Harifrast Town.
The door swung open to reveal a charming young lady dressed up in the bombastic inn's special attire. She smiled warmly at the person standing opposite her, a man wearing a shirt that looked to be made of mithril, his hair so long it touched his waist.
The man had instantly donned a smile as well, reciprocating the cheerfulness offered to him for a hefty price of six gold coins a night, however fake it was.
"I've brought your complimentary dinner for the week, dear sir. Surely you haven't forgotten," the young lady said.
The man tried to grimace but that would ruin his image. He had to power through this while pretending he was unfazed.
On a moving wooden trolley that the young woman before him had with her was an extra special assortment of foods. A commoner would call this a high class buffet.
What was the occasion?
Celebrating that the man had spent so much money needlessly and was still, regrettably far from bottoming his pocket?
At this point, going bankrupt seemed like the only way to get out of this damned room!
"Of course I haven't forgotten. It's only been a little over a month and a half, hasn't it?" the man said sarcastically to which the young woman giggled, the so-called warmth in her smile turning out to be a cold lust that saw opportunity in this man who supposedly had no problem with the term 'price'.
The young woman was about to say something else, something suggestive, when the man swiped everything on the trolley and placed it on two well crafted stools close to the door within his room with an inhuman speed.
"Thank you for the service. I look forward to the next special meal," he said before slamming the door in the young woman's face.r
He sighed exasperatedly and turned to the 'guest' sitting comfortably in his room.r
The blonde youngster tilted his head and strummed the lute in his hands.r
pǎпdǎ Йᴏνê1,сòМ "If you play another song, so help me I will—"r
"I know," the guest said with a chuckle as instead of composing another musical tune, he hugged his lute and gave a steady gaze towards the man.r
The man with the mithril shirt raised an eyebrow in surprise.r
"So you can speak without making everything a stream of lyric?" he mocked.r
"I'm still human, aren't I?" the blonde man, Erlton the Reader, said. r
The man with the long hair scoffed as he shook his head and took a seat.r
"Now that you're actually talking, how about making it clear to me why you have imprisoned me in this room for the past six weeks. I don't mind forking out coin if there is a good reason behind it, but this is absurd."
"Absurd? Ignorance is the only absurdity in this world. Hmm. Perhaps ignorance, reluctance... and laziness," Erlton threw a teasing look to the man with the long hair.r
The man didn't look too happy about this. He was obviously being called lazy!r
Well... he was.r
At the moment he possessed all three of these things that Erlton had mentioned. So was he the very definition of absurd then?r
"You know, if you had headed to your destination the same day you smelt that familiar scent, I probably would not have been able to stop you or the direction that you would have set in motion. However, you tend to take your time with all things, both important or not," Erlton said as he squirmed in his seat, looking for the perfect spot.r
The man with the long hair clicked his tongue.r
"Easy for you to say. Being human is new to me. How else can you enjoy it other than giving in to every single impulse?"r
"Hmmm," Erlton hummed and strummed his lute, causing the man with the long hair to grit his teeth in annoyance.r
"Do not worry, I will release you soon. Then you can follow that one and do as you please."r
The man with the long hair narrowed his eyes and folded his arms.r
"Given your position, I'm sure you know who it is that I'm trailing. He hasn't been in this world for long and he has the stench of an Arch-Lich. A curse or maybe more than that. Actually, it got worse back then. I can still smell its split scent. Are you protecting him?"r
"Not at all. We have decided to stay away from him. All of us. As we do with others like him. There are linings of direction that even a Deity sees fit to let pass instead of intervening in. I would advise you to do the same but nothing you do will be of adverse consequence to Aigas. At least from now."
"That is incredibly vague," the man with the long hair pointed out with a frown. r
What did this singing idiot even mean?r
Erlton's gaze fell behind the man in the mithril shirt.r
"Now, can I have some of that food? As a price for answering your burning curiosity, that is," he said without shame.r
***r
Somewhere a short distance from Genhuis City...r
"I see... say that again, would you?"r
The messenger panted, his eyes bulging to the point where it seemed like they would burst from his sockets violently.r
With fresh desperation and a deep fear for his life that showed through the wrinkled skin on his face, he cried.r
"Please! Don't kill me! I.. I was just sent to tell you that they want to speak to you! I swear, I have no other reason for being here! Please!"r
Gabel's eyes showed no concern for anything other than the message being told. He had to get emphasis, because after this point, this man HAD NOT been able to spew anything that made sense.r
"Hmph."r
A long glaive, its end looking like a butcher's knife dropped from his shoulder where it had been perched.r
Gabel held his little notebook and began writing in it as the messenger heaved in heavy breaths with a terrified look on his face. He laid on the ground, his body pressed down by nothing except the sheer murderous pressure from the recipient of his message, where he laid a pool of blood visible even though he was unharmed.r
"I told them I'd gone to the wasteland, away from the breeze of human stink,r
I'd rather get dazed by the fragrance of the woman with the veil,r
They pursue me still, ignorant of my origin,r
Claiming that I am theirs, when it was the wastelands that spat me to their doorstep..."r
Gabel recited as he wrote down.r
As he did....r
"ARRRRRRGGHHHHHHHHH!"r
Slowly, the messenger's skin began to peel off, perfect, invisible incisions making their way through his skin delicately, as if a master in the art of flaying was carefully working on this new piece to ensure that the 'hide' would remain intact.
A guttural scream came from the messenger's mouth, his eyes rolling as he nearly lost consciousness when half his arm was done.r
Sadly, the vicious intent radiating from Gabel kept him awake and he could not squirm or roll around as that would ruin the process. Thus he was held still.r
Gabel paid little attention to what was happening to the messenger. He only took notes and gave his attention to the cruel scene before him here and there.r
After a full hour, when only a twitching, skinless, bloody, gorey mess remained....r
"Hmm? Ah, I forgot what you said. You had a message, didn't you? Let's here it," Gabel said, pulling himself from the folds of the book where his attention had gotten lost.r
In the next instance...r
The messenger panted, his eyes bulging to the point where it seemed like they would burst violently from his sockets.r
With fresh desperation and a deep fear for his life that showed through the wrinkling of the skin on his face, he cried.r
"Please! Don't kill me! I.. I was just sent to tell you that they want to speak to you! I swear, I have no other reason for being here! Please!"r
"Hmmm. I see," Gabel said as he started scribbling into his book again.r
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