25. To a good place

"Hah!" I put my head on the table. This was awful. It felt a lot worse than cycling to school every day, then having to bathe Mickey, who was afraid of water. I could not give, though. This was my own decision, anyway. Nothing was gotten for free.

I straightened myself, then drank straight from the bowl the leftover with little oat in it. Then I stood up and was about to wash the dishes when someone pulled my arm. "Come on, hurry up," He said innocently.

…

"Wait a minute," I said, letting go of his hand. "I just finished training, I want to take a shower first." After he said 'Okay,' I quickly headed to the washroom. However, a waiter offered to wash my bowl, which I didn't refuse, because I thought it would save me time and effort.

After thanking her, I immediately walked to my room. In the long hallway that connected the rooms of the alpha camp residents, I met Azalea. "Oh?" She seemed to remember something once she saw me, and apparently, the little ghost that followed me immediately hid when the woman was there. "Prisoners who are on the same team as you, say that someone influenced the wandering spirits to steal organs, so they can live? Is it true?!."

'Winnter, huh?!' I'd be very surprised if it were her, but it's even more unlikely that it would be Mirai who said it. "Yeah," I said, more like a mumble. "Manji is still looking for them." I didn't think it was necessary to say that it was Nympha who asked for Summer, who was currently hunting for mixed blood. However, when seeing the people in the village as well as where we bought the groceries yesterday, it wasn't fair to scarify them. I got confused.

"Any yields?" Azalea seemed to be interested in that.

"Still in progress," I'd say, might be later.

She nodded. "Update me with any progress you get," She ordered, then left me.

…

I couldn't take my mind off Azalea's words. I hesitated to say it because Antonie did ask me not to tell the truth.

"What are you thinking about?" Shashin asked while controlling the dogs pulling the sleigh that was taking us there.

"Is it still far away?" It felt like it would never stop, even though we had been walking for a long time.

After some time, Shashin said, "Soon." I saw a puff of smoke in the distance. It looked like there was a house there. Or it might be a village because there was more than one puff of smoke.

That was it. Not long after that, I saw a huge entrance, resembling an entrance of a towering fortress, with a pair of dragon statues located one each side. A stone road greeted us, as well as passers-by. Our carriage was moving slower, while Shashin seemed to be looking for something. "Is it here?" I asked.

"Yes. Wait a minute, Tha" He took something from the leather bag he was carrying. It was a piece of paper. Then he looked happy.

Our carriage made a turn into a smaller alley with more traffic. In front of a simple hut, he asked me to come down. I thought we had arrived. My legs were tingling because I bent them too long due to the chill weather. "Wait a minute, I'll leave the carriage."

"Eh?" We hadn't arrived yet.

He entered the low log cabin. Out of curiosity, I peeked at it from the outside. He was talking to someone who was very large and covered in tattoos and wounds that were too grisly. There were so many people here, most of them carrying weapons and with scary looks. I didn't like the smell of this place either; too strong, and somehow it made me dizzy and nauseous.

Moments later, Shashin came out of the hut with the man in tow. "Just one night, I'll pay for the price of three nights, how about it?" he's bidding something.

I was standing not far from them and was watching them. He pulled the hood on my coat all of sudden as if to hide me from that man.

"Just give me a price, man, please!" Now, Shashin sounded pleading. "Before morning, I promise to take them, just give them some basic food and water. I'll pay for the three days' care" apparently, he offered to leave our carriage.

The person was just silent, and seemed to be watching me, because a few moments later he came closer to me, but Shashin immediately pulled me behind his body. "Yeah, I'll also give the best wine as a bonus, how about it?"

For a moment, the man seemed to be considering. "Okay, the price is for three nights and only one meal for them," He said.

"Okay, I'll leave them!" He looked so joyful.

"I want half payment upfront" The person didn't seem like a very nice person. He wanted to blackmail Shashin. However, I didn't dare to say anything when it was the astral being who offered it.

Shashin immediately took some gold coins and gave it to the person, "I'll give half of it later."

He finally agreed. He ordered someone to bring our buggy dogs. When that person left, I immediately hit the stupid creature in front of me. "How could you allow yourself to be black mailed, stupid!?," I rebuked. "Indeed, where exactly do we get the oil? Is it still far?"

Shashin didn't reply to me. He pulled my hand and headed somewhere.

We passed a very busy street. The noise of people passing by was everywhere. Perhaps, I would have lost quickly if Shashin didn't hold my hand. I didn't know what this place was, it was just that it looked like it was downtown or something.

The man led me down a narrow path. I could barely see well because it was dark. It was made worse by the road that seemed to be made of frozen rocks. "Where are we going?" I felt like my arm was about to break because he kept pulling me and I didn't know where to go.

"To a good place," he answered ambiguously. 'What an obscure creature!' I grumbled to myself. I couldn't say 'no', I was just imagining that if I didn't follow him and I was left here, what could I do? I would be lost—of course. It was because I didn't know my way home.