Chapter 219: Quite Fair well
---
A faint, appreciative curl touched Akayoroi’s lips. "Very well. I will handle him when rites are done."
"Don’t waste resources," Kai said. "If he’s useless to you, bury him with the muck."
She nodded once. "Today we mourn. Tonight, me and my sister will choose our road."
He dipped his head, dark eyes steady on hers. "Fair."
And with that single word, an unspoken pact settled between them. It was quiet as falling ash which resided as stone.
Before the burial rites began, Kai descended alone into the lower tunnels— a quiet, sloped passage that wound beneath the mourning caverns like the root of a forgotten vein. The air here was heavier. Thicker. Not just with moisture, but with the weight of suffering too fresh to name.
The torch flame moss on the walls gave off a pale gold glow, enough to see by but dim enough to respect the resting.
Inside the infirmary hollow, four makeshift cradles had been carved into the warm clay. The scent of resin and blood lingered faintly in the air. It was masked only slightly by crushed healing bark boiled earlier that day. Second Xxx sat near the center, slowly fanning the room with a leaf to circulate the heat and keep the air moving. She didn’t look up when Kai entered. She simply kept working.