3 Chapter 3: Underworld Knight [Edited]

"Another day without a customer," Azrael sighed as he put down the book he was reading and took a sip of tea.

Getting up from his seat, Azrael walked towards a particular bookshelf, placed the book he was reading earlier inside, and picked up another book beside it.

He then sat back down in the chair, continuing to read and waiting for a new customer.

Suddenly, Azrael heard the door open.

"He finally came back!" he thought, setting down the book and looking at the customer.

He was expecting it to be Rayleigh, as today was the deadline for the book had borrowed.

"Finally, I've been waiting for you," Azrael said with a smile.

But the person who entered the store wasn't Rayleigh; it was a woman.

This was the first female customer he had. The woman had a beautiful face and green hair, which would make her a top model on Azrael's former planet.

Amelia's body immediately tensed up when she heard Azrael say that he had been waiting for her.

'Is he a member of CP?' she thought, looking at Azrael with fierce eyes. Her body was tense, and she was ready to run away from there if she felt threatened by the man in front of her.

'This woman looks fierce. Did she have a bad day today?' Azrael thought. He could see that Amelia was really in a bad mood as she looked at him fiercely.

'*Gulp* Did she have a broken heart too?' Azrael wondered as he made another tea, this time for the woman in front of him.

'I should give her that too! It will really help her with her relationship,' Azrael thought as he placed the tea on the table.

"Come and sit down," Azrael said with a gesture as he sat down on the chair.

Amelia looked at Azrael for a second and couldn't sense any threat from him. She immediately sat down on the chair.

"I know your problem right now, and I have a something that I think will really help you," Azrael said.

"How did you know about my situation?" Amelia asked, her tone was clearly nervous.

'It seems I'm right... Poor woman. Even though she's heartbroken, she still pretends to be a strong woman on the outside but is sad inside,' Azrael said with a sigh. In many years of judging people, he had already seen many people similar to this woman.

Amelia couldn't help but tense in this situation. It seems that this owner knows what going on outside and had been watching her for time now.

Her mind is filled with questions: Why is this guy waiting for her? Is he part of the World Government?

She looks at the man in front of her. He appears to be a normal person, but this owner must be hiding his identify.

"What's your name, miss?" Azrael asked.

"Am- Aminda," Amelia gives a fake name. As a trained soldier of the Revolutionary Army, revealing her real name to someone is foolish.

"Miss Aminda sounds like a great name. My name is Azrael, the owner of this bookstore," Azrael introduces himself.

"Regarding your situation right now, I know it's painful to leave someone, but you have to move on and continue with your life," Azrael says sympathetically.

'Sigh... It must be difficult to go through a breakup after being with someone for years,' Azrael thought.

'Does Mr. Azrael want me to leave Jane and those slaves?' Amelia wonders.

"I know I can't come back with my current self, but I still want to. Can you help me?" Amelia asks.

'She still loves that person even after they hurt her heart? What a lucky guy,' Azrael thought.

"Yes, I can think of a book that will help you with your current situation," Azrael says, contemplating a certain book.

'How can a book boost my strength? I guess I'll have to wait and see what it is,' Amelia thought.

Azrael gets up from his chair and walks towards the door leading to the library.

The inside of the library is massive, there's hundreds if not thousands of bookshelves inside.

Azrael looks in a particular direction and heads towards it.

He intends to let Aminda (Amelia) borrow a book he had read before, although he didn't finish it, since it wasn't necessary for someone like him. Aminda, However, definitely needs it.

Azrael stopped at a specific bookshelf and starts examining each book one by one.

'Ahh! This one!' Azrael Thought, finally finding the book.

The book's title is "Life Goes On." It's about moving on from someone you loved before. Azrael had stopped reading it earlier when he realized he didn't need it, having never been in a relationship.

Azrael took the book from its place and walks back towards the library's exit.

As he steps out of the library, he immediately notices Aminda taking a sip of tea, and appearing surprised by its taste.

Azrael walks closer to his table and places the book on it.

'Even though I haven't finished this book, I'm sure it will really help her. What a great owner I am,' Azrael Thought proudly.

'This... This is the creation of a devil! What kind of monster created this?' Amelia nervously questions.

The book Azrael places on the table is called "Thousand Faces," adorned with many small faces with lifeless eyes.

Amelia looks at Azrael and starts sensing an evil aura emanating from him.

"What is the price for this book?" Amelia asks nervously.

'I shouldn't sell it to someone who's going through a hard time,' Azrael Thought.

"I'll let you borrow it for now," Azrael says as he retrieves a paper from under his table.

'Phew~ I thought it would cost me my soul,' Amelia Thought.

Amelia then leaves the store with the book.

...

Amelia walks outside the bookstore.

While walking, she suddenly noticed an old man heading in the direction of the bookstore.

She decided to ignore the old man, not wanting to raise any suspicion.

As they pass each other, Amelia suddenly feels a threatening aura emanating from the old man.

"So you got a book too..." the old man said, but he immediately turns around and walks away.

'What was that?' Amelia Thought nervously.

Earlier, she felt her body freezing from instinct and couldn't move when the old man approached her.

'Is he a customer too? Or is he a subordinate of the owner? I really need to inform HQ about this mysterious owner,' Amelia Thought as she continues walking.

...

Azrael is sitting in his chair, reading a book.

'I hope that book will help Aminda in her situation,' Azrael Thought.

As he contemplates, the door of his bookstore suddenly opens and an old man enters.

Azrael looks up to see who it is and realizes it's the man who borrowed a book two days ago.

"Ohh, it's Mr. Rayleigh," Azrael says.

He can see that Rayleigh is different from before; it seems that the book he lent him had an impact.

"Are you returning the book?" Azrael asked.

"Yes, I've already finished reading it," Rayleigh replied.

Indeed, he finished the book in just two days. He doesn't know why, but he couldn't stop reading it. If it weren't for his strong body, he would have surely collapsed since he hadn't slept for two consecutive days.

Rayleigh walks over to a chair and sits down. He then took out the book he borrowed two days ago and places it on the table.

"Has the book really changed you, Mr. Rayleigh?" Azrael asked as he places a cup of tea in front of Rayleigh.

Rayleigh smiles in response to Azrael's question.

...

Days before..

The book he read was about a certain demon, a demonic being that destroys planets. While reading, he didn't notice that he was reading the book nonstop.

He only stopped when he finished the book, but it didn't end there. Suddenly, he found himself transported to the very place described in the book.

It was the place where the monstrous entity that frightened him resided. That's when he realized that the monster within the book was standing right in front of him.

Similar to what happened when he first obtained the book, the monster once again expelled him by striking him with one of its tentacles.

Upon leaving the place, he felt a new energy coursing through him. His strength began to return, and his white hair gradually turned black.

- [ End of Flashback ] -

'I guess I'll have my first regular customer starting today,' Azrael proudly Thought.

He also notices the changes in Rayleigh. Rayleigh seems to have abstained from drinking in the past two days, which is a good sign as it indicates that the book Azrael lent him is truly helping.

"Thank you for this book, Mr...." Rayleigh says, his tone is hinting.

"I forgot to introduce myself when we first met. My name is Azrael, a normal bookstore owner," Azrael says.

'It seems that he doesn't want to reveal his true identity, which is understandable for someone like him. He must be a retired legendary figure from hundreds of years ago,' Rayleigh Thought.

Rayleigh suddenly remembers something from his time as a pirate.

During one of their visits to an island, they discovered a stone known as a poneglyph. They had Kozuki Oden read those stones, and he translated them. One of the poneglyphs mentioned the "Hidden King," although they didn't know anything more beyond that.

Rayleigh speculates that Azrael may be an individual from centuries ago, considering the book he lended him alone was capable of rejuvenating him using the monstrous creature within its pages.

'This book is alone dangerous for the world to know this but there's so many books in this place. This is really dangerous if someone know about it, it can lead into chaos, and if this owner peaceful life here is involved he might release all the monster pet that he had' Rayleigh started getting nervous just by thinking about it.

"Here, have some tea, Mr. Rayleigh," Azrael said, placing a cup of tea in front of Rayleigh.

"Thanks." Although Rayleigh is new to this kind of drink, he is starting to like it.

"Are you going to borrow another book?" Azrael asked.

"Yes, if I can," Rayleigh said.

Though he didn't really think of getting another book, as he didn't want Azrael to think he was using his godly books to get stronger.

'Hoho... it seems that I will really be getting a regular customer today!' Azrael thought.

"You can borrow any book you want," Azrael said with a mysterious smile, which is interpreted wrongly by Rayleigh.

'What? So he's letting me get stronger? This man... What is he planning?' Rayleigh started wondering.

Rayleigh noticed a book close to Azrael. It was named "The Underworld Knight" and the book gived off an aura of depressing, making him afraid to touch it.

Azrael noticed that Rayleigh was looking at the book he was reading. 'Is this man interested in 'The Princess Knight'? Well, that is certainly weird for his age.'

"I'm reading this book right now. If you want, I can get you a copy," Azrael said.

'Is he reading something like this and still looks normal?' Rayleigh questioned.

Just the book "Demon Inside" alone is a nightmare for him, so what about this owner who has already read many books in his place?

"Can I borrow a copy of that book?" Rayleigh asked, his eyes shined.

'Is he going to read this to his daughter? I thought he was left by his wife with their daughter? Ahh! Right, you can still visit your child even if you didn't win the child custody battle! What a good man,' Azrael thought, feeling pity for Rayleigh.

"Wait here. I'll get a copy of it," Azrael said as he got up from the chair and walked towards a certain bookshelf.

Azrael then pulled a copy of "The Princess Knight" from the bookshelf.

Azrael then placed it in front of Rayleigh.

"Thank you for letting me read such a book," Rayleigh said as he grabbed the book.

Immediately after touching the book, Rayleigh was suddenly transported to a different place.

'Where am I now?' Rayleigh questioned.

Rayleigh notice, there were no monsters in front of him, but he was in a different land.

The land was full of blood, and many women were hanging dead on the trees.

'Hmm, this is so evil,' Rayleigh thought as he continued to watch.

Rayleigh noticed one of the hanged women suddenly drop something... a baby.

'This, what is this?' Rayleigh immediately came towards the baby, which was covered in blood. He planned to help the baby, as nothing seemed to come and help it.

But sadly, he couldn't touch the baby, as his hand just passed through it.

After seconds of trying, Rayleigh realized that no matter what, he couldn't touch the baby. This was just a story from a weird book from that mysterious owner.

Rayleigh continued to watch and noticed a horse pulling something with many people inside it.

The people stopped at the baby and grabbed it.

Rayleigh continued to watch the baby grow day by day.

The baby's name was Guts, and he was taken care of by a woman named Shisu.

But sadly, when Guts was three years old, the woman passed away from an unknown disease, which Rayleigh didn't know, as he wasn't from this world.

Rayleigh saw Guts watching his motherly figure dying in front of him.

Years later...

Guts was now a strong boy, he continued to practice for years under a man named Gambino.

Guts joined a group under Gambino, but Rayleigh saw something he didn't think he would see in his life.

He saw Guts being forced, which was really sad, even for a former pirate like him.

But unexpectedly, to Rayleigh, Guts killed the man who forced him.

____________

A/N: I decided to change some word that i think is really uncomfortable to read.

Ps: I noticed that when i edit a chapter, paragraph comments got deleted. Sorry about that.