Shades of the New World

Chapter 114: A long day's end

"Two months isn't a long time, but long enough to tell that both sides were somewhat serious. You both start to see each other's flaws and good points Well, Zakhlo's flaws were quite obvious: he was obsessively petty, and he was a control-freak. Whenever something out of his expectation happened, he would just start going crazy And whenever I made a joke about him or when I complained about something, he would try to create a scene where I'm forced to be a hypocrite, or where he could say the exact same words that I say," Olken continued on. 

"After one day, when I told him that he was being a bit too dirty in the house, he started to point out at the things that I dirtied and started complaining about them to me. Petty stuff like that Guess he had a childish side to him, I guess" Olken said with a small sigh.

"But I could tell that he truly cared about me. Every time I mention something offhandedly, he would try his best to accommodate me better. I once offhandedly mentioned about how hard it is to clean the house with cold water, and the next day, he had created some sort of magical device that was used to heat water There was also the time when he offered to buy me a pet, since I tlaked about being lonely without him"

Evin listened silently. He tried his best to not look disinterested, but he was having a hard time with it. Thankfully, the woman was mostly looking downwards, so she couldn't quite notice the child's expressions next to her.

"But what I liked about him the most, was that he never treated me as a non-mage hornless human. Some mages could really act like assholes, you know? Thinking that they were born at the top of the world, always bragging about the blessings of the Empress on their souls Zakhlo looked at me like a proper individual and he never thought that his opinions were inherently better than mine because he was a mage," Olken sighed.

"But today, the people from the Tribe came and told me that Zakhlo was killed by one of the children due to an accident. They told me that they were giving his living quarters to an instructor who will be replacing him and that I should probably leave. I was quite surprised with how fast everything happened. His every possession was dragged out of the house in a uniform matter and was taken away"

"But the most shocking thing wasn't that. Another woman, who was presumably a mage, came and announced that she was the deceased's fianc and started creating a scene. She lashed out at the people of the Tribe and then at me, for stealing her future husband and whatnot. Then, some elderly man with two horns came and started talking to her, after which the woman calmed down immediately. He then made me this makeshift seat for me and said that it was okay to sit here as long as I want," she said.

"Since then, I've been wondering if Zakhlo ever planned to tell me about his fianc, or was he just going to find an excuse and then kick me out at some point? Or did he really like me, and he was planning to cancel his engagement to the woman? Was I just a passing fun, or was I someone actually special to him?"

"The more I think, the more I realize that I'll never find the truth about this matter. I mean, he's dead, after all. Even if he became one of you Children, and reincarnated in some corner of the World, he wouldn't come back to me and explain his situation, he would simply live life as another soul in whatever corner of the World he is born in," the woman started talking about random things.

'When is this going to stop?' Evin was groaning in his head, but on his face, he had a perfectly sympathetic expression. At this point, he was just mentally exhausted after the events of the day. 

"Well, what will you do?" Evin asked. 

"It's probably best to think that Zakhlo was lying to me and just move on with my life," Olken said. 

"I suppose you're right," Evin said and continued with deliberation: "I'm sorry for killing your lover, it truly was an accident"

Evin got up from the seat and bowed to her.

"I guessed it was something like that I've seen you from the mansion after all. What had actually happened?" Olken asked weakly in response.

Evin then explained the event in detail. Hearing the full story, Olken could only sigh with weariness.

"That does sound like him The pettiness and the childishness of it all"

"Although he acted like that, he did not deserve to die for it. The blame lies in me, I'm sorry," Evin said.

"I don't really know what to say. Though I do have some question, I've heard you're going to be living in this mansion from now on? This really gave me a weird feeling," Olken asked.

"The elder man that will be replacing Zakhlo needed a place to stay. He also offered to take me under his wings as his personal disciple. There was nothing personal or deliberate, if that's what you're worried about," Evin said and then brought out a rather heavy small purse from his storage dimension.

"And also, here's the advance of the death gratuity money for you. I'm sure the officials will decide on a proper amount at some point and if the amount is more than what I've given you, please visit me and receive it," Evin said and handed the purse to the woman.

"What do you mean?" the woman asked as she held the purse with some confusion.

"Oh, when a worker dies due to an accident or whatnot, the deceased's family receives a certain amount of money for compensation. Since I was the cause of your lover's death, I will have to be the one paying it," Evin said as the woman glanced at the contents of the purse. She then almost dropped the purse in half as she could see five stacks of 10 gold coins. 

"Is it supposed to be this big?" she asked, while eyeing the surroundings warily.

"Probably not, so don't flaunt it around, alright? I recommend you put it inside an account for safekeeping. Do you know about the Cosmic banks?" Evin then advertised his business a bit. The safety and fairness of it all. Olken decided to head to the bank immediately and open an account. Evin asked to accompany her out of courtesy, but thankfully for Evin, she rejected.

He felt like he was bribing the woman's forgiveness, but no one disliked free money. Besides, the two were essentially strangers, so if Evin could still her heart with a little gold, then that was for the best.

"Finally done with the day..." Evin sighed out loudly and stood up. He patted the dust off his clothes and walked towards the mansion.

Opening the doors, Evin could see a rather simplistic mansion with rather monotone colors. The style of furniture inside were on the classical side, but some workers here and there were remodeling and replacing some of the stuff.

"Took you long enough," Nasst came from upstairs and said with a smirk.

"Well, stuff happened on the way and I had to take a few detours," answered Evin.

"I heard you flew out of the Tribe grounds suddenly. What happened?" the old man asked.

"Oh, some private stuff came up. Before that, some horned commoner attacked me. He wasn't that strong, but he knew I could suffocate the air around him and was properly prepared, which was a bit confusing. Perhaps it was a threat of some sorts?" Evin thought out loud.

"Oh, that was probably just Deminte sending you a warning. Did you kill the assassin?"

"I couldn't quite manage since I was trying to capture him. But then he threw something towards the ground suddenly and I got scared and back off. The object was something akin to a flash bomb, and after the light died out, the man was gone," Evin answered.

"That's probably for the best. Anyway, don't worry about that, it's just something to stress you out a bit. Some harassment tactic I'd guess," Nasst explained.

"I'm guessing you two don't get along that well?"

"Well, like any country, there are political parties and factions. And since you're technically part of my faction, I should probably explain them to you But you seem like you've been through quite a lot of stuff today, so I'll let you take a rest. Your room should be straight ahead, next to the stairs that go up," Nasst said.

"Thank you, sir," Evin replied.

"Just call me Nasst. Goodnight, Evin. Oh, and do'nt worry about oversleeping," The elder's words sounded like music to Evin ears and he promptly walked towards his room. 

Evin wasn't in the mood to take in the room's luxuries and just sprawled on the bed and took off his clothes. 

"Home sweet home" Evin muttered before rolling into the blanket and dozing off.