God of Trash

Rhys stared. “Mouse?”

The gray-brown haired girl adjusted her big round glasses and gave him a nervous smile, nodding. He looked her up and down, then realized he sensed mana from her. Instinctively, he jumped back, only to pause and squint. Mouse wasn’t wearing a uniform. Sure, neither had the woman he’d seen enter the upper area, but he was sure the Empire had nobility and everything that came with it, and doubtless an intelligentsia and upper class, which that woman probably fit into somewhere. Mouse, on the other hand, was an enemy. She would have been recruited into the lowest cadre of soldiers, but instead, she stood before him, wearing the same filthy robes she’d worn back in Purple Dawn Academy.

He shook his head, trying to shake off his shock. “How’d you evade the Empire?”

“Er, j-just like how I did to you just now. They, um, overlooked me. It’s like what you said, I just focused on being unseen and drawing power from that, and they never saw me. Everyone else got rounded up, but not me.” She gave him a nervous glance, then looked down. “T-this is the first time I’ve t-talked to someone since.”

Rhys rubbed the back of his head. This was suspicious, insanely suspicious, but on the other hand, he himself had vouched for Mouse’s unseeable attributes, and neither had he seen her, at Tier 3, until she’d chosen to reveal herself. The ones looking for students had been no higher than Tier 3, and he could believe that some of the students had been overlooked in the rush to collect everyone, let alone the girl whose special attribute was being overlooked. Sure, they might have gone back and done a more complete second sweep, but by then, some of the students could have run, or hid, or… whatever Mouse did. He nodded at her, deciding to try her out. “How’d you end up here?”

Without a word, Mouse turned and pointed. Rhys followed her finger. On the mountain looming over the town, from the direction he’d entered from, the remains of Purple Dawn Academy crumbled away. The once-proud castle was shattered, and the walls laid in ruins. Already, the town that had been around it crumbled into the forest, overcome by new growth.

That answers that. He shook his head. “How have you survived so long here, all alone?”

“I just stayed quiet and did nothing.” Mouse glanced down, shuffling her feet. “I felt so powerless, watching everyone else… but if I acted, they would have found me. This was the only way to save myself, hiding among the people, blending in like a nobody…”

Her voice was laden with guilt. No wonder. She was the only survivor of the Academy, the sole escapee. Anyone would feel guilty from that, let alone someone as shy and introverted as Mouse. Rhys sighed deeply and ran his hair back. Trust her? No?

If she’s on our side, she’s too valuable to ignore, he decided. He’d start by extending his trust just enough to test her. He wasn’t leading her back to his hideout, but he’d test things out for a little longer. If she tried to betray him or give him away, he’d kill her and forget about this, but if she helped, if she showed her commitment, then there was no reason to keep her out of the group. In fact, she could be a massive asset, with how easily she could escape detection. As long as she was actually on their side, he couldn’t let her go, but if she wasn’t, the damage she could do was equally immense. Hence why he absolutely had to test her.

“Can you get me to the other side of this wall?” Rhys asked.

Mouse considered. She glanced over at the gate. “I… can get through, but take someone else?”