44 – Not an Option

The party at Jorge's house lasted into the night. The village streets are empty, and Elise has to help drunk Gina walk to the dormitory.

"I told you about my quiet roommate, didn't I?" Gina raved with a red face and laughed. "She's not really quiet…. She loves to talk about sex… You can read her book, which is still in my room… About sex positions… Dani actually wants to have a boyfriend, but because of me, she's focused on destroying… ."

Elise hastily covered Gina's mouth, then looked around, worried that someone would hear.

Gina then burst into tears. "Elise, the day before I chose to sleep with you to observe your outfit, Dani said she wanted to talk about a new sex theory…. As her roommate, I never tire of hearing her stories before sleep…. But now I'll never know about those new theories ...."

Gina laughed but then cried again a few seconds later. Elise didn't know how to respond to that woman.

"We have arrived," Elise said, about to open the dorm door, but Gina broke away instead.

The mage looked the other way and narrowed her eyes. "I'm going somewhere. You go in first."

Gina started walking, and miraculously her steps were steady. Elise was about to stop her, but Raymund said, "Better to follow her, Elise. Looks like she's using magic or something to lessen the effect of the alcohol on her. Maybe there's something interesting she wants to do."

Elise obeyed her master's orders. She walked the dirt roads, only helped by the dim light from the torches in front of the houses.

"Huh? You still want to follow me?" Gina's voice doesn't sound like gibberish anymore. "Ah, I guess that's fine."

The further they went, the darker the street became. The two women no longer saw the torches. Gina raised her right hand, releasing a ball of light to illuminate the road. After a while, Elise could hear something being hit in the distance, and the sound grew louder and clearer.

Then, Elise could see a torch again, this time stuck in the ground.

"Aren't you tired, Checo?" Gina asked the man who was in the practice area.

Checo stopped beating the training dummy, made of wood and a sack filled with straw.

"Do you have any other plans to destroy this place?" The man asked back.

"Hey, hey." Gina put on a bitter smile. "It's only been a few hours since we heard our oil was stolen. I haven't thought of anything yet."

Checo rubbed his face. "Sorry, I really want this to be over."

"We've all lost loved ones to those cursed drugs, Checo." Gina took a deep breath. "Just like Dani, Carlos, and the others who helped us. I understand your anger, but we have to be patient. A plan to destroy a place like this can't just come out of nowhere."

Checo gulped, then sat on the ground and leaned against the training dummy. He wiped his sweat with his hands and caught his breath. Glancing at Elise, he asked. "How about you, Elise? Like Gina said earlier, we all have reasons to destroy this place. What are your reasons?"

Startled because he was asked like that, Elise could only look down. "That…."

The female warrior couldn't continue her words.

A small chuckle escaped Checo's mouth. "If you don't want to talk, I'll tell you my reasons first."

"I'll listen too, even though I already know the story." Gina sat next to the man. "I don't want to sleep yet."

Checo heaved an unusually long breath. "Like I said before. My daughter is quite similar to you, Elise. From her appearance and even to her shy nature."

"I hope you pay attention to his story, Elise," Raymund said.

"Overall, she is a sweet child. She has no special talents but always tries her best to achieve her dream of becoming a painter." Checo closed his eyes. "Unfortunately, such a cute child has a scumbag father like me."

As the man fell silent, Elise could feel a dark aura around her. Either because of how Checo was talking just now or something else. She doesn't know.

"I don't know how often I've beaten her mother." Checo's voice began to sound hoarse. "I'm not a good father, often come home drunk, and always angry for trivial reasons. My wife always became my outlet until she finally couldn't stand it and left us."

Elise's body began to tremble hearing that story.

Checo massaged the spot in the middle of his forehead. "No one could have guessed it. Such a gentle and kind mother was able to leave her daughter to me, her terrible husband…. That incident affected my daughter mentally. She was very close to her mother…. Because of her shy nature, she had no friends to talk…. She did have friends in the end, but you could say they weren't any good…."

With one hand, Elise held her head which was slightly hurt.

"Because of her new friends, my daughter got to know the forbidden powder…. She used it as a coping mechanism for her mother's disappearance." Checo continued his story. "And I, as her father, couldn't prevent that…. The disaster came…. I remember how it felt to hug her cold body in her room…."

The man choked and then wiped his tears.

"What happened to you, Elise?" Gina raised an eyebrow.

"It's nothing." Elise was still holding her head. The muscles on her face tightened, forming an expression like she was in pain, although the dizziness in her head wasn't really that painful.

There is something that feels familiar to her in the Checo story.

"You've heard the reason those people did this, Elise." Raymund started talking again. "The question is, are you still unwilling to do anything? Are you going to let Gina fail to destroy the drug's circulation? Are you also going to let Checo can't make amends? You want them not to be able to live in peace?"

Elise froze again. Checo was about to ask the female warrior, but Gina stopped him. It seemed Gina could guess that the god was talking to Elise.

"And remember Dani's sacrifice so that her friends can still fight."

Elise folded her arms across her chest tightly like someone shivering, even though the temperature wasn't too cold.

"You know I will help you, but you still won't grant their wish. You are evil, Elise." Raymund's voice had slow intervals, but it made Elise's heartbeat go up. "It's wrong to let that cursed thing continue to circulate. It means you're letting people get addicted to it, and then they die. Yes, just like Checo and Gina's beloved people."

Elise's chin started to drop, and her eyes widened.

"I know you're still very depressed, and you want to run away, Elise. But, you have to convey my plan to Gina and Checo. Standing still isn't an option, Elise. If you still don't do anything, you will make people even more desperate and allow others to die of addiction."