Chapter 26: Simple Words

After drinking out with his friend, Kelric was coming home to take a long and deserved nap.

But first, he of course had to tell all his tenants that it was closing time.

The first he went to was one he knew quite well, but didn’t like in any way.

“Kyle’s tavern… couldn’t he have come up with a better name?’

The boy was always full of energy and brought quite a lot of customers, which was why he hadn’t kicked him out yet.

But if his sales ever decreased past a line, that was it for him.

Kyle wasn’t so happy to hear it was closing hour already, but knowing he couldn’t go against his boss, he left.

As Kelric watched him leave, he noticed a rock that had been left on the counter.

He raised a brow as he picked it up.

At first, he thought of just throwing it.

But the fact that it was in a pawn shop… could this small rock actually be a fossil or something? Maybe it was really valuable.

He paused for some time, examining, before putting it in his pocket.

“I’ll be sure to reduce like five percent from your return fee this month.”

He then continued from stand to stand, until there was only one of the rooms left.

His most valuable gem.

As he opened the door, a beautiful woman stood behind the counter in front of him.

Her blossom hair looked fake, yet here it was in front of him. Her blue eyes always made him relax, as if they were a flowing waterfall.

She was a young and ethical lady, while he was an old man, but a rich one.

“Roseline, how was work today?”

As she heard his voice, she lifted her head with a pure and bright smile on her face.

“Sir, I’m good, thank you. I take it it’s closing hour.”

He nodded as he examined her body.

As she passed him, he couldn’t contain himself but admired her smell, like a beautiful flower.

Actually, if he thought about it, most of his best sellers were all beautiful women, well, except Kyle.

’Maybe that’s why I hate that boy.’

And soon, he was all alone.

He enjoyed he peace, but he couldn’t help but long for her presence.

Maybe it was just an effect of the alcohol.

He signaled for some of his guards to come inside and went up the stairs to the second floor.

The second floor was giant, but all just one room.

A giant king-size bed where he took all his women, a great red couch with a camel back and a golden outline with sharp corners.

The chandeliers were grand, with many lights and made out of the purest gold.

His shop was known throughout the kingdom; even the queen knew about it.

What an honor it would be if she ever came.

Heck, even if one of her knights came, it would be astonishing.

The knights lived in the second ring, not quite in the third, but at the edge of the second.

Each of them ruled over a small zone; no one was allowed to enter these zones unless they were either invited or wanted to challenge one of them.

But it was a dead wish, as some of them are even harbingers.

And even the weakest who are seekers are much stronger than normal seekers, due to their affinities.

If he remembered correctly, there were thirteen. They also used to be children of the God of Praise. Which is the reason for their strong affinities.

Though now, after being corrupted by the queen, you can’t really call them that anymore. They are real monsters.

But as he stood on his couch sipping his wine, and looked through his one-sided windows at the people walking down the streets. He suddenly heard a voice.

“Hey.”

He jolted up, dropping his glass and stepping on some of the shards.

As they pierced his foot, he contained a scream, before taking them out.

He looked around, to see if the voice had come from where he was…

or downstairs.

He found nothing and sighed, leading to him grabbing the broken glass and rapidly going down the stairs.

’Man, I’m doing a whole workout over here!’

Downstairs, the lights were off, but as he went to turn them on, they wouldn’t work.

Which couldn’t mean anything good.

Slowly moving through the darkness, he felt a weird sensation, as if he was being watched.

That was when he heard the voice of one of his renters all the way from a stand far away.

’Did he not hear it was closing hour, ugh!’

He angrily hurried over to where he was, but as he was about to scold him.

He realized no one was there… only a rock.

’What?…’

He stared at it before picking it up.

But it was just a normal rock, nothing special about it.

’This is too weird.’

He then continued to search around, but to no avail.

But as he reached Kyle’s tavern, he realized some of the things on show… were missing.

Even the new ones.

’Did he take some with him home?’

But he was there when he left, and they were still there.

’So then where are they?’

He massaged his forehead before leaving.

But as he closed the door behind him, he tripped, falling on the floor.

He frowned as he looked to see what had caused his fall.

But after seeing what it was, it only made him more confused.

It was a trip wire made out of blonde hair. But Kyle was a red hair.

And when he entered just a moment before… it wasn’t there.

That could only mean one thing.

“Someone’s inside.”

He grinned. It wasn’t the first time someone had invaded his shop. And because of the things missing from Kyle’s tavern, the reason for him being here was clear.

Though he had picked the wrong person, the only way he was going back outside was dead.

Because while he couldn’t see well, neither could the thief, and he had the advantage of knowing the place better.

But at the same time, he felt as if something wasn’t… right.

Then, he heard something that meant emergency for him.

A scream came from Roseline’s shop.

Roseline had left hours ago, but in his muddled mind, the idea of her still being in danger felt real, too real.

And so he neglected everything and ran to it.

Not realizing that the guards he had told to guard the first floor weren’t there anymore.

He also didn’t realize the cloaked figure standing right behind him before he ran into desperation to save his love.

He burst the door open, preparing to see the girl behind the counter. But instead, yet again, there was another rock instead of the beautiful girl.

But right next to this one was a half mask he didn’t recognize.

But still blinded, he came up with the idea that the thief had taken her with him and was hiding somewhere.

So he took off and searched the whole floor.

But it wasn’t as easy as he thought.

Every once and a while, he would hear voices coming from stands and rooms, all of people he knew.

There were also so many of those trip wires around the place, making it hard to navigate in the darkness.

In the end, he found nothing.

He took deep breaths, exhausted, and sat down in the store to catch his breath.

But it seems he wouldn’t have that opportunity, as from his room, he heard another voice, this one belonging to the person he loved most, and she was calling for help.

With all his remaining force, he sprang up the stairs and banged the doors open.

But there was nothing, no one.

Except there had been someone.

The windows were broken, and some things were stolen.

There was also… another rock in the middle of the room.

He couldn’t understand what had happened that day. But what he knew was that the thief had escaped.

[…]

“This should be good enough.”

Aether said, looking at everything he had taken from the shop.

He had to say it wasn’t easy.

From taking care of the guards, to then evading the owner while getting everything he needed.

It had been a challenge even from him.

It would have been much easier if he had just killed him.

Though he did realize something strange.

The man seemed to react a lot from hearing the voice of a specific person. This fact helped him quite a lot.

He wondered why she was so different from the rest.

But either way, today was a success.

He had stolen some weapons from the shop he had visited earlier, and firewood from a camping stand.

And food and drinks from the big man himself.

He was underage, so while he couldn’t see for himself the taste of fine and expensive wine, he was sure Avrie was going to enjoy it.

Speaking of that damn witch, what was she even doing at the moment?

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