CHAPTER 97: EMPHASIZING ON EVERYTHING

We had a few (lie) more drinks, practically exhausting the foreign girl to her last bit of strength, it’s mostly beer but she... For some reason, was giving us new mugs every time instead of just pouring it into the same mug after we’re done, as if we’re gonna be infected or something by our own spit. But, I didn’t correct her, because seeing a girl struggle was something that made my day.

"So," Gimsen said after a long pull of his beer, "What’s your story with the great New Destiny so far?"

I scratched at my temple and laughed bitterly.

"Oh boy, where do I even start? Hey sweetie, pour me another one!" I slid my mug over to the girl behind the bar.

"Start with the raid," he urged, leaning in. "That’s what the lads keep mentioning."

"Alright, so, it was third raid, right? Third raid of the Titan of Ashen Bark."

"Third raid, alright." He nodded.

"I was going to go alone as per usual, that’s when I run into Pearl and Olga. Things went to shit fast, I mean, reallllll fast, actually, I’ve been meaning to ask Eirlys about it... Oh god I forgot... Anyways, then I saved their asses, all 30-ish members in the third raid by becoming a beast and absolutely fucked every summoned there, though, god bless the tank that died, whoever she is. So Olga invited me for trial membership, one week, classic Destiny tradition, right? You invented that"

"Aye," he said with a nostalgic chuckle. "That was always our thing. One week to prove yourself and for us to see what kind of man you are, I would have a good friend who has a knack for judging people ya see."

"Uh huh... So anyways, I brought Hailie along because, babysitter gotta improvise, ya know what I’m sayin’. Then she got invited to a small dungeon assault... They’ve got eight in the party, she’s nine, I stayed behind."

I sighed as I told the last part, "And then... Olga snaps. Just... Murdered seven of them dead in a blink, and Hailie’s..."

I looked around, making sure no one’s listening, not even the bartender.

"Nepotism, invulnerability..." I then returned to my normal voice, "So... Yep, she’s alive."

"So I’ve heard..." Gimsen took a large glug.

"Yeah, that was a wild ass day." I repeated flatly, lifting my mug to show him just how serious I was. "Court trial, drama, accusations flying everywhere, blah blah blah. You know the rest."

He sat back, rubbing at his forehead like he was trying to piece a puzzle together.

"That’s what confusing me... Even though we were in different guilds back in PC, I spoke with Olga before. She was one fine honorable woman, level-headed. She’d never do something like that without damn good reason."

I shrugged. "I think she’s nice too."

Silence fell for a moment as we both nursed our drinks. Then he brought up something and asked,

"Did ye at least get your 2000 gold from?"

"Oh yeah..."

I fumbled my fingers through my menu, squinting through the bleariness of alcohol.

"I was at... what, eight-sixty-three gold? Oh shit... now it’s 2683... Huh, guess somebody up top’s doing their job. A government that’s actually reliable?"

"Good," Gimsen grunted, satisfied.

I slumped over the table as my stomach’s full, then raised my head again.

"Say, who are these twins anyway? Pearl and Mei? Never heard of them before, were they Destiny or Omnitetris?"

"Never heard those names myself," he admitted, shaking his head. "Not in PC version, at least... I talked with Olga and she didn’t know ’em either."

"So who’s the new guild leader?"

"The old leader of Omnitetris," Gimsen said, plain and simple.

I blinked, staring at him like he’d just told me the world was flat.

"Wait, so the leader and second-in-command (Olga) of New Destiny are both ex-Omnitetris? Why even call it New Destiny then? Should’ve been New Omnitetris."

"Maybe the name sounded better," he muttered into his mug, chuckling amusingly like it didn’t matter.

In fact... New Destiny does sound more reasonable than New Omnitetris

"Blerrrrrrrrrrrg" I let out a groan and slammed my face down against the wooden table. "This is too much, my brain’s melting... Burp."

"Lass," Gimsen said slowly, almost cautiously, "A few minutes ago before I came, I saw that you were real sad, drinking your problems away. I say, you want to tell me about it?"

"... You saw?" I whispered.

"I know that look from a mile away, lass."

His voice cut through me and I found my lips quivered. My nose burned up... And then it hit me all at once.

"It’s... It’s this girl... A maid in the Sonder’s mansion that were supposed to tend after me..."

"I’m listenin’"

"She... She... She..."

Before I could let out more words, I started breaking down ugly.

Snot, tears, saliva, all came out. My face was pressed against the sticky wood, the poor bartender gawking like she’d seen a car crash, not knowing what to do.

"Give us some space, ya kind." Gimsen told her firmly. "I’ll clean it up later."

She nodded and scurried off, leaving me to shiver and sob into my arms.

"I need to tell you..." I croaked.

"Take your time," he said gently.

"It’s Anshur, her name’s Anshur," I whispered, wiping my face, but when my hand’s all sticky, I just rub it on the bar.

Gimsen stayed silence.

"When we first met, she tricked me. She told me... She let me lean against the music room door, then shoved me in and acted like it was all innocent." My nails dug into the table as I spat the words. "Later that night, she choked me in my bed... Then the next day, she pretended I hurt her so Eirlys would scold me, and then... then she..." My chest hitched. "It’s horrible... She did it over and over all night, I can’t... I can still feel it even in game... I could still feel my throat screaming for help but no one came..."

My voice cracked and my windpipe closed up, and I couldn’t say more.

"I fear that if I log out right now... I would see her in front of my pod... Can I just live in here forever? Where everyone’s in my control?"

As promised, Gimsen said nothing, not a sound, not even a grunt. He just sat there, speechless, eyes dark, hand hovering like he wanted to reach for me but didn’t know if he should.

So I made the choice for him. I collapsed against his shoulder, burying my face into his tunic, shaking and broken.

"What did I do to deserve this?"