"Lead the way." Zayne gestured for Olivia — who was still squirming on the ground — to fulfil her end of the bargain.

"Ugh... yes yes. I understand." She gritted her teeth while sending the man casually sitting on her bed a hateful glare.

Olivia got up from the floor, dusted herself off a little, and then headed for a bookshelf in the corner farthest from the door. Instead of the cliche where an entrance would be hidden behind the bookshelf, then revealed by pulling a book or two, Olivia pushed the bookshelf aside with a bit of effort to reveal a hidden hatch on the floor.

"It's this way." She turned around and gestured for Zayne to follow her while she opened the hatch with a stick she had gotten from who-cared-to-know-where.

 Zayne walked over right behind Olivia and looked down the passage. "It's quite dark."

"Oh, right..." she muttered, as if only realizing this obvious fact. "I'm used to going through here without light but I suppose the young master need's a lantern?"

"No need." He ignored the barb in her words as he egged her on to lead the way. "I can see perfectly well even without light. Go on."

"Is that so," Olivia responded dryly before turning around and walking down the stone steps.

Zayne let her take a few steps ahead of him as he mentally prepared himself for the horrors he might see in there. Her appearance as an attractive woman with a sociable atmosphere was just a ruse to hide the crazed cannibal hidden underneath. Even though he'd seen his share of dead people, they were all still whole.

He'd never seen a processed human corpse similar to how butchers processed animal carcasses.

'Well, let's just get this over with.'

After taking a deep breath, Zayne followed Olivia down the steps leading to her lair.

 

---

 

The Darkness that enveloped the stairs and the path that followed ended when they arrived at a room illuminated by an eerie red light.

As expected of a room found underground, the walls and ceiling looked to be made of stone bricks instead of the lumber that comprised the building above. Wooden barrels and wine bottles were stacked on shelves along the walls, with various pieces of meat on hooks that were hanging from the ceiling. There must've been an air vent or something of the like somewhere, since the meats on hooks swayed from time to time, their metallic creaks were the only sounds that could be heard from the previously unoccupied room.

'The smell...' Zayne's nose wrinkled from the thick scent of blood and iron emanating from every corner of the chamber.

"Well, make yourself at home I suppose." Olivia voiced out as her steps echoed throughout the cellar. "Do forgive me, I didn't have time to clean up. I wasn't expecting any guests, after all."

"Not conscious ones, anyway." He heard her mutter.

"This red light's from the Sanigirian Moss, right?" Zayne off-handedly mentioned as he looked around.

"Yes... they're convenient since all you have to do is water them once every few days and they light up like this." Olivia nodded and continued to explain. "They're not all that popular with people for some reason. Even though they're so convenient."

'That's because you have to water them with blood, you crazy bitch.'

Zayne followed along behind the crazy bitch as his gaze was attracted by what looked like an arm, hanging off of one of the hooks. He tried to calm his rapidly beating heart as he worked to prevent his mask of nonchalance from falling off his face.

"Those are fresh you know?" Olivia pointed to the hooks, or rather, the meat attached to them. "I got them from a clothes merchant. He'd been trying to bed me for months now. And well, I was feeling generous at the moment, so I let him."

"I see," Zayne responded dryly in feigned composure.

He was confident in keeping his poker face — his father beat him less when he didn't cry or wince in pain after all — but the scene in front of him really put his skills to the test. If he hadn't known from the start what type of person Olivia was, and if the hand didn't have its fingers anymore, Zayne might've thought that the limb belonged to some sort of animal, just like all the other pieces of meat hanging from hooks around them.

"You caught me at a bad time, I haven't finished preparing the meat for storage yet." The cannibal palmed her cheek, seemingly embarrassed that her lack of professionalism was exposed. "I had the preservative herbs ready and everything."

'Herbs...'

Zayne had written that Olivia grew a special, nameless herb that helped preserve the freshness of meat for weeks. She used this herb not just on the meat she personally ate, but on the meat she served in the inn above as well. He didn't go into the specifics at the time, since he knew next to nothing about cooking, but Olivia's herb enhanced the taste and flavor of the meat she cooked — which was why the food she served was always highly-regarded.

"Well, it's not like we planned to stay in this village for too long." He cleared his throat to release some tension from his body. "Once I've robbed you of everything I want, you can go back to your... meal prep."

"Yes yes, Mr. I-know-everything-about-you. I don't really care about the money, so take it and leave me alone forever." Olivia rolled her eyes before she stopped walking when she reached the front of an iron-plated door. Turning around, she explained, "This is where I keep my most valuables. It also serves as a panic room, in case I get discovered."

Zayne nodded. "I'm aware. There's also a secret passage leading outside."

"..." Olivia's face was one who'd already given up as she turned back around and unlocked the door with a key. Once she was done, she sent a glance back, "Can you help me with this? I purposely made it heavy, so it's difficult to open."

"Fine."

Not even bothering to move his hands, Zayne pushed the door open with telekinesis. He then walked into the room, past a stunned Olivia, and inspected the contents within.

'There's not much...'

The was just a small chest on the floor which, when opened up, revealed a pile of gold and silver coins, along with various types of jewels, like rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds. There were some expensive-looking clothes placed in a small stack on a shelf nearby.

'Well, I knew that from the start.'

Grant, didn't have a spacial storage artifact at this point of the story, so it was pointless to dangle a pile of treasure in front of him. That would've just created pointless frustration for his readers, so he didn't do it.

Thus, Olivia's hoard was primarily made up of things that Grant would be able to carry on his person while traveling at a decent pace. Which meant coins and jewels. The clothes were for women, so Grant left them there when he left the village.

Zayne wasted no time in storing the chest, as well as the clothes in his spacial storage. Once he was done, he turned around to meet the still-dazed Olivia.

"You really took everything..." she whispered in amazement and exasperation. Her eyes darted toward the ring in Zayne's hand. "Is that a spacial storage device?"

"Why are you asking questions you already know the answer to?" Zayne eyed her like she was an idiot. "Let's go to the late chief's stash too. I have to get back to bed before Luna wakes up."

He also wanted to get the hell out of this place as fast as possible. Though, there was no need to break his image by telling that to the crazy bitch in front of him.

"Tch." Olivia clicked her tongue before turning around and walking back to the cellar's entrance. "You're so damn stingy. It's a bit far though. The secret stash is way up in the mountains after all."

"Seriously...? Fuck." Zayne couldn't help but curse. If he was alone, there wouldn't be a problem. However, he needed Olivia to guide him; they would have to go together. Which meant the only options he had was to walk there with her, or carry her as he flew — or rather, levitated.

'When I put it like that, there's really only one option...'

"I'm not lying, you know?" The crazy bitch tried to assure him.

"I know." He sighed. "We can make it there faster by flying. I'll just carry you."

"You can fly...?" Olivia's eyes widened in surprise.

"I just said that, no?" Zayne retorted as he urged her to stop gawking at him.

"You certainly have plenty of strange abilities. I'm getting more and more curious about you." She giggled as she turned around to walk out of the cellar. "Are you sure you don't want me to sing a song for you? I'll be sure to make it worth your time. I won't even eat you afterward."

"No thank you." He denied, sparing no time in even thinking about it.

"You're shattering my pride here..." Olivia chuckled wryly. "I know that girl's quite pretty, but I'm not so bad either, right? And it's not like she'll find out."

Zayne shook his head. "You have no idea how terrifying that woman's intuition is."

'She never fails to find my porn folder...'

Even though he didn't masturbate to them — he only watched them for legitimate research purposes — Zayne still felt ashamed whenever she found his stash.

"Oh?" the cannibal hummed in amusement. "So what you're saying is... if she didn't have that intuition, you wouldn't mind?"

"I'd still mind." Zayne retorted. "I don't want to share holes with hundreds of dead men."

"Thousands." Olivia corrected as she cackled.

Zayne sighed. He contemplated whether the chief's stash was worth staying with this annoying woman for a second longer.

 

---

 

'It was worth it.'

Zayne's lips couldn't help but form a huge grin as he looked around the cave. Aside from the very sturdy door placed within the cave, it was just as ordinary as any other cave. Stalactites hung from the ceiling as the sound of water droplets echoed throughout the cavern. After Olivia unlocked the door, a small chamber with crates inside was revealed.

Wasting no time, Zayne began opening each and every crate to find mounds of precious metals as well as various precious jewels such as sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds. Aside from that, one of the crates contained finely-crafted jewelry that wouldn't look out of place in a museum.

"This is a great stash." He nodded in satisfaction while he looked around.

"Mm. I was also impressed when I first saw it." Olivia nodded as she fiddled around with a golden necklace. Eventually, it seemed like she'd grown bored of it, so she threw it back into the pile before saying, "I couldn't liquidate any of these though. Most of them are too valuable for an inn owner in the middle of nowhere to possess. I just took all the rubies with me since I like their color, then left everything else here."

"Great story." Zayne rolled his eyes as he began stowing all the crates in his storage space. "Do you know which one has the Manatite crystals?"

The cannibal shook her head. "I've never seen any."

"Damnit." He frowned as he dug through some more of the unopened crates. Unfortunately, there really weren't any crystals. Just more gold coins. "Why is it all gold coins? Couldn't he exchange these for platinum or scarlet-gold coins?"

"The old guy loved his gold." Olivia shrugged as she explained, "Said the shiny color made him happy."

"You're all fucking weirdos." Zayne sighed in annoyance at not getting any crystals. It seemed like evolving the Private World would have to wait.

Hopefully, he would be able to procure the Manatite with the gold instead. However, since governments usually regulated the distribution of such things, he probably won't be able to buy a lot through legal channels.

Luckily, as the author, he knew where to go for his non-legal purchases.

"Just how big is your spacial storage artifact...?" Olivia gaped in amazement.

Seeing the previously treasure-filled chamber become utterly barren, Olivia didn't know whether to laugh or cry. However, if it was to buy her peaceful life staying in the village, parting with money she couldn't spend was worth it.

"Not as big as your vagina." Zayne spat, relieved that he could finally part with this woman.

'At last. Now that my business in this area is done, we can leave for the fairy's pond by tomorrow.'

A yawn escaped him as he flew out of the cave, leaving the shocked Olivia behind. After a few seconds, her enraged curses echoed throughout the cave, eliciting a smile of fulfillment from Zayne.

'But first, I gotta get some sleep...'