CHILD AT HEART (5)

"Why did you cut off the scene?" Lirzod fumed at the old man who just materialized beside him. "I want to know what happens to his nieces!"

"Rick's nieces are no longer our priority anymore," the old man shook his head, but Lirzod's face instantly turned into that of a pouting gorilla. "Alright, alright, I won't show you their visuals, but... I will give you some information regarding them."

Lirzod wasn't entirely pleased but still got excited. "So, what happened to them? Did they end up with their parents?" He didn't like the character of the sisters of Rick, given how poorly they treated him; however, he still pitied them when they got mistreated by the minister and were led to lead painful lives.

"By the time the Golden Guards Unit showed up, almost all the maids have disappeared from the estate, except for a handful, and Rick's nieces were among those who stayed back."

"What?" Lirzod couldn't believe the words that came out of the old man's mouth. "Stop joking."

"I'm not trying to be funny," the old man couldn't help but smile a little.

"Why would they stay back in that crappy place?" Lirzod's face contorted. "There's nothing good about it."

"That's just your opinion," the old man elegantly stroked his beard.

"C'mon, I am good at it! My opinions are always ranked high by my maids!"

The old man tilted his head, just a little. "Your maids must either respect you or fear you."

"It's neither of those!"

"It is either of those."

"Neither."

"Either."

"Neither."

The old man turned away.

"Hm-hu," Lirzod placed his arms on his waist and lifted his chin to an extent.

"As a kid, you might think that women get an easier time for being attractive, but you might not know that they also get a similar amount of a hard time because of it. That's why, behind all the superficiality of most girls, there's always greater forces at work—the desire for a better life."

"You mean, the better life in the sisters' opinion was in being maids than in being with their family?" Lirzod shook his head. "No. I don't think so."

The corners of the old man's lips curled down, but he nodded his head. "To them, it was."

Lirzod's brows bent out of shape. "It doesn't make any sense. Their families are wealthy enough. The sisters are experienced in massaging and many other practices, so they can earn enough money without much problem. Why would they not choose to live such a life?"

The old man smiled. "After working for so many years as maids, you think they can easily go back to their previous lives like nothing ever happened?"

"Well," Lirzod was startled, but he gathered his thoughts in haste. "If they are afraid of people calling them prostitutes, they can just settle in a different place. Not everybody would then know their identities, right?"

A modest smile surfaced on his face as if he seemed to have expected the question. "They weren't just any maids. They were the first-ranked maids and would know things most other maids don't."

Lirzod paused for a moment, but then his eyes widened. "You mean… If they run away, they will be hunted down?"

"Pretty much..." The old man nodded just a bit. "They and their families included."

Lirzod frowned. After a few seconds, he took a deep breath. "So, what happened to the eagle-nosed bastard?"

"He..." The old man constrained his smile. "The people of the kingdom couldn't find him after that incident. The king deployed troops, but even a thorough search throughout the entire kingdom gave them no results."

"Not even a clue?"

The old man softly shook his head. "All clues were either mistaken or misleading."

The royal court wasted lots of time over every little thing, and before they knew it, a lot of time had passed. In fact, decades had passed. And everybody forgot about the minister, including the king—the malevolent king who had gotten worse in his ways. Beforehand, the king only did dark dealings through Yizzy, but after his disappearance, he dealt with his clients using multiple such ministers.

As a result, his kingdom had become a haven for all sorts of bad things, from excessive taxes to obligated roles and forced charity works. There were many ridiculous proposals put forward and made official without even getting opinions of the people. One such proposal was that, in every family, for every generation, one male child must be made a soldier, and one female child must be made a rent girl[1]. Every family was forced to produce two children just as a sacrifice for the kingdom.

Lirzod was stupefied and felt like a ton of bricks fell upon his head. "That's just ridiculous! Didn't people stand against it?"

"Many did," The old man's head tilted down, and he sighed. "Lots of them formed groups and rebelled, but all those were made to regret through severe punishment. Most new laws the king brought forth were officialized as Commoners Service, and people had to swallow those laws as if they were like ex gratia."

"Was that service necessary to be fulfilled?" Lirzod couldn't help himself but query.

"People were held liable in case they failed to contribute."

"That..." Lirzod clenched his fist. "Those people should have suffered a lot."

"They did," The old man said, his tone not as bold as before, and his back bent a little as well.

Lirzod tilted his head downward. The memories of his clan flooded through his consciousness. Though it was not as bad a situation as of the people of the past, his clan also faced many such similar situations, and many questionable deeds were performed by the clansmen in order to survive—which also gave birth to the Masked Guards of his clan, but the difference was that in the past, the head of the kingdom itself was the enemy of the people, but when it came to his clan, it was the outsiders.

Lirzod even heard people talking about assassinating the clan heads, at times, when people of their clan were socially engineered by other bigger clans that secretly exported drug-ingested foods using proxy merchants. As a result, many lives of the Faceless Clan were spoiled for years, and nobody could tell the cause. The scourge of encapsulated drugs, food sold on streets, turned people into lifeless masses as they roamed the streets. It was Fidelis and Sinario who discovered the root cause of it and entirely stopped importing and severed their good relations with most of their allies, but still, the bigger sects, clans, and organizations continually looked for ways to control and deracinate if not decimate the smaller ones.

His clan faced many such troublesome and scary situations in the past. However, thanks to the strength and wits of the clan heads of the Faceless Clan, they survived through every situation they were forced to be involved in, at the expense of losing lives, property and such.

"What happened to the people was truly terrible," the old man took a breath and straightened his spine, "and they suffered for decades until one person showed up and put an end to it."

Lirzod was elated. "Who? It's Rick, isn't it?"

The old man calmly shook his head. "It was Yizzy."

Lirzod blinked twice. "Huh?" He was taken aback. "H-He didn't die?"

"He wouldn't appear if he had died," the old man said. "He then got the audience of the king by proving his identity, and during a court meeting, in front of many ministers, he blew a dart at the king, and as many eyes watched, a dart lodged itself into the king's throat."

Lirzod was wide-mouthed.

The soldiers, the royals, the ministers were all left stunned to the core. They didn't even understand what happened until the king's shoulders hugged the hands of his seat. As everyone looked at Yizzy in absolute shock, all they saw was a small bamboo in his hand.

"That.." Lirzod was saying, but words didn't easily come out of his mouth. "Isn't that weapon…"

"Yes. It was the same weapon that Rick used on him before. Since nobody foresaw that, they were a bit late to react. If not for that, Yizzy could have died by a rain of arrows. Before the guards took action, a certain guild made their entrance and suppressed all the ministers, and had them order the killing of the remaining royal family."

Yizzy hung the head of the king in the streets, which boosted the morale of the people like never before. Yizzy made it so that he was the only one who could sit on the empty throne. And he did. In time, he removed all the laws set by his predecessor and put forward new laws that favored the oppressed.

"Really? He's a changed man now?" Lirzod couldn't chew the fat on the old man's words. "He's definitely plotting something, right?"

The old man stood still for a moment. "His motives were unclear at the time. Instead of ruling his Lapol Kingdom all by himself, he split it into two kingdoms—North Lapol and South Lapol."

To the commoners, it appeared like he had no choice but to do that as Lapol was a giant kingdom, and there were many bigwigs who would never be willing to work under Yizzy. Many people foresaw the split of the kingdom as well. People who didn't like the new laws set by Yizzy, and people, mostly the rich folks, who liked the old laws had chosen to go to South Lapol ruled by a council of ministers, while Yizzy alone ruled the North Lapol.

Everybody thought things would calm down after the split, but new problems that nobody foresaw arose. The main problem came with trading and the inconsistent prices, which affected the commoners more than anybody else. It didn't take long before the neutral kingdoms turned into enemies. They used to live together, but then they showed no hesitation when fighting each other at their borders. It seemed like a never-ending war. Both of the kingdoms were big enough to attract the attention of neighboring kingdoms, which helped either of those.

More and more kingdoms joined in for support.

"Before people could even comprehend the scale of it—began the War of Wars. You might know it as the first Circle Collision." The old man turned his head toward Lirzod, who nodded a bit late. "Not every kingdom participated in it, but most of the major kingdoms did."

"That Eagle Nose…" Lirzod blew air through his nose. "He was the cause of all of it, wasn't he?"

The old man halted his breathing for a moment. "We can't be sure since he told nobody about it, and we don't really know his thoughts."

"But I know!" Lirzod said firmly. "He wants to be the king of the world."

The old man laughed without restraint, which surprised Lirzod.

"What?" Lirzod's voice was rather threatening. "I'm wrong?"

"Ahem," the old man adjusted his throat. "Like I said, Yizzy was a liar of many levels. He's a man of the moment. No one could get a sniff at his true goal if there even was one. Lying was like his profession, after all."

"But then," Lirzod paused for a moment. "Does that mean he lied to Rick back then as well?"

"Maybe... " the old man slightly nodded. "Probably."

"Yeah," Lirzod nodded back. "He's a wolf in sheep's clothing."

The old man chortled a bit. "The majority of the people in power are."

"I can kind of understand." Lirzod clamped the sides of his head with his palm as his brain began to heat up. "If he didn't want to be the ruler of this world, then what exactly did he want?"

"It was not known exactly what he wanted, but one thing was certain," the old man shifted his head and looked sideways at Lirzod. "He wished to make the lives of all women miserable. And he wanted to start it with his mother."

"Eh?" Lirzod was startled. "He still held a grudge against her?" He shook his head. "Wait, he should already be old enough to be called a grandpa. Would his mother even be alive—" Lirzod was about to say but paused. He remembered Blanche, an old woman of his clan. "Never mind. Women tend to live longer than men. I wonder what's the reason... Their beauty, maybe?"

"It surely is not."

Lirzod looked at the old man from top to bottom. "How old are you?"

"The first Circle Collision continued for years until a man appeared at the borders between Northern and Southern Lapol. Possessing the strength of an elephant, and the heart of a lion, he single-handedly dealt with many units and temporarily halted the war."

"Ended the war alone?" Lirzod waved his hand. "Stop joking."

"He didn't end it right away, but yes, he suspended it."

"Eh? How?" Lirzod still didn't chew the words.

"Because he wasn't ordinary," The old man's words contained a tinge of pride. "During the War of wars, he alone healed more people than all the other healers combined, both in a physical and a mental sense. Every wounded person brought to him got healed in a matter of days, regardless of the graveness of the wound. He was the first person to attach a severed limb and bring it back to its previous state, just with his spit. His methods were bizarre, but they worked, so nobody complained. Thanks to all the experience he kept gaining, his powers exponentially grew, and he used to produce even more miracles. In a matter of months, his name spread across kingdoms, and his popularity peaked when he held back a ten million army."

Lirzod gulped a breath of cold air, and his eyes enlarged to the extreme in awe. "He stopped ten million soldiers? Alone?"

"No. Not alone." The air around the old man and Lirzod blew about audibly. "He had the backing of the animals."

"Oh, so he had the backing of the animals," Lirzod's shock and excitement began to die. "That's not that special." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he turned his head away.

The old man twitched a little. "He didn't have the backing of the beasts you see nowadays but just the animals."

"Hmm?" Lirzod glanced at the old man through the corner of one of his opened eyes. "What's the difference?"

"An animal remembers your kindness. A beast, however, may not!" the old man stressed his words, for the first time, though only by a bit. "Their strength also differs on many levels."

"O-Oh..." Lirzod's heart shook for some unknown reason, and his hands loosened down subconsciously as his body turned towards the old man. "So, those two are different?" Lirzod rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. He thought that both were one and the same and never got any doubt during school days. "Now that I think about it, I might have heard or read something similar."

The old man lifted his staff.

"No, no, maybe I didn't," Lirzod replied and moved a step backward in a flash, but the old man still didn't put the staff down. "Tell me about that man. W-Why did you stop?"

The old man paused for a moment before putting the staff down. "He fought the ten million opposition with the help of the environment that rallied every wild animal in the vicinity to fight in his stead. A human commanding so many animals—it was never heard of before that. All the soldiers feared him, and so did the heads of their kingdoms. Healing miraculously was one thing. Taming animals was one thing. However, they couldn't get their heads around the fact that someone managed to take those two things to the higher levels right before their eyes. Some sent men to kill him. Some sent women to get him on their side. Regardless of how people thought of him or what happened, he joined hands with nobody but ones who took care of those below them.

"His teachings and his miracles solidified his name as a Man of God. Hundreds of thousands of people tried to become his disciples, but he rejected all of them. Still, thousands left their homes and followed him from a distance."

"He doesn't seem to care about rejecting vain requests," Lirzod began to like the guy. "Now, that makes him a worthy candidate to be Lirzod's friend."

The old man banged on Lirzod's stomach before he knew it. Lirzod howled in pain.

"Why did you hit me?" He coldly glanced at the old man, unable to control his anger anymore.

"You are at the center of the world," the old man said in a positive tone, "so my staff got pulled in toward you, that's all." His sarcastic words surprisingly took all the gas out of Lirzod.

"I get it… He's someone worthy to be friends with." Lirzod continued rubbing the top of his head, but his eyes laid on the object in the old man's hand. (That shitty staff, I will break it one day, I swear!)

"Now that's better," the old man put the staff down for a moment and clapped twice.

(There it is!) Lirzod's eyes widened, and he went for the staff.

However, just as Lirzod's hand almost touched the staff, it magically turned into leaves and appeared in the old man's hands. He stared down at Lirzod, who was looking up at him with an awkward smile. "Naive."

Lirzod closed his eyes and guarded the top of his head. A few seconds passed, but nothing happened.

"Whichever place that man visited, peace flourished," the old man's voice reached Lirzod's ears. "The number of thugs dwindled. Crime rate itself had collapsed."

"You've been referring to him as 'man.' Doesn't that 'man' have a name?" Lirzod's speech was rather satirical.

"Oh, he does have a name. It's Godrick," the old man knowingly looked at Lirzod. "Do you know him?"

Lirzod's jaw dropped instantly, and his eyes turned as round as the moon. "G-G-G..." Words didn't come out of his mouth. "G-Godrick?" He almost fell backward, and his mind totally went blank.

The old man stopped Lirzod from falling back by making a wall out of thin air. Lirzod's back touched the wall. "Easy, child."

"Wait," Lirzod swallowed his saliva and shook his head numerous times. "You mean that M-Martial Godrick? I mean, 'The Mighty Martial' Godrick, the Father of Martials! He's the one you were talking about?"

"Yes," the old man casually said.

Lirzod froze like a boulder of ice. "Godrick. God... Rick." From the thought that flashed in his mind, his eyes enlarged further. "I-Is... Is Rick, Godrick?"

The old man grinned. "Yes. Because of his strength, many people looked up at him as a god, but he always reminded them that he was a human by giving them the same reply, 'I'm not God. I'm just God's Rick.' However, the common folks changed the phrase 'God's Rick' into Godrick and made it his name. More than his real name, this new name spread throughout many nations, and there was nothing Rick could do to stop it."

Lirzod was at a loss for words and couldn't breathe or even swallow his own saliva. His heart pounded viciously, and its beatings ran recklessly in his ears. The thought had never crossed his mind that Rick was in sooth Godrick. Blood rushed to his heart, and an indescribable feeling oozed out of it and spread to all segments of his body. In school, he read many of Godrick's tales, but what he learned from the books and the old man in front of him differed by a vast margin. "Was it really him? I mean, what I've read in books doesn't come any close to what I've seen here."

"Books printed for the masses rarely reveal the truth in full, for the ones ruling the world always want to keep people as slaves directly or otherwise. As they commonly say in their circles: For there to be horsemen, there have to be workhorses. So they cook up books that have half-baked truth to divide and confuse the masses." The old man, though looked rigid for a moment ended up smiling. "It was the same with Godrick, too. Most information you find about him in the outside world is fabricated for a gazillion reasons. Anyway, coming back to where we left, he was no longer viewed as the same Rick as before."

Lirzod mechanically nodded his head.

The old man began to stroke his beard. "Though people saw his supreme healing abilities, they were clueless about how he achieved such abilities. Some thought that he spent many decades on a certain mountain and somehow acquired supernatural faculties. Some thought that God gave his blessings to him. Still, given the deeds he had performed till that moment, no rumor about him would be considered as an exaggeration.

"No matter the place he visited, locals offered him lots of wealth, but he only accepted simple things like water and food from those he helped.

"When he was in Southern Lapol, three old women came to the house he was staying at. They were his nieces."

Lirzod suddenly came out of his daze. "Nieces? Were they living in Southern Lapol?" he said but then closed his eyes. "Don't show me how they look at that age, got it?"

"I wasn't going to show you anyway," the old man said, and only then, Lirzod opened his eyes. "Godrick was happy for the arrival of his nieces, but he didn't show it on his face, or even in his actions. He knew that his nieces would come at some point, but he wasn't sure if they were sent, or if they came by their own choice. Because of that, he made them work as his assistants for an entire year. They saw every miracle he did with their own eyes. Afterward, he told them to not follow him anymore and gave them the location of a certain place. The nieces listened to his words and left his side.

"Soon after the nieces left his side, many shadows tailed those three nieces. Godrick no longer bothered about them, and instead made his way to Yizzy's castle in the Northern Lapol."

"Wait," Lirzod interrupted. "What do you mean by 'tailed'"?

"People who lusted for Godrick's power thought that he would have likely told them something important."

"That… Why did Godrick put them in such a danger?"

"He didn't exactly put them in a dangerous spot because the three nieces weren't as easy targets as you may think. Each sister experienced themselves in deadly arts, which improved drastically in the time they spent as Godrick's assistants. Unless Guard Units were dispatched, those three can't easily be seized."

"Oh, then wouldn't those people just send Guard Units after them?"

The old man's shoulders jerked a bit, and he stopped his beard-stroking. "You think Guard Units can be sent on a whim? Everybody would know when a Guard Unit was on the move. And people would inquire."

"Oh, so that's why…" Lirzod's heart began to slow down. "I should have guessed when he told them to leave. It's Godrick we are talking about after all."

"If your questioning is over then," the old man lifted his staff, and the visuals appeared in front of Lirzod.

Godrick and Yizzy were in a private room. "I let you go that day after you promised me you'd no longer bring harm to anybody," Godrick's voice was calm yet choking as he stood before Yizzy, who stood with his back against a pillar. "I knew you were associated with a guild, but I didn't know you were a puppet of that guild."

Yizzy's face was devoid of all color. His heart sped up uncontrollably, and the throbbing echoed in his ears.

"But you no longer have to worry about them because I have crippled all of the guild's members—for you."

"F-For me?" Yizzy was utterly puzzled. Though the thought that the guild members were crippled made him strangely happy, the presence of Godrick overshadowed all his positive emotions.

"Yeah," Godrick's spoke normally, but his voice penetrated deep into the deepest parts of Yizzy's heart.

"That redness in your eyes…" Sweat fought for a place on Yizzy's face. "How many days, no weeks, has it been since you last slept?"

"That's not important."

"Are you still human?"

"Don't I look like one?" Godrick stepped forward once. "I've only lost a little weight, that's all."

"W-What do you want?" Yizzy never felt such fear in a very long time. He felt like even his heart was under the control of the person who stood in front of him. Though he tried to hide it, he couldn't suppress all of it, and some of it showed on his visage.

"As the king of Lapol, and as the person who has about half of the world's kings on your side, you are worth nothing as a cadaver." Godrick lifted his hand a little, his eyes oozing out determination. "But..."

"Y-You can't kill me. I know you don't kill people."

"That may be true." Godrick pleasantly smiled. "But I can cripple you."

Yizzy felt like a ten-ton boulder of rock crashed on his head. Beads of sweat surfaced on all over Yizzy's face and body. "Y-You are right. I can be of more use alive than dead. Being crippled is equivalent to being dead. No, it's worse than being dead. Please give me another chance."

"You see," Godrick stared straight into Yizzy's eyes. "You are too cunning for your own good. However, I will give you another chance. Just one."

"T-Thank you."

"Your task is simple. You just have to unite the world without any woman getting raped and anybody under fourteen years of age getting killed. Can you do that for me?"

Yizzy said nothing, but discomfort danced through the array of expressions he made.

"Didn't you hear me?"

"I did, I did," Yizzy hurriedly replied, "but, unite? That isn't simple! Y-You think it's selling peanuts or what?"

"You got a problem?" Godrick sharpened his voice and stare.

"W-With all the restrictions you gave, it's an unimaginable task. Even without them, it's impossible," Yizzy was quick to reply. "There are still many kingdoms whose names we don't even know of yet. And let's not forget the countless islands the ancient maps show, which no one in the recent times has ever managed to step foot on. And then there are those mysterious Beyonder Kingdoms where all life goes missing. Why can't you see it? The world is just too big of a place to conquer in a lifetime."

"You can't do it?" Godrick's voice was threatening.

"I-I never said I can't," Yizzy said in haste. "I said it's impossible. But I can still try it." Though Yizzy said it out loud, his voice contained no confidence.

Godrick turned back and walked a couple of steps away. "You don't have to worry too much. I will give you some of my power."

"What?" Yizzy froze right where he stood, but his eyes showed hope. "Can it be given to others?"

Godrick said nothing.

Yizzy, however, deciphered the silence. "R-Really? Would you do that? To an enemy?" He stepped closer.

Godrick's glanced back over his shoulder, and his look resembled that of a predator. "You did terrible things, Mr. Yizzy. You brought forth a war that spoiled countless souls. I know every crooked thing you did, but I'm still giving you a chance to repent your sins."

Yizzy was taken aback in a horror-stricken face. "I will do it. I will."

After Godrick averted his eyes, Yizzy could again be at ease. He went into deep thought for a few seconds, and the end of it, his heartbeat slowed down, and he gave a cold glance at Godrick. "Why do you suddenly want to save the world? You have nothing better to do?"

"I'm not trying to save it or anything. I just want to make the world a better place," Godrick stared into the distance and was late to reply. "In this age, our world runs on greed. Most are ever hungry because of it, and they never get fully satisfied. My sisters…" he lightly clenched his fist. "Greed clouded their eyes from my love. It also kept my nieces from ever loving me. If we let it run even more, it ends up making slaves out of everyone. "

Yizzy stayed silent for a moment before speaking, "You think uniting the world eliminates greed from people? You are just being silly again. A world-wide society with no borders only makes it easy for the greedy to fool those who aren't. The predators will only have more prey to choose from."

"You may be right," Godrick still looked away, "but I'm not trying to erase borders or bring the whole world under one authority. Given the religious differences, we may never be able to establish such an authority in the world without oppression. But if we show brutality on our own people, what makes us any different from the beasts that kill their own kind? I don't want humans to live in such a world." He took a taxing breath. "I just want the racial differences gone so that the world can swallow up the violence in victory. As long as we elect capable yet compliant leaders to oversee the welfare of their localities, things should at least become much better than they are now."

"What about slavery, huh? That's the elephant in the room."

"I know, but abolishing it right away isn't practical, especially for the rich folks," replied Godrick, sounding a bit more resolute than usual. "Then again, there are no clear regulations for slaves, and that must be changed. So, for now, I just want to bring some control over the system of slavery under the sun. Then it can be degraded little by little."

"To think a human is the one who'll change the world for good… I don't know whether to be happy or sad. In any case, you really are an exception among jumbois, but not all people are as good as you, Mr. Mud Squeezer," Yizzy gathered up the courage to smirk. "Most people I know, especially those in power, have tongues that feel troubled to utter the word 'honesty,' but those same tongues can expertly bend and twist for anything that fosters their ego, swells their pride, and pleases their flesh. You may think you've found great 'humble' leaders, but they all may very well act in front of you out of fear or..." he smiled. "Because of the same greed you just spoke of."

"I'm not God to know the hearts of men in and out. I don't even know my own heart fully, so constantly worrying about what wicked things run in other's minds is pointless in my opinion. But…" Godrick glanced back at Yizzy. "If I can turn a trash like you into a decent soul, don't you think turning others would be a piece of cake?"

Yizzy forced out a chuckle. "No one ever praises me like you do."

"I wasn't praising."

"Can't you take a joke for what it is?"

"And I wasn't talking about changing every single soul in the world all by myself because trying that would be a real joke," Godrick's words made Yizzy smile faintly. "All we can do is change those souls we know or will get to know, especially the leaders of their localities, and then let them change those they know, and hopefully, the chains will continue till they touch every soul under heaven. In this way, we can efficiently reach all people regardless of their age or sex."

A few seconds of silence passed.

"I can understand children, but why women?" Yizzy couldn't hide his frustration. "They are all ungrateful, paltry tarts, every single stinking one of them, good for nothing but being vessels. Why treat them any different from cattle? Even cattle will feel insulted, for they don't have tongues that can spew out sneaky shit in seven-hundred million fucking ways!" By the time he was finished, he was briefly out of breath. "Why? Even after your sisters and nieces let you down, over and over again."

Godrick narrowed his eyes. His anger had no bark, but his gaze sent a chilling warning to Yizzy. "Women were alongside men since the dawn of humanity. Men and women are two pillars that civilizations stand on. One is nothing but a lost cause without the other."

"Two pillars? Horsefeathers!" Yizzy barked. "Don't put them on the same level as us. We are far better. We are stronger. We are heavier. And we go to war—because we are gutsier. What can they do, huh? They can't lift shit. As for war..." He spat to the side before positively glaring at Godrick. "In times of war, all women can do is hope for some familiarity in the dicks that knock on their doors. Why give—"

Godrick put his hand on Yizzy's mouth and intently spoke, "Say another witless word, and I swear I'll cut off your tongue for good."

Yizzy swallowed his own saliva in trepidation.

"If women are really as despicable as you say, then they should be ruling the world right now, but that's far from being the case, which alone is enough to prove you wrong. The problem is not with gender but hearts. Disguise and deception are everywhere, and being observant is all it takes to start seeing through things. I get that you had your share of problems with women, but blaming it all on them is the same as certifying yourself as a fool. All women aren't wicked. All women aren't weak either. Some may have a soft outside but are not necessarily the same on the inside. Every woman who's struggling to make ends meet on her own is an inspiration, a lot more than we can ever be. It's all in our eyes, and the way they see the world. To me, women are wonderful companions God created for man." Godrick said and then removed his hand. "I'm not here to convince you or even change your perspective over women. Think of my request as an opportunity. If you do what I say, then who knows, your impression over them might change. Even if it doesn't, that's okay. A broken heart can never be what it once was; it is what it is. However, I do hope you'll one day meet that one woman who'll touch your heart like no other."

Yizzy went silent. His face was tilted down, and only he knew what was running through his mind.

A few seconds later.

"What's in it for me?" Yizzy's voice contained less to no hesitation as he lifted his head.

"You probably won't end up in the Endless Plains after you die," Godrick answered in a calm manner as if the question wasn't out of his expectations.

"Endless Plains?" Yizzy's brows drew together. "The heck are those?"

"You don't even know that?" Yizzy didn't know whether to laugh or cry, for he was truly surprised. "Your life truly solidifies the saying, 'a rich man's heart is hollow.' All it cares about is that what keeps it content. I wonder how you got to your position without even some basic knowledge."

"You've roasted me enough already. Just get to the damn point. What are these Endless Plains?"

"They are what some races call hell. I'm not sure if both are one and the same, or if what I saw was the hell or the Endless Plains or something else entirely."

"Hell? Endless Plains?" Yizzy snorted. "Stop fooling around. You think I'm an infant to believe in such myths? There's no such thing as—"

"I've seen it," Godrick turned to Yizzy, and their eyes met. "I've seen the terror that countless souls were experiencing with my own eyes. Their screams are still ringing fresh in my ears." His voice was filled with gloom as he remembered how he was shaken to the bone when he witnessed the horror. "Believe me. Nobody would want to spend time there, alive or dead."

Yizzy's heartbeat increased in pace, and its pounding rang in his ears. "Hell... is real?"

"As real as death, possibly. However, let me be clear. I'm not sure if the bad people get sent to that place after their death or not, but it's true that I've seen a place of suffering that's nothing like I've ever seen before." He stressed his words, further showcasing the sincerity of his words through his unblinking, guileless gaze. "And only the description of hell we hear in stories comes close to it. To be honest, I've always thought that hell was an agenda of religion and government to control people through fear and to put them under law and bondage. But after what I've seen, I think there's more to the myths than we are told. I'm just trying to keep an open mind, so I'll eventually get to the bottom of the truth."

"All of this sounds too far-fetched. I don't believe you." Though he said that, his heart wanted to believe the opposite of it.

Godrick looked away. "I'm not forcing you to believe it. I'm also confused about all this. If death isn't the end of everything, then it probably brings about a new beginning, something beyond our expectations. What I've seen is probably a minuscule of what's to come for all of us who will go into our graves one day. You've done terrible things in your life, Mr. Yizzy. If you don't right your wrongs, I'm afraid, you may end up at that ghastly place."

Yizzy still didn't want to believe Godrick's words. "Hmph, you think I fear hell? I don't even fear heaven! Why would I fear a mere hell?" He increased his chest size. "It's true that I desire your power, but not at the cost of bearing the burden you are putting on me. Maybe that's why you've cooked up this cock-and-bull story. Even if you didn't make up all this bullshit, there's a great chance that you've probably dreamed the whole thing."

"Dream, huh." He smiled a little. "I wish I could show you what I saw, but I'm not capable of it, at least not yet. I almost died from getting a glimpse of it, and it happened on a fluke." He briefly remembered the time when he was caught up in a whirlwind of abnormal magnitude and briefly meeting a certain figure in the sky. It was a surreal experience.

"Whether hell is real or not, I don't care what happens after I die!" Yizzy barked.

"What if I told you," Godrick glanced sideways at Yizzy, "your mother might be in a place you've never been to."

Yizzy's whole conscience shook, whereas his body froze.

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[1] Rent Girl: Unlike a prostitute, a rent girl was allowed to stay at home, but was required to report at the said place on notice. A higher-ranked rent girl was paid more than a lower-ranked one and got privileges like having bodyguards and such.