The Peculiar Alchemist

25 || Nonexistent

The unconscious body next to him wasn't dead, but he was already digging up a hole in Agnes' garden to bury it in.

There was a smudge of dirt on his cheek from absent-mindedly wiping it, and he went back to digging, not very concerned about the fact that the man next to him could wake up at any moment. Another day, another necromancer who came asking Agnes for some help with something unrelated to necromancy.

Agnes loved it whenever they came, she always made sure they never leave.

But it was Kellen who'd end up stuck with body disposal. She gets to run around and poison people whenever she wants while he does his best to cover up her tracks, but at least she has something to fertilize her plants with now.

Decent progress was being made as he continued digging, but then the back door creaked signifying that it was being pushed open by someone, and while Kellen had his back to it, he knew it wasn't Agnes because it didn't slam the wall loudly.

This is why he turned around to see who witnessed this wonderful scene.

There was a shovel in Kellen's hand, a body, and a body-sized hole. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening, and Aubrey was standing there staring at the whole thing with an inexpressive face. There was no telling what he was thinking but it was probably nothing good.

Surprisingly, he didn't run away screaming like any other normal person would have.

"I was looking for Agnes. I didn't expect to find you burying a dead body."

Maybe it was best to let him believe that, but Kellen corrected him anyway. "It's not dead yet."

Aubrey's eyes went back to the body as he stared at it in silence before he looked back at Kellen. "If I report you right now, you'll be locked up."

A groan came out of the unconscious man as he stirred, but they both ignored it. "Agnes already did that once."

"How are you still here, then?"

"Agnes decided she wanted me back, but I should ask you the same thing." Kellen said poking the unconscious man's cheek with the shovel. There was no reaction, so he thought they're still good. "If you see someone burying a body, you should be running away. So how the hell are you still here?"

"Oh." In all honesty, Aubrey didn't think too much about that. He was just not expecting to see something like that when he walked into Agnes' garden. As much as it hurts to admit, Kellen was right. Aubrey should have been a lot less calm. "For someone who wants me gone, you sound like you're worried about me."

That made Kellen shake his head in denial. "It's the fact that you're not gone after this that worries me."

Aubrey shrugged about to head back to his potions before he decided not to. There was something that made him linger, and as embarrassing as his question might seem, he decided to ask it anyway.

"Is there something special about you?"

This question made Kellen stop what he was doing and look at him with a look of mild surprise hiding how puzzled he was by it.

Then he smiled as he leaned on the shovel. "Aww, you think I am special?"

A frown immediately appeared on Aubrey's face. "No. I am asking if there is something special about you."

"Wow, that date went better than I hoped, then." When he noticed that Aubrey was suspiciously eyeing the garden pots lying around, he decided to take that question a little bit more seriously. "Alright, fine. Why are you asking?

"Because."

His reluctance to disclose the reason only egged Kellen on to press further. "Because what? I won't answer until you do."