Chapter 104
After the laughter in his heart subsided, Aaron's expression turned serious as he prepared to reveal more of what was on his mind regarding the details about that fugitive.
"It's ridiculous that simply interfering with them could change your status so drastically?"
"You could say not really," Zavi answered calmly. "I managed to kill two of their envoys. Maybe the leader of that cult couldn't accept the fact that the ritual he wanted to complete that night was forcibly stopped because of an intruder."
Seeing Aaron listening carefully and staring at him sharply, Zavi immediately added;
"Out of those intruders, I became the fugitive myself, and I nearly died while being chased by five people when I was searching for information in Hava."
"Hunters?" Aaron asked to make sure.
"Yeah, hunters. Do you know them?" Zavi tried gathering information from the incident that had happened to him back then. This was the perfect opportunity.
Aaron wasn't entirely sure what to say. He fell silent for quite a while, thinking deeply before finally finding the right words.
"What were the characteristics of those five people? Do you know?" Aaron tried to confirm, planning to answer if the information Zavi gave matched what he knew, at least for now.
Zavi touched his chin as his thoughts drifted back to the moment he was chased by those five hunters.
After replaying the memory in his head, Zavi finally managed to conclude several clues about the people pursuing him.
"Serrated daggers? Receivers of Sorcerer at the second level, Magician? Brown pistols? Classic black coats over white shirts?"
That was all Zavi knew. He couldn't remember the rest.
"I'm not really sure what to say, but it sounds like they're from SeiaofFire."
'Those traits don't belong to just one hunter organization, damn it. If you added more details about their clothing, maybe I could answer,' Aaron thought inwardly.
"So that's how it is," Zavi said while tapping his forehead with his index and middle fingers.
Aaron exhaled as he straightened his arm and asked, "Are you planning to destroy that organization?"
A cynical smile instantly spread across Zavi's lips as he answered confidently, "Why would I waste my energy fighting them? I'll just play my role as a killer to lure those two out."
'At the same time, it'll also complete the first level Error from Prisoner,' Zavi added inwardly.
Aaron looked at Zavi with admiration, while at the same time his heart trembled at the way he thought.
"Can I ask you one thing?" Aaron's gaze swept around before locking sharply onto Zavi.
"What is it?" Zavi immediately sat down as his legs signaled that they needed rest.
Aaron glanced around once more, briefly looking at the two guards before his eyes fixed on Zavi again.
"I'm not really sure how to say this, but... aren't you wary of the people hunting you? Judging from your experience as a fugitive, you still seem like a beginner, unlike me who's already become a veteran at this."
Zavi wanted to deny it, but Aaron's statement was indeed true. He thought that Extraction made it much easier for Aaron to escape the pursuit of people or groups targeting the 1000 Pace bounty on his head, an absurdly massive amount considering the basic monthly salary in the Kingdom of Norn was only around 110 Pace for lower-class workers, while the middle and upper classes earned around 220 Pace, twice the normal salary.
With that much money at stake, people who knew information related to bounty posters would definitely become desperate because they had no other choice. Continuing to live by walking roads filled with blazing embers, followed by supernatural figures, and encountering bizarre creatures, eventually pushed people into joining underground groups and exploiting one another for the same goal, though through different methods.
Moreover, Zavi realized he was still new to this world, and if he failed to adapt quickly enough, it would be like entering a cage filled with lions while carrying complete weapons and armor, only for the cage itself to be pitch black. It was ridiculous.
Ever since the tragedy that befell Moreira back then, and the loss of Celvira, the valuable asset he once possessed, Zavi truly had to act like a devil. Two-faced, searching for companions or allies, forming mutually beneficial cooperation, so that he himself could kill the devils hiding in the shadows, watching his every move without him realizing it.
To carry out that plan, he needed to find someone to complete the missing puzzle pieces he had envisioned right after performing the ritual, in order to perfect the mosaic.
His current targets were two things; finding Canel, and afterward forcing the devils out of hiding.
"That's why recruiting you is the best idea I have, Aaron," Zavi muttered with a sigh before walking steadily toward the large door after signaling for them to move there.
Aaron felt that joining them was the best option as long as he continued running from the pursuit of the Soas Repena Order and bounty hunters.
For a moment, with every step he took, Aaron felt as though he were walking atop neatly piled cotton, soft and light, absorbing the heavy burden he had carried for so long.
He didn't think too deeply about Zavi's earlier statement, and he still remained wary of the four of them because three among them were extremely cunning and difficult to trust, even though Aaron himself had once fought alongside them and spoken with them without suspicion.
For the days ahead, he intended to enjoy this opportunity as best as possible and would take action if they ever behaved the way he feared they might.
A few steps before entering the towering half-opened door, the two of them slowed their pace out of respect for the hard work of the two guards.
With brown military caps matching their uniforms, the guards looked gallant and charismatic as they carried themselves like true professionals, ignoring the respectful gesture from the two men while maintaining focused expressions, as though afraid of missing something important.
The two of them immediately continued walking and blended into the crowd. The air inside the room felt suffocatingly dense as people brushed past one another toward the two connected straight corridors, while the dim chandelier light made the atmosphere in the hall feel different from before, flat, filled with chatter, and somehow unsettling.
Eventually, the two moved to the left and passed through a door around two and a half meters tall and one and a half meters wide because their goal was to leave the building, even though heavy snow was falling alongside the suffocating cold.
Several minutes passed as he decided to sit with his arms resting on the second-floor wall railing, standing beside the stairs while staring at the heavy snowfall and enjoying the cold sensation striking his face.
They stood there for so long that their faces turned red from the extreme cold, forcing the two of them to quickly descend the stairs with careful steps before returning to the apartment they had rented since arriving in this place.
Their apartment was located in Karuoo District, more precisely on Aginosen Street, a few hundred meters away from the building where the year-end party was being held.
Even though a violent snowstorm mixed with fierce winds battered everything beneath it, covering rooftops and parts of the streets, the two of them continued onward. Even while trembling uncontrollably, Aaron kept forcing his body beyond its limits.
Several minutes after walking nonstop through the slippery streets, they finally arrived at the apartment under the faint glow of streetlights obscured by snow.
The two of them stood briefly on the terrace while observing their surroundings before entering the apartment to rest, since it was getting later and the snowstorm had grown even heavier.
Every step left behind wet footprints and streams of water dripping from their clothes. Aware that other tenants in the apartment might notice this, Zavi and Aaron immediately hurried up the stairs in a rush, unintentionally causing loud stomping noises. This was followed by the sound of dragging footsteps echoing along the second floor corridor for several seconds, making the doors they passed tremble enough for the residents inside to come out immediately.
"Is someone there?" A man stepped out from a room not far from the stairs.
The occupant from the room across from him also stepped out and looked at the man in front of her.
"Did you also hear those cracking footsteps, sir?" asked a woman with messy hair, her body wrapped in a blanket with only her face exposed.
The man gave a brief shake of his head before answering, "Maybe it's another tenant returning from the year-end party?"
The woman immediately realized it and said with trembling lips, "Oh, I just remembered. I'll head back inside. The weather today is so cold I can't sleep properly."
"Ah, good night," the man said in his heavy voice, "and don't forget to keep an eye on that fireplace."
The woman smiled while closing her door again and replied from inside, "Alright, alright. You're just like my own parents."
He gave a brief shake of his head before walking away and returning to resting on the sofa in front of the heater furnace with its stable flames, staring at it for so long that his mind drifted into temporary peace.
Meanwhile, Zavi and Aaron had already entered their rented room and immediately removed their clothes before quickly changing into thicker shirts, then hurried toward the heating furnace with violently trembling bodies and faces pale from the cold air.
Holding iron cups filled with hot water releasing steam atop the table near the sofa, the two immediately picked them up and sat down, blowing on the hot water for several seconds before carefully sipping it to avoid burning their tongues.
As soon as the warm water flowed through their throats and into their stomachs, warmth instantly freed their bodies from the shackles of the freezing cold that had overtaken them.
Realizing he couldn't sleep, Zavi chose to ask about earlier matters so he wouldn't keep thinking about the cold, hoping conversation would liven up the atmosphere in the room.
Zavi let out a deep breath as he sipped the increasingly warm water again before speaking in a slightly weakened voice;
"Do you know of anyone who suddenly disappeared and could never be found afterward?"
Aaron immediately turned toward him and answered in confusion, "I've never heard of that. But for now, I can only conclude that something prevented that person from returning to this world."
Zavi wanted to speak again, but he suddenly remembered his conversation with the woman who looked exactly like his female friend. Aurora Chevalya.
'I'm not completely sure, but that woman definitely said, I finally found this world with great difficulty and you're acting indifferent toward me?'
Zavi sipped the warm water again as his thoughts fell back into that tense moment.
'Now that I think about it again, that world was incredibly strange, and I was slightly shocked when I realized I wasn't standing on solid ground like normal, but instead stepping directly on clouds as though the world below was nothing more than a painting. I'm not entirely sure if another world exists that could pull Moreira away so easily while deceiving Celvira, a third-level evil spirit. And it seems the woman I met didn't know about it either, or is she the mastermind behind all this?'
Zavi completely finished his thoughts as he concluded that the woman was extremely irritating and loved meddling in his affairs.
"I'll uncover your secret, and after that, I'll punish you," Zavi whispered with a serious expression, causing Aaron, who overheard him, to fall into confusion.
"Did you just say something?" Aaron asked to make sure, thinking Zavi was about to ask another important question.
"No," Zavi denied, sipping the warm water again.
As his body gradually felt better, Zavi finally placed the glass on the round table beside where he sat leaning back with his legs stretched toward the heater in front of him, one hand covering his mouth as he returned to thinking about the earlier matter.
After considering it more carefully, he finally asked curiously, "Regarding evil spirits that can become human, do you know anything about that?"
Aaron immediately touched his chin as he stared at the room's ceiling for quite a while. After confirming the information was valid, he finally decided to tell Zavi about it.
"I've never seen one directly, yeah, just like what you already know. I got the information from someone else, and your statement isn't wrong."
'Yeah, third-level evil spirits like Nammeridya already possess higher intelligence and spiritual awareness, and can even outsmart the workings of Exorscist, though under extremely complicated conditions.' Aaron thought while nodding, realizing he had just received such important information for free.
"Anything else you want to ask?" Aaron said while taking the last sip of warm water before placing the iron cup back onto the round table.
"I do," Zavi said hesitantly, "but wouldn't it burden you?"
Aaron laughed as he stood directly in front of Zavi, casting a massive shadow that nearly swallowed the room where they had been talking.
"No need to be so stiff," Aaron said calmly. "I'll answer them, so just relax."
Seeing this opportunity, Zavi didn't hesitate to ask several questions at once.
"How were you able to come back from death?"
"Was there some kind of supernatural object helping you? Or was it Exorscist's ability?"
"Why were you able to be in a place like Niki despite the city's condition after being destroyed by the demon horse?"
"And one more thing... why did the woman you fought while we were searching for the 'Intersection Society' at Zen University call you a 'Traitor'?"
Aaron could only laugh after realizing just how many questions Zavi had thrown at him, leaving him both amazed and confused about which one he should answer first.