The three finished eating and went their own ways. Lorn was supposed to go to Sybil's house, but he decided to stay with the mayor for a bit. They went to the church.
"What did you want to talk about?" she asked, entering the quiet building.
"I wanted to ask about Sybil," Lorn replied. "Do you know of her dreams, goals… or perhaps regrets she might have?"
The mayor chuckled amusedly at that. "A really down-to-business guy, huh?"
"Well, there's no better way to ask for this."
"Perhaps," she smiled. "But I'm afraid I won't be much help."
The mayor sat on one of the church's chairs and beckoned Lorn over. With both of them comfortable, she spoke.
"I'm not so against you bring her away for an adventure or two. The girl does need some variety in her life, if I do say so myself," she chuckled. "But, as you might've noticed, Sybil's not the sociable type. Of course, she's not so bad that she can't hold a conversation, but she doesn't really relish attention, nor does she consider company an absolute necessity."
"Mm. She definitely seemed against the idea when I first mentioned it."
"Yes. A trip to who knows where with a someone she barely knows is definitely not something she'd welcome with open arms," she sighed. "On top of that, she's a rather special case among Hunters. While others struggled to receive their boons, Sybil's came to her almost too casually. From young, she was a talented little girl so people often teased about her becoming a Hunter, but even so, her awakening was... anticlimactic. How long ago was it? Yes, it's been two years. One day she just woke up and told me she can see her Status."
"But she's still acting as a Hunter, no? That should mean she's motivated for the job."
"Yes, but she mostly sees it as a duty. A job. Same thing as being a soldier. Spend most of your time training and practicing, and when you're called, you go to solve some problem plaguing nearby. She's a dutiful, responsible person, so she doesn't make things hard for her teammates… but she doesn't do her job out of love or passion. You can see it with how slowly she's ranking up. Two years is a lot of time. On average, an F-rank Hunter would've already become peak D-rank or even C-rank at this point, but Sybil is only a low to mid D-rank."
Compared to that, Lorn was ready to rank after a few weeks. Obviously, he was a special case, but still.
"And don't take this the wrong way... but she's still unmarried despite being 24 this year. There were some flings here and there, but those were always short-lived. I've talked to her a few times and learned she didn't really feel satisfied with her relationships. I spoke about my own experience, reminding her that there was no such thing as a perfect man, nor a perfect relationship. Despite it all, she stubbornly persists to be uninterested."
Lorn realized the problem was harder than he expected.
'She's fucking depressed, isn't she?'
The realization was abrupt, but it made sense. Thinking about it now, Lorn could notice the symptoms. The simple but dull house, the bored look she made every so often, her lackluster reaction to things… Of course, outwardly, she looked fine, talking and laughing, but only an idiot would assume that someone depressed would act depressing in front of other people's faces.
'Motherfuckers, why did they have to make this place so complicated?' he cursed the researchers.
With this, Lorn could notice many more problems with her rejection. The main one being that she didn't just reject because she was annoyed by the prospect, there must've also been a sense of not being good enough. On top of that, the more Lorn bothers her about this grand quest of his, the more likely she'll just start ghosting him.
When faced with a problem or something they didn't like to deal with, a depressed person's first and most powerful instinct was to run. To pretend the problem didn't exist. And Lorn was very close to getting classified in Sybil's brain as a major problem.
He needed to act before it was too late.
"I'll go talk to her," he said. "Thanks for your time."
"Good luck," the mayor smiled. "If all fails, come to me. We might work something out between us… though Sybil wouldn't really like it that much."
'She's going to force her if all else fails,' Lorn realized. 'That's definitely an option, but it's bad for me in the long run…'
Lorn nodded and walked out of the church. On the way, he thought about what he would say to her. He also thought about the questions she might as and how would he answer. It would be bad if he spent too much time thinking about his answers. He needed to appear confident and without weakness. Like someone who has a plan. Someone she wouldn't mind following around for a bit.
His responses need to be crisp and concise.
Some people, like his father, had that ability naturally ingrained into their speech. They spoke like they were giving a speech. It was as if they were preparing to answer your questions long before you even thought of asking them. Even if they talked about bread, you'd shut up and listen to them, your full attention focused on their words.
Naturally charismatic people who always had the right answer ready.
Lorn, sadly, wasn't someone like that. But he could fake charisma by preparing diligently. He would actually think about all the questions and responses that might occur in a conversation and find the best possible way he could answer them.
In a sense, it was the perfect method for an overthinker like himself.
As he was busy thinking, he came upon a question. Why did Sybil decide to bind their souls? Unlike Lorn, she knew what she was getting into. She even brought him to her own house afterwards.
Was it a calculated act made for her own benefit? But that didn't really make sense. Lorn was more leaning towards the idea that it was just a subconscious and impulsive act.
It was the same thing as letting a homeless man into your house. You don't want to do it, and you really shouldn't do it, but it's the dead middle of fucking winter outside and you see him shivering on the streets... so despite your overwhelming reluctance, you let him in.
Then comes the problems. Where should he sleep, what should he eat, where is he allowed, when should you kick him out, what are you supposed to do when he asks something else from you… so many things you need to think about.
And it's not like all the homeless in the world are saints. Some push their luck and try to bother you as long as they're able, and some would even rob your house while you sleep.
You realize you should've called the cops and left the man alone.
Lorn's situation was very similar. He was about to die from rabies, but Sybil decided to save him at the last second. She brought her home and even gave him a room. Lorn couldn't know what was her thought process behind these actions and he didn't want to ask. Most likely, she didn't really know either. Probably just thought it was the right thing to do.
But it wasn't so simple to share a house with someone else. Inevitably, problems would arise. Especially so with Lorn.
'I feel I'm very close to getting kicked out,' Lorn sighed. 'The longer things go on, the worse it'll be for me.'
Lorn settled his appearance and walked into Sybil's house. She was cleaning her room. Her expression was peaceful, as if she wasn't so bothered by the fact that her house was thrashed so unjustly, but upon seeing Lorn, a slight frown appeared.
Lorn went on to clean the rest of the house for her. A small helping gesture could go a long way. His job was easier, since only her room was combed, so he quickly finished. He wondered if he should go talk to Sybil now, but decided to see if she approached him herself. If possible, he wanted to give her some time and let her bring up the talk herself. But if she looked like she wasn't planning to talk anytime soon, he would take the reins.
He went back to his room and practiced his skills. His experience flying in the air granted him two levels in Strengthening. Lorn activated that, Spirit Visualization and played around with his spirit.
In a span of four hours, he emptied his spirit about four times. He gained one level on both skills, and his Rank up notification received a minor bonus. His Spirit consumption was to reduce by 3 percent instead of 2. Sadly, there weren't any other changes.
Lorn got out of his room when Sybil called him for dinner. The two sat down together and ate in silence. Lorn spent his time thinking about the upcoming talk and also observing Sybil.
The woman ate distractedly, not even bothering to make small talk. Lorn knew she was thinking about the same thing as he was. Perhaps she was also overthinking like he was.
'We really are similar.'
The atmosphere wasn't so awkward, because both sides were lost in their own thoughts… but there was definitely a wall between them. Lorn planned to break this wall brick by brick.
Eventually, Sybil spoke.
"About our previous talk…"