By the time that I finished telling my story, Aramina was three-quarters of the way done with her soup and staring at me with wide shining eyes. Halide sipped away at what I could only guess was Mint Bomb from the smell that was wafting from the rim of the cup she’d grabbed from their kitchen. Her gaze flicked from me to Aramina and she smiled, giving me a grateful look before setting her cup down next to her half-abandoned bowl of soup.
“That’s quite a story,” she said, and Aramina snapped out of her trance to nod quickly in agreement. She reminded me of an excited kid like that and it was hard not to smile. “Although, you have some sort of luck. Meeting one of the Fair Folk, getting attacked by a prickleboar, running into 「 PLAYERS 」 — “
Aramina shot Halide a dirty look, her lips pinched into a frown and Halide winced, patting her arm lightly.
“Sorry, I meant adventurers,” Halide corrected, though her nose wrinkled at the difference in terms.
I tilted my head and looked between them. The slight frustration on Aramina’s face cleared away, she looked back at me with a slight smile that might’ve been an apology. While Halide looked less than happy and was sipping away at her drink, a light bubbling sound telling me that she might’ve been grumbling more so than drinking.
“Grandma Fu told me about 「 PLAYERS 」, she said that they were parasites,” I said, wincing as Aramina’s brow furrowed and she scowled at the word. “But she also called them adventurers, what’s the difference?”
Halide stole a glance at Aramina then sighed, setting down her cup and leaning forward, resting her arms on her knees. There was a weariness to her eyes along with something that creased her brow and the feeling of cheer had ebbed into one of solemn tension between them. Aramina seemed resigned to the conversation, dropping her spoon and pulling her hands into her lap. She wouldn’t look at me nor Halide, her gaze on the map plastered to the wall with her knife embedded in one of the drawings. I remembered Halide saying that Aramina could read lips and that I should talk evenly when she’s looking at me.
I’m guessing that she doesn’t want to be part of the conversation at all.
Letting my gaze drift back to Halide, I noticed her stealing glances at Aramina before sighing and looking me in the eyes. A slight shrug of her shoulders with an expression that seemed partly-resigned and concerned.
“「 PLAYERS 」is the common term for the people who don’t belong in this world, the ones who came in through an existence brought from the「 SOUL STREAM 」,” Halide grimaced. “Although they look like us and although they can interact and use the same abilities, weapons and facilities as us — they’re not like us at all.”
There was something about that I didn’t like. People that could live amongst you, just like you, but weren’t like you at all? It didn’t seem foreign but there was something ominous about that. I made a mental note to ask about the 「 SOUL STREAM 」later. It was the second time that I heard that.
A slight wiggling brought my attention to Nubi situated on my shoulder, their small beady black eyes were centered on Halide, and if she was unnerved by Nubi’s sudden attention she didn’t show it.
“「 PLAYERS 」can disappear and reappear at will, and it’s as if time hasn’t passed for them at all,” Halide grumbled, leaning back and folding her arms across her chest. “They can reach new heights quickly with different classes and professions that would take a trained professional years to master.”
That sounded amazing but from the look on her face, I didn’t dare say something like that. Still. A person being able to reach a master’s level within a short amount of time was remarkable no matter how you looked at it. But to a trained professional who might’ve taken years to cultivate their craft, it was likely an insult. I winced and looked down at my hands, remembering how quickly I caught onto what I had to do when taking the prickleboar down.
“And they’re incredibly resilient,” Halide continued, seemingly oblivious to the conflict going on in my head. “We’ve seen 「 PLAYERS 」die and reappear moments later.”
My eyes widened and my head shot up.
“While it isn’t unusual with the right kind of spell from a mage or an item, it’s different with them.”
“So, why…” My voice trailed off as I glanced at Aramina who was staring at the map even harder, her jaw clenched and scowl etched into kindly features. I felt bad talking about this when she was there, the conversation seemed really uncomfortable for her.
And from the look Halide gave her, she must have agreed but powered on nonetheless.
“There are some 「 PLAYERS 」who seem genuinely lost, as if they are a part of this world but they remember nothing and thus, they try to find their place here,” Halide sighed, tapping her fingers against her forearm in a slow rhythm. “They adhere to our rules, our laws, treat us as if we’re people rather than playmates or expendable tools.”
Something twisted inside of me at that. Expendable tools? Is that really how some people who came here saw them?
I’d only been here for a little while but I even felt guilty when I thought that I was going to betray Nubi by trying to leave this place. Then there was the One Who Connects All, and Granny Fu. They were all distinct and different in personality, how could anyone think that they were just expendable?
Somehow, that just made me angrier.
“Those are the ones that most have taken to calling ‘adventurers’,” there was a trembling to Halide’s words and she seemed bothered by something. I wasn’t sure what to say but this conversation seemed more and more unsettling. Even Nubi seemed transfixed but concerned. “The 「 PLAYERS 」are the ones that plague our world.”
She seemed convinced of that and I couldn’t think of anything to say to sway her. What could I have possibly said anyway? The only experience I had with them wasn’t good in the slightest.
“They take requests from the wealthy over and over, ignoring the plight of those who don’t have much to give them. They ask us to help them with clearing hordes from dungeons and towers that’ve been taken over by monsters, and treat us as cannon fodder.”
As she spoke, there was an overwhelming need to comfort. She almost sounded heartbroken, afraid, angry, and I felt horrible for comparing myself to one of them. Even if this was a game, a false reality, or anything in between — no one deserves to be treated like this. I curled my fingers into fists and the spoon in my hand pressed uncomfortably against my skin.
“Granny Fu has seen plenty of them. She runs an inn, and many 「 PLAYERS 」have come to seek lodging while abusing her home,” Halide spat, looking into her soup as if it would hold the answers and provide her solace.
I thought back to Granny Fu’s willingness to help me, the Spirits that lingered in her home, the pictures on the walls. In some of them, she seemed happy. I wondered how many were taken with 「 PLAYERS 」 and adventurers. Could she tell the difference anymore?
“Aramina and I have seen a lot of adventurers and 「 PLAYERS 」,” Halide sighed, looking at Aramina who finally turned to face us for the first time since this topic began. There was weightiness to her gaze and she refused to meet our gaze but when I looked over, I saw the brown of her eyes flicking between our mouths. She was following at the very least. “We’re not seeing eye to eye on what they are.”
Aramina scowled and her fingers curled into fists on her lap. Halide’s expression softened and she reached out, laying her hand upon Aramina’s wrist. The curled fists loosened a bit before her hands laid flat on her knees.
“She believes that they can be good,” Halide sighed and Aramina looked up, first at her then at me, her gaze imploring.
She almost made me want to believe too but there was a bitter taste in my mouth. I looked down at Nubi and their beady eyes met my own. This would be a conversation we’d have on our own.
“So you’re saying that 「 PLAYERS 」were brought here by the Goddess but they’re no-good and the ones that are remember nothing from the world they came from,” I said.
That seemed close enough to my situation but there was something in the way that Halide talked about them that made her seem almost skeptical. She snorted and glanced away, Aramina frowning at her.
“So they say,” she grumbled, looking toward her wife before she continued. “Sometimes, we see them interact with 「 PLAYERS 」 as if they’re one of them.”
Aramina huffed through her nose and moved to pull her hand away from Halide but she paused when Halide held her hand. I wasn’t sure what this meant for them but I would’ve guessed they were having an argument inside of an argument, and I was privy to what was going on even if I couldn’t understand it.
“I’m skeptical of their intentions but there’s not much that I can do,” Halide said, more so to Aramina than to me. “That’s why Aramina and I aren’t home very often, we’re trying to figure it out.”
There was determination in Halide’s face and I felt something stir in my chest.
“The need for the 「 PLAYERS 」and the reason why they treat our world as a play toy if they were brought here by the Goddess,” Halide nodded and glanced towards Aramina. For the first time since we started talking, Aramina smiled at her and turned her hand over, their fingers interlacing. “There must be a reason and we aim to find it.”
They shared a smile and I looked between them, feeling the tension in the air shift. What had once been heavy and almost difficult to breathe now felt easier. I tried not to smile when Halide looked back at me, her expression clear and open, almost smiling.
“I’m guessing Granny Fu knew that we would be back and sent you our way because our goals might be aligned,” she explained and I tilted my head. Our goals? I didn’t even know what I wanted to do outside of the jobs that Granny Fu had given me. “If you told this story to anybody else, you might not be walking these streets so carefreely.”
A weight settled in my stomach as I thought about the people who greeted me and the ones who had introduced themselves to me. The friendliness that radiated around me all hinged on whether or not I was one of them?
My skin crawled at the thought and Nubi’s soft patting to the side of my neck did little to calm me.
“Many of the people in Sinaba had to put up with that trio that you saw at the gate, and they didn’t leave a good impression.”
Remembering Kadry, Mike, and Rhesh, I scowled and nodded. I could understand why they didn’t like them at all.
“Yeah, I get what you mean,” I said, and it was Halide’s turn to smile.
“They work for the man who owns the land that Sinaba is built on, and he’s a downright son of a — “
Aramina glared at Halide and she faltered, opening her mouth then closing it before covering her mouth with her fist and coughing into it. With a roll of her eyes, Aramina slipped her hand away from Halide’s and began to make various gestures. Halide following the movement of her hands with her eyes and speaking.
“They’re doing what they believe is right but it’s wrong,” Halide nodded in time with Aramina’s movements and glanced at me. “They’re extorting the people and the taxes that we pay to the lord of the land are used to pay them for their services.”
I frowned, “…They’re abusing Sinaba on both ends.”
Aramina slowed her movements and Halide nodded solemnly. I thought it was impossible for me to dislike those three any more than I already did but here we were. It probably wasn’t very herolike but I didn’t care. Looking down at my soup, I scowled at my reflection. Everyone who showed me kindness was likely a victim of those three.
“A lot of people have problems in Sinaba, ones that they could fix easily with their powers, but we have no one to rely on but ourselves,” Halide’s words were bitter and with a light tap to the table, I raised my head to see Aramina smiling at me. Her face was kinder when she was smiling and though she seemed a little sad, I knew that I’d try to make her smile from here on out. Halide unfolded her arms and picked up her spoon, giving me a kind smile. “Considering that we used to be the welcoming party awhile back, it’s only right that we told you all of this.”
I nodded. I felt like this was something I needed to hear. To know my place, to get rid of this feeling. I didn’t want to be like them so I wouldn’t be like them. I’ll do what Granny Fu said and look after the people of this town. Glancing at Nubi, they smiled at me and dove down to pick up their tinier spoon to start eating some of my food.
I’d look after these people until I had to leave.
Our conversation was light-hearted after that. I asked Aramina about her knife collection and she was more than happy to give me a demonstration which Halide immediately refused until after we finished eating. Halide tried to offer me some of her Mint Bomb but Aramina snatched the cup away, giving me a warning look. Apparently I was far too young for that kind of drink no matter how childish it might’ve seen. Aramina scolding Halide was funny, and I laughed so much that my cheeks hurt from smiling. Even Nubi seemed to be enjoying herself as she flew around Halide’s head, asking her questions about one thing or another concerning their travels and the map.
Eventually, a sharp knock to the door cause a lull in conversation and Halide stood up, setting aside the empty containers before approaching the door with a light pat to her clothes. When she opened the door, my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.
Rhesh stood on the front doorstep with a kindly smile, the lumbering shadows of Kadry and Mike behind her as she tilted her head to one side, nearly dwarfing Halide who looked up unflinchingly.
“Good Morning, Miss Halide,” Rhesh said in a sing-song voice, saccharine sweet that made my teeth ache and my stomach turn.
“You,” Halide snapped, her fist tightening on the door’s handle.
“Now now, is that any way to greet a friend?” Rhesh sighed, her smile soft though the shadows cast by her companions made it look menacing from where I sat. “Can we come in?”
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