Chapter 36: Daylight Robbery
"What the byss?!" Gia’s eyes widened in a mix of disbelief, intense annoyance, and immense sorrow.
All of a sudden, it felt like the boy in front of her was scamming her.
The Pocket Watch of Second Chances was a tier-five red artifact that could rewind time by a few seconds. She had gone through a lot and had paid almost 5,000 crowns for it.
The artifact could only be used three times, and when she bought it, it had already been used once.
Early last year, she had used it to escape a troublesome situation, which meant only one charge remained.
This was her failsafe and one of her Plan Bs when things went catastrophically wrong. And now, she was supposed to hand it over to a dude she had just met?
’Dogshit!’
Come to think of it, she didn’t even trust the guy.
’This dude gives me really bad vibes. The only reason I’m even still sitting here despite my growing urge to strangle him is because the Living Convenience directed me to meet him if I wanted to survive, and that artifact has never been wrong. Which means he really is my ticket to surviving whatever event is coming.’ Gia gritted her teeth and a vein popped in the side of her head.
After a few tense moments, she forced out, "How do you know about that artifact?"
Dante slowly raised his hand and tapped the frame of his glasses twice with his index finger. "These glasses are called the Spectacles of Truth," he said in a calm, matter-of-fact voice. "One of their functions allows me to perceive the outline and nature of some of the artifacts a person has. After looking at you, I saw that pocket watch and developed a liking for it."
Of course, that second part was a lie, but a wise woman had once told him to live shamelessly.
Meanwhile, Gia was now literally breathing hot air.
’What manner of greed is this?’ she thought inwardly before asking aloud. "D-do you really need to do this?"
Dante nodded without a hint of hesitation.
"I went through a lot to gain my information. I’m not giving it to you for free. You want to survive, don’t you? Is some artifact worth more than your life? I don’t even know you, and you already want me to piggyback you. Tsk. Tsk."
It was quiet between them for a few seconds before Gia exhaled loudly and scratched her hair in frustration.
’Well, the artifact lets me rewind time to save myself. Giving it up for a partnership that will save my life seems like a fair trade. If I look at it that way, the loss is a bit more bearable. Oh, my dear Pocket Watch of Second Chances... I’m going to miss you so very much.’ Tears had almost begun to well in Gia’s eyes.
She bit her lip before finally exhaling. "Fine. I’ll give it to you."
She reached into her pocket and took out the artifact. It looked like a normal old pocket watch, except that the button on top was noticeably larger than normal.
Upon seeing the artifact, Dante’s eyes glinted with passion, and he could feel an immense greed rise from the deepest depths of his soul. He couldn’t help but lick his lips imperceptibly.
Gia extended her hand hesitantly, but when Dante reached for it, she retracted it slightly, almost as if she couldn’t bring herself to part with it.
Seeing that, Dante reached out and forcefully snatched the thing from her hand. "Give it to me already!"
’This is daylight robbery!’ Gia frowned. ’Urgh... I hate this guy! I hate him so much already!’
She leaned back and sighed as she watched him slip the watch deep into his inner coat pocket.
After a few seconds, she gritted her teeth. "Can I ask you a question?"
Dante nodded with the polite grace of a saint and gestured. "Of course, please go ahead."
’Why is his behavior so contradictory?’ Her lips twitched before she asked, "What tier are you? Wait, why can’t I see your tier? Are you using some artifact?"
Dante’s expression did not change, but he didn’t answer, either.
When Gia made a subtle motion to show she was still waiting for a response, Dante offered a thin, polite smile. "You asked if you could ask a question and I told you to go ahead. I never said I was going to answer you, dear Gia."
She frowned.
Dante prepared to leave. "Anyway, the event shouldn’t happen this week at least, and you shouldn’t die unless you manage to choke on your own tea before then. I still need to gather some more information, so I’ll invite you out sometime next week."
’In the meantime, stay far away from me.’ Before Gia could even protest, he stood up, adjusting his coat, then gave a polite nod. "Have a wonderful afternoon, Gia."
***
Lower District in the Imperial Capital of Florentia...
Tenement Quarters.
——
Life was different on this side of the capital.
With winter slowly coming to an end, the cobblestones were slick and wet, filled with scattered debris.
The tenements, which rose up for four to six stories, were stained with soot and vivid aerosol scrawls, while clothes hung from lines stretched overhead, connecting one building to another like muted banners.
Even though there were no automobiles on this side of the capital, it was still noisy with the clatter of wooden carts and the shouting of street vendors.
Amidst this sea of weary laborers and children playing, one particular woman, dressed in a hooded cloak, walked quickly towards one of the narrow alleys.
From the way she kept pulling her hood lower, it was obvious that she was trying to hide her striking, noble features. However, if one paid attention to her fair, unblemished skin and piercing blue eyes, they would be able to instantly tell that this woman was from the Central or maybe even the Upper District.
After winding through the labyrinth of damp passageways, Lucia finally stepped off the street directly into a narrow ground-floor entryway.
The ground floor was a public laundry with steamy basins, copper tubs, and women wringing out heavy linen. Without slowing, Lucia made her way to an iron staircase that led up to the third floor, which was a residential unit.
Upon reaching apartment four, she knocked and waited a few seconds, listening as the faint creak of floorboards approached the door.
A woman in her forties with graying hair tucked under a worn headscarf opened the door. She glanced down the empty corridor, lowered her head, and whispered, "Welcome back, Signora."
"How is he, Martha?" Lucia asked as she hurriedly invited herself into the room.
"The same as always," Martha replied, lowering her gaze, and her expression was heavy with helpless worry.
The room was small, lit only by a single gas lamp that cast long shadows across the peeling wallpaper and drafty floorboards. On the bed, a young boy of barely seven years lay resting.
He was handsome, with short dark hair, blue eyes, and fair skin that bore a striking resemblance to Lucia. Despite the poverty of their surroundings, he was meticulously kept, dressed in clean, neatly pressed clothes that looked far too fine for the tenement quarter.
The boy’s empty eyes were wide open, fixed entirely on the small wooden table beside the bed. More specifically, his gaze was locked on a small glass jar containing a black spider. The creature continuously scrambled against the glass, trying to crawl toward the boy, while he muttered low, incoherent gibberish as if calling out to it.
"Oh, Gabriel, mother is here," Lucia said softly, hurrying over to the bedside. She gathered his face in her hands, gently turning his head away from the jar so he was forced to look at her.
She kept whispering gentle words, stroking his hair and trying to draw a reaction from him. However, the boy did not seem to hear her. His eyes remained blank, straining to look back toward the glass container in that unsettling, trance-like state.
"His condition has grown worse these past few days, and he keeps trying to get to the spider," Martha said, in a low, somber tone. "Just a few days ago, he even managed to reach his hand toward the glass. Thank the Goddess I was nearby to stop him."
Lucia, her eyes glistening with tears, slowly looked away from her son and met the older woman’s gaze. Her lip quivered. "Good. No matter what happens, you cannot let him touch that spider. But you must also ensure no harm comes to it, or else..." She turned back to the boy, and her voice dropped to a whisper. "...my baby boy will die."
Tears now streamed down her cheeks, catching the pale gaslight.
After a long moment, she bent down and kissed Gabriel’s cool forehead. As she pulled back, she wiped her face with a gloved hand and took a deep, steadying breath. "Just wait a little longer, Gabriel. Just a few more weeks and you will be fine."