NOVEL NEXT Chapter 135: Runa's Whereabouts
The streets of Atlas Skycity were alive with the bustle of evening trade, lantern light flickering across marble walls and polished steel walkways. Merchants shouted the worth of their goods, hawking spices, runic artifacts, and enchanted fabrics to passersby. Yet among the gleaming towers and brilliant neon runes, Ryuzen's path took him downward, away from the splendor and into the narrow veins of the commoners' district. Here the brightness of the upper city dimmed, replaced with creaking wooden signs, crooked doorframes, and alleys that carried the weight of hardship on every stone.
He had asked discreet questions, seeking the trail of a small girl he once helped. He finally arrived at a shabby house pressed between two others. Its roof sagged as if crushed by years of forgotten rain, the paint on the wooden frame peeled into gray splinters, and the faint smell of damp earth hung in the air.
When he knocked gently, the door creaked open. A thin girl appeared, perhaps around the same age as Runa. Her dark hair was tied unevenly, and her cheeks still held the faint softness of childhood, though her eyes told a story of grief far beyond her years. This was Aruna, the new friend Runa made.
"Fire Salamander?" She was stunned at first. But quickly understood why she was here.
She hesitated at first, then stepped back to let him in. The single-room house looked empty except for a wooden chair, a cracked jug of water, and some folded clothes stacked in the corner.
Her lips trembled as she finally spoke.
"She is gone. My parents… they cast her out."
The words felt like shards of glass piercing the quiet.
Ryuzen's golden slit eyes narrowed. "Cast her out? Why?"
Aruna's hands clenched at her tattered skirt. "Our families… we are all poor. My parents said there wasn't enough food for everyone anymore.. So, sniff.."
Her voice cracked, and she bit her lip hard as if to hold back tears. "She cried and begged them not to. She said she would work, that she wouldn't be a burden. But they… they still pushed her out. I wanted to stop them, but I was helpless. I couldn't help my only friend. I'm sorry. I am so sorry."
The weight of her guilt filled the tiny room. Her words trembled like fragile glass ready to shatter.
Ryuzen stepped forward and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Aruna. You are just a child like her. This is not your fault."
Still, his heart tightened. He had seen cruelty and desperation before, in dungeons, in battlefields, in the hollowed-out stares of those who had lost too much. Yet to know that such cruelty could reach a child this young filled him with a quiet fury.
Sure, they were poor. But he didn't believe Runa didn't provide for them as strong and sensible she was. There's definitely amother story involved which Aruna didn't tell him.
He turned toward the door. "Do you know where she went?"
Aruna shook her head, eyes glistening. "I don't. She just… walked away with her little bundle of clothes. I couldn't follow. I thought maybe she would come back… but she hasn't."
Ryuzen nodded firmly. "Then I will find her."
The city was vast, stretching from the golden spires of Skycity's noble quarters down to the endless streets where commoners struggled to survive. Searching for one small girl seemed like searching for a drop of water in the sea. But he refused to let despair take hold. His senses, sharper than any ordinary human's, expanded outward. Draconic perception, honed by countless fights, caught traces of movements, whispers, and lingering scents.
He walked through the alleys, eyes sweeping every corner, passing ragged vendors and beggars who barely looked up. The deeper he went, the quieter the city became, until the sounds of laughter and trade faded into the hollow echo of his footsteps.
And then he saw it.
A small playground stood at the edge of the district, its paint chipped from years of neglect. The swing set creaked in the evening wind, the slide was rusted, and patches of grass grew wild between the cobblestones. On one lonely bench sat a little girl. Her small frame curled inward, hands gripping her knees as if to shield herself from the world. Her hair, once neatly braided, now hung loose and tangled.
Ryuzen's chest tightened as recognition struck.
Runa.
She was staring at the ground, eyes red from crying, but no tears came now. It was as if she had cried them all out. Her shoes were worn, her dress smudged with dust, and beside her lay a tiny cloth bundle, likely all that was left of her belongings.
For a moment, Ryuzen stood still, taking in the sight. The world felt silent around her, as if the city itself had turned away from her suffering.
He approached slowly, his steps soft so as not to startle her.
"Runa," he said gently.
Her head snapped up. Surprise widened her eyes when she saw him, then disbelief flickered across her face. She rubbed at her eyes as if to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice trembling and thin. It cracked as though she had not spoken in a while.
Ryuzen remained still, his gaze soft yet steady. But before he could answer, she tilted her head and squinted, studying him with a kind of hesitant hope.
Her lips parted, a flicker of recognition sparking in her young face.
"Aren't you the big brother from the ship?" she whispered, almost afraid to believe her own words. "The Fire Salamander… they called it?"
The weight of her words stirred a memory. The chaos on the survival ship, the flames he had conjured, the people he had saved. In that storm of fear and despair, there had been children clinging to life, and among them was this little one. She had remembered.
Ryuzen's lips curved into a faint smile. He stepped closer and crouched down so that his golden slit eyes met hers at eye level. "Yes," he said quietly. "That is me."
The girl's small shoulders trembled. She pressed her hand to her chest, as if steadying her heart. "Then it's true… but why are you here, big brother?"
He tilted his head slightly. "I came here because I was looking for someone. A little girl named Runa. Would that happen to be you?"