Chapter 4

I and The Romantic

Whilst waiting for our order: a black coffee; very bitter and hot, a special, and two warm croissants, I asked Kallum to repeat what I had said word for word.

‘You told me to—be cautious of the man,’ he said.

It wasn’t what I told the boy word for word, but since he got the gist of it, I let it pass. I would have wanted to let Kallum stay behind, since the man I was about to meet was horrible, but it would be unsafe; and I didn’t want to leave the boy alone.

‘Did I get it right?’

‘… Yes.’

*

I never understood people who drank black coffee. The black liquid looked like poison, ridiculously bitter, and was torture to the tongue. If the purpose was to keep oneself awake, then I would rather slap myself than drink the foul-tasting beverage.

Which was why I got him the black coffee.

I went through the café carrying a black tray, Kallum following behind. After going around, I was spared to effort to search for the man, as he waved his arms to get my attention.

The man, Riadra, was of course sitting with a woman.

Blinding womanizer, I thought.

‘Synth!’ he called, escaping the table, and approaching me. His voice had a clear and—some would say—persuasive characteristics. ‘Please, join the table.’ He pulled a seat for me. The woman he was talking to stared at me with hostility.

‘This is the woman you were talking about?’ The woman tilted her head, looking down on me.

‘Yes, she’s my fiancée.’ Riadra smiled, then whispered to me, ‘Synth, please play along.’

I blinked. Fiancée.

Not only had he been spouting lies, but he was dragging me into one. By no means was I playing along or openly lie in front of Kallum. No matter how many times Riadra asked me; no matter the method, I would not comply.

I was silent.

The woman grabbed her steaming cup. Then, she said with a smug, ‘Sir Riadra is wasted on you.’

She splashed the cup’s content on my face and laughed.

The tea was hot, but it wasn’t enough to make me react. I had not closed my eyes when receiving the splash; kept on staring at her; and it seemed she found it disturbing. Her laughter died down and she was discouraged enough by my looks, that she chose to back down.

‘I’ll let you have him for today,’ she said with spite, standing from her seat, ‘but I have remembered your face. You better give up on him or you will regret it.’ She then stormed away.

Just like that, the number of enemies I had increased—because of the liar of a man named Riadra.

*

I chewed on my soggy croissant whilst dripping wet at the table.

‘Synth, once again, I truly apologize,’ Riadra said with weight.

I had given the dry croissant to Kallum, but as delicious as it was, it seemed that he found difficulties in expression when seeing my soaked state. Wasn’t just him; considering the stares I was earning, even the other customers were bothered.

‘I promise you, with my hearts crossed, that this won’t happen again. Will you please forgive me, Synth?’

Because I was bothering the other customers, I decided to finally grab the handkerchief Riadra had given me on the table and used it to wipe myself. The tea must had had sugar in it as I felt sticky.

‘As an apology for what had happened, I will recompense by doing anything you wish for.’

I finally looked at him.

Riadra was a man with short, crimson-dyed hair. A peculiar person who gave attention to fashion as proven from the way he dressed: casual white long-sleeved shirt and elegant crimson vest. He had taken the extra step and wore himself a crimson-colored contacts.

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All because he wanted to match with the red of my jacket.

His exterior was that of a refined man, but his interior was that of a womanizer.

For unknown reasons, he was targeting me.

‘… Help me,’ I said. I leaned frontward on the table and grabbed his paper cup, swapping it with the very bitter black coffee which I had ordered. I opened the lid to see chocolate, untouched; untampered. My drink.

‘Always at your service!’ he smiled. ‘Any help I could give, I would.’

Kallum had seen me take a drink. He decided to take his cup and was about to drink from it.

‘Such as telling you that the boy’s special drink contains alcohol.’

I swiped the cup from Kallum’s hand before he was able to take a sip. There’s an alcoholic menu now? I complained in my mind. I wouldn’t have chosen it for the boy had I known!

Feeling guilt; as I had denied the boy the satisfaction to drink, I gave him my cup of chocolate. Thankfully, his surprise was immediately replaced with a bright smile after he took a sip.

‘You haven’t told me who the boy is,’ Riadra said, rubbing his clean chin.

I opened the lid of the special drink and saw coffee inside. Took a sniff; and could smell the reek of alcohol. It had been careless of me to order this for the boy. I had thought to order him bitter coffee to teach him a lesson of making his own choice than letting me decide. Failed horribly.

‘The help you seek—is related to the boy, isn’t it?’

‘… Yes.’ I wanted him to find out why Kallum was being chased.

Riadra, the womanizer, was not the best person around to sought help to. However, as proven from his hobby, he excelled at human relationship; particularly at creating and forging one with other people. He had many connections and was more than capable of gaining information.

He would be able to help.

Riadra leaned forward with a smile and grabbed the cup of special drink.

‘You don’t drink alcohol, correct? I would be glad to have it.’ He took a sip before continuing, ‘Let me get you hot chocolate, Synth. Please, take your time to think, and when I return, I will look forward listening about the help you need and the boy.

‘I’ll be right back.’ He stood up and left the table, straight to the cashier.

Until he returned, I had myself a soggy croissant to finish.

*

‘Synth,’ Kallum called, he was half-done with his croissant, ‘what does fiancée mean?’

‘A woman… who’ll marry… a man,’ I answered after swallowing the last bite of my soggy croissant.

‘So, you and the man are a couple?’

‘Don’t trust him… he’s a liar.’

‘Oh.’ The boy continued eating his bread.

Seeing what he was exposed to: Riadra, it was a bad decision to bring him along. At least, I should have made sure the boy’s ears were covered so he wouldn’t listen to lies. Truth be told, suppose that Riadra was to lie to me—and he meant it—I most likely would not be able to point it out.

Perhaps his entire persona is a lie, I thought.

I glanced at the clock hung above the café’s entrance. It had been a while since Riadra left the table. Was about to turn to see the cashier, wondering if there was a long line, but someone pulled the chair opposite to me.

Took him long enou—

It wasn’t Riadra who joined the table, but a slim man with tanned skin. Judging from his appearance, he was a year or two younger than me. His hair was white, his eyes were slightly gray, and his lips had a playful smile.

‘Nice to meet you, beautiful,’ he said. ‘My name is Nar.’ He sat down, took Riadra’s cup of black coffee, and drank from it. Worn himself a neat white long-sleeved t-shirt. ‘What’s your name?’

I ignored him.

Perhaps I had gained too much attention from the splashing incident for people like him to show up.

‘You’re pretty, but not funnn,’ he complained. He slouched and rested his right cheek on the surface of the table. He muttered, ‘I had expectations… Boss said it would be fun… Thought you’re like me…’

I considered grabbing Kallum’s hand and leaving the table, but I might miss Riadra by unfortunate timing if I left. My curiosity about the boy was more than my annoyance with the young man. I could endure this situa—

‘Being killers and all…’

I did not hear him wrong.

‘… Killers?’ I asked.

‘Yes.’ He raised his head and looked into my eyes. ‘Aren’t you one? You did kill my subordinates yesterday.’

I did not take the bite. His questioning only meant that he wasn’t certain.

I’m facing an organization, I concluded. From the conversation, it was clear that the group who chased Kallum had hierarchies. Seeing that he was a talkative one, I could extract more information from him.

‘… Nar, was it?’ I called his name, closing the distance if possible. ‘I’m not… a killer…’ I didn’t want to lie in front of Kallum, but situation demanded me to. If a lie could avoid a potential conflict, then I would use it.

Except, of course, at times a lie was what caused the conflict.

‘That’s a lie,’ Nar stated without hesitation. ‘Your hands—’ he pointed— ‘they’re similar to mine. Hands that are used to gripping an object, a weapon to be exact. Possessed Weapon.’

From under the table, he took out a bladeless sword hilt.

‘You and I are the same. I can tell that much.’ He balanced the sword hilt on a fingertip. ‘Did you kill my subordinates though? The one-eyed man, specifically.’

‘What if… I did?’

‘You have my thanks! Honestly, I’ve been wanting to kill him myself! He’s always sooo annoying. “Money can get you to places,” “The world revolves around money,” “Everything has a price,” and lots of other things, he would say. Would’ve killed him but couldn’t go against the boss’s order. Really, you have my thanks, er—miss beautiful.’

‘You ought… to return… the favor.’

‘I did, sort of! Could’ve stabbed you from the back while you’re unaware! Personally, miss beautiful, I would like us to be friends. I think we could get along well. But the boss wants the boy, so I suppose I’ll have to kill you.’

‘Why does he… want him?’

‘Eh… it’s for a grand plan, I don’t know… I always pretend to listen when we’re in a meeting.’

He gripped his sword hilt tight, and his eyes demanded a fight.

His mouth was shut and there was no more room for talking.

Seeking the initiative, I grabbed the edge of the table with both my hands and flipped it toward Nar. Everything flew at him: food tray, plates, and cups included.

However, as anything went into contact with him, the objects would go inside his body and phased through him. As if he was a refraction of light and the objects had passed through someone immaterial.

Nar was unscathed.

He’s a Phaser.