Tabitha huddled herself at the bottom of the shelf. It was hard to say if she was scared of the unknown creature or she was looking forward to something happening quickly. Now she seemed to be the prisoner waiting for the executioner, knowing that she death lied ahead regardless of what she did. The only thing uncertain was the time of her death.
Although it was unclear how the being would attack her, it was obvious that the sudden change was caused by her voice. Since she could not figure out what was happening, she cupped her mouth and stayed quiet. The basement was slightly chilly but because of the adrenaline coursing through her veins, she welcomed the coolness. Time passed as Tabitha slowly fell asleep while hugging her knees.
The girl jolted awake from the coldness. She rubbed her numb calf and looked around in confusion. As her brain began processing, she realized that she had lost contact with Alfred for at least four or five hours… Looking at her watch, she suddenly turned anxious. Their teammates must be worried about their disappearance. The dark basement couldn't be seen outside and based on the present time, it was likely dark outside…
"Coo—belch…"
A voice suddenly rang. She grabbed one of shelf's boards and squeezed herself in between again. The sound kept approaching her hiding place slowly without any rhythm. She tightly cupped her mouth, afraid of making a single sound that would expose her. She even wished that her heartbeat could completely vanish.
"No. 746 is isssss—op--" A voice suddenly boomed in her mind, one that sounded like the human embodiment of light in the Concealment Area. Unlike the smooth electronic sound, from before the words 'No. 746' seemed to be garbled by radio interference. The voice frightened Tabitha, causing her chest to heave violently. She was at a loss of whether to laugh or cry. This thing had restored itself at such a critical instant. Yet, she did not have the time to study the Concealment Area at this moment in time!
She thought that No. 746 would give her a good explanation of the Concealment Area this time, but she only heard No. 746 for a moment before it disappeared again. There was only the sound that resembled snoring left in the basement, and it was still approaching her.
Tabitha clenched her fist and thought that if the thing became really difficult for her to handle, she could push the bookshelf towards it. At least, it would buy her some more time to escape.
Her fingers tightened and relaxed while she waited until the voice was almost beside her. She jumped out and without seeing what was approaching her, she slammed at the bookshelf with the full force of her body!
"Oh! My! God! Which bastard smashed my bookshelf!" Tabitha heard an old man screamed when the bookshelf fell. She had already distanced herself about five meters away and did not have the luxury of time to think. She ran past two or three rows of bookshelves, letting her momentum bring her body forward. When she reeled from exhaustion, she vaguely realized that the voice sounded familiar.
She couldn't be sure that the sound belonged to the monster that she had not seen or something else. She cautiously took a few steps back peeked over through the gap in the books.
The bookshelf wavered as though it was about to fall but it was a lot stronger than she imagined. The area was littered with books and from the looks of it, she might not have knocked down the bookshelf but she had caused many books to fall to the ground. A greasy old man was crouching, picking up books. When he saw the creases in the books' pages, he sighed sadly. Tabitha watched for a few minutes before confirming that the guy was real, probably the owner of the underground library.
She walked over noiselessly and peeked only half her head out from behind the bookshelf. She continued observing carefully as the old man finally came to a spot near her. When he looked up and noticed the head of a young girl that didn't manage to retract in time, he screamed once again.
"Damn it! Why are you hiding in my basement! I can't afford to be given such a fright at such an old age!"
The old man patted his chest with a look in desperate need of relief. Tabitha managed to recognize him as the beggar from the previous night. Was this place his?
"Hey! How did you come in! What's your purpose!" After taking some time to soothe his chest, the old man suddenly jumped up. He even took out a triangle made of tin. Its edges were polished and looked rather sharp. He appeared to be using it as a weapon.
"You! You, you, stay away! Ah, I don't have that book here, I need you to leave right now!" The old man shook the tin triangle while pointing it at the girl. His trembling betrayed any chance of delivering a deterrence. Instead, it made Tabitha feel a little sympathetic for him.
"Um, Mr. Phillip, I'm from the team that gave you food yesterday…" Tabitha announced her identity while opening up her hands to indicate no malice on her part.
The old man stared at the girl with the oil lamp at hand for a while and squelched with his mouth. He spoke as though he recognized her. "Oh, it's you, how did you come here? " The old man slowly put away the tin triangle, his old face looking slightly relaxed. "You are quite strong, aren't you. You didn't get caught by my little devil…" His tone sounded eccentric. The old man put down the oil lamp and tidied the floor of books again.
"Oh… Why did you cause such misery to my books after coming here without my permission? You foreigners… I even praised you for your kindness yesterday. Oh, and that stupid little devil! Can't even take care of a basement. I should throw it away someday." The old man kept talking nonsense while Tabitha stood beside him, feeling awkward just standing there. Even if she wanted to help him pick up the books, it appeared as though he would spurn her help.
Thinking back to the mission to which she still had no clues for, she knelt down and grinned at the old man. "Hey, Mr. Phillip, I'm so sorry for what I've done. I thought you were a monster so I pushed the books all over. Please don't be mad at me. I didn't realize that the monster that mimicked my teammate's voice was your pet. Oh~ Mr. Phillip, you're so powerful to have a monster as your pet!"
"Wait, mimic your teammate's voice?! My little devil is superior to what you describe. Hey, wait. What do you mean your teammate? My little devil can only eat the sounds it has heard. Why do you still have a teammate here? Well, if the voice of your teammate has been eaten, I'm afraid he won't last for long."
The old man twitched his mouth again, as though it did not matter even if his pet killed a few more lives today. Tabitha anxiously stood up, looking at the old man with disbelief. "If voices are eaten by your pet, wouldn't that make my teammate mute now?"
"Oh, it's good news if he only ends up mute."
"What!"
"Then, me killing it to regain my voice implies how good my luck is."
The usual cold voice of a man stirred Tabitha into looking back in surprise. Alfred was carrying a white furry thing in one hand and a large book in another as he walked towards her.