. She sighs as they come to a halt in front of a potato stall, where a tall man in a loose, long-sleeved tunic stands in front.

"Hello, beautiful ladies," the stall owner greets with exaggerated enthusiasm, and Raia lets Sunshine handle the shopping.

Raia examines their surroundings, her gaze roving for any sign of malicious presence. Not being on duty doesn't mean they can lower their guard. They are, after all, in a place swarming with people of various facades. One of them may not even be human in the first place.

She inadvertently places her hand in her chest, trying to detect any unusual sensations within her, but all she feels is hollowness. She can't get her mind off the incident in the hospital, where she felt a sense of warning against an unseen enemy. That is a useful skill, to be sure, but it was a terrible experience. A lost spirit's despair is nothing more than a nightmare. That was the first time Raia felt such strong emotion, to the point where she would rather heal someone and endure temporary pain than something that lasted a long time.

"Raia!" Sunshine's high-pitched voice interrupts Raia's thoughts. "I bought potatoes. Do you want to buy something? Would you like to go for a walk before we return to the headquarters?"

Raia looks at the bag of potatoes Sunshine is carrying. She opens her mouth to speak, but a scream cuts her off, and then a woman jumps off the roof of a small building nearby. Her skirt flutters around her as she lands on the ground, and she sprints to a full run.

"H-hey, that's –" Sunshine starts, wrapping her hand around her right wrist.

The woman spins and raises a palm, but Raia already summoned her Blessing. The crowd screams as Raia's flaming longsword leaps to life and slashes the sphere light.

She frowns. The woman is without a doubt a possessed Outcast. She must purify her before any of these people become her victims. But just as she's about to leap, a boy pounces on her, and she winces as her back slams into the hard ground.

"Get off me!" Raia snarls and sits up, but the boy clings to her, his arms wrapped securely around her, refusing to let her go.

"N-no! You're going to hurt mama!" the boy says, his eyes welling up with tears as he looks at her. He's short and has unruly caramel hair. He's dressed in a beige loose shirt with brown suspenders and corduroy pants.

Raia grits her teeth, unwilling to argue with a naive child. She looks up at Sunshine.

"I've got this, Raia," Sunshine says with her back to Raia. She's wielding a longbow that is made of light. As she draws the string, a gleaming arrow appears, which she directs at the fleeing demon.

Raia redirects her icy stare to the boy. "We're not going to hurt your mother, we're just gonna . . . " Her voice trails off as she finds a reasonable explanation for a kid. ". . . exorcise the evil spirit that dwells within her."

The boy's pupils dilate. "Spirit? Is my mother possessed?"

"Yes," Raia hisses, trying to keep her patience at bay. "So, if you keep clinging to me, we could be too late to save your –"

"Raia!" Sunshine warns and fires the gleaming arrow.

The Outcast unleashes a ball of light at the same time the arrow passes through her body as if she didn't exist, then collapses unconscious to the ground. Before Raia can even move her sword, the light slams into her, knocking her back to the ground.

She stifles her scream as a surge of pain shoots up her face like fire. When she sits up, her eyes widen — the boy is unconscious on top of her. A tremor of dread runs through her.

No.

The boy is tainted.

She has failed.

Raia has failed one innocent human.

"Dammit!" she hisses. She holds her flaming longsword in front of her face, trying to keep her hands from trembling. "Raphael, pour thyself with Absideon and destroy the darkness thy blade touches. Purify the tainted soul and deliver it to Elysium!"

The orange flame surrounding her sword turns purple, and she points the tip of the blade over the boy's back. She closes her eyes.

"May the Light be –"

"Don't!" A shrill feminine voice cuts Raia off. She opens her eyes to see a young girl with rounded eyes standing before her in a wrinkled dress. Her caramel hair is pulled up into a messy ponytail.

Raia presses her lips to a thin line, her brows pulling together. She must be familiar with the boy. Another hindrance.

"W-what are you going to do with that s-sword?" The girl's voice is trembling as if she's about to cry. "Are you trying to kill my brother?"

Raia's frown deepens. "Brother?" A family?

"Answer me!"

Raia clenches her jaw, her glacial gaze fixated on the girl. "This is no longer your brother. It will be a demon any second."