Was this the Chaos Instinct ability initially described? Why would it activate at such a moment? The disembodied voice of the Umbridge suddenly called through my mind.
"The true effects of your potion digestion are coming through. These abilities may want to activate at random times, but it's only you that can suppress them."
"Alright ...h-how do I stop this? The last thing I'd want to do is escalate this situation." My body tensed as I continued to watch the interaction between the thief and Aizawa.
"Isaac?" Shinso's voice permeated my illusory surroundings. At this moment, everything dissipated into regular colors, gradually regaining lucidity.
I snapped back to reality, glancing towards the taller boy with an expression of uncertainty. Aizawa continued to question the thief in the background.
"Are you ok?" Shinso asked, looking down at me.
I nodded my head, trying my hardest to maintain a calm expression. In reality, I was both dumbfounded and wary. Why did Chaos Instinct attempt to activate at that moment? Was it the potions rebellion against me? It must have known I rebelled against its instinct the moment I drank it, so it tried to activate the effect on that thief.
The potion must have tried to make the man go insane via the potion, some sort of punishment for stealing. But, wouldn't the Apocalypse pathway not want such a thing? Concepts like justice and sanctity aren't neighboring—maybe even foreign to the concepts of the pathway. Why would the potion want such a thing to occur; that would contradict itself!
I walked forward, my grip on the loaf loosening as I approached the thief and Aizawa. Aizawa looked like he was about to explode, while the scrawny man looked both terrified and mad for being tripped like that. At that moment, they both looked at me.
"Please, stay out of this." Aizawa's voice contrasted his facial expression, a lot calmer than I'd have expected.
This was most likely because he was talking to me. If it had been anyone else—or someone he didn't know, he would have been a lot angrier. I took a deep, shaky breath as I looked towards the man who had stolen the loaves of bread.
"You said you're hungry, correct?"
His eyes widened as he nodded his head. His face flushed a little as he rubbed the back of his neck. "A-all the grain's been too expensive for me and my family to afford. I had to steal it so they could have some lunch."
I suddenly remembered the job I had taken a few weeks ago at Madame Fitzgarold's house. She had agreed to pay me for watching her son, but she had only delivered the funds about a week ago after recovering both physically and mentally from the trauma of the attack. I now had about 100 silver Lumin at my disposal, and after some research, it equated to about a month's worth of groceries from the market.
A small smile formed on my face as I turned back to look at our apartment in the distance. "Wait here."
"Where are you going now?" Aizawa crossed his arms, huffing.
"Don't worry, it's a short walk. Shinso will accompany me, right?" I looked towards Shinso, who gave me a shaky yet assuring thumbs-up.
The man who had stolen the bread remained silent, but something in his eyes changed. He continued to look at us as me and Shinso left the market.
"Where do they think they're going?"
...
"Y-you get paid a fortune for babysitting a lobotomized child, and you want to spend it on bread?" Shinso rubbed his glabella, groaning softly.
"Couldn't we move somewhere more comfortable with that?"
I shook my head, tossing a small pouch with the coins up and down in my hand. "100 silver Lumin isn't all that much from what I've read in economic journals. Sure, it's above average, but it won't get you too terribly far."
I approached the grain stand selling some bread. The owner was a plump woman wearing an apron, her hair descending in red curls. She looked towards the both of us with a smile, though I could immediately tell most of her attention was focused on the sack I was carrying.
"I'll take two loaves," I said, opening the sack and tossing her ten of the silver coins.
She caught them midair, chucking like a little child as she tucked them into a pocket on her apron. The lady then reached under the counter and took out two loaves of bread, placing them into a paper bag.
"Aren't you a sweetie."
She took out another half loaf of bread, putting it inside the bag as well.
"You can also buy some jam, it's homemade from the barns from the south."
She took out three jars. One of the jams was orange in color, peach jam. Another was cherry jam, and the last was strawberry jam. Each of them sold for ...fifteen silver Lumin?!
I almost gagged seeing the prices, but I forced a smile and only took the strawberry jam. Now, I just had to hope the thief or his family weren't allergic to strawberries or whatever ingredients were inside this. These are the Victorian times after all, who knows what ended up inside the jam.
I slid over the corresponding amount and offered her a faint smile. Now, I only had 75 silver Lumin left at my disposal.
"H-hey, you're back!" The thief smiled as he watched me and Shinso approach him, his eyes lighting up the moment he caught sight of the bread bag.
Aizawa looked equally shocked, wondering how I had the money to buy that to begin with.
"It's on the house." I grinned, handing over the bag of bread.
His scrawny hands dove through the bag, looking at both the two-and-a-half loaves and the strawberry jam.
"I-I'm gonna love this!"
"Did you mean your family? Shinso arched an eyebrow.
"You said you had a family, did you not?"
At this moment, the thief's smile contorted. He couldn't help but stifle a chuckle as he turned around, before making a run for it.
"Y'bastards think I actually have a family?! Hah!"
My fists clenched, and I began seeing red. The entire market seemed to contort with shadows and illusory images. My back rippled and pulsed with the energy of my wraith wings, threatening to tear them past my skin and unfurl them. I didn't know what to say, what to do. That bastard had lied and used me for my money!
I felt a dreadful heat accumulate in my stomach, charring and malevolent. It was the Harbinger potion, sizzling within my body, fighting for control in the situation. It wanted me to act on instinct.
Sure, I was fuming from the sudden betrayal, but I did have more than a quarter of my money left, so it wasn't that much of a financial loss. On the other hand, he had lied and deceived me into giving him some food. He was hungry, but something told me getting a job in Seraphis Kingdom isn't the hardest thing to do.
Aizawa took a step forward, but I extended my arm in front of him, forbidding him from taking action. A small sigh left my lips as I shook my head.
"At least he's not hungry anymore."
Shinso suddenly grabbed me by my arm, pulling me to a nearby stand. I caught sight of a small white fox locked inside a cage. Its eyes were wide and filled with fear. The clerk removed the cigar from his mouth and laughed out loud, sending smoke into the air.
"Y'got me another inbred creature?"
He pointed to the horns on my head, tugging on the foreign appendages with an iron grip.
"L-let go!" I yanked my head back, sending the man forward onto the table. The impact rattled the cage around the fox, causing it to quiver and whimper. The arachnid-hybrid animal scurried under the desk, and the fish-squid slithered back into its tank.
"Did anyone teach you not to touch other people without their consent?" I brushed myself off, looking back at the man.
The vendor scoffed, slipping his pipe back into his mouth. Another dreg of smoke dissipated into the air as he spoke through the pipe's mouth.
"Y'wanna buy anything?"
I looked back at Shinso, rolling my eyes. "Is that why you bought me here? To buy you a pet?"
The indigo-haired boy shook his head, his brows furrowing. "Look at that ...it looks so sad."
Shinso whispered as he pointed at the small fox nestled inside the cage, still rattled from the collision. "All the animals look sad."
The small white fox slowly patted forward, letting out a low whimper as it placed its small palms around the bars of the cage, looking at me with wide eyes. I knelt down, meeting the creature at face level as I spoke softly so I wouldn't rattle it.
"How much is it?"
The vendor smirked as he replied. "Seventy-five silver Lumin."
Hearing the price, I arched an eyebrow. "Only seventy-five? That's about five jars of jam."
I slowly picked up the cage, inspecting the animal more closely. "If a small, rare-looking creature like this is priced as equally as a grocery run, what makes you think those other animals, who look ...uglier, are going to be bought? It's like buying a waste-of-space when you could buy food."
It hurt my inside to say those words, but all of the animals looked terrified of this man. I loved all living creatures deep down, no matter how scary they were. Sure, I'm slightly scared of spiders, but it's all a beautiful creation, slowly evolved over eons of scientific progress.
"Listen horny-boy, you're not getting a discount." The vendor crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair and placing his feet on the table.
"I'm not asking for one..."
I looked towards Shinso, smirking. "He is."
As if sensing my motives, Shinso also smirked, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Can I get a discount?" he asked blankly.
"I said no—" The vendor's eyes glazed over as his mouth fell slack.
"I'll take each of them for... three Lumin each?" Shinso grabbed my pouch, fishing out the corresponding amounts.
"Yeah, yeah. Sure..." the vendor's voice was now eerily soft and compliant. When Shinso offered him the feeble amount, he smiled as he tucked them into his pocket. Following that, he grabbed the three animals and offered them to us.
"Here you go."
"Thank you, sir." I took the three animals, holding them to my chest.
Shinso then looked at me, a look of curiosity crossing his expression. "What do we do with them now?"
I looked past the borders of the kingdom where the evergreen trees became visible, an idea forming in my mind.