I swarmed back and forth around the stall. My gaze was drawn to my shoes, which were thumbing wildly against the ground without a discernible direction. A meaningless gesture. It was as pointless as the way I continued gnawing my thumb's nail.

"I didn't mean to do that. I didn't mean to do that, I—" I kept repeating, then came to a halt, lifted my eyes, and looked at the elder's unflinching figure. "That wasn't supposed to happen!"

Yes, I was pissed. Yes, it's true I wanted to let off some steam by coming here. But I never intended to kill him! No, Gray, stay calm. He's still alive...

"I have to do something," I muttered, my limbs moving on their own as that specific order took control of my being.

I pulled out my phone, freezing just as I was about to dial the number with my quivering fingers. My brain had a short circuit. It only took a single second of uncertainty for thoughts other than concern to intrude.

Why should I help him?

It's not like anyone would mind if I just left him there. Nobody would mind if they discovered his body; in fact, they may even welcome it. He was the one who fooled me, wasn't he? The person who endangered my life for his personal gain and refused to adequately recompense me for the ordeal he put me through.

As I peered at him, I asked myself again aloud: "Just why?"

I witnessed someone die a few minutes ago, and guess what, no one cared. Why should I be the only one to worry? I'm sick of being walked all over just because I care.

I've had enough of dealing with folks I don't care about. Why should I allow a complete stranger to have such a strong impact on me and the way I feel? The truth is that we never met before! And after everything that had happened, I owed him nothing.

"Not a damned thing," I growled as I slid my phone back into my pocket.

I crouched and took the sheath from the ground, then inserted the dagger's blade into it. I stuffed it inside my jacket's inner pocket and walked away, unwilling to return to that shabby excuse of a booth.

I wasn't sure if the exit was actually out of commission or not since it turned out I couldn't believe any of the merchant's words, but I didn't bother to check and still sought another way out. One that was as far away from him as possible.

I marched through the stalls, vomit daring to rise up my throat. It was truly nauseating. I had become numb to the deaths of others, and Ethan's passing reaffirmed that. It saddened me, but that was the end of it. No tears or a reaction as absurd as that. I've taught myself to suppress such outbursts and hide them inside.

To be honest, I've never experienced anything like this before. No matter how things got, I had never hurt another human being with my bare hands. I had never lost my cool to the point I might injure someone, but I can't say that's the truth now...

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"Enough about that," I growled, shaking my head to cleanse my mind of any other stupid notions. There were more issues to be concerned about at the moment.

Someone familiar appeared in the distance. As far as I recalled, he was the merchant with the receding hairline. We didn't get along too well the first time we met. From the looks of things, he was half-asleep, trying to fight the urge to simply pass out. The box of clarinadryl, by chance, was still on the table.

Don't tell me he did it just to spite me...

"You," I said, jolting him wide awake. Even though my sight was fixed on him, my hands were already fumbling beneath my cloak, reaching for my wallet.

"Watcha want?"

"I'll take this," I said as I slapped the money on the counter with one hand and grabbed the box with the other.

"Hey," the balding merchant muttered as he stood up, a sour grimace on his face. I gently put the clarinadryl down as he said that, which seemed to magnify his self-esteem even more. "What in the hell were you thinking? You can't simply stroll in and do anything you want. Things happen in a certain order—"

Not being in the mood to be barked at, I grabbed a fair chunk of his hair, or what was left of it, and pulled him toward me before he could spew out anything else. Now I towered above him, my cloak concealing the majority of his silhouette from passersby. I drew the dagger and pressed it against his throat. Our faces were tenderly illuminated by the cerulean glow emanating from the remnants of a mana core.

"H-hey, what the fuck are you—"

I forced the thin edge of the artifact even harder against his skin, which was enough to hush the merchant. As blood flowed down the blade, his attention darted straight toward the drop that landed on the wooden counter. He seemed to have grasped the gravity of the situation and that I wasn't playing any games. With that, I was certain I had his attention.

"You're going to give me what I want without complaints and take the money I offered you," I paused, confirming that once again, no one within the Underworld cared what I was doing. "Or I'll just take it."

The merchant just held his breath, unable to control his trembling hand. Then he met my look grudgingly as he let out a meek reply: "Of course... Take everything you wish... Let's settle this in a civilized manner, s-shall we?"

Of course, if you believe your life is in danger, then you'll l say anything to save your pathetic ass. When I pondered about that, I almost rolled my eyes.

"I knew you were clever" I murmured as I drew back my dagger.

Just as he was about to sigh in relief since he managed to get out of that uncomfortable situation, I whacked his jaw. Without even having the chance to react, the balding merchant fell back asleep on his chair and slumped over. He appeared to be at ease at first glance. Honestly, I believed I had done him a favor. If you want to get rid of those wrinkles, you'll need to sleep more, buddy.

By the time he opens his eyes, I'll be gone. It didn't really matter if he remembered what happened when he woke up. As a result, I didn't hesitate to open the clarinadryl package and was happy to discover that it was the real thing. Each pill was the exact shape and color of the ones I had previously used.

I got what I wanted, just like that...

The truth was actually pretty blunt and nasty. I could have easily gotten the medicine right from the beginning. All I needed to do was reach for it. If they're not going to give me what I want, then I'm just going to take it. The rules were different below than they were above, and I just had to adjust to them.

The memories of my brief visit to that rathole were foggy, but there was one thing that was brutally obvious, at least to me—aside from the throbs I felt throughout my body. What happens in the Underworld stays in it. It was in everyone's best interests to disregard such inconsequential occurrences.

There was no reason for me to hang around any longer, either.

As a matter of fact, I doubted I'd ever return to this place again.