RE:WRITE

24.0 Zero_Chapter 9: Headache

Ever since I tested my Ability on the Hill, I'd known that my life would be boring.

Because while sitting on that Hill, I explored the limits of my Ability.

Only to find that there were none.

It was an interesting dilemma, really. Someone who had been so utterly powerless in the real world was now so ridiculously powerful that he was lamenting his power.

But even though I had grown so powerful that nothing fazed me anymore, there were still two things that gave me a headache.

As I watched the guard shove the wanted poster in Lily's face and saw Lily bite her lips, I didn't react at all because I knew nothing would happen.

Just as I expected, the guard went back to her post without sparing a glance for the stunned girl that matched the portrait on the poster, as if she didn't recognize her at all.

Because she didn't.

"You guys go ahead to Betern Inn, I have some business to take care of." I said, walking away while ignoring the still frozen Lily as well as my other friends who were staring at my back.

Friends...could I call them that? They hadn't known me for long, even though I'd watched them for a long time from the Hill.

And why were they so stunned? Didn't I tell them that the rings would help disguise them?

Well, I knew the answers to both questions but that just made me even more depressed. Not enough to give me a headache and definitely not enough to make me feel as depressed as I had on the Hill but they were answers that made me feel a little melancholic.

But I was sure that I'd forget all about it in a while.

After all, I had to deal with the first thing that gave me a headache despite everything that I had learned and felt on the Hill.

I lifted up a hand and knocked on the door in front of me.

"Who is it?" came a voice from inside.

"Mrs.Baner, I've come to talk to you about your husband." I replied.

The door opened and a middle aged, brown haired woman appeared from behind it. She was carrying a little pink bundle in her arms, inside which was a baby, barely able to open its eyes. The woman's blue eyes shone but she couldn't mask the anxiety that made her lips tremble ever so slightly.

"O-odog? You know where he is! Please, please tell me. I've been worried sick. Ever since he went dungeon diving with his adventuring buddies even though I told him not to...it's been months. Please, tell me he's alright! Please..." she said frantically.

I took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry Mrs.Baner. Your husband is dead." I said, solemnly.

Her face froze. Her eyes dulled. Her lips trembled.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she turned away and sat down on the sofa inside.

I let her cry for a while, unwilling to interrupt her sorrow. After a good fifteen minutes, I walked into the room and offered her a glass of water which she grasped with trembling hands. She'd already put the baby inside a cot in the corner of the room.

"Your husband was a good man. He risked his life to give his family a better life." I consoled.

She nodded absentmindedly and took big gulps of water.

"H-how did he..." she whispered.

"A monster. An accursed, ruthless, heartless monster. It got him right when he'd won the prize." I said, bringing a pouch out of my robes.