Chapter 180
The neon lights of the 7th District were a blurring smear of color as I walked back through the gate. Damien Morkov was still there, leaning against the cold stone of the checkpoint. The moment I approached, he straightened up, the light from his armor dimming as he took in the hollow, haunted look in my eyes.
"Greetings, Eirene, what's with that gloomy expression? Did Nautilus give you bad news?"
I opened my mouth, the weight of the flashback, the smell of the meat shop, the name of my little sister, Evelyn, the sight of those grim soldiers, pressing against the back of my throat. I wanted to scream, to tell him that my mother's ghost was calling me from the dark of the mountains. But no words came. Only a sharp, pained breath escaped my lips.
I shoved the silver toll and my status card into his gauntleted hand. Damien looked at the card, then back at my shadowed face, sensing the shift in my aura. I wasn't just a weary traveler anymore, I was a storm waiting to break. I took my card back and walked past him without a single sound, leaving him staring after me in the silence of the military gate.
The 7th District was waking up. The casinos were humming with the clatter of dice, and the theaters were preparing their midday shows. I found the same stone bench from before and sat down, my hands trembling slightly beneath my cloak.
I looked at the vibrant, dancing lights of the district, but all I saw was the dark tunnel of a mine.
The path ahead of me had finally crystallized, cutting through the fog of my grief and the trauma in my chest. I didn't need a thousand reasons to keep breathing. I only needed two:
My goals were simple, the first goal I wanted to achieve was; every Immoral Knight, starting with Cameron Gal, would pay in blood for the fire at my brother's will.
The second goal is the Truth: I would find out exactly what happened to Linera and the unborn Evelyn in those mines. If a monster took them, I would kill it. If the Bureau betrayed them, I would burn it.
I stood up, the tremor in my hands replaced by a cold, iron-like steadiness. I didn't have the 10 gold yet, and I didn't have my brother's help, but I had a direction.
I looked toward the Grand Casino at the center of the 7th district. If I was going to the mountains to face the ghosts of my past, I needed that Crimson Trench Coat and the Leech Mask. I needed to be the monster, a monster that who harms anyone who stood in my path.
I stared down at the five silver coins in my palm. The glittering lights of the Grand Casino felt less like a promise and more like a predator's trap. If the house won, and the house always won, I wouldn't just be gearless, I'd be stranded, unable to pay the tolls to get back to the sanctuary of my home or even pass the gates to the mountains.
Gambling was for people who had something to lose. I had already lost everything once, I wouldn't let a game of dice take the little I had left.
"Eirene, instead of gambling, you should check your bounties from that book of yours, trust me, you'll earn a living." Plasma muttered
True to what Plasma had said, I'm a bounty hunter, I'm not only hunting Cameron Gal, instead my job is to hunt wanted fugitives and criminals that was scattered at Andromeda. That is the reason why I pulled this job in the first place, to make the world a better place without criminals.
"Good idea, Plasma" I thought
Instead of risking my savings in the casino, I would continue my job as a bounty hunter.
I snapped my purse shut and pulled the Registry of the Condemned from the folds of my cloak. The heavy parchment crinkled as I flipped past the high-profile political targets and the blurred, haunting face of Cameron Gal. My fingers traced the ink until I found a page that shimmered with the golden border of an S-rank threat.
[Bounty: Oksana Petrivna]
Rank: S
Reward: 4 gold coins
Profile: An Elf with striking strawberry-pink hair and eyes like polished jade.
Crimes: Primary architect of the "Lotus-Dust" drug trafficking ring. Her operations have crippled the youth of three provinces.
Last Spotted: The outskirts of Sisiphon City, the City of Scholarship, located to the west of Caria.
Four gold. It wasn't the full ten I needed, but it was a massive step toward that Crimson Trench Coat.
Sisiphon was the polar opposite of Caria. Where Caria was a fortress of steel and knights, Sisiphon was a sprawling ivory tower of mages, researchers, and ancient libraries. For an Elf like Oksana to operate there, she must be blending into the academic elite or hiding in the vast, subterranean alchemy labs that the scholars ignored.
I closed the book. The Western Gate was a long walk from the 7th District, but the path was clear. If I could take down Oksana, I would have the funds for the mask and a significant portion of the robe. Plus, Sisiphon was famous for its neutral ground, I could move there without the constant shadow of the Shadow Walker or the Bureau hanging over me.
I stood up, adjusting my cloak to hide the itch of my wings. I wouldn't be going to the mines today. I needed to be stronger, better equipped, and faster before I stepped into the darkness where Linera died.
I headed toward the district exit, my mind already calculating the distance to the Western Gate. Oksana Petrivna didn't know it yet, but the bounty hunter was coming to collect her head for a new wardrobe.
"My hunt for Oksana will just began and her drug empire will soon collapse." I thought