Book of the Seven Celestials: The Third Prophecy

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Suddenly, a shout from a young girl echoed through the alley, abruptly halting their fight.

"What are you all doing now?"

As her voice resonated, the fighting came to an immediate stop. Even El, who had been lost in a trance, snapped back to reality upon hearing her.

Everyone turned toward the source of the voice, and to El's surprise, he recognized her.

She was the girl he had seen from his table in the restaurant, emerging from the shadows of the alleyway alongside a boy and several other small kids who had come after the food.

She approached from an intersection opposite to where El had originated, moving out from the deeper, darker part of the alleyway.

"I asked what… oh…" As she scowled while drawing closer after finding no answer whatsoever, her gaze finally landed on El. She swept her eyes over the breathless group, noting Sill clutching his injured hand and Nore being his usual cautious damned self he was.

"What do you all intend to do with him? You must be out of your minds! Let me guess, this was Nore's idea again, wasn't it?" She glared at them.

The others exchanged furtive glances, avoiding her piercing stare. Nore replied defensively, "We need money. You know that, too. What better opportunity do we have right now with a kid from the upper side here?"

"And what if the guards come? Who will deal with them? You?" she retorted, sarcasm dripping from her words.

"I have a plan. As long as we're careful, everything will be fine," Nore insisted, his frown deepening.

"Ha! Do you mean the plan from the other day when you and the others almost got caught? Is this going to be the same scheme as before…" She narrowed her eyes, confronting Nore's decision.

From the side, El suddenly interjected, raising his hand high. "Excuse me. I think we have an actual problem. I'm actually not from around here. I mean, I'm not from the upper side or even the city."

He went on to explain that he hadn't been born in Mirthwater but came from a village far away, located on the border between the Eschaton Empire and another kingdom whose name he didn't know. It was a non-aligned territory, somehow not officially recognized by either the Empire or the other kingdom.

He deliberately omitted details about his lost memories—or the fact that his village had been a war-torn region for as long as he could remember. There was also a truth that its residents had refused to acknowledge for years: they would all face death sooner or later, either from hunger, thirst, disease, or bandits.

Another thing that made it worse was that the war, for reasons unknown—though some whispered it was due to witches—had rendered the land barren, killed all crops, and turned fruit-bearing trees into sources of poison. Even the seeds that were planted all perished, unable to survive long enough to sprout.

"What? So, it means we... no, you are being dumb then?"

Sill remarked after hearing El's brief summary of who he actually was.

His gaze turned to be fixed on Nore, who appeared sullen under the others' stares. Nore had been the one to initiate the plan to kidnap El and demand a ransom from his supposed parents, and now the scrutiny was palpable.

"You were the one who was dumb. How did I even know he was from the outside? He didn't even say anything when he heard us wanting to kidnap him," Nore defended himself, pointing an accusatory finger at El. "It's this kid's fault. Why didn't you say anything before, you freaky b*stard? You must be purposely picking a fight, isn't it?"

The truth was, El felt tempted to agree with that accusation. He had, in fact, been looking forward to the confrontation, which was why he had kept silent.

However, after weighing the pros and cons, he chose to remain quiet and blinked his eyes repeatedly, allowing himself to appear as the innocent lamb, which only made Nore glare at him even more intensely.

"You…" Nore started to approach El, but Sill caught his buddy by the shoulder.

"Calm down, Nore. It's definitely your fault this time!" Sill whispered in Nore's ear. "Besides, do you really think you could even land a hit on him?"

"Tchh… anyway, you're also in on the plan!?" Nore scowled at Sill.

"It's not me who talks. It's not me who plans. It's all on you, bro. Besides, I was the very first to suggest letting him go…" Sill shrugged, gesturing with his hands to indicate he had nothing to do with the initiation of the plan and that all the blame lay with Nore.

"Maybe the kid is lying. Look at his face. I bet his family is rich…" Nore insisted.

"I don't have a family, though. The person who brought me here has been missing for a whole week now," El interjected, feeling a wave of sadness wash over him as he remembered the man who still hadn't come home.

"Uh… you're lying…"

"Alright, that's enough. By the way, what were you doing here?" This time, the girl directed the question at El.

"Ah, right. I wanted to go to the mayor's office. You were there too, right? Merriment Restaurant???" El mentioned, recalling the moment they had caught a glimpse of each other in the restaurant. He continued, "I heard the people who work at that restaurant will be executed today."

The alleyway fell into an uncomfortable stillness, their expressions turning downcast and bleak.

After a few moments of El fidgeting with guilt, the girl broke the silence, her voice cutting through the gloom. "That's about right. We wanted to go there too. Come with us."

"Is it fine?" El asked, suppressing his curiosity about how close they were to the people who worked at that restaurant, given their sudden shift in attitude upon hearing about the execution.

"Yes, it's fine. Come with us!"

"Alright," El replied, walking steadily by her side, while the others exchanged glances before following El and her.

On the other hand, Nore glared not only at El's back but also at the girl. He only managed to shake off his emotions and follow the others after Sill tapped him on the chest with the back of his hand.

"My name is Ran, by the way. What about you?" Ran said, extending her hand to El in a gesture of greeting. Contrary to her cold demeanor, she seemed quite warm in El's opinion, even without a smile on her face.

"Ah, my name is… my name is El…" El replied after a moment's hesitation. He almost blurted out the name Gabriel, but fortunately managed to hold it back. He realized he felt genuinely happy when she asked about his name, and even more so when he told Ran about it. He wondered why.

'Maybe because I didn't have a name before,' he recalled, remembering that in the village, everyone had called him only "boy." Now that he thought more about it, there was something strange about his time in the village.

Except for those who took care of him and let him sleep in their house, many others always avoided him like the plague. The uncle and aunt who took care of him at first, as well as the elders, the grandma, and grandpa who took him in later, none wanted to name him for so long. It often left him confused.

'Damn, did I do something wrong? Or am I really a plague?' El thought, feeling a wave of depression wash over him.

Yet on the outside, he managed to squeeze out a smile as he welcomed Ran's hand with a shake. He felt fortunate that the late auntie had taught him about handshakes. She had cared for him in the village like her own son from the moment he was a baby.

"Just El?" Ran inquired.

"Yes, just El. How about you? Just Ran?" El asked in return, curious about her.

"Hmmmm… I guess so…" she answered vaguely, her voice trailing off.

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