After that, the situation calmed down quickly, and the other two decided to leave it for later. They asked me to wait outside for a minute while they tidied the apartment. Once they did, they let me in, and we started introducing ourselves.
"Hi! I'll be your roommate from now on. My name is James. Nice to meet you." It was the guy with the dreadlocks who introduced himself first, and he was much friendlier than I expected. Actually, it was a relief because while I'm here, I'd really like to make some friends.
"My name is Taeki. Sorry about earlier; we completely forgot you were coming today. We shouldn't have. And what's your name? Why did you come to this area?" The question surprised me since it's been a long time since anyone asked my name.
_J_ My name is Zack and I came here because, uh, I needed a change of scenery and I thought this was the best place for it.
_Well, dude, I really don't understand you. You chose the place nicknamed the capital of crime, which is also the base of the most famous madwoman in the world.
He was absolutely right. No one in this world could ignore the existence of "the queen," especially the story where the kingdom of Ashvolt, one of the most powerful in the world, sent an elite force to analyze the overall level of the region, and she eliminated them without any effort. You could say she's on top of the world, along with Nox and the six kings who led the revolution and disappeared after their victory, which led to the creation of kingdoms and the disappearance of the concept of a country.
_Vex Bloodhart, huh? Actually, I'm really worried about her. I'm not likely to run into her, am I?
"Well, actually..."
"Should we tell her?" They started whispering amongst themselves, which gave me a bad feeling.
"Actually, she studies at our school, but she only comes on exam days. The rest of the time, you can be sure you won't see her," James told me. The news was rather unsettling, but oh well, it was better to be informed. I'll just have to avoid her and look for this famous Lilith."
"Hmmm, okay, I understand. But now let's talk about serious matters. Where's my bed?" Once I asked, they both did everything they could to avoid my gaze.
"Taeki forgot to write it on the website, but there's no third bed!" James said.
"Are you kidding me?! You're the one who forgot, you jerk!"
"Ahhhh, are you telling me I'm going to sleep on the floor?"
"No, don't worry! We'll play rock-paper-scissors, and whoever loses sleeps on the floor!"
And I lost. Seriously, sleeping on the floor is against human rights! Seriously, maybe I used to sleep on cardboard boxes, but I never thought I'd do it again.
But it allowed me to remember the good old days and why I came here. My goal is to find one of the few people with whom I've felt truly alive in my life: my best friend, Lina.
Then I got up and looked at James, who was asleep for a second, wondering where Taeki had gone. Then I went downstairs to a supermarket to buy something to eat.
"Even though it's 2 a.m., there are easily 30 people around. Don't they like to sleep or what?" I told myself and then I bought some lemonade and a pizza which I heated in the microwave and I went towards the roof of the building where I slept to eat, I have always liked to eat up high it made me feel strangely good so I opened the roof door and took a deep breath and I saw a person. Aside from Lina, there's never been a single woman in this world whose gaze I couldn't tear myself away from. So much so that sometimes I can't help but wonder if I might be on the other side. But the person I saw completely banished that thought from my mind. Someone was having a picnic on the rooftop, headphones in, eating chips. She was wearing a green t-shirt and oversized blue jeans, and to say the least, her appearance was completely out of place in the slum she was in. I couldn't help but think she was a true angel born in hell, with red eyes and hair as white as could be—a veritable living work of art, perfectly proportioned. And then she turned her head in my direction, taking off her headphones.
"Hey, you, can you tell me why you're looking at me..." She suddenly fell silent, staring intently at me, then disappeared from my field of vision and reappeared in front of me. She grabbed me by the face and a big smile appeared on hers.
"Sir, is that you?!" she said, her eyes shining.