Little Pink Starfish

The Grand Temple is divided into a total of nine sections according to the degree of its sanctity.

The First Tower Gate houses the Holy of Holies and is extremely restricted in access. The Second Tower Gate is where the Lotus Hall and the sacred lake for purification rites are located, and where feasts and rituals are mostly held. The Third Tower Gate is the administrative district where Trastasa’s major and minor affairs are decided.

Starting from the Fourth Tower Gate, it could finally be called a place where people lived. The Fourth Tower Gate, where priests and their families reside, and the Fifth Tower Gate, where noble houses and the wealthy dwell, were wide, with all buildings large and beautiful. Nyne usually only went as far as the Fifth Tower Gate—and even that was rare. In the eyes of the priests, unless one was a fellow priest, even catching the Sha’s eye was something to be frowned upon.

Nevertheless, Nyne had always wanted to visit the Sixth Tower Gate. Rue, who had more freedom of movement, would often talk about it.

The Sixth Tower Gate was truly the practical heart of Trastasa and the most bustling and prosperous area. It was where artisans working for the temple were active, and where the commercial district was most densely packed.

People of the Grand Temple, regardless of rank, gender, or age, all came and went through the Sixth Tower Gate. Foreign merchants paid tolls and booth fees to sell all kinds of goods. With buyers, sellers, and onlookers, it was always a noisy place, and Nyne had always been curious about its everyday state.

So when Gwen suggested it, Nyne reflexively answered yes without resistance. Naturally, this was only possible because Amon was away hunting beasts and with the help of Gwen and Iyu.

After breakfast, Nyne said he would take a nap and return in the late afternoon. He kicked out everyone except for his escort, Iyu, telling them not to disturb his rest. While Iyu stood guard at the bedroom door, Gwen appeared quietly inside Nyne’s bedroom. Nyne, who had been waiting with a pounding heart, sprang up from the bed.

“We’re going now, right?”

He whispered in case anyone heard, hurrying over to Gwen and pulling at his sleeve as if to say hurry up. But Gwen suddenly placed a hand on his chest and stood there blankly. He looked like someone in pain, and Nyne frowned with concern.

“Do you have some kind of heart illness?”

“No… I just thought I might develop one. I’m not usually like this.”

“Heart illnesses can develop even if they weren’t there before. I’ll call a healer priest as soon as we return.”

“It’s nothing serious, Sha. I’m perfectly healthy and get regular checkups.”

Saying not to worry, Gwen approached the bed. Unlike before, he openly waved his hand through the air and pulled something out. To Nyne’s shock, what came out… was a person.

“Heavens!”

And that person looked exactly like Nyne. Startled, Nyne jumped far back. Gwen, placing the Nyne-like human on the bed, gave an awkward laugh.

“I should have explained first. This is just a doll. Really. Would you like to come take a look?”

Nyne stared at Gwen and the human on the bed with wary eyes. Just looking at something so bizarre gave him goosebumps. He glanced at the door, considering calling Iyu, but Gwen gently coaxed him over to the bed.

Looking closer only made it creepier. It looked exactly like Nyne’s twin was lying there. As he stared at it, Nyne jumped again. The chest was moving rhythmically, and soft breathing sounds could be heard.

“It’s… breathing!”

“I can make it stop breathing too, if you’d prefer.”

Gwen lightly touched the figure, and with a slow exhale, it stopped moving entirely. Now chilled for a different reason, Nyne looked at Gwen.

“…Did you just kill someone in front of me?”

“No! I just made the doll move like a real person breathes. It looks very human, but it’s not. You remember the cat? The lizard…?”

After Gwen’s detailed explanation, Nyne finally accepted that it was indeed a doll made in his likeness. The animals Gwen had called dolls had all moved without any unnaturalness, like living creatures. Even if he understood it in his head, it was still hard to accept when seeing it with his eyes.

“What do you think? Isn’t it well made? This is the piece I’ve put the most effort into. Truly… a work of art.”

“It’s creepy.”

“Ah…”

“The more I look at it, the more it gives me chills. I’d rather never see it again.”

Nyne said flatly in a cold voice. While he acknowledged the need to leave such a doll in bed to prevent accidents, the longer he looked, the more displeased he felt. He turned his head sharply, and Gwen looked dejected.

“But the figure—no, the sculpture—you liked that, didn’t you?”

“This and that are not the same.”

“Well, this one is life-sized 1:1…”

Saying odd things about how 1:1 scale made it special and meaningful, Gwen adjusted the doll’s posture. Lying on its side with its face half-buried in the blanket and breathing softly—it looked like a peacefully sleeping person.

“Oh, and you must change clothes. If anyone recognizes your face, it’ll be a disaster.”

“That’s true.”

Nyne nodded and changed into the outfit Gwen had prepared. The fabric was of slightly lesser quality than his usual wear, but not bad to the touch. He added a simple gold-thread bracelet and small gold earrings. Finally, Gwen covered Nyne’s face with a thick cloth that seemed impossible to see through. Yet surprisingly, Nyne could see clearly, and it was well-ventilated. It seemed to be enchanted fabric.

“Well then, shall we go?”

Smiling, the magician stroked the wall, and faint lines formed, gradually taking the shape of a door. He opened it first and extended his hand from outside. Nyne grasped his hand and carefully stepped out. A quiet sound of the door closing came from behind.

Where they emerged was a narrow, shaded alley. Wooden crates were stacked to naturally obscure the door in the wall, so no one found it suspicious that Gwen and Nyne had suddenly appeared. Having never left without a guard priest, Nyne was tense to the point of trembling. Outside the alley, countless people bustled past noisily.

Having never seen a scene like this, Nyne’s eyes went wide. Holding Gwen’s hand tightly, he slowly walked out of the alley.

“So this is what the Sixth Tower Gate looks like on a normal day.”

Nyne recalled the scene he saw outside the carriage during the last hunting festival. Then, everyone was prostrate in worship as if dead—but now, it was completely different. People laughing, shouting, getting angry, children naked playing with dogs, elderly in ragged clothes, merchants balancing baskets of vegetables on their heads…

He looked around in a daze. Even though his clothes were lower quality than usual, it was only by the standards of Sha’s garments. Even in this bustling place, people avoided bumping into those who looked finely dressed like Nyne. Thanks to that, he was able to walk slowly and observe his surroundings.

A fisherman laid freshly caught fish on a stall. Next to him, a fruit vendor sold a mountain of dates, and beyond that, apples. In the fabric district, damp linen was being dried, and people were busy shaping rough clay bowls from riverbank mud.

While looking around the market, Nyne used money Gwen had given him to buy and taste some dates. Unlike the ones served to him, they had no gold foil and were slightly cracked or blemished—but the taste wasn’t all that different.

On impulse, he tried some boiled freshwater fish at an eatery and a drink made by pressing sugarcane juice. Honestly, they didn’t taste as good as what he usually ate. Still, he liked the lively and messy atmosphere. Sometimes the Grand Temple was too quiet. With a satisfied smile, Gwen asked:

“Are your feet sore?”

“I’m fine. More than that, I want to look at jewelry.”

“This way, then.”

Gwen moved confidently, as if he knew the area well. Curious, Nyne asked, and Gwen answered:

“I’ve come out here a few times. There are materials I can only get here, so I’ve had to go around a lot.”

“Isn’t the security around the Lotus Hall strict?”

“Compared to sneaking into your sanctuary? Much easier.”

That was true. Nyne suddenly felt envious of Gwen’s freedom. More precisely, he envied the magic that enabled that freedom.

“Gwen, do you think I could learn magic too?”