Alvin read the product information with narrowed eyes, running a hand over his chin. "Hmm, it says here: Tears of Lilith."
He looked away from the product description to check for messages from Mr. Pie—but… there were none.
Doubt crept into Alvin's heart, and he began to suspect it was yet another scam by Mr. Pie to make money. Still, he wrote a message:
"It says these are the tears Lilith shed when Adam left her for Eve. Whoever drinks them will die of sorrow."
— [And do you wish to die of sorrow, Mr. Alvin?]
"No," Alvin replied flatly.
— [Then why do you want to buy these tears?]
"I want to gift them to someone," he said with a sly tone.
— [In any case, to my knowledge, Eve was Adam's first and only partner. Adam didn't love or bond with anyone else.]
Alvin realized from Mr. Pie's shift in tone that the product wasn't real. He responded, annoyed, "Instead of saying all that, just admit the product is fake."
— [...]
— "Aren't you ashamed of these scams?"
— [If I ever felt ashamed, Mr. Alvin, you'd be the first to suffer. You'd be a bankrupt hunter.]
— [Another thing—why not look at it from a different perspective? Instead of thinking it's a scam, see it as a great way to make money.]
"A great way to make money? Mr. Pie, you make 500,000 coins from a single bottle of Lilith's Tears. Add to that the millions from angel blood. And that's not even counting the possibility that you're selling other fake products."
Alvin said mockingly, then added, "At this rate, you should be the richest planet in the world."
— [That's the dream of my life—to be the richest planet in the world. And even though life is tough, I'm fighting hard to achieve that dream.]
— [And don't pretend to be honorable with me. I know you scammed some students in the city of Cyrinthia. Because of you, seven students were executed.]
— [I saw you with my own eyes, standing among the townspeople, watching the execution with a sly smile on your face.]
Alvin read the messages with widened eyes, shocked. That incident happened eight years ago… How did Mr. Pie see it? Was he spying on him, or was it just a coincidence that he happened to be in the city at the time?
— [Choosing you wasn't random. I'm a scammer, and you're a killer. We suit each other, Alvin.]
__________
"Elena, Elena," Meryl whispered near Elena's head. She gently shook her a few times before calling her name again.
Elena slowly opened her eyelids, looked at Meryl for a few moments, then asked in a deep, sleep-heavy voice, "What happened?"
"The planet says we have to get out of the tunnel quickly. Something important is going to happen above ground," Meryl replied hurriedly. Elena sat up on the couch where she had been lying.
Meryl handed her a small white pill and said, "I bought it from the store a little while ago. Chew it for a few minutes, then swallow it." She then went back to organizing the items in her black bag.
Elena stared at the bag with half-closed eyes, still groggy from sleep. She was certain Meryl didn't own any bag!
"What was that?" Elena asked with difficulty, her mouth tingling with the bitter taste of the white pill.
"It's like a toothbrush… that's what the store label said." Meryl wasn't too sure how accurate that information was—it was just what she had read in the product description.
But she had tried one herself, and her teeth did feel cleaner, and her breath smelled fresher.
— "I want a bag too."
— "I'll buy you one."
"No," Elena objected immediately. "I have money. I can buy one for myself."
Meryl smiled at how adorably grumpy Elena looked and said while putting water bottles back into the bag, "You can buy one from the store."
Elena studied the bags on display—some were ugly and cheap, while others were beautiful but expensive. All she had was 304 coins.
She could afford a bag, sure, but Elena wanted one as pretty as Meryl's. She searched among the bags, trying to find the price of hers, and when she finally did, she stared in disbelief for a few moments.
The price of the bag… 10,000 coins.
"Why didn't you tell me you're rich? Your bag is so expensive!"
— "Oh, I didn't buy it. It was a gift from my master'"
"And who's that now?" Elena asked with a frown. Meryl burst into laughter at the expression she found hilarious and then replied, "That's the planet I'm the embodiment of."
Elena narrowed her eyes at her, something clearly on her mind… then asked suspiciously, "Meryl, could it be that… he has a crush on you?"
Meryl gasped, stunned by how far Elena's imagination had gone, and quickly said—before Elena could say something even worse—"That's not true. He's a great being, and I'm just a weak hunter. All I—"
But Elena didn't let her finish. She placed a hand over Meryl's mouth to stop her and scolded gently, "You're not weak. Weak people are the ones who run from everything. You're strong and brave… I trust you—and your strength."
Meryl's expression fell, and a wave of tears surged through her chest, but she held herself together, not wanting to turn the moment into something sorrowful. "Thank you, Elena. I… I really appreciate your kindness."
"Come here!" Elena pulled her into a warm hug. "It's his honor that you'd even consider him."
"Oh my god, stop saying that," Meryl laughed into Elena's shoulder. "There's nothing like that going on."
"I can already see your future together," Elena whispered to herself as she watched Meryl pack the last of her things into her bag.
Meryl stood up at the same time as Elena, slung the bag over her shoulder, and whispered, "What about him?" She tilted her head toward Alvin, who was fast asleep on the couch opposite them, his sword resting in his arms.
Elena stared at him for a few minutes. He looked utterly exhausted, with deep dark circles shadowing his eyes. As much as she wanted to give him more time to rest, they had to get above ground, as per Meryl's master's orders.
"Wake him up," she whispered to Meryl, still gazing at him with a hint of pity.
"I won't. He hates me—he'll take the opportunity to kill me," Meryl replied fearfully.
Elena gasped softly. "You're exaggerating. He won't do anything, I promise."
But Meryl didn't budge from her decision. Elena sighed in defeat. Now, she had no choice but to wake him herself. She looked around, searching for something that might help.
She picked up a small pillow and began to examine it. Meril felt that trouble was brewing, and just as she was about to speak and try to stop Elena from acting on her thoughts, she saw the pillow flying toward Alvin's head.
The pillow hit him square in the face, and Alvin woke up instantly, his hand gripping his sword, ready to draw it. He looked ahead at the two girls standing there. His eyes met Elena's for a brief moment before she shifted her gaze to the wall beside her.
Alvin turned his eyes away from her and looked at Meril, whose face was twisted in a grimace. Meril immediately pointed at Elena with both hands as if to say, She's the one who hit you.
And although Elena saw this, she chose to ignore it.
"Uh... we need to go," Meril said nervously. "I mean... my lord told me that…" But Alvin's sharp gaze made her shrink back behind Elena before continuing, "Something important is about to happen upstairs."
Elena sighed in annoyance at Meril's fear, which she found unjustified. She grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door, saying loudly, "Let's go."
Alvin ran a hand over his face to wipe away the traces of sleep, then stood up, holding his sword, and followed them. The tunnel was eerily quiet. There were no monsters or hunters—just corpses scattered around and a foul stench that made his face twist in discomfort.
Alvin opened his chat with Mr. pie to see if he had sent anything regarding what was about to happen, but the chat was closed. He went ahead and sent a message, waiting the whole way up, but received no response.
He sighed in irritation as he climbed the last few steps and set foot on solid ground. The atmosphere here wasn't any better than below—just the same eerie silence…
Elena sat on the ground, with Meril settling beside her, darkness enveloping everything around them. A faint light came from the stairs leading to the tunnel, along with the glow of the moon and stars.
Half an hour passed in that stillness, all of them waiting for whatever was supposed to happen—just as The Last Minstrel had said. Suddenly, Alvin heard a faint noise. He quickly looked around but saw nothing.
Only a few minutes later, hunters began to appear—men and women alike. As time passed, their numbers grew into the hundreds.
Alvin gripped his sword, ready to unsheathe it and cut down any hunter that dared approach them.
The crowd grew denser, and Elena was certain the number of hunters had already surpassed the thousands. It wasn't impossible—after all, Noxara's population exceeded nineteen million.
Like all the hunters in the area, Elena was forced to shut her eyes when a sudden blinding light appeared in the sky.
It was a small orb of light, no larger than a palm, yet powerful enough to turn Noxara's night into day. Within minutes, it transformed into a massive digital screen.
Both Elena and Meril stood up, staring at the countdown displayed at the center of the screen: 00:53…
And Elena instantly knew that something terrible was about to happen.
________________________________________
Hello!
I hope you're doing well as you read this.
At times, you might notice slight variations in the spelling of names, especially Elena and Meril. This is due to translation differences.
I apologize for that and hope it's not too distracting. ❤️