"Can Lily take this hood off? It's making me sweaty."
"We're almost there. Soon, you will never have to wear it again if you don't want to."
Lily and I are walking down the sunny avenues of Avarice. The air is cool, but the sun is beaming down on us, which is perhaps why Lily is complaining. The hood in addition to her fur is making her extra warm, but it's only to keep her on the safe side, lest one of Minda's goons are still lurking around. When she is out of my custody, then she'll be free to take that risk.
As much as I give crap to this country, which is completely justified, it feels so good to be back ever since I escaped Endori's body and Endori herself. Speaking of Endori, I hope that she's feeling better and brought back to sanity. I tried activating my curse on her when whispering in her ear, but she fainted. Not completely sure if that was the work of my misfortune, but in the end, Lily and I made it to my home and rested for three days straight.
I never expected a child to rest that long, but Lily and I were on the same page entirely. I did try to talk to her yesterday about the events at the curse tournament. She said that all she could remember is that Minda found her and her mind went blank shortly after that. She doesn't remember anything during her transformation as a giant lynx, which is pretty chilling since she went on a murderous spree. I didn't have the heart to directly tell her that she brutally decapitated Minda, so I assured her that she will never have to worry about that woman again. I'm sure the girl has had enough mental stress to deal with, so that kind of stuff can wait until she's older or more mentally mature.
"Is this the place, Vex? Lily thinks this shop is familiar."
"Yep, this is Crawley's shop alright. Go ahead and step in, it's open."
Crawley has finally returned from his "business trip" out of town, to which I couldn't be any happier. I am done with this caretaker gig!
"Ah, long time no see, Vex! How's life been treating you and the girl since I was away?"
"Terribly. Don't want to talk about it."
"I see that you're as cold as ever, hahaha."
Crawley looks at Lily, who is standing right next to me. Crawley's stare is seeming to make her clingier.
"What's your name, cutie?"
Lily holds her breath for a brief moment.
"...Lily."
"There's no need to be shy; I am way more friendly than that cold-hearted Vex over there!"
"Lily doesn't think so."
"What? Come on, is Vex making you say this? What did he tell you about me?!"
"I'm sure it's just her natural instincts; I have no influence over her whatsoever. Anyway, I'm here to return her and receive the rest of my compensation. Let's get on with it."
"Yeah yeah, I'll get your coins…hmm?"
Crawley suddenly focuses his attention on Lily's pocket, something has seemed to catch his attention.
"Do you have something in your pocket, Lily? Can you show it to me, please?"
Lily looks up at me, as if she is unsure about what she should do. I know that Crawley appears a little shady, but he doesn't steal–he hires people like me to do that. I nod at Lily to let her know that it's okay. After my affirmation, Lily takes the crystal out of her pocket.
"This crystal orb…where did you find it?"
"Inside a lady's nose."
"Huh?! Vex, why is she being sarcastic with me?"
"All you need to know is that it was somewhere sticky and unpleasant by the time we found it. We have no idea where it originally came from."
"Oh, okay…"
Crawley looks dissatisfied with my response, but he moves on and closely inspects the crystal. His eyes softly glow.
"Hmm, nothing seems particularly special or valuable about this crystal. If it weren't for my curse, I'd assume that it's no different from a standard crystal, yet its aura is glowing differently. Never seen anything like it, but I bet I could sell it for a decent price on the market."
Lily tightly clenched the crystal.
"Hey, I'm just kidding!"
Knowing him, he definitely was considering selling it.
"I'm not gonna take anything from you, Lily. You found it, so it's your treasure. Though if you ever change your mind…"
"Knock it off and give me my money already. I have to prepare to leave."
"Geez, sometimes even my wife is more patient…sometimes."
Crawley finally hands over my payment in gold coins. This should be enough to cover initial travel expenses.
"What's the occasion of your departure?"
"It's a personal journey I must take. I won't be around to do your dirty work, so you'll have to make use of Lily. Fortunately for you, she's fairly capable."
Traveling the world is a tiresome and overbearing journey that I never wanted to partake, but it's a sacrifice that I am willing to make. I will do anything to summon that goddess and be freed from my curse. Though I need to find the acceptable offerings the goddess wants…
I put on my hood and wave as I turn away and walk towards the exit.
"Lily wants to go with you, Vex!"
Just before I could step out the door, I heard Lily's voice call out to me. Great, she got too attached to me and now wants to follow me.
"No way, Lily. Hanging around me any longer would do you harm, especially on my kind of journey. Besides, you belong to Crawley, not me, so just ask him for whatever you want."
"No way! Lily wants to summon the goddess lady so that she can see mom again! The goddess lady told Lily that she will only appear if you offer her nine of these crystals."
Ah, now I remember. Lily said something about a goddess who talked to her in a dream or something like that. I still have my doubts about that, but she did know that there was a crystal inside Endori of all places, so perhaps there is some merit to it. It's the only lead I've got.
"How about you give the crystal to me, and I will summon the goddess. I'll try to be on the lookout for your mother as I travel; I'm sure that she's bound to show up somewhere."
I hope that my logical reasoning gets through to her. There's no need to waste a summon on that, when finding her mother can be accomplished with human abilities. What I desire is on a much larger scale.
I offer my hand out to Lily, requesting that she gives me the crystal. She shakes her head dismissively.
"Without Lily, we wouldn't have found this crystal, so it belongs to me. But Lily would be happy to share if you take me with you!"
"I operate alone, but even still, there's no way I could team up with a kid. Especially when that kid is a demi-human slave who isn't in my ownership."
"But we worked together to help Lady Endori!"
"That was a temporary partnership that was necessary under the given circumstance. A long term-arrangement is very different."
"Don't you want to summon the goddess lady? Lily does too! The best strategy is to work together to meet the goddess lady faster. If you work alone, you may never find the crystals…"
"..."
I don't want to admit it, but she has leverage over me in this situation. She is already one step closer to the goddess than I am, and I have no idea where to find these crystals, but apparently she does. It makes sense to accept her offer…but I just can't.
"Lily, why do you want to go with me so badly? You found the crystal, I didn't. You have the crystal, I don't. You have someone telling you where to find the other crystals, I don't. You could ask anyone else to help you, or join someone's party. Again, why me?"
"Lily knows that you are strong. You have taken care of me. You've helped me fight. You have saved me from that woman. Vex, you are Lily's hero! Lily wants to be strong like you, so please Mr. Vex, take me with you!"
Tears flood Lily's eyes, her voice is full of passion. I don't enjoy seeing children crying, but that would be inevitable if she were to follow me. I hate myself…
"It's…not up to me. It's pointless to continue this conversation."
"Take her."
Suddenly, Crawley's voice interjects, forcing Lily and me to pay attention to him. I got so caught up in the moment that I forgot that he was even here, so I was slightly surprised.
"What do you mean 'take her'? I am not babysitting her for you again!"
"Vex, it's not for me–it's for you. Take her in as your party member."
"But she's your slave. I don't want a child slave, much less one that belongs to someone else."
"Legally speaking, she is not my slave. After all, you did steal her at the auction on my behalf, so no one officially owns her. I was gonna forge some documents and eventually sell her to my clients for triple the price, but there's no use in that anymore. She's very attached to you now, but that's on me for not taking direct responsibility. I doubt the girl is willing to obey me, so I won't bother."
Crawley rubs the back of his head, letting out a lighthearted chuckle.
"What's in it for you? You don't like losing money, you cheapskate."
"Oof, I prefer the term 'money conscious'! Anyway, I never paid for her, so I lost nothing. Well, besides the money I gave you to look after her. However, that's fine since my business trip was successful. So, what do ya say?"
"...sigh."
Whelp, there goes my easy way out.
The air reached its climax of tensity as all of the pressure fell on me. Lily looks at me with dried up tears, eyes as big as a full moon. She has hope in her eyes–something I lost long ago. Heh, I can't believe that I lost to a kid…
"You are a determined little rascal, aren't you? We are heading straight for Gannet, no breaks, got it?"
"Yes! Yes!!"
"?!"
Lily pounces on me so quickly that I did not anticipate it. Her grip is stressing my neck! I can hear Crawley laughing at the scene.
"Okay okay, get down. No more of that kind of stuff on our trip!"
"Okay, Lily understands. Let's go!"
Lily runs past me and dashes out the door. Maybe it's not a good idea for children to be well-rested after all.
"Well Vex, looks like you got your hands full. May y'all be blessed out there, and try to live life a little!"
"Tch!"
I'm not gonna even bother entertaining this guy anymore. I have to catch up to that little girl before she gets in trouble. We haven't even started our journey yet!
I step outside, looking for Lily's whereabouts. Fortunately, she didn't get too far ahead. A food stand caught her attention, making her drool as she wagged her tail.
"Come on, Vex! Let's eat a celebration treat!"
Lily waves at me, leaping up and down. It truly feels like I am taking care of an hyperactive pet. In just a matter of days, I've watched over a demi-human kid and fought a parasite inside a girl's body, which is an entire country itself.
"What have I gotten myself into?"
ARC 1 END