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> There was once a saying that curiosity kills the cat. And from the situation we got ourselves into, I believe now that it is very much true… We seek information, whether it be out of curiosity or other personal reasons, it leads us to this place, it leads us to him. But instead of seeking answers, it almost seems that we'll be seeking Death himself…

- Alessio Amaryllis

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For the first time, I never thought that I would feel so much at ease while sleeping in the forest that night. I don’t know why it was comfortable, too comfortable even. It’s as if I was lying on a bed that’s as soft as the clouds throughout those several hours of sleep. But as great as it may sound, it was truly strange as well thinking about it. And so, when I finally opened my eyes again, unfortunately, my hunch was right. I found myself in someone’s bedroom, and was comfortably lying on an actual bed. Looking around a bit, I noticed the wooden textures, furniture, and the walls all around reminded me of the ones back in my quarters, which I could easily mistake for the one I was currently in.

  Am I still dreaming?… No, I believe this is all real. But… Where’s Taro? What is this place? Who took us here? These were all the current questions I had in mind as I could barely feel my hands and the rest of my body for a short moment, which made it difficult for me to get up, and I needed to hold on to the bed frame just to sit up in bed.

  "W-What happened to me? Why does my body feel so difficult to control?" I asked myself as my gaze began to move around the room finding an object to hold on to. But looking at the floor, I saw boots and put them on. Soon after, I noticed my sword in its scabbard beside the wooden end table, grabbed it, and put it on my side. Then I immediately remembered to check my pockets for my stone and pocket watch, and fortunately the two items were still there. I sighed in relief, put my stone back on my tie, and slowly and carefully stood up, holding on to the walls as I made my way out of the bedroom and into the dark, and quiet hallway. Or I thought it was quiet…

  As I carefully walked around to look for Taro, I soon heard a faint voice. A man’s voice, more specifically. He was singing in a whisper, but with sorrowful words…

  "♫ The choice that you had to make

  And the path that I chose to take,

  As we play along under the hands of Fate,

  Still waiting, patiently, for this cycle to break ♫”

  Seconds later, he suddenly stopped, but we soon heard footsteps and a man’s voice saying, "Ah, your friend is finally awake... Let me check up on him." The man, who I assume is the woodcarver himself, soon opens up a door and shows up by the hallway. My eyes widened in surprise as soon as I finally saw what he looked like. He was wearing all-black and long clothing, had long silver hair and a green-chartreuse visible eye, just like how Garett had described him to me. He doesn’t look like a woodcarver at all, but more of a necromancer— a Grim Reaper even. He was smiling widely then chuckled to himself before asking, "Oh, Good morning... How are you feeling today?"

  I stood still in silence as my mind processed what had just happened. This woodcarver is an awfully familiar man. Even though he may be very welcoming, he did take us here last night unexpectedly and did something to my body to make me feel like this. I can sense a strong power coming from him as well, which makes me feel much more uncertain about all of this. We truly need to be careful when talking to this man.

  Despite not giving him any response, he still had that smile on his face when he tilted his head a bit. "You’re not that much of a talker, are you? Well, no matter. Your friend is here, just wandering around the shop while waiting for you to wake up. Come now…" He said as he turned around while gesturing to me to follow him into that room.

  I was hesitant at first, but I didn’t have much choice but to slowly follow him there. Upon entering the room, I saw how big the shop was and was filled with wooden shelves that contained small wooden carved sculptures of people, flowers, trees… strange bears, and other animals. There are also wooden frames for paintings, carved necklaces, and jewelry boxes. But what caught my attention the most was the structure of a woman with a rose and a man with a scythe. I squinted my eyes in suspicion as I stared at it. The scythe looks very realistic, too realistic, especially the part of its blade.

  "It truly looks beautiful, doesn’t it?" the woodcarver said suddenly, as he stood behind me. I jumped a bit in surprise before quickly turning around and moving further back as he laughed at my reaction. "Surprise? It’s my best work just yet. And don’t worry that much, that’s not based on real people, unlike everything else that I made…"

  Unlike everything else? I thought before quickly turning my head to look at Taro as he called me, seeing him casually checking the items. Of course, how could I suddenly forget about that? He always checks every shop that he sees or anything that interests him.

  "Hey, Al! Look at this! It's a wooden carved bear that’s clearly like a bee with a stinger and everything. And Oh! It even has two horns of a goat! How fascinating!" Taro said so excitedly. "Oooh!~ There’s even a rabbit, a bee, a goat, and a bear doing a—"

  "Can you please lower your voice? This isn’t the right time to be distracted by small little things. Remember, w—" I quickly paused as I heard the bell on the door ring.

  The woodcarver walked away as I quickly dragged Taro with me to hide behind one of the wooden bookshelves. He was surprised and was about to say something, but I quickly shut him up by putting an apple in his mouth. I then peered around the corner to see who had entered the shop. He had brown hair underneath his black and purple witch hat, a brown mustache, and was wearing round glasses and mostly black clothing. I could sense a huge amount of power coming from him as well.

  As the woodcarver turned to face him with open arms and a smile, he greeted the man. "Ah, Lewis. It’s been a long time, dear old friend. Welcome to my shop and abode!"

  "Of course, of course. It would be truly unfortunate if I didn’t. I wouldn’t be able to get the items that I requested from you." The customer, Lewis, said. "But it would have been a waste of time and magic to get here if you didn’t have them right now.

  The woodcarver then chuckled. "Heh, and after all these years, you truly haven’t changed. That's one thing for sure."

  "And you’re still…" Lewis paused as he grabbed and looked at one of the wood-carved pieces from the shelf. It looked like a fairy with a mustache? It appears to be very similar to his current appearance. "... Well, you’re still you… And that’s why we still have this little ongoing business just between two old friends unlike any other."

  "I agree. Truly, unlike any other…" The woodcarver responded with a smile and a slight nod. "And of course, you know very well that I’ve always prepared everything you need on just a single platter... So let me get them for you." he said as he began looking at the shelves behind the counter. He then started humming while he began gathering the requested items, while his customer’s eyes were looking around the place.

  "You know, Ordell, I must say..." Lewis continued to walk around. "... Your "shop" truly looks messy... And here I thought I was the most disorganized of the three of us back then. But looking at it now, you're the most trashy person I've ever seen."

  Are these two truly friends?... But I suppose that’s expected from two shady people.

  "Say… I heard our old friend, the Sorceress, was killed a year ago. Truly, what a pity… what a waste of such potential, just for her to lose her way in the end…" Lewis said monotonously before turning to face him, "... But of course, despite what she did to you in the past, you already had moved on from it, haven’t you?"

  The Sorceress? Do they know something about Rachelle’s mother?... Well, I know that she has such a big reputation and all, but those two seemed to have known her even before she was known to the public. I thought as I continued to stay silent and listen in.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  The woodcarver gently puts down a full brown carrier on the counter before he responds with, "Does it matter at this point? Like I've said before, she made her choice. She sealed her own fate in stone... So, whatever happens to her is no longer my concern."

  Lewis stared at him in silence. "Yeah! Not to be rude, but she kind of deserves it... Killing her own husband as well? I wonder if I can do that..." He whispered the last lines before slowly shaking his head. He then grabbed some sort of horns from a goat and placed them on the counter before taking the brown carrier... Then he immediately turned around and looked directly at me, which startled me a little.

  Did he spot me? I thought, but he didn’t say anything.

  Instead, he slowly turned his head to the woodcarver and said, in a cheerful tone, "Anyways, thank you for these items. This would be enough for what I’m working on."

  "Anytime, old friend." he said, slowly waving his hand as he watched him finally take his leave. "And if you need another burial for someone, either another student of yours, or perhaps an enemy you would like to keep silent, you know where to find me…"

  After watching Lewis leave for a short moment, I moved back into the hidden shelves carefully and as quietly as I could, then looked at Taro when he suddenly placed his hand on my shoulder and asked in a whisper, "Is he gone? Is the coast finally clear?"

  I sighed in relief before responding, "Y-Yeah, he finally left..." Or so I thought.

  "Oh, right. I almost forgot to tell you, Ordell…" Lewis said in a sinister tone as he suddenly appeared, standing behind us. "I found two little eavesdropping pests!~"

  And before Taro and I could get away from him, he immediately waved his hand. Suddenly, a strong force was preventing us from moving. He then waved his hand once more and quickly threw us both in front of the counter, then fell on the floor. When I slowly opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the woodcarver, Ordell's snickering face while looking down at us. And seeing his face like that irritated me a little more.

  "Thank you for that, Lewis. I’ll take care of things from here." he said.

  Seconds later, the bell rang, and the footsteps of Lewis faded away as he finally left the shop for sure. When he was no longer in sight, Ordell began walking away from us., "I’m very much aware that you two are no threat, but of course, if you have nothing to do here either but to waste time, then I may suggest that you both leave soon."

  "You’re a Grim Reaper, aren’t you?" I said as I quickly got up from the floor.

  Upon hearing that, he suddenly stopped on his tracks.

  It seemed that it had caught his attention... I thought before helping Taro get up from the floor. He then asked me, "He's... a Grim Reaper? Do you know him, Alessio?"

  I was hesitant to answer him for a moment, as Ordell slowly glanced at me.

  "Not entirely… But I could swear I’ve seen him a couple of times in the same village where I used to visit a friend of mine and his daughter. And if he was just a normal human, he wouldn’t have survived that tragedy before…" I responded.

  Ordell suddenly became quiet for a little while before he suddenly started to laugh quietly, then loudly. When he finally calmed down, he then said, "Hmm... Ah, yes. Yes! I remember now. That was that one village from Helio Vermillion that the King of Ivory Moon accidentally destroyed all by himself. That was the second one after the Queen, his own mother, did the first one out of anger against the other former ruler. It was a very, very long time ago. Still..." He sighed before he continued, "... I suppose that is to be expected. They are no different from the people of Helio Vermillion afterall..."

  I looked at Taro and noticed him clenching his fist as he looked away.

  "Anyways, congratulations! You are very much correct about that, my dear Head General. I am one of the very rare Grim Reapers that exists in the overworld of Somiar." Ordell said, clapping his hand once. "And my apologies to my dear old friend, Lewis, for throwing you both earlier. He truly doesn’t like people who eavesdrop on other people’s conversations, and fortunately, he could have done worse if he wasn’t in a hurry today."

  I don’t know how to be thankful for that when the fact that you took us last night and you intoxicated me as well. I sighed at the thought as I shook my head. "Right, but listen, we came here because we needed information from you. How much do you charge for—"

  "I don't want any money from the kingdoms," he said, quickly cutting me off.

  "You know that we're from the kingdom?" Taro asked in a surprised tone.

  "Seeing your reaction and when I mentioned what you did and what your mother did, just gave it all away," Ordell said as he waved his hand and continued walking away.

  "And hearing you call the so-called Bloody Traitor of the other kingdom by his name, as well as the way you two interacted last night, piqued my interest even more. Of course, that doesn't mean you'll get the information you need for free; even that old friend of mine knows I do things fairly around here." He sat back down in his chair with both of his arms on the counter and his eyes staring at us. "Finally, as previously stated, the amount of items or information I'm willing to give you and speak with you will be determined by the type of item you're willing to give me… Sounds very simple, right?"

  "Objects that may interest you?" I asked myself before hearing him snicker.

  Why did Garett or Rachelle never tell us about this? And without knowing much about this strange person, how would we possibly know what would interest him and what would not? I thought before looking at Taro as he asked him, "... Must both of us pay?"

  "Since you two are together, then no, just one of you," Ordell quickly responded.

  "Well then, how about we give you this?" Taro asked as he pulled out a blue amulet. Ordell's eyes widened in surprise before he returned to his earlier expression.

  "Wait— Isn't that your family heirloom? You can't give that away for some information," I said as I snatched it from Taro's grasp.

  "H-Hey! Calm down, Al. It's just an ordinary old amulet. Mother said it's fine to just give it away since she doesn't have any use for it." he said, shrugging.

  I squinted my eyes as I stared at Taro before looking back at Ordell.

  The expression on his face hadn’t changed, but his fingers were tapping on the counter like he was waiting for our decision. I looked at the blue amulet one last time before saying, "We’ll give you this blue amulet... in exchange for the information we need, or how much can you give us."

  He stared at the blue amulet in my hand for a moment before saying, "Hmm... Deal!" and quickly grabbed it from my hand in the blink of an eye. He then slightly sat back on his chair, swinging the blue amulet in his hand while staring at it for a little while. "Hmm... Yes. I believe that this would be enough for a mountain of details." he said to himself before looking back at us. "So… what information do you seek?"

  I kept myself quiet and looked at Taro. I didn’t want to say anything reckless, but I noticed how the expression on his face changed to a serious one. He cleared his throat and grabbed something from his pockets before he finally spoke, asking him, "Since you seem to know something even from a long time ago about that specific village that my— that Queen Guinevere destroyed once, then would you mind telling us how much you know about this girl in the picture?" He immediately pulls up a circular silver locket that has a name written on top of it and has a picture of a familiar girl inside, causing me to quickly realize that the girl in the picture he was referring to was…

  Endellion? I thought as my eyes widened in surprise. I soon noticed how Ordell reacted the same way. Perhaps he didn't expect that to happen either.

  "While you had your focus on Alessio earlier, I thought of using that chance to quietly and carefully investigate behind your counter and take this. Now, mind telling us what you know?" Taro said with a bit of a smirk on his face. "While we’re on it, could you tell us about the Great Sorceress and the six stones of the realm as well?"

  Ordell suddenly became silent but soon started laughing quietly and became louder and louder despite nothing even remotely funny in what Taro said earlier. He then slowly started to stop and said, "Forgive me, my dear, but I suppose I can no longer hide it..." he said to himself before looking directly at me. "If you still haven’t figured it out or if your dear step-brother who visited here hasn't told you yet, that is correct, I was the one who brought your dear sister back to life fifteen years ago…"

  I silently stood there in complete shock after hearing the truth from him. That did answer one of my questions, but it only filled my mind with even more questions. What is his relationship with Endellion?...How— And why did he bring her back to life?

  "Well, seeing your face, it's easy to tell that you have many more questions to ask, it seems. Well, the amulet was enough for a mountain of information, so I will tell you all," he said as he waved his hand, and suddenly a strong wind in the room pushed two chairs behind us. "I must warn you that this will be quite long, so do take a seat."

  Taro and I exchanged glances before sitting down in the chair as we were told.

  He then gives me the silver locket and, looking closely at it, there's no doubt it’s Endellion. The same one who I met and talked to during the night of the ambush.

  I kept myself silent as I stared at the photo of her as Taro spoke, "I never thought that Grim Reapers would be able to bring back the dead in a way that they would be able to do so much, like look more human and even be able to grow up… How did you do it?"

  I looked back at Ordell as I heard a sudden rhythmic tapping on the counter, before he soon responded, "It's difficult to explain… At first, I suppose I was only curious about life and humans. Despite how I myself was a human as well back then..." He sighs as he walks to his seat, sits down, and crosses his legs on top of the counter. He then grabs a small notebook from the pocket of his coat. "Well, I do hope you both have enough time and capacity in your minds to get all of this information in there…"

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