The Elusive Sorcerer

Chapter 243

"I will die..."

Behind his disheveled expression was the relieved smile of someone who had struggled against his ill fate.

The flat expression on Celvira's face faded as she slowly raised her foot, approached Zavi, and, without warning, immediately embraced the man and smiled.

The embrace lasted for quite some time, almost like a scene from a romantic drama on a theater stage. Zavi had no idea what was happening, his mind completely blank, but after his thoughts returned to clarity, he raised his hands and took two steps back.

Zavi stared at Celvira, whose expression changed according to her mood, looking at him with a puzzled gaze.

"Why did you do that?" Zavi asked curiously.

Celvira shrugged.

"I don't know. I often see humans doing this, and I myself don't know what it means or what benefit it has."

Zavi instinctively glanced to his right, looking at a flowerpot hidden in the darkness of the alley. The alley rarely had any lamps, with only a few installed near the front, and that was why Zavi had brought her here to discuss the matter, even though the situation was not going as planned.

"Who did you see doing that?" Zavi half turned around, staring at Celvira's innocent and confused expression for several seconds before realizing that the woman had genuinely imitated an action she found interesting.

"I see."

After those words were spoken, hesitation about leaving the dark and silent alley took firm root in his mind. Celvira remained silent, processing his words before following him.

Not even a minute had passed when Zavi stopped. The bright orange light from the vendors selling their goods along the roadside, along with aromas that made his stomach growl, greeted him as soon as he reached the mouth of the alley.

His gaze swept across the surroundings, his expression confused, as though he had noticed something amiss. It turned out that Zavi had just remembered that he wanted to buy something among the various raw and cooked foods; he chose to buy boiled tubers and beef satay.

For one skewer of smoked beef satay covered in spicy soy sauce, Zavi took out what he considered a rather expensive amount of money, though it was worth it for its appearance and the aroma rising with the steam.

Celvira approached, staring at the cold and cunning man who was behaving like a child who had discovered something interesting.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking at the other customers before turning her gaze toward the beef satay being fanned by the nearly bald vendor.

"It looks delicious. How much is it?" Celvira continued, saliva flowing heavily and wetting her lips.

Zavi stared at her, the corner of his lips twitching.

"Do you want this?" he muttered, asking for confirmation.

Celvira innocently nodded, momentarily forgetting what she had been thinking about earlier.

"Yes, I do. Of course, if you're the one treating me," Celvira replied.

Zavi sighed, looking at the satay vendor who was busy waving a fan toward the blazing coals, which crackled as sparks flew.

"Uncle, two more," Zavi said, holding up two fingers. "So, how much is the total?" he asked while reaching into the pocket of his tailcoat.

The vendor wiped away the sweat caused by the heat of the grill with the cloth hanging around his neck, turned toward Zavi, and answered in a weak yet professional tone.

"The total is 10 Pace, 500 Pace." The fan continued to move even though the corner of the vendor's lips was almost lifted into a smile.

Zavi took out some money and extended his hand toward the vendor. The vendor immediately accepted it and checked whether the amount was correct before placing it inside the storage box with the rest of the money.

The movement of the fan slowed as the vendor, whose gaze had always remained fixed on the glowing coals, slowly raised his head and looked at the customer in front of him.

"Sir, you gave me too much." He counted the amount swiftly and accurately before handing the change back to Zavi.

Zavi raised his right hand, his palm facing the banknotes floating several inches from his skin.

"Just keep it. Besides, you don't have any change, do you?"

The man was stunned, his eyes sparkling for several seconds as the crackling of the coals echoed in his mind.

"How did you know that?" the man exclaimed, asking for confirmation.

Zavi glanced at the two women waiting in line for their turn to enjoy the satay, its fragrant aroma piercing their noses and making their stomachs growl incessantly.

"From those two," Zavi replied, occasionally glancing in their direction. "I'm not completely sure, but they've already come to your stall about twice... and this is the third time I've seen the same people."

Zavi fell silent for a moment, observing their clearly confused expressions before casually adding:

"I'm not trying to be rude, but the lady in the velvet hat with those additional accessories has a large amount of money, so you had to go through the trouble of finding change, especially having to obtain those coins from another customer. Am I right?"

The vendor, who continued waving his fan while listening to the detailed explanation, nodded, unable to suppress his smile.

However, what puzzled him was how Zavi could know all of this.

"Where did you see all of this?" While waving the bamboo-woven fan that had already turned pitch black, the vendor asked.

Zavi pointed toward the alley with his thumb before answering quietly, "From there and before I got there."

He had noticed the stall before reaching the alley because he was afraid of running out of satay. It had been quite some time since he had enjoyed a luxurious meal, especially one that was still affordable for his wallet. As for the taste, there was no need to ask, because he had tasted various kinds of satay from different places since he was a teenager, making him accustomed to distinguishing their regional origins through the seasoning and preparation techniques.

After waiting for quite some time, the two of them received their satay. They then joined the pedestrians filling the streets before returning to the location where Aaron and Felina were.

Their current location was on the street beneath the town square. After arriving and seeing the silhouettes of the two people standing side by side, leaning against the iron railing that stretched from right to left for hundreds of meters, the two of them tapped their shoulders with the intention of startling them.

Because there was danger, the Exorcist informed Aaron of their mischievous intention, allowing him to anticipate what was coming.

"So you're finally back," Aaron said, glancing at something in Zavi's hand. "Where have you two been? Apparently, there was a delay before the third performance because there was a problem with one of the costumes. It suddenly couldn't be moved from the inside," Aaron continued, his gaze never leaving the paper package.

Zavi had not expected the third performance to be delayed longer than originally scheduled. There were around 5 of the seven events that had been arranged for tonight's cultural festival. They did not know when the event would end, but they had estimated that it would end at exactly 2 o'clock and that this place would become as quiet as a graveyard.

That was because they were already accustomed to cultural festivals that they often visited in their previous places of residence. Aaron and Felina had moved from one city to another, while Zavi had always observed such events in Chapena District, where festivals sometimes encountered problems that were not listed in the plans.

Taking a deep breath, Zavi raised his right hand and handed the paper bag, lined with smooth paper so the satay sauce would not spill everywhere, to Aaron.

"Beef satay. Just take it. The two of us already ate some while walking here."

Aaron carefully accepted the package, opened the top of the paper bag, then lowered his gaze to look into the darkness inside.

"Is this for the two of us?" Aaron asked, raising his eyebrows. "Hey, this is a lot. Are you seriously letting the two of us finish all of this?"

Zavi merely shrugged before shifting to the left and leaning against the one-meter-high iron railing, one step away from where Aaron had previously been leaning.

"Why are you just standing over there?" Celvira asked, approaching Zavi.

Zavi reflexively lowered both hands from his head and straightened his body again.

"Tonight was more exhausting than I expected."

"Really?" Celvira raised an eyebrow before leaning against the railing not far to Zavi's left.

"Just ask Aaron," Zavi said with a sigh.

Celvira's head moved backward before she turned to the right and saw that the two people were apparently about to eat the satay. She realized that they seemed to be fighting over who would carry the paper bag.

Celvira turned her head forward again before her gaze swept across the crowd filling the street 5 meters from where she was resting.

"Then why don't we just go home?" Celvira finally expressed her thoughts, waiting for his answer.

"I don't know. I want to go back to that house and sleep until morning. However, it feels strange because my body is rejecting the idea, making me stay here longer."

Celvira chuckled, the corner of her lips lifting into an expression that almost formed a sharp grin.

"Isn't that just a trick of yours to enjoy this festival until the end?"

Zavi smiled as his blue eyes stared intently at Celvira before he chuckled.

"You're pretty good too. How did you know?"

Celvira turned to the right, not looking at him, but at the two people who were enjoying the satay without paying any attention to the two of them.

"That's a secret. If you want to know, then tell me your greatest secret."

Zavi was momentarily surprised before confirming what she meant, as the woman's gaze had become sharper than it had been a few seconds earlier.

"What do you mean? My greatest secret? Heh, you foolish woman. Even if I die, I will never tell you about that. Do you understand?"

"Whatever," Celvira said with a snort.

'Why is she the one getting angry?' The corner of Zavi's lips twitched as he thought about how quickly her mood changed, like the transition between day and night.

A few seconds after silence settled over their surroundings, Zavi sighed several times. Realizing that this was the right time to answer that question, he immediately looked at Aaron and Felina, observing the two of them carefully.

"...About last night, why haven't you two advanced your ability levels yet?" Zavi said calmly, as though he were deliberately allowing others to hear the conversation.

Aaron swallowed the piece of meat stuck in his throat before falling silent for several seconds. Discussing the matter reminded him of how "he" had given him a cursed ability and subjected a teenager like him to psychological torment that sometimes occurred at night.

To hide all of that, aware that his suffering was nothing compared to what others had endured, and having acknowledged that Aaron had accepted that fate while comparing it to Zavi's fate, which was far worse than his own, Aaron could only smile.

"As you know from that night," Aaron replied before turning and looking at him. "During the advancement ritual, we as Receivers might be visited by one of our own or by someone who does not want to have a rival, in an attempt to kill the person undergoing the advancement ritual. The answer is simple, because after performing the ritual, a Receiver's body is adapting to obtain their new ability, making them vulnerable and easy to attack by anyone targeting them. Besides, information regarding advancement rituals, especially for Exorcist, is extremely difficult to obtain."

"So..." Zavi turned toward Aaron with deep uncertainty.

"Either Felina or I have to find someone with a similar ability, defeat them, and steal the information about the advancement ritual. If that isn't possible, then we will be the ones hunted by them, because apparently the highest level of the ability... I don't remember which ability it is, requires a Receivers with a similar ability for the advancement ritual to proceed."

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