"Haman! Are you alright? Why does your face look so anxious?" Samad asked, glancing at him while eating.
"It's nothing," Haman replied quickly, trying to compose his unsettled expression.
Either Basah's magic is so powerful that its effects still linger on me, or perhaps all of this is just a trick of my mind, Haman thought to himself.
They ate quietly for a while, exchanging casual conversations. When they were done, Samad turned to Haman and said:
"Haman, the snowfall has stopped for the past few days, so the road is now clear. Tomorrow, we'll be leaving for Demara City. Make sure you finish your packing tonight—I don't like delays."
Anyway, too much time has already been wasted," he muttered.
He gave the same instructions to the others, and soon everyone went to their rooms to prepare.
Exhausted, Haman lay down on his bed as soon as he entered his room. He had barely rested for a short while when someone knocked on the door. Upon opening it, he found Zahir standing outside.
"Haman, I can't find my notebook—it's really important. Can you check if it somehow ended up in your room by mistake?" Zahir asked, peering around curiously.
"What would your notebook be doing in my room? But fine, check if it makes you feel better," Haman replied wearily.
Zahir searched the room thoroughly, but when he didn't find it, he turned to leave in disappointment. Just then, Haman spoke:
"If you want, I can help you look for it."
"Of course! That would be great," Zahir said, relieved.
The two of them searched the entire house, but the notebook was nowhere to be found.
"Do you remember where you last had it?" Haman asked, scratching his head. Zahir fell into thought.
"I'm not sure… hmm… Last time, I was in Samad's room discussing something with him, and I had the notebook then. After that, I don't remember where I left it," he finally said after thinking hard. Then he added, "But we already checked his room—it wasn't there."
"Let's check again," Haman suggested, and together they went back to Samad's room.
"Go ahead and look through everything carefully. If you find it, let me know," Samad said as he walked toward the washroom.
Haman and Zahir began searching every corner one by one.
"Haman, I'll check the cupboard. You look inside that black bag," Zahir instructed.
"But it doesn't feel right to go through someone's personal belongings," Haman said hesitantly.
"Oh come on! Samad himself said to check everything—that includes the bag. Besides, Samad is my friend. If there's any issue, I'll take the responsibility since I asked you to do it. You came here to help me, right? Then help me," Zahir replied while rummaging through the cupboard.
"But—" Haman began, only to be cut off.
"No buts. Just do it."
Not in the mood to argue, Haman reluctantly agreed. As he opened the black bag and shifted a few items around, his eyes suddenly caught something glimmering. His breath stopped. It was his ring—the very ring the Green-Haloed Man had stolen from him.
Haman froze, his heart pounding violently in his chest. His mind filled with a storm of questions.
Green-Haloed Man had taken this ring with him, so how did it end up with Samad?
Is Samad an ally of the Green-Haloed Man?
Has he been deceiving me all along?
What does Samad want with this ring?
Is this an attempt to trap Samad?"
If Samad knew everything, then why didn't he tell me about this ring?
__________
Vee, Ajal's closest friend, sat alone in a small room on the eighth floor of a tall building. A calendar was hanging on the wall with "2030" written on it. He wore the same steel-colored suit and a pair of headphones. The cramped room was filled with strange machines humming softly.
He raised the index finger of his right hand toward the radio system and pressed a button. After waiting for a few moments, he spoke,
"Do you hear me?"
Far away, in another high-rise building, a man wearing a headset heard the voice after a brief pause. He replied slowly,
"Yes, I hear you."
Vee remained silent for a moment. He knew the radio always caused a delay before the words came back.
"We are in trouble," he said. "Everything's gone wrong. We need your help."
After a few minutes, the man's reply came through the static:
"Fine."
Then the connection was cut.
Vee, angry, pulled off his headphones and threw them to the floor. He sat down heavily on the chair, pressed his hands against his forehead, and muttered,
"Higher-ups are useless… all they know is how to give orders."
__________
A man, around forty years old and completely blind, sat on a worn carpet inside an old room. Slowly, using his stick for guidance, he moved toward a wooden cupboard, opened it, and took out a small envelope. From it, he pulled out a folded sheet of paper and returned to the carpet, sitting down once more.
He unfolded the paper and ran his fingers across its surface, as if reliving a memory he could no longer see but still feel.
On the paper, the words were written:
Dear Haman,
There's something I want to say, though it's hard to put into words. I don't know if you'll ever understand it.
Perhaps the decision was already made — about distance, and maybe about everything else. Just know this: I'm still here… but nothing is the same anymore.
Yours truly,
Aleifta
_________
Kafir was accompanied by two men.
One of them was completely covered in an outfit that blended white, red, and black — only his piercing eyes were visible, while the rest of his body, including his face, was wrapped in fabric of the same colors.
The other man wore jeans and a T-shirt, and instead of a wristwatch, he had a mirror strapped to his left wrist with dark blue bands. He kept glancing at his reflection, fixing his hair again and again — an unmistakable sign of his vanity. He was so self-obsessed that he couldn't stand the idea of anything spoiling his looks. Even in the middle of war, he was indifferent to the chaos; all that mattered to him was his own appearance.
Kafir ordered coldly,
"Hurry up. I want Demara City completely annihilated. It should look as though no one ever lived here — as if nothing ever existed at all."
Both men saluted Kafir and responded firmly, "At your command."
__________