Old Locket

Zeno strolled the rough pavement leading to the capital of the Herish Kingdom. He took his journey with such leisure that sometimes the time he took for a nap was longer than the hour he spent walking. Most of it, he could be found lying underneath some trees while sleeping soundly.

Mercenaries wanted to befriend him because of his attire, especially young women. They really did think that he was a nobleman out on a mission, and maybe they would find a great fortune by helping him, yet Zeno ignored all of them.

However, not all of those who had seen him were nice guys; there were people who planned to kidnap and sell him in the slave markets, but they died as soon as they approached Zeno.

'They all have this thing again,' he thought after he noticed that the three men who approached him with bad intentions were wearing a black metal ring on their forefinger.

It was an exact replica of the ring he found on the people who attacked him since he entered human territory.

'Are they in the same group? Maybe I should interrogate them before slicing them in half,' he questioned in his mind.

Several days passed, and he finally reached the final town before the capital of the Herish Kingdom.

The activities inside the place were quite busy. Mercenaries with different colored gemstones embedded in their pendants were talking and laughing with each other while merchants were selling unique products for a living.

Zeno pushed himself into the crowd to see if there were items that would pique his interest. There were daggers, shields, and swords—even scythes and gauntlets—with intricate designs and different characteristics from each other; some merchants even demonstrated the weapons' special abilities, which awed the onlookers. But to Zeno's disappointment, all of the weapons they were selling were just trash in his eyes.

It was nice and attractive for normal humans, but his standards to consider it good were exceptional due to his mastery of different kinds of weapons, he chose to wield only the best in the world of Exgreia.

He was about to leave when something caught his attention. It was an old locket. From the first glance, it had the curving of a rising phoenix and looked like the empire's insignia, but it was not. 

The phoenix on it was flying, unlike the empire's, with its wing spreading sideways. Its frame was silvery in color with black linings. Its string was a simple black lace with two jade stones as its lock.

He picked it up and asked. "How much for this?"

"That's a bonus item when you buy something from me," the female merchant said, smiling upon seeing the white-haired man; she even winked at him, but the demon didn't give a damn and was focused on the locket on his hand.

The merchant pouted her lips as soon as the man ignored her smile.

"That locket was a useless one though; even the best smith in the capital couldn't find a way to open it. I can give it to you if you really want it, but..." She blushed for a second, then she continued speaking. "Maybe you can spend some time with me in the upcoming fes—"

She didn't have time to finish her words when Zeno pulled something from his pocket and tossed it above her head. The light coming from the sun was reflected in it, giving it a shining brilliance. The woman caught it with her two hands and even bit the coin.

'It's real gold," she thought, and she jumped in joy but behaved upon seeing several eyes watching her. Then she ran to chase the white-haired man to finish her business.

"Wait, are you heading into the capital? The festival will start in a few days." She asked as soon as she held the man's arm. 

Zeno gently pushed her hand away from him and then turned to the woman. 

"What kind of festival is that?" He asked.

"For real? Are you sealed for thousands of years or something, and that's why you don't know anything about it?" She joked around to lighten the mood, but the man in front of her was not even smiling.

Then, she started to speak about the festival upon seeing the man's glare.

"It's the founding anniversary of the Herish Kingdom. The King will hold several events with unique weapons as prizes, but the main attraction is the Weaponry Duel Tournament. Almost all the mercenaries here are going to participate in that, and the winner of that event will have a chance to meet the King and choose an item from the kingdom's treasury." The woman explained while her eyes were shining, thinking of a bar of gold.

"Hmmn, still not interested, but maybe I would be able to see something amusing," he smirked.

"Then, do you want to come with us?" The merchant's question was filled with excitement, but the smile on her face faded as soon as Zeno rejected her proposal.

"No, I don't have a reason to travel with you," he objected with his coldest voice possible.

Then he turned away and left, leaving the woman standing there, deep in her thoughts, while staring at his disappearing back in the sea of people.

After she recovered from the sudden rejection, she returned to her post and saw a pair of mercenaries looking at her merchandise.

"Please, take a look; all of it has good qualities, and the prices are not that high." She did her best to smile at them.

"Thank you, but we're not here to buy something," the man with an absurd hairstyle said.

The merchant's temper rose as soon as she heard the words. 

"Then why are you here?" She asked.

"We're looking for a blacksmith; she's supposed to be in this town. Her name is Trix," the woman with pale yellow hair answered her question.

"I don't know anyone with that name living in this area; sorry, I won't be much help to you," she said while arranging her merchandise.

"There's no need to apologize, but thanks for answering our query," the man said, and they walked away from the female merchant.

A few seconds passed, and a man with a large build came. He was looking at the female merchant, and he had several weapons placed on his back.

"Hey Trix, I brought it all from your workshop like you instructed," he shouted, then a short dagger was hurled in his direction; it grazed his left cheek, and beads of sweat formed on his head. The flying weapon came from the woman, whom he called Trix. 

"What was that for?" He cried aloud.

His yell attracted the attention of Kizeler and Priscilla, who were busy asking for the whereabouts of the blacksmith they were looking for.

"You! Idiot!" The female merchant shouted with anger. 

Then the two mercenaries walked back to the first merchant they approached and smiled.

The merchant shook her head upon seeing them return to her post.

"So what do you want from me?" She asked while crossing her arms and tapping her right foot in a hurry.

. . . . .

Zeno continued his walk through the town. Like the merchant told him, a lot of mercenaries were occupying the place at this moment, and it wouldn't surprise him if their number was twice as high in the capital.

'Should I participate in their event to soothe my boredom?' He smirked while thinking about what he would do when he arrived in the city.

A man with a huge axe behind his back was watching Zeno smirking in the crowd. Upon seeing his clothes, he thought that the man had a status of nobility, but this town was their home, and weak people fed with a golden spoon were not allowed to roam in this place.

He stood up from his seat and moved in the opposite direction of Zeno, then he walked in a casual manner.

After a few seconds, his arm bumped into Zeno's shoulder, but the one who fell on the hard pavement as soon as their bodies collided was him. He didn't know how to explain what happened; he was confident that the man would be lying in the middle of the road when his arm flicked the man's body, but it was the opposite.

'It's like I hit a wall or something,' he thought while staring up at the sky. 

Several people started to look at him as he lay in the ground. Then he stood up and searched for the man; he wanted to beat him to a pulp to recover from his shame earlier. And when he spotted the white-haired man, he dashed, and he reached his large axe from behind, threw it above. Then it stopped midair and spun in the direction of Zeno; the axe landed in front of him and prevented him from walking forward.

Then Zeno turned his head to his right and glanced at the man before he turned around with his whole body.

"There's a fight! Hurry!" A mercenary shouted.

This set of actions garnered the attention of many bystanders. They stopped their activities for a moment and surrounded the two individuals.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" The crowd cheered, and their voices echoed in the town, which gathered more people.

"Holy cow! It's Ingrid. The ruby class, Ingrid!" Shouted a man upon seeing the large man.

"He led the subjugation of a whole tribe of trolls and even killed a warlord without any of his teammates dying," he added.

His remark pulled the trigger on several whispers among the people. They didn't notice at first, but upon hearing the shout, their eyes automatically searched for the nameplate hanging from the man's neck, and they saw a pure, vibrant red crystal glowing on the surface of his armor.

Then the cheers became louder, but they were soon replaced by laughter upon seeing Ingrid's opponent.

"What is a pampered young master doing here?" A voice rang, followed by the crowd's guffawing.

"Your mother is waiting for you in the mansion; your milk is ready," They continued to harass Zeno through their words.

Ingrid's confidence returned, and he clenched his fist before he shouted.

"Let's give the audience a nice remembrance before the festival starts," he laughed, then he signaled the man to come.

'No, you come at me,' Zeno thought, and just remained at his place.

"Get him, Ingrid! He's too afraid to move." The laughter from the crowd continued.

"The people are talking; I'll just go fulfill their request." Ingrid said before he sprinted in Zeno's direction.

Then the next set of actions brought extreme silence to the partying people.

In the blink of an eye, as soon as Ingrid charged to Zeno, he fell to the ground, his body to be exact, while his head remained in midair, held by the silver-haired demon.

"It's a nice remembrance, indeed." Zeno smiled and then threw Ingrid's head into the sea of people.

. . . . .