"Ah..." The old man hesitated for a fraction of a second. "Miss Alicia. An exceptional specimen. However... her spirit is somewhat 'hollow'. She won't rebel, but she isn't truly alive, either."
"Bring her out."
A few minutes later, the curtain parted.
The girl walked in.
Her hair was a dark crimson, though the tips had turned stark white—a physiological symptom of immense, prolonged stress. Her skin was as pale as cracked porcelain. She wore a simple, impeccably clean gray dress.
She just stood there. Silent.
Her eyes...
I stared into those fading red irises.
There was no fear. No hope. No urge to flee.
They were the eyes of someone who had entirely surrendered to the world. The eyes of someone who felt their own existence no longer held any weight.
It was like looking into a mirror.
An Empty Human.
My heart beat one fraction slower.
A resonance.
We were two hollow vessels, crossing paths in a shop that trafficked in lives.
"How much?" I asked.
"Eighty gold coins. She is highly educated, Sir. And quite... obedient."
Eighty gold coins.
A sum that could buy a small village. An absurd price for a "broken" human being.
But inside my dimensional pouch sat hundreds of gold coins that were practically useless to me.
I didn't haggle.
I withdrew a heavy pouch from inside my coat and placed it onto the table.
"One hundred gold coins. Keep the change. Buy the rest of your stock a decent meal."
A fleeting tribute to my long-dead sympathy.
The old man's eyes widened behind his spectacles. His wife covered her mouth with a gasp.
"S-Sir... we can perform the soul-binding ritual. A magic contract to ensure she can never bring you harm."
"That won't be necessary."
I stood up.
I couldn't use contract magic anyway. Nor did I need it. If she wanted to try and kill me, she was welcome to try. It might even provide some sparse entertainment.
Besides... looking into her eyes, I knew she lacked even the energy required to hate.
I slowly peeled off my black leather gloves, tucking them into my coat pocket. My pale hands were now bare.
Many people misunderstood my condition. They assumed I absorbed everything I touched.
I didn't. Humans possessed 'valves'—their will, their very souls—that locked their life energy inside and prevented it from leaking. This was entirely different from raw, overflowing magic crystals.
Touching a human was perfectly safe for me. Touching an unshielded crystal, however, was a surefire way to ruin my wallet.
I walked up to the girl. Alicia.
She didn't bow her head. She stared blankly at my chest, not quite meeting my face.
Reaching out with a bare hand, I touched her chin, gently tilting her face upward until our eyes met.
Skin against skin. She was cold.
There was no sudden influx of drained energy. Only the faint, tragic vibration of a withering life.
"Follow me," I said coldly, letting my hand drop.
"Yes, Sir."
Her voice was entirely flat. Like a machine responding to an operator.
We stepped out of the shop together.
The damp harbor wind brushed against our faces.