Chapter 38: The Man Behind the Mask

"Are you out of your mind?! That could have killed him, Patricia!"

"He’s still alive, Master! Please! He is my client!"

"This is why I hired you as my assistant! So you can leave that illegal community!"

"And how dare you bring a criminal into my guild? What if he killed all of us right now?!"

"Look, Ms. Guild Master. I saved him earlier. Show some respect."

The shouts of voices are all I can hear, even while my eyes are still closed. I can feel my body is heavy and screaming in pain. My body feels like it has been torn apart.

The last thing I remember was a huge pile of stones rushing down at me, and everything went black.

I decided to open my eyes. I roamed my vision around the room. The room was filled with the light of candle lanterns from the table. My body was resting on a king-sized bed, and there were three people inside the room.

I moved my body and leaned on the wall behind me. Patricia, Victoria, and the man in the silver mask were standing in the corner of the room. They were loud and still arguing about me.

"Will you guys shut your mouths? It’s still nighttime and you’ll disturb the neighbors," I said softly, just enough for them to hear.

Patricia and Victoria rushed to my side and both held my hands. They looked like they had been crying. There were some traces of tears in their eyes.

"How are you feeling, my little lamb?! Are you alright?! Are you still in pain?! What happened?!" Victoria said loudly. Her voice was filled with worry and sadness.

"I told you to shout my name in case that man tried to kill you! You hard-headed kid!" Patricia said in frustration.

"Both of you should calm down and stop talking. You see, a kid is resting, and an adult must be quiet. Yes?" I said as I looked at the silver-masked man in the corner. He was holding the small box that contained the three Space Crystals.

I turned back to the two ladies at my side. "I’m hungry. Can you two get me something to eat? Pretty please?"

I looked at them with cute, pleading eyes. They just nodded silently and stood up.

The man laughed with mockery while witnessing my disgusting acting skills.

"Alright, little lamb. Patricia, come with me. I’ll leave you with this man. Do not try to get up. Your body still needs some rest," she said, and turned her gaze to the man standing in the corner.

"And you!" Victoria’s tone switched from a sweet voice to a cold one. "Do not even try to hurt this child. If you do something untoward, I will hunt you down in the tunnels." She pointed her finger at the man.

"Don’t worry, lady. I won’t hurt the kid." The man lifted both his hands to assure her that he wouldn’t do anything that could threaten my life.

The ladies stepped out of the room, but Patricia stopped before she could take a step past the door frame.

"You should leave before the Master comes back if you don’t want to witness the beast within her," she warned the masked man, and finally went out of the room.

I turned my head to the masked man. "What happened? The last thing I knew was a pile of rocks was about to hit my head."

The man came to the side of my bed.

"I grabbed you and used my teleportation skill to exit the warehouse. I just lost my precious items, kid." He sighed and offered the box he was holding.

"Take this as a thank-you gift for keeping us both alive."

I looked at the box. The three pieces of Space Crystals are enough to begin building my customized key. I stared back at the man, and he noticed my silence.

"What’s the problem? Aren’t they enough?" said the man, his forehead wrinkling.

"Who are you?"

The man remained silent.

I sighed. "Then I don’t want them."

"What? You refuse this essential material because I didn’t give you my name? You’re a strange kid."

I stayed still, just looking straight into his eyes, telling him my request. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

The man remained silent for a few minutes. He hesitated but decided to reached for his silver mask and removed it slowly.

I did not blink, just stared at his face. He is in his forties with short gray hair, sharp eyes, and a long scar on his right cheek.

I knew him. Well, everybody did, but this was the first time seeing him in person. My mouth opened slightly in awe, but I quickly recovered when the sound of footsteps on the floorboards outside the room reached us.

"I think it’s time for me to go. Just take this box, and if you need anything, just pass word to Patricia," the man said and stood up.

He walked toward the open window, ready to jump out. He glanced at me one last time.

"Don’t worry, kid. Your secrets are safe with me." The man smiled and put his mask back on.

He did not wait for my answer and jumped out of the window.

The sound of footsteps became clearer. I quickly hid the box underneath my pillow, just so the ladies would not notice it.

Finally, Patricia and Victoria entered the room. Patricia was carrying plates of meat and bread, while Victoria was holding some bottles of red and blue potions.

Victoria started her sermon again while organizing the food on the small table nearby.

Patricia just stared at me with a worried face.

But none of that reached me at all. I remained silent and looked outside the window. The moon was illuminated and shone dimly in the late night.

My mind was crowded with thoughts.

The coffin beneath the warehouse that I had sealed, and the exiled king of Novaria behind the silver mask who was supposed to have died was still alive.

The Space Crystals hidden under the pillow that I had successfully acquired for free.

Tomorrow, I will begin my work in the Voulstridge estate to train Lady Arielle.

I will do my research in the estate’s library and begin the construction of the customized key.

I took a deep breath to relax myself. I still needed to take a rest at least, hoping that everything was moving according to my plan.

Almost.