Chapter 13 : A Sudden Visit (1)
Lloyd wondered if he hadn't made a mistake.
Before he could ask Selita if the tomb was dangerous or not, Blackie left his side and started running toward the thick haze pouring from the ground.
"Hey, you fatty, come back !"
"Woof."
Lloyd yelled, but Blackie just snorted and ran past him, his big tummy moving from left to right as he jogged.
'This is the first time he has ignored me... Is this adolescence ?'
Lloyd pondered whether or not to follow his stubborn dog.
[Just let him be. The aura of death won't have any harmful effect on him.]
'That's what I thought. Then maybe me too- urgh...!'
Loyd sighed in relief and followed his dog from a distance, but the closer he got to the mist, the more he could feel its ominous energy.
He was still far from it, yet it was already suffocating.
[I know what you're thinking, but forget about it. Contrary to your dog, you're not immune to this kind of aura. Not yet, at least.]
'...'
Selita was right ; as Lloyd approached the grave that was slowly emerging from the ground, he felt more and more nauseous.
He was more than fifty meters away from the grey mist, yet he already couldn't put one foot in front of the other.
The effect this aura had on him was strange. Lloyd's entire body shivered, and he felt that taking just one more step forward would endanger his life.
"Sigh... Look at this guy."
Realizing that he couldn't get any further, Lloyd stopped and observed Blackie instead.
Surprisingly, his chubby dog seemed to enjoy bathing in this ominous aura. Blackie went right to where the mist was the most concentrated and laid down, rubbing his two heads on the ground.
"Selita, can a beast escape from this place on its own ?"
[Only the owner can enter and leave the chambers as he pleases.]
"I see. I suppose I can leave him here while I go back to the store then."
Since the construction of the Lone Tombstone would take 6 hours and Selita assured him that Blackie would be safe inside the chamber, Lloyd decided to return to the shop alone.
As he headed back to the portal, Lloyd asked Selita.
"What about you ? Can we still communicate even if I leave the Backroom ?"
[Of course.]
"That's good to know. I thought you were restricted to the Backroom since you live in the monolith."
[...What ?]
"...What do you mean, what ?"
[...]
"...?"
After a short moment of silence, Selita asked.
[Didn't Celestine explain to you what are Nihil Conscientias...?]
"Now that I think about it... No, she didn't."
[This fucking bitc-]
"..."
[...Hum! This human, I mean.]
Lloyd's eyes opened wide. He didn't expect such a reaction.
'I didn't dream, she was just about to curse the living shit out of Celestine... Right ?'
Lloyd just witnessed something unexpected. This side of Selita was completely different from her usual cold demeanor.
[This woman... She really does whatever she wants.]
It seemed like the relationship between Celestine and Selita wasn't so simple.
"I guess you don't live in the monolith then ?"
[To make it short, no I don't, and I never did. Since you've become the new owner, I'm now linked to you, not to the monolith.]
"To me ?"
[Yes. As a Nihil Conscientia, unless my soul is contained within a Netherite Stone or absorbed by a living organism native from another dimension, my species can't survive outside of the Void.]
Selita paused for a moment, then added with a colder voice than usual.
[Although I accepted Igor's request to repay my debt and followed him out of the Void, I never agreed nor wanted to be trapped inside this monolith ; I simply had no other choice for survival. All because the former owner, this stubborn geezer, decided to abandon everything behind and leave me to rot here on my own.]
"..."
Selita cursed again, but this time, the tone of her voice sounded more sad than angry.
'It seems like grandpa Cheon abandoned her when he went back to Earth... I'm now even more curious about the old man's life, and what reason pushed him to leave everything behind and return to South Korea.'
Lloyd felt sorry for Selita.
It shouldn't have been easy for her to be confined here, alone for years. At her place, Lloyd would have probably gone insane.
[So, no, I didn't 'live' inside the monolith. I was just trapped like a rat until you, the next owner, appeared.]
"I-I see..."
Selita's words carried a lot of weight.
Even though she talked with the same mechanical voice he was used to, Lloyd could tell that she was more than just some sort of advanced artificial intelligence like he originally thought.
She was a living being in her own right, with emotions and feelings.
Lloyd didn't know what transpired between Selita and grandpa Cheon, but he could tell that, even to this day, she still held some resentment towards the old man.
"Wait, don't tell me... When I was knocked out..."
Pondering on Selita's words, Lloyd suddenly had a realization.
[It's exactly what you're thinking. This cold bitch transferred my soul from the monolith to your body while you were unconscious. She didn't even bother to warn me beforehand, so imagine how I felt when I woke up from my slumber inside the body of a new owner.]
"I guess that's why Celestine told me to wait for a few days after I lost consciousness ; it was because you were still sleeping at that time."
This explained a lot, however, Lloyd still didn't know if Selita was the key that Celestine and Igor talked about, or if there was more to it.
"Perhaps... Did they do something else with my body ?"
[...They did, but I'm not the right person to tell you about it. You'll find out by yourself later.]
Lloyd voiced out loud his concerns, but for the first time since he met Selita, she didn't answer and preferred to avoid his question instead.
Lloyd spaced out as he passed through the portal and walked into the Dark Chamber to leave the Backroom. The fact that Celestine did something else to his body while he was unconscious preoccupied his mind.
'What if Igor did the same when I lost consciousness after signing the work contract...?'
Lloyd was concerned about his body, but most importantly, he started to doubt whether Igor had gone so far as to manipulate his soul, as he had done with Selita.
Even if Igor was a powerhouse capable of crossing universes and dimensions, it was still hard to believe that he could casually manipulate souls.
Although Igor was mysterious and seemed very powerful, Lloyd doubted he was some sort of almighty god or deity.
He suddenly remembered the enigmatic words Celestine said after she transformed into that strange Dark Knight form.
'Master bestowed this gift upon you before transporting you to Lunaris.'
'Without it, you wouldn't have been able to survive the travel between the two universes.'
'You also needed it to connect with the Nihil Conscientia anyway.'
The more Lloyd thought about it, the more he was convinced that they did something else to his body that he wasn't aware of.
'Perhaps this black matter I saw crawling out of her skin is also within me...?'
The puzzle pieces were slowly falling back into place, but Lloyd was getting goosebumps at the thought of Igor injecting him with an unknown organic substance.
Without realizing how much time passed, Lloyd arrived in front of the door leading to the store lobby.
He opened it, sat behind his counter, and stood still in silence for a while.
He had to calm down the thoughts running wild in his mind.
'...Whatever is done is done anyway. I should focus on the present rather than dwell on the past.'
Lloyd always kept a positive mindset about the things that couldn't be changed. This habit helped him a lot in adjusting to this strange world he was now living in.
'Let's put those thoughts aside for now.'
Lloyd double-checked that the door behind his counter was properly locked, before walking to the store entrance and opening up the curtains.
"The heavy rain had finally cleared up."
The sky was still filled with rain clouds, but it looked much better than the previous day.
Lloyd smiled after seeing the faint rays of sunlight making their way through the clouds, brightly illuminating the street.
"I hope the weather will soon get better, so I can finally do some shopping."
Lloyd didn't leave his store for an entire fortnight because of the capricious weather.
While it wasn't a problem in itself since Lloyd -like a squirrel- always made sure to have enough provisions to last for a few months, it was still annoying to not eat fresh food regularly.
Even though Lloyd missed the taste of South Korean meals, the food in this world, or at least in Valora, was far from bad. There were a lot of unique ingredients that didn't even exist on Earth.
From a spicy vegetable that looked like an air-filled balloon and could explode if not cooked properly, to the tender meat of a Land Bubulae which was a bigger ox with three horns on its head, discovering new tastes and ingredients has become one of Lloyd's hobbies.
Strolling in the commercial areas next to his district during the weekends was a way for Lloyd to escape the boredom of managing an empty shop that so few people visited.
"I should also pay Adam's father a visit."
Since he learned about the wild dogs in their basement, Lloyd has been concerned about this matter.
What was more preoccupying was that Adam's father was a butcher. Lloyd didn't want the red meat he bought there to be contaminated by some weird disease because of a lack of hygiene.
"Even if Sir Albert accepted to help them, I still have to make sure that those dogs don't carry any contagious diseases."
Just as Lloyd stepped outside to switch the wooden sign hung on the door to 'open', he noticed a stunning woman waiting right next to the storefront.
He felt as if he'd already seen her before.
"Greeting, My Lady."
"...Hello."
Lloyd welcomed her with his usual smile, but for some reason, the woman seemed very wary of him.
___
"Were you perhaps waiting for the store to open ?"
"I-Indeed."
Avea was feeling a bit nervous, but she gritted her teeth and endured it after seeing the store owner's expression.
'As expected, he has the same condescending smile as last time. Does he believe that he is untouchable and we can't do anything to him ?'
On her way to the store, her commander's words kept replaying in her mind.
'...I think this shop owner is nothing more than a member of the Inquisition in training,' was what he said, before ordering her to stop her investigation on Lloyd.
She was skeptical at first, but after witnessing this man's smirk for a second time, she realized that only an Inquisitor would be arrogant enough to toy with an Arbiter in this manner.
'I wouldn't be surprised if he already saw through my disguise the first time he saw me. If he's truly related to the Inquisition, I shouldn't underestimate him.'
It was a crazy idea to come into an Inquisitor's den all by herself, but she had no other choice.
Despite her commander's warning, Avea was determined to learn the truth about this store and its owner.
In addition to allowing his Thaumiel-class beast to roam freely in his shop, Avea was even more irritated by the fact that he did it so blatantly without showing an ounce of concern.
'I should try to get more information for now.'
Unless Lloyd openly admitted that he was working for the Inquisition, Avea wasn't supposed to know about it.
When carrying out their missions, Inquisitors are reputed to never reveal their identity. This was an advantage for Avea, since Lloyd couldn't do anything to stop her as a store owner even if he knew she was an Arbiter.
'I can investigate his shop, gather evidence of his misdeeds, and then arrest him like any other criminal. Even if he's set free afterward, I believe it will be enough to ruin his mission.'
If her commander's guess was right and Lloyd was a trainee Inquisitor in his last year, Avea was certain that getting discovered and arrested by an Arbiter would make him fail his mission.
Secrecy was extremely important in the eyes of the Inquisition.
'Even if he doesn't end up staying in jail, he would at least get kicked out of the Inquisition.'
If Avea gets questioned by the Inquisition, she could just say that she didn't know of Lloyd's real identity. She may get blamed later on, but she won't get punished for failing a mission like the man before her.
She felt bad for disobeying her commander's orders, but Avea's strong sense of justice forbade her from making any kind of compromise with criminals. Even if he was working for the Inquisition, she had to discipline him in accordance with the Kingdom's laws.
Protecting the citizens and making sure that everyone, regardless of status, respects the laws.
Such was the duty of an Arbiter.
'The fact that he didn't stop his store owner's act after seeing me for a second time means that he is confident nothing bad will happen. I heard Inquisitors were all smart and cunning, but this guy just looks arrogant.'
This was the perfect opportunity for Avea.
'Let's play along with his act for now, so I can learn more about his shop.'
Avea resolved herself and stood in front of the store owner with a sly smile.
"I've heard this place is a pet store. Since I don't have any talent in beastmancy, I always thought about buying a familiar. Did I come to the right place ?"
"Huh...?"
Her request confused the store owner. He probably didn't expect her to be so daring.
He appeared to be debating whether or not to let the woman in.
'Ha ha, I knew it ! I'm sure he's hiding something in there,' Avea thought confidently.
She was completely oblivious that, despite calling his shop a 'pet store', Lloyd had not yet sold a single animal since he arrived in this world...
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