Chapter 112
Days passed by as swiftly as coins swept away by a rushing river. After spending quite a long time resting indoors and not stepping outside at all because of the unforgiving weather, Zavi and Aaron now stood by the terrace railing of a stranger's house who had kindly given them shelter, quietly watching the snow fall gently and steadily near the end of the month.
The two of them could neither understand nor stop admiring the kindness of the people in Minehold for giving them a free place to stay. And what shook their hearts the most was how they had even been allowed to eat together with the family. Even though both of them initially refused, the owner of the house, including his two children, warmly welcomed their presence there.
The house, which previously felt like a graveyard; silent, tense, suffocating, wrapped in an invisible fog, and only truly alive in the mornings, had become lively and comfortable ever since the two of them arrived.
Maybe it sounded exaggerated, but deep down, none of the four family members thought it was an overstatement because each of them had gained companions to play with and people to talk to about life's problems like ordinary families did.
Zavi became the source of joy for the two children because of his unusual height compared to most people, while Aaron became their dependable figure because he was more mature than Zavi and used his life experience to answer the adults' questions, even offering solutions.
Time felt as though it moved even faster as Aaron reflected on moments he never could have imagined before, only to end up thrown into a cruel world filled with oppression, power struggles, conspiracies, where the strong ruled and the weak were cast aside.
Letting out a deep sigh, Aaron glanced at Zavi, who was spacing out in the same posture as him.
Their arms rested atop the concrete railing on the terrace, stomachs leaning against it as their eyes swept across the millions of snowflakes falling before them while observing the city slowly returning to life after a snowstorm had raged nonstop for an entire week.
'I actually want to give them money, but what can I do? I'm unemployed and completely broke ever since the day I became a fugitive.'
His money had disappeared somewhere during the crimes he committed in Forgenate, and bitterly, he admitted to himself that it was karma for his actions, forcing him to let go of the 10 Pace that could've kept him alive for roughly two weeks.
'And... should I go home? Or should I follow the path I want for myself without dragging a family into it?'
Zavi had no idea that even today, Ren was still searching for him, including the group; The Devil is here, one of them being Karl Vairanz.
Once again, he sank deeper into his thoughts.
'I don't understand how I'm supposed to live my life in this world... what does it even mean for me to keep surviving in this strange place and adapt as quickly as possible so I can fit into the environment around me? Damn it, if it weren't for that sect... Uh, hmm, yeah, the Finiscya sect. Maybe I wouldn't be living such a miserable life today, in this place, in a condition where I don't even have a single coin to my name.'
Zavi grumbled irritably in his mind, unknowingly drifting into his thoughts for so long that Aaron beside him became confused and repeatedly called his name to snap him back to reality.
"Actitus, Actitus. Hey, what are you thinking about so deeply that you're spacing out like that?" Aaron asked with narrowed eyes and furrowed brows.
Zavi immediately regained his senses and glanced at Aaron with a worn-out face burdened by inner pressure.
"Kwok Aaron," Zavi said as he turned around and leaned against the terrace railing, both elbows gripping the top firmly.
"Yeah, what is it?" Aaron half-turned toward him, trying to understand what he meant.
"I don't know if this will help me find that person... and them too. If you want to hunt a demon hiding within the narrow cracks hidden from the outside world, then you have to become a demon yourself to wipe out those demons."
"So," Aaron said in confusion, "say it as simply as possible so I can understand, okay?"
"Simply put, do you have any suggestions for moving from city to city without even the authorities noticing? You're good at sneaking around so easily, and the way you obtained that identity was insane. That's basically a bonus from your own skills."
Aaron immediately put on a confident grin as he formed a check mark with his fingers and rested it beneath his chin before laughing strangely afterward.
Then he cleared his throat twice after seeing Zavi staring at him in disgust with clenched teeth.
"Maybe... just maybe, yeah. Playing the role of the infamous killer Lamena while searching for those two might be the best idea I've got."
The moment those words struck his mind, something that had once seemed insignificant suddenly resurfaced.
'Distopian? Yeah, now I understand. I completely understand why 'they' did that to Moran and forced the surviving citizens out so they could have better lives than before. This idea is buried in gray morality... but who exactly arranged all of this?'
Zavi glanced at Aaron, who was waiting for an answer, but he drifted back into his thoughts again.
'The death of the Avvalen family? The conspiracy among nobles from the article I read right after that nightmare returned? Is this really connected to the uneven territorial division and the obsession with focusing development on the area they considered most important, even though they were responsible for creating such a massive territory called Havanuheta, yet only Kuranda and Makoli are more advanced than the other nine major cities?'
Realizing just how twisted the systems of power, social class, economy, and technology in Moran were compared to the others—only slightly more advanced than Greysia and Semilir—made Zavi's determination grow even stronger after hearing Aaron's earlier idea.
A faint grin appeared on his face as he muttered under his breath, "It's really no different from that place."
Zavi once again remembered the moment he had been framed, how his status changed from student to fugitive within mere hours after helping a girl being harassed on the streets.
Hearing Zavi mumbling faintly, Aaron shook his head slightly, curious and trying to figure it out.
"Did you just say something?"
Zavi slightly opened his mouth.
"You're imagining things..." Zavi replied before turning back around and returning to his previous position. His gaze swept across the steadily falling snow ahead as he opened his palm wide and stretched his arm beyond the terrace roof, letting the soft cold snow gather on his rough palm.
Hearing Zavi's response, Aaron let out a long sigh and looked away.
"'You're imagining things,' huh," Aaron whispered with a sulky face.
'Seriously, this guy's weird. He's always talking to himself.' Aaron thought, remembering what Zuhen had once said about Zavi's strange behavior.
Feeling ignored after asking his earlier question, Aaron clicked his tongue and looked at him before bringing up something important.
"The two talismans you wanted before." Aaron pulled out two rectangular papers covered in rough patterns and complicated symbols, then shoved them right in front of Zavi's face.
With a satisfied smile, Zavi slowly accepted them and let out a relieved grin before looking back at Aaron with an unreadable expression.
"Thanks," Zavi said calmly. "If you'd given these to me back then, maybe I could've figured out that information."
Instead, he was annoyed that Aaron had only now handed over the two talismans; body movement restraint, Electrical, capable of electrocuting the target and potentially paralyzing them for quite a long time when both talismans were combined together.
Zavi was trying to maximize the first-stage ability of Prisoner, Error, through those two talismans.
Feeling unappreciated even though he understood what Zavi meant, Aaron immediately replied in a voice as cold as ice.
"You really don't know how to thank people properly. Give them back to me!"
"Nope." Zavi stuck out his tongue with a mocking expression.
Aaron merely clicked his tongue in irritation as he muttered,
"What a weird guy."