Volume 2 Chapter 5: Part 2: Reminisce Of Her

 

Dammit! The next day, Onyx squirms around in his bed. Not a wink of sleep. That's because he still can't get it out of his mind. 

 

The image of that woman kept flashing vividly, not allowing him to forget about her. 

 

Why does she make me feel this way?! Onyx can't make head on how that woman reminded him of Irene. And when he thinks about Irene, it reminds him of her too. 

 

That girl is stuck in Onyx's mind. 

 

"Gahh!" Onyx throws the pillow to the ground. This is the first time Onyx has ever felt this way. Frustration? Anger? He can't figure out what he's feeling right now. 

 

But Onyx knows he can't do a thing about it. He gets up and decides to get out of the room,

 

"Good morning, Onyx." Mary greets him, "How is your headache?" When Onyx returned to the inn, his expression showed everything. He was out of it. 

 

"Mmhmm, my head is a bit better now," Onyx says with a wry smile. 

 

"Have some breakfast. I made some sausages from those fang boars too! It'll refresh your mind." Mary heard about Onyx accepting their quests, and she was grateful. 

 

"Thank you." Onyx takes a seat at a free table, and Mary places the food in front of him. When he eats the sausage, his face turns red. He felt blissful. 

 

Onyx tasted the fanged boar before. It was good. But it was not the same as the meat in front of him. He ate the food at a much quicker pace.  

 

It calmed his mind down. While he ate, a drink was placed on Onyx's table. Hmm? He looks up to see Rebecca. 

 

"I didn't order this."

 

"On the house. It's a family remedy to clear away headaches. My mother told me to give it to you." 

 

"You don't have to lie, sweetie! Onyx, Rebecca was the one who made this drink. She worked blood, sweat, and tears to make it!" Mary screams out from the counter. 

 

"Mother!" Rebecca's face turns red. She didn't think her mother would sell her out like that. She looks down to see Onyx drinking the remedy.

 

Sweet.

 

It has just enough sweetness from the honey, and the hint of lemon brings out the freshness in the drink. 

 

"Thank you, Ms. Rebecca."

 

Hearing that, her face turns an even brighter red, "Can you stop adding the Ms.? It's too formal, and I'm only a few years older than you."

 

"Sure. Thank you, Rebecca." Onyx says with a bright smile. That face was just a deadly weapon. 

 

It's too damn bright!

 

"N-no problem!" Rebecca doesn't say anything else as she quickly runs away from him. Behind the counter, he can hear Mary scolding her. 

 

Onyx doesn't think much about it as he continues to eat his food. But then,

 

"Mary! Is Onyx awake?!" Stewart charges through the front door. His face is dripping with sweat like he ran a marathon before coming here. 

 

"What are you going to do about my door?" Mary doesn't answer his question but looks at her door. It got cracks all over it. 

 

Hearing his name being called out and the commotion, Onyx waves his hand at him, 

 

'What's up, Stewart?" Seeing Onyx, Stewart ignores Mary and quickly runs over to him. And then, 

 

"I'm so sorry!" He screams out loud and does a full-on sliding kneeling!

 

"..." What the? Onyx doesn't know what to say. And so are the rest of the customers. They're just stunned and speechless at what Stewart did. 

...

"Stewart! You're the captain of a B-rank party! Understand your position, you fool!" Mary screams out at Stewart. 

 

Stewart is doing the same thing; kneeling. But this time, it's for a different cause. 

 

He rushed over here and caused a commotion. And now he was getting punished by Mary. 

 

"Well, you see-" Stewart wants to explain, 

 

"Look at the commotion you caused! And look at my door?!" Mary screams out as she points at the customers. Some left when they saw how Stewart rushed in like a bull. Others stayed behind to watch the upcoming drama. 

 

But all in all, the person who got the most attention was Onyx. The customers are staring at him, wondering what he did to make a B-rank party kneel on the ground like that.

 

"Mary, it's ok. And sorry about the door and the disturbance he caused." Onyx scratches his head when he notices these stares. But he knows he has to defuse the situation now. 

 

Mary shakes her head, "If you say so, Onyx." She gives Stewart one final look, "Pay for my door, and don't do something stupid like this again?!"

 

"Understood!!!"

 

"Mary, is Stewart here... Never mind, sorry about the trouble." A few seconds later, everybody can hear Etta's voice. It went from positive to guilt as she looked at the door. 

 

"Yeah, he's over there with Onyx." Etta quickly gives Mary some coins for the door. She then walks over to Onyx's table,

 

"Onyx, sorry about the disturbance. But there's something we want to talk to you about." Unlike Stewart, Etta is calm. 

 

"Sure, pull up a chair." Now that the three are sitting, Onyx asks, 

 

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Then, Etta bows her head, and Stewart does a full-on smash onto the table. 

 

"We're sorry about what Ryan and the rest did to you."

 

"...What are you guys talking about?"

 

Etta confesses, "Onyx, there's no need for you to cover them anymore. Ryan and the rest spilled the beans about everything." When Onyx gave the coins to Ryan, she noticed the strained expression on his face. But even before that, she knew something was off. 

 

She could see the guilt in their eyes, and she quickly felt there was more to this story. After the party, she began to question Ryan and the rest. They confessed everything to her about it. And Stewart overhead the whole thing. 

 

And that's why Stewart prostrated himself in front of Onyx. 

 

"I told them it was ok. And you guys don't need to bow your heads." Onyx doesn't care as much now that everything is over. 

 

But Stewart thought otherwise. 

 

He shakes his head, "No! It's not ok! What those fools did was break the adventurer's code! They could have gotten somebody killed if you weren't the one." 

 

When Stewart heard this, he was about to roar out fire from his mouth! He just couldn't believe they would do something like that. just 

 

Will these guys do it again? That was the problem Stewart had. What if the same situation happened and they did this to another person? Etta's expression turned dark, thinking the same thing. 

 

"I didn't die. And you guys don't have to be so worried about them. I doubt they will ever do something like this again." The reason why Ryan got into this mess was because of their overconfidence. Seeing firsthand what a monster in the deeper range can do, any adventurer will become warier. 

 

"But-"

 

"Relax. Just let bygones be bygones. And besides, they have repaid their debt by helping me take out the goblins."

 

"...Alright." Stewart still doesn't think it's alright. But since Onyx has spoken, he can't say anything. When I get back, I'm going to lecture them. He knows he got to nail it into their thick skulls. 

 

Not knowing his plans, Onyx asks, 

 

"Actually, I need to ask you something." He was planning to go to their base today. But seeing how Stewart and Etta came to him: this is the perfect time to ask.

 

"Ask away!"

 

"Do you guys know anything about the slaves in Advent City?" The moment Onyx says this, the expressions on Stewart and Etta's faces turn dark, 

 

"I didn't hear about it. I saw it." Onyx then explained what he was doing after he left the guild hall. And how he arrived at that place and what he got to see. 

 

"..." Hearing all this, Stewart and Etta didn't know what to say. They just sit there in silence, looking at him weirdly.

 

"What? Can you guys say something?" Onyx scratches his face, feeling embarrassed. He can tell what they want to say to him from their gazes. 

 

"Onyx, have a better awareness of your surroundings." Etta scolds. She just couldn't believe he got lost that quickly and went there of all places. 

 

"...Understood." Even Onyx knew he messed up. 

 

"Anyways, you should never go there again. Not at your age. That place is the pleasure district." Besides adventuring, Advent city also brought in opportunities. It brought about different stores to be formed, including brothels. 

 

"I see." Onyx doesn't say anything else. It's best not to say anything about how serious their expressions are. But he still asks, "Do you know where I can get information about specific people?" He just can't get the woman out of his mind. 

 

"This is something we can't answer. Information like that is something nobody would be able to get."

 

"Understood." Onyx only says these words and gets up. 

 

"Hmm? Where are you going, Onyx?

 

"I'm going to the guild. Also here, Mary. It's my treat today; get what you want." Onyx hands Mary some coins before he leaves the inn.

 

Maybe Oliver will have some information about the girl. When Onyx walks into the building, he goes over to Madelyn. 

 

"Is the guild master free right now, Madelyn?"

 

"I think he's doing some paperwork right now. But he can meet with you. Just give me a minute." Seeing the look on his face, Madelyn notices his expression. 

 

There was something off with Onyx. 

 

After a few minutes, Oliver quickly walks to him, "What's up, Onyx? What do you need from me?" He laughs as he says this. 

 

"Can we talk in private?" Remembering Etta and Stewart's strange expressions when he talked about it, talking about this in private is better.

 

"Sure! Come with me!" Oliver says, and the two walk into his office. There he brings out two cups of tea. 

 

"Is it possible for me to get information about a person?" Oliver is the guild master. A person with a high position in the city. 

 

"Information." Thinking about it for a bit, Oliver asks, "What kind of information do you want?"

"It's about a slave."

 

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Woah! Hold your horses!" Oliver tilts his head, not believing what he heard from Onyx's mouth, "You want to find information about a slave? When did you learn something like that?" Oliver didn't peg Onyx to be somebody like that. 

 

"I only found out about it yesterday."

 

"I see." Oliver mulls about for a bit. He will be staying here for a good while; of course, he will learn about it. But he didn't expect Onyx would find out about it so soon. 

 

"I can help you find the information. But why do you want me to find out about this person?" Of course, he can find information. But Oliver doesn't want to do it without a reasonable explanation. 

 

"I felt weird looking at her. I can't describe it. It just felt weird for me." That's the only thing Onyx can say about this. 

 

"...I see." Oliver mulls it over.

 

"Sorry about this."

 

Oliver pats his shoulders, hearing him apologize, "You don't have to apologize for anything. I'll get your information. But I doubt I'll be able to get it today. Probably in a day or two." 

 

"Thank you so much, Oliver!" Onyx quickly gets up from his chair and bows his head.

 

"No sweat. But can you tell me the appearance or something of the person? I can't find info about the person if I don't know anything about her."

 

"Ahh, she's a female. She looks to be around my age. She has a delicate face, silver white hair, and pale blue marine eyes." 

 

"Oh, it's a girl?" Oliver's expression changes even more as he stares at Onyx. Onyx's expression turns red,

 

"Yes."

 

"Hmm, I think I can get you the information in a day." With those kinds of descriptions, it would be easy for him to figure it out. 

 

"Also, go collect your coins from your quests. Good job finishing all of them." Hearing how Onyx took out a variant, Oliver smiles. 

 

"Thank you, sir!" Onyx doesn't say anything else and leaves. After leaving, Oliver mulls, 

 

"Silver hair, huh?"