Echo proceeded to go deeper into the castle hallways navigating it with ease despite the dim lighting, until he came to a door with intricate patterns. Inside he heard murmurs of a man and a woman he was about to knock when he noticed that there are footsteps approaching him. He knew this person so he wasn't alarmed by it but still he ducked, causing the culprit to fail on her attempt, he noticed her outstretched hands trying to wrap it around Echo from behind.
"Aiko that's not how you greet people."
Standing in front of him a petite young woman with dark hair and brown eyes, she looked beautiful by sleeper standards, wearing somewhat decent clothes compared to people outside.
"No, that's not how you receive a greeting, after disappearing for a couple of days." Aiko's face saddened a little.
"Don't jest, I know you just miss me wasting my shards on your gambling den." Echo said in a flat tone.
"That's harsh but you're not wrong." Aiko grinned.
"Why are you here in the first place." He asked.
"I'm here to deliver some memories Gemma wanted from old man Stev."
Aiko reached for the door in which Echo stepped out of the way and knocked after a second they heard a male voice answer.
"Come in, it's unlocked."
Aiko slowly opened the door revealing a somewhat big room with a queen size bed in the middle, two women were laid there covered in blankets, Echo with his enhance hearing can clearly hear sobbing though it is very faint. Gemma is standing near the doorway of the bathroom, wearing nothing but his underwear and a robe with silver and red pattern.
'Man this guy is a scum, I already knew him from memory but damn seeing him makes me want to puke.' Echo thought.
"Aiko, did you finally gather the memories I wanted?"
Gemma said going towards his drawer to retrieve 5 soul shards. Giving it to Aiko and getting the memories transferred to him.
"Tell Stev the rest of the missing payment will be paid by the end of the month." He added, after he looked at Echo who was still standing by the door.
"Echo, I heard you nearly died out there, are you feeling better for the next hunt?"
Echo stepped inside the room; he answered.
"Yeah, though I might need a couple more days to rest for my injuries to fully heal."
"Take your time, but why are you here?"
His eyes was sharp as he glared at Echo for a little longer.
"I actually want to report on an updated map for the Dark City, while I was patrolling I encountered an awakened demon east of here that's why I got injured, thankfully I escaped with a not so serious injuries."
Echo was flat when he said this, he observed Gemma's face contort to different emotions but immediately came back to his usual passive gaze.
"I see, I'll personally report this to Gunlaug, you two may go."
Him and Aiko stepped out of Gemma's room and closed the door. Aiko then put her hand on her chin as if thinking about something; she finally said something after sometime.
"That… was weird."
"I know." Echo said in a flat tone his mind going overdrive, he felt unease and uncertain. But that train of thought was immediately interrupted by Aiko's voice.
"I thought him and Kido are close to lovers yet he's sleeping with other women, maybe we thought wrong?"
"Huh?"
"What? Don't you find it weird when Kido often visit him, they even have a specific table for themselves on the dining hall, something is really fishy here."
Echo was dumbfounded, they were actually thinking of two different things, he never knew Aiko is the gossip type. Though this did interest him enough to make his mind wander away from his initial thought, he also put his hand on his chin thinking about it before finally sighing.
"I never knew you like that kind of gossip."
"Well here… any from of entertainment is good or else I wouldn't have founded the gambling den, you would die of boredom if I didn't." She said walking straight up the path towards who knows where, probably going to see her gambling den business.
"You're right, see you later Aiko." He said walking the opposite direction.
"You aren't coming?" She asked bewildered.
Echo often gambles his soul shards before so he was a regular costumer and a dear friend to Aiko, a rarity here on the Dark City.
"No, I'll probably sleep, my injuries aren't fully healed yet."
"Fair enough, get well soon, join the hunting and bring me lots of soul shards." Aiko smiled and went to her merry way.
Echo just chuckled at her remarks and went to his designated room. As a hunter he gets his own room though not as big as Gemma's and certainly cannot fit a queen size bed in the middle, it does offer some comfort with a bed soft enough for his tired body and mind. He went over everything he experience today from the fragmented memories he has from his past life before he got transmigrated, to the predicament he will face probably every single day here on the Dark City, although Echo doesn't show it, he is utterly overwhelmed, Echo just choose to force himself to calm down, and think of every actions carefully, he was just too exhausted. For now he closed his eyes to rest, in his first night on a nightmare.