"What!? My husband's in the room with us now?"
The middle-aged lady in front of the young man screamed.
As her cry faded into the dimly lit room, a relentless, foreboding wind formed near the table they sat at, causing the young man's top hat to fall to the ground and the lady's hair to get ruffled. Both of their faces wore looks of surprise and panic.
The young man shouted over the howling wind.
"Yes! He's currently being repelled by the spirit border, making him expend immense amounts of soul force to remain present! The spirit realm is trying to absorb him back into the great pull! The anti-force is much stronger than expected - his spirit is too great! You must hurry, he's giving it his all to stay here for as long as possible!"
The sniffling woman, who was barely holding back her tears, looked at the young man in front of her.
"Y-yes o-of course! Ben, I know I wasn't the best wife — I was unjust. A lot."
"We argued and fought too many times to count, but I need you to know, despite all of that, every harsh word I've said or sarcastic remark I've made to you, I still love you," she sobbed.
"And I regret it so, so much now that you're not with me. I don't want to see you or hear you, please, just never let me forget."
The widow begged, her face now covered in tears and snot.
"I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me and remember me in the afterlife. I love you. Goodbye."
She finished her farewell with a firm resolve.
The winds in the room died down, and soon the howling ceased completely. The room fell back into silence.
The young man observed the sobbing mess in front of him.
'Quite the rough breakup, huh. I hope this helped her make peace, even if just a bit.'
"W-what was his response?"
Snapping out of his thoughts at the lady's question, the young man spoke:
"I mentioned earlier that the anti-force applied to his soul was unexpectedly strong, so he couldn't communicate through telepathy with me."
Before the old woman could get a word in, he added:
"I could see him, though, he was crying. He seemed to be in anguish, but at the same time, happy. I could tell-no, I could feel it, he misses you dearly and was still lingering in the spirit realm, waiting for you to send him off."
The widow completely broke down.
"Oh, Ben. I knew it. I knew you felt the same way."
Once the widow's tears began to dry up, the young man rested his hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright. He's at peace now."
###
After sending the old woman off, the young man turned to count the stack of C in his hands.
'Being good at coming up with new words on the spot, sure pays well.'
After checking that he had gotten the correct total amount, he turned towards the doorway on the right side of the room.
"You can come out now."
From the dark doorway, a figure emerged. He was of medium height, with short hazel hair and a pair of grey, mocking eyes. Sporting a worn, dark hoodie and a pair of jeans in desperate need of cleaning, he looked like any other slum rat.
"Reko, you're a horrible person. Scamming an old lady, who actually came here to mourn someone. Tsk, tsk, tsk."
The young man, Reko, gave him a quick glance before retorting with a smile playing at his lips.
"The wind turbine! It speaks!"
The figure from the doorway averted his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You couldn't have done it without this wind turbine here, so maybe use its real name?"
His eyes slightly widened, realising his mistake. The guillotine fell.
"Alright, Ben."
"Fuck."
Reko took a deep breath and sighed. Even though he didn't let it show—and had long since gotten used to it—playing with someone's emotions still took its toll. Especially when the person came to them with a more serious issue.
"I do feel bad, though. We don't get people who are mourning like that. Not to mention, most people don't believe in all this mysticism crap, it's usually teenagers coming here to mess with us or asking for a palm reading."
Ben looked at him with a hint of mockery.
"Yeah, welcome to the age of the Void, where we already have actual mystics."
Reko gave Ben a long stare. After some contemplation, he made up his mind.
"I think we should stop doing this. We're wasting our lives like this. Not to mention you're a Natural-born. You could just go into the Void and hunt monsters or work odd jobs or something. You shouldn't be stuck here with me."
Ben furrowed his brows, as if Reko had just stabbed him in the back.
"I can't. You know that. The wind Element is pretty strong, sure, but I'm just not meant for that kind of life. I don't want to leave you here either."
Both Reko and Ben had good hearts. They never wanted to be con artists and earn a living in such a pathetic way. Both of them were simple victims of circumstance, whose paths happened to cross. Now they can't escape from such a way of life, each of them for their own reasons.
Reko shook his head and split the stack of cash in his hands.
"Here. 150 C each."
Ben grabbed the stack of cash dejectedly.
"Looks like being immoral pays well at least."
Ben went silent for a moment, pondering. He took a deep breath before adding:
"Alright, it's late, and we're done for today. I'm going to head home."
Reko waved to Ben with a forlorn look.
"See you tomorrow."
Ben grunted a monotone "See ya," and went off into the night.
Reko, being the only one left, the room fell into complete silence. He was left alone with his own thoughts.
He walked over to the top hat that Ben had blown off his head and picked it up. It was part of the set his Father had left him. He couldn't lose it, since it was the only nice pair of clothes he had, not to mention one of the few keepsakes his parents had left for him.
He had lived a normal childhood until a couple of years ago. Now he was a scumbag who scammed people and played with their emotions. He had no choice — there was no other way to make ends meet. Even living like this, he could barely afford proper food or pay rent for the rundown dump he calls home.
'Food. I need food before I head home.'
With that thought, he headed towards the entrance, turning off the lights as he went. Once outside, Reko glanced back at the old building behind him. It was abandoned before he and Ben came along to conduct their business; now it's where they put on their little circus act every day.
He faced forward and took in the dimly lit view before him.
A back alley littered with garbage bags. Stains of unknown origin filled the walls, and bugs infested most dark corners of the street. The only light source was a street lamp that could short-circuit at any moment.
Unphased by the sight, he quickly moved into the winding alleyways. He walked for a couple of minutes, lost in thought, debating whether he could afford a large ration pack today.
As he continued to navigate the back streets, something started to seem off. He'd been walking for much longer than usual.
At some point, a piercing silence had formed. The usual sound of rats and bugs scattering around had all disappeared. Only the sound of his echoing footsteps remained.
Reko grew alert. Something was clearly wrong, but he knew panicking would only get him killed. Taking a step back and figuring out the situation was the best he could do.
He stood still, waiting. Running was meaningless. Whatever was happening, escaping from it by brute force was going to be difficult. The alleyway had turned into a never-ending maze. He needed more information.
His pulse rose, his hearing sharpened, and his mouth lost all moisture. He listened carefully to his surroundings.
He could only hear the racing of his heart and ragged breathing at first, but then it happened.
A distant grating sound. It was slow and rhythmic, moving up and down.
He stared into the pitch black alleyway, where the sound came from. He was still standing, unsure of whether he should run or not.
Suddenly, the grating stopped.
A pitch black head peeked out of the dark void. Its face warped into a wide smile of sharp fangs.
Before he knew it, Reko was fleeing.
He didn't have time to think. He just ran.
He'd only caught a glimpse of the monster, but he could tell there was no escaping from the start. His legs were moving on instinct. Almost like a formality to show resistance in front of a superior predator.
He ran for as long as he could, but the footsteps behind him never ceased. They slowly grew closer with each passing second, almost as if the beast was playing with its prey, knowing it could catch it at any moment.
Then it happened. Reko made a wrong turn.
He reached a dead end. He blankly stared at the wall in front of him.
This was it. His short life ends just like that. At the hands of some unknown beast that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
He wondered if Ben would be worried and look for him. Maybe he'd just move on with his life, remembering Reko as a good friend who disappeared like many others.
He never even found his Void Entrance Point, and now he'll never have a chance to climb to the top, where all his favourite Void Walkers stood.
All those thoughts happened in a split second.
All he could think on a surface level was:
'What a shame.'
Reko saw a massive shadow looming on the wall. He was just about to turn to face the creature, but before he could, the shadow suddenly surged forward.
His vision went dark.