Chapter 78
The two of them enjoyed their cocktails, while Zavi drank lemon soda and Aaron simply looked around after finishing his own.
He realized that the liveliness of this place felt strangely off as he offered his prayers twice. To their right, there was a separate room filled with men and their prostitutes, and from there, both Aaron and Zavi caught fragments of an important conversation.
"So, Actitus... you know what I'm thinking, don't you?" Aaron shot Zavi, who sat beside him, a sharp and serious look.
Zavi gave a faint smile. "Of course," he replied before standing up and moving to a long seat positioned right next to that room.
Aaron followed, moving with careful steps.
Meanwhile, the two of them, already slightly drunk, faintly realized that they were acting strange again.
Their position was on a slightly elevated area compared to the bar patrons below, and within that section, separated by concrete steps, were several VVIP rooms typical of this bar among the many hidden bars along Syrp Street No. 2.
At the same time, both of them leaned against the partition wall, sitting upright facing Felina and Zuhen, so as not to draw suspicion from the surrounding patrons.
Inside the VVIP room, on a striking red patterned sofa, sat a man with black hair tied back, and a woman in a bold red dress sitting on his lap.
Their position was on the left side of the VVIP room.
"Heh, are you sure?" The prostitute with a silver butterfly ornament in her hair asked seriously.
"Don't you believe it?" the man replied with confidence, letting the woman slip off his lap.
Then, he looked at the two other prostitutes in front of him and quickly added;
"A comet hit Niki District, and I'm not sure whether my business in Forgenate will still be safe after this."
The woman who had asked out of curiosity fell silent, thinking. Then she brought up something she had just heard before coming here.
"About that," she said, her eyes blinking playfully.
"Do you know about the people gathering on the main road?" she asked, occasionally teasing the man.
The man blushed slightly before answering with an indifferent expression. "Let them be. What kind of strange people gather at night just to watch something weird?"
The man leaned forward, extending his hand along with the glass he was holding toward the prostitute in front of him.
The red liquid flowed from the bottle's tip, filling the glass to the brim.
Just as the man was about to take a sip of his wine, he suddenly held back, sensing something off about that question.
He hesitated, but his instincts told him that something was indeed wrong.
"She's just making small talk with you, sir," the prostitute sitting across from him commented to the one in front.
"What did you say?" Of course, she didn't take that well.
Yes, it was true that she was merely making small talk to trap the man, so she could seize his wealth once he let his guard down.
But because there were two other prostitutes hired by the man, the plan she had carefully prepared couldn't be carried out without risking herself first, and she could only hope luck was on her side.
What they did afterward was nothing more than idle chatter before engaging in something indecent.
Realizing the conversation wasn't particularly important, even though they had learned a little about what was happening in Forgenate tonight, both of them let out a quiet sigh, hiding their disappointment.
Meanwhile, whether due to drinking too much or because his physical and mental state was already weakened, Zuhen felt a spinning sensation in his head as his eyes swept around.
Even though both of them had ordered the same alcoholic drink, Felina's condition was completely different as she looked at Zuhen with a puzzled expression.
"Looks like he's about to pass out," Aaron commented from where he still sat.
Felina slightly parted her lips, wanting to respond, but for some reason, her voice wouldn't come out as if something was blocking it from within.
Then Zavi rose from his seat, thinking that staying in this irritating place any longer was pointless.
At that very moment, his mind cleared again, realizing that he was now a fugitive and had no idea whether the enemy who had been targeting him was in the same place, watching him and waiting for the right moment to strike.
"I'm heading out," he said indifferently.
'Damn it, I need to find this and that to satisfy my curiosity. And about Celvira... has she managed to find it yet?'
Zavi clicked his tongue as he walked down the small stairs in front of him, once again lost in thought.
'I don't want to break the promise I made, damn it. And about Aurora... should I meet her?'
He didn't know what to do after that. And as soon as Zavi completely stepped out of the bar, the cold air mixed with an unpleasant smell hit his face, messing up his hair.
That made him decide to look for information about the second level advancement of a Prisoner, and he would look for Moreira if he had the time.
Realizing that the plan to destroy six districts had been forced to stop due to the incident, he would continue it in a district twice the size of Chapena.
'I just need to destroy things and force that rat out of its hole. If something unexpected happens, I... will think about it later.'
He kept walking, expecting nothing more from the unfamiliar companions formed under these difficult circumstances.
On the other side, at the corner of No. 6 Sukkers Street, about seven people were gathered inside an abandoned factory building, overgrown with moss, with part of the lobby filled with tall weeds, as if the building had witnessed many events in the five decades since it was first built.
Among those seven, two of them; a woman and a man, had once casually been at the refugee camp, playing their roles well and disguising themselves as ordinary citizens who had been victims of the demonic horse attack.
Kharensya Zorca, Vabian Roca, Febrica Ademose, Mizofra Mivoras, Niva Herana, Keilta Zamora, Harann Dinity.
"Any reports about other members who have arrived here?" The woman who had previously been shot by Wayne's long-barreled rifle and had fought fiercely against him broke the silence of the dark factory.
"No idea," replied the man leaning calmly against something. "They said that person should be arriving here soon." He added, uncertainty lacing his tone.
Then the man beside him voiced his thoughts with a cynical smile hidden in the darkness of the building.
"It seems you've been hunted by them, Miss Kharensya Zorca."
"In that case, I know. So you'd better keep quiet since you've done nothing and just rely on Vabian, who's always by your side. Just like when we were in the same cell."
Vabian's eyes widened. "What did you say? But that's true, and now you're the one who's become the slave of that impersonator, Norwich."
Kharensya wanted to deny it, but the statement was the truth, as her current life depended on Norwich, who, for some reason, had yet to regroup with the others.
Then another woman named Febrica Ademose livened up the atmosphere in the building as she spoke in a pleasant tone.
"They say that curious man has the same condition as all of us. Is that actually true?"
"I don't know about that," replied a brown-haired man covered in dust with deep brown eyes. "But one thing's certain, there's a mysterious figure who started all of this and the one who told us about it."
Vabian let out a short breath. "Don't you all feel that something's off?" He paused for a moment as he saw the silhouettes of the six others focused on him.
He considered stopping, unsure whether talking about this would anger that figure. But in the end, he steeled himself and calmly added;
"The figure that caused us to end up in this condition and in this place. And also the mysterious figure known as 'The Elusive Sorcerer', whose existence has partially vanished from people's memories and from history five hundred years ago?"
Vabian didn't want to continue, because the more he spoke about that figure, the more he, or rather, all of them, would be affected, with no idea what kind of disaster might befall them afterward.
"Better not continue," said the man named Keilta, exhaling as panic spread uncontrollably across his face.
....
The building fell silent again as wariness gripped them tightly, their eyes darting around even though it was pointless, as they couldn't see anything.
"So, after this," Felina broke the silence in the corridor with her flat voice. "What are we going to do?"
She had no intention of doing anything foolish again, and she realized that Zavi had a weakness: he couldn't stand strong smells, which sparked a strange and wild idea in her mind.
Zavi was about to speak, ready to answer, but stopped when the two of them calmly said, "Free food."
The two who heard it were immediately stunned. Zavi began to realize that being hunted by underground groups and major organizations wasn't easy; the idea of free food at least meant saving money.
"That sounds insane," Felina said in disbelief, frowning at Zuhen.
"So," Zavi finally spoke to confirm, "isn't it ridiculous to just take food directly from that crowd?"
Aaron put on a confident face with a faint smile. "Leave it to me."
'Damn, I didn't expect them to be this broke just to eat,' Zavi complained inwardly.
Still, he would follow along, thinking who would pass up an opportunity like this? Even a beggar, upon seeing someone giving out food, would take it without hesitation rather than let it go to waste.
A few minutes passed after they discussed it. The final event of the festival had ended, and the moment everyone had been waiting for, including the four of them, had arrived.
Several foods on carts along the roadside could be taken for free with one absolute condition; only those within the reach of the white crepe paper ribbons hanging from the tarps above the street.
Realizing the announcement had been made, Aaron immediately moved to carry out his plan, while the three of them hoped he would bring back what they wanted.
"I'm counting on you," Zavi said, patting his shoulder in a friendly gesture.
"Us too," Felina and Zuhen murmured at the same time.
Aaron let out a soft sigh, turned around, and the shadow beneath his feet rippled before he vanished in an instant as if swallowed by the ground.
After a few minutes of waiting, after searching here and there for the food they wanted, the three of them saw Aaron emerge from the shadows of a building, and from those shadows, several foods floated in the air.
They hadn't expected that Aaron would actually find food in the middle of such a crowd. In the end, they ate without the slightest hesitation, sitting on stacks of wood and abandoned chairs while observing the situation around them.