"A... a... Sinner!" said the shopkeeper in fear.
"You got problems with that?" I asked him intimidatingly.
"N-No, Sir!" he replied hastily, beads of sweat forming on his brow as I pressed the tip of my blade harder against his neck.
"Good." With that, I dispersed my weapon and swiftly exited the jewelry store.
I looked around the outside of the store and couldn't find Ellisa anywhere. She must have been furious with me. As dusk approached, I knew I needed to find her quickly.
"I have to find her," I muttered to myself, scouring the streets. I stopped at various stores and questioned passersby, but nobody had seen a woman in a pink dress.
It was fruitless. Nobody has seen her at all. Where could Ellisa possibly go to? I don't think she will leave me here and went back to her house; she's not that mean.
Frustrated, I stumbled upon a trader selling a map of the Ender Human's continent. Despite my urgency to find Ellisa, obtaining information about this world remained a priority.
"Come close, come close! New and up to date map for sale!" The trader shouted.
Approaching him, I examined the map he offered. It was incredibly detailed, displaying every nation and route within the continent.
"How much for the map?" I inquired.
"It's only ten thousand Prism Coins, good Sir!" he replied with a smile.
"Ten thousand coins for a map?!" I exclaimed internally. "Is he serious? How can a map be as expensive as a weapon?"
Despite the steep price, I couldn't deny the map's quality. Unsure if I'd find another seller offering such detail, I hesitated, weighing my options.
"Could you lower the price a bit? Ten thousand is quite steep for me," I proposed to the trader.
"Lower? No chance! This map was crafted by the Great Traveler Eris himself! I won't sell it for any less!" he retorted angrily.
It seemed bargaining wasn't an option. I begrudgingly walked away from the seller, refocusing on finding Ellisa.
"Damn, how fast can this girl even run? I can't find her anywhere!" I muttered to myself, growing increasingly frustrated.
Suddenly, I heard a faint whisper from the Calling. "Sinners, make your way to the alley in downtown of this city."
"Huh? Why is the Calling asked me to go there?" I wondered, wasting no time in returning to downtown.
Following the directions provided by the Calling, I arrived at an alleyway, though its purpose remained unclear.
As I navigated the maze of streets, I heard a familiar scream echo around the corner—Ellisa's voice! Hastening my pace, I hoped I wasn't too late.
"Hey, little missy, you've got guts kicking my friend in the... sensitive area when he's just trying to be nice to you," one of the men taunted Ellisa as they surrounded her.
"Stay back!" Ellisa cried, tears streaming down her face as she pressed against the wall, trapped.
Reaching into her bag, she brandished a hunting knife, but the men laughed mockingly.
"What do you plan to do with that? You can't even handle it properly!" they jeered.
One of the muggers walked closer to Ellisa. He then held onto the knife's spine and pulled it towards him, making the tip of the knife rested onto his chest.
Approaching her, one of the muggers grabbed the knife, pressing its tip against his chest. "I dare you to use it. If you're brave enough to draw a weapon, you must be willing to face the consequences," he taunted.
Ellisa struggled to wrest the knife from the mugger's grip, but her efforts were in vain. The other thug seized her bag and began rifling through it, flinging its contents to the ground in search of valuables.
"Your bag seems to be very heavy, Miss. I'm sure you have something good for us in there."
With a triumphant smirk, he extracted a pouch filled with Prism Coins and waved it tauntingly in front of Ellisa. She pleaded desperately for him to return it, her voice trembling with fear.
"That some good amount you have here, hahaha!"
"N- No... Don't take that... It's mine... Please, I beg you..." said Ellisa with a broken voice.
"HAHAHA! You expect us to just give it back to you?! We're muggers, you idiot!" he sneered, his laughter echoing cruelly.
When the muggers are about to put Ellisa's money into their pocket, Ellisa screamed and loses control. She stabbed the man in front of her straight to the chest whilst desperately reaching for the bag of coins on the other guy.
"Give- give me back!! Give me back my money!" She shouted while her tears rolled down her cheeks.
Enraged, the wounded mugger grabbed her hair and slammed her head into the ground, rendering her unconscious.
"What a crazy bitch! She just sticks a knife into my chest, man!" he exclaimed, clutching his bleeding chest.
"That's what you get for pushing her," his companion retorted, eyeing the unconscious Ellisa with disdain.
He then smirked and continues to say, "Well, at least we got two things for one, hehe." His eyes were lingering all over Ellisa's body pervertedly while she passed out.
With a lecherous grin, he approached her prone form. Just as he reached out, I sprinted forward, seizing him by the back of his head.
"One more step, and I'll send your head flying..."
Shocked, he struggled to break free, "Who the fuck are you?!" but my grip held firm, aided by the knuckle dusters I'd donned for added leverage.
"Hey! Do something, you idiot!" the mugger I held shouted at his colleague, but the other man hesitated.
"But... he's a Sinner! We'll be in big trouble if we attack him!" he exclaimed, fear evident in his voice.
It seemed my reputation as a Sinner had its advantages; they were clearly terrified of me.
"You coward piece of shit! I have to do everything on my own!" the first mugger exclaimed, seizing his sword and lunging at me. But he was too slow, and I summoned my own sword just in time to block his attack. With a swift motion, I decapitated him.
"Bad choice..." I remarked, flicking the blood from my blade.
The head rolled towards the remaining mugger, who fell to his knees, begging for mercy.
"Please! Spare me! I won't hurt anyone else, I swear!" he pleaded desperately.
"Didn't Ellisa beg you for mercy too? Did you spare her?" I retorted, unimpressed by his pleas. "You look pathetic right now."
"Agh! Fuck! I'm not gonna let you kill me here!" With a growl of frustration, he charged at me, wielding an axe. I swiftly switched to my knuckles and delivered a powerful blow to his stomach, sending him crashing into the wall. Despite the impact, he managed to rise to his feet, undeterred.
He charged at me once more, hurling his axe in my direction. With swift reflexes, I summoned my bow and deflected the weapon, sending it astray. In one fluid motion, I fired an arrow that pierced through his head, ending his life instantly.
"Maybe I went too far with them. But I can't afford to get Ellisa hurt by these people again in the future." I muttered to myself as I dismissed my weapon.
A few minutes later, Ellisa regained her consciousness. Her eyes darted all over the place when she realized she was no longer in the alley. I stood right by her side and gave her some water.
She didn't say a thing when she took the drink from my hand. Her head was constantly pointed to the ground. By then, she saw her reflection from the cup and saw that her head was wrapped with some bandages.
"I'm glad you're okay," I said gently, leaning against a nearby bench. Still, not a single reply from her.
"We should head back home. Han gonna be worried if we didn't get going by now." Silence lingered between us as Ellisa wrestled with her emotions. Eventually, she grasped the back of my shirt, her voice barely a whisper as she murmured an apology.
"I'm sorry..."
"There's nothing to be sorry about. I didn't know that necklace belongs to your mother in the first place." I reassured her.
Tears welled up in her eyes once more as she expressed regret for her actions, but I comforted her, promising to help her reclaim her mother's necklace.
"We won't be in this situation if I didn't act like that... I'm sorry..." she said to me as she began to cry even more,
I softly patted her head and tried to calm her, "We will find a way to get your mother's necklace, okay?"
She nodded to me gently and smiled whilst saying, "Thank you for saving me."
We both stayed for a few more minutes before she was ready to head back home. Her mood seems to be better now. While we're making our way out of the city, she asked me what I did to those muggers. Of course, I couldn't tell her that I killed them. So I lied by saying that I taught them a few lessons. She just laughed at me, knowing that the muggers get what they deserve.
"Anyways, how did you stumble across them in the first place?" Changing the subject, I asked how she had ended up in such a predicament.
She looked away from me, embarrassed as she replied, "When I ran away from the jewelry store, I was crying a lot, and I don't even know where I wanted to head to. So I decided to go back home and leave you here-."
"Ah. I take back what I just said; she is a meanie, after all." I said to myself.
"-Then, as I was walking through the downtown, those men suddenly approached me and tried to hit on me. They asked me why I'm here crying by myself. They also asked me if my boyfriend just left me for someone else, and I got pissed by what they said to me. So I kicked one of them on his crotch,"
"Ah..." I better not let my groins get hit by her too.
"Afterwards, they started to chase me when I ran away from them. I thought going through the alley might give me a chance to lose them. Seems like I was wrong,"
"I see," So that's how she got surrounded by them. No wonder.
"Oh! By the way, where did you get the money to buy this drink and the bandages on my head?" she asked me.
"Oh-... about that, I may have used some of your savings to get those. Sorry!" I replied to her while scratches my finger onto my cheek.
"It's okay! Let just call it a gift as a token of appreciation for saving me," she said while happily walk beside me.
"Hey, you can't call that a token of appreciation if you're the one using it," I told her.
"Hahahaha! Of course, I can!" She quickly ran off ahead of me with a smile on her face.
I'm grateful I reached Ellisa in time. Without the Calling's guidance, who knows what could've happened? She was in real danger. Lucifer warned me not to heed the voice's commands, but so far, it's been more of a help than a hindrance. I've learned not to take her words too seriously; after all, she's a devil, always looking to manipulate.
"Come on! Dad will kill us both if we're not home before the sun falls down!" Ellisa shouted to me while waving her hand over the distance.
Tomorrow, I need to focus on earning some money. I have to get that map and assist Ellisa in reclaiming her mother's necklace. It's the least I can do after all she's been through.