The sun's first rays filtered softly through the room, bathing everything in a warm colors. The air was quiet, except for the occasional chirping of birds outside the open window. I sat calmly on a chair, a thick book resting in my hands. Its leather binding had started to peel, but its words held lots of knowledge about the history which I skipped. My fingers flipped the pages lazily as I sank into the peaceful silence.
Across the room, however, the atmosphere was tensed. Hina sat at the table, her face buried in her arms, her dark blue long hair splayed out across the book she was supposed to be reading. Her frown was so deep it seemed permanent on her face.
"We will be dead soon like this..." she muttered into her arms, her voice muffled with despair.
I glanced up from my book, my brow raised. "We are dying?" I asked nonchalantly.
Hina snapped her head up, her expression grim. "Not literally, Esther. But we might as well be! I'm running out of money!" she groaned, slamming the table lightly with her fist. "The monthly allowance my mom sends me isn't enough anymore. Everything is so damn expensive lately!"
She huffed, picking up the book in front of her. Her eyes scanned the pages half-heartedly, but I could see the calculations scribbled in the margins. Numbers, expenses, and desperate attempts to make it all add up.
I tilted my head back slightly, a thoughtful "Umm..." escaping my lips as I considered her problem.
"I think we can use that," I finally muttered, more to myself than to her.
She blinked at me with confusion. "Use what?" she asked, her voice curious.
"I saw a few people using it and exchanging it," I replied cryptically, still ignoring her gaze and flipping another page in my book.
"There you go ignoring me again," she said, throwing her arms up dramatically. "Sighhh, you're impossible sometimes."
I closed the book with a soft thud, rising to my feet. "Come with me, Hina," I said simply, my voice calm.
She groaned, resting her head back on the table. "Where to?" she muttered.
"Come on," I said again, a bit more firmly this time.
Reluctantly, Hina pushed herself up from the chair, her steps dragging as she followed me. "If this ends with me broke and exhausted, I'm going to kill you," she mumbled, her voice still tinged with defeat.
We walked through the thick forest, the ground uneven beneath our feet. The air grew cooler as the trees became denser, their branches casting long shadows over us. The rustling of leaves and the occasional chirp of distant birds were the only sounds accompanying us.
"Esther... where exactly are we going?" Hina asked after what felt like hours. Her voice was tinged with frustration and exhaustion.
"You'll see," I replied, keeping my gaze ahead.
She groaned loudly, dragging her feet behind me. "I'm already sad and tired, and now we're walking for hours on end? This is torture!"
I stopped in my tracks and turned to her. Before she could complain any further, I scooped her up into my arms effortlessly.
"Hang on tight," I said straightforward.
Hina's cheeks turned a soft shade of pink, and she stammered, "W-what are you doing?! Put me down!"
Ignoring her words, I tightened my hold. Black and white aura swirled around me, crackling faintly in the air. Then, without another word, I dashed forward at an impossible speed.
The trees blurred around us as we crossed mountains, rivers, and valleys in mere moments. Hina clung to me tightly, wrapping her arms around my neck and her eyes closed as she was too scared to see anything.
After what seemed like a minute, we came to a halt in front of a massive cave nestled within a rocky mountainside.
"What is this place?" she asked, her voice breathless and her eyes wide with curiosity.
"My grave," I replied, walking toward the entrance.
"Woah! For real??" Hina's voice was filled with a mix of surprise and intrigue. She followed me inside, her steps quickening as her curiosity overtook her exhaustion.
The interior of the cave was breathtaking. Vines hung from the ceiling, their leaves glowing faintly in the dim light. Ancient stones with intricate carvings lined the walls.
"This place is... amazing," Hina said, her voice filled with wonder. She ran her fingers lightly over one of the carvings and trying to decipher it.
She still admiring the surroundings. "So why did you bring me here? Are you planning to take another nap in your grave or something?"
I sighed, shaking my head. "I'm not planning to sleep, no."
We continued deeper into the cave until we reached the heart of it—a massive circular chamber with a flat stone slab in the center. Dust and cobwebs covered its surface, but it was clear that the stone had once been used as a door.
I stepped toward the slab.
Hina looked at me skeptically. "You're kidding, right? That thing looks like it weighs tons!"
I ignored her and placed my hands on the stone, pushing against it with all my strength. "Urghhh," I grunted as the slab shifted slightly.
After a few moments, I managed to lift the stone, revealing a hidden chamber below.
I opened the steel door and Hina's eyes widened in shock as she got on her knees, peering into the opening. Her jaw dropped, and she let out a scream. "What the fuck is all this...!!"
Inside the chamber was a big heap of treasures—gold coins, sparkling diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and pearls.
Hina trembled as she stared at the treasure, her voice barely a whisper. "F-from... where did you get all this?"
I shrugged casually, scratching the back of my head. "It was given to me by kings and queens of the past. Whenever I helped them as their knight, they rewarded me. Sometimes even villages would praise me with gifts." I continued. "You guys don't trade in gold anymore, but I saw a few people exchanging it for paper currency. So I figured we could use it."
Her hands trembled as she crawled closer to the treasure. "Huff... Huff... so what are we going to do with it?" she asked, her breaths uneven as saliva dripped from the corner of her mouth.
I tilted my face to her, my expression calm. "You keep it and use it however you want," I said, turning away and walking toward the exit.
"Wha-" Hina's jaw dropped even further. She let out a strangled gasp before fainting dramatically onto the heap of gold, her body going unconscious as if the sheer sight of the treasure gave her heart attack.
I turned back to see her passed out on the gold, her face pale but oddly peaceful. I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly.
"Weird woman.." I muttered.