NABC Luck–Unluck (2)
Luck–Unluck (2)
Meanwhile in the river sand of flawless time, something similar happened to Esdeath as well, but unlike Ethan, she was watching the other part of story with someone else's perspective.The surroundings around her changed, although Esdeath was quite used to it, since she had met Jeanne in the white void very similar to it. The transition was smooth, almost natural to her now.
Soon enough, she found herself standing in the outskirts of a large village, near the shore of a river. The same thing happened—an ethereal voice of a woman came, as she spoke, "A charming night of full moon, accompanied by countless stars... In the blue sky, two shooting stars falling down~,"
"With two stars, came us, the two sisters~," the voice continued, echoing in her mind with a strange familiarity.
And as she looked up, two stars were actually falling down from the sky. Its energy shimmering as if painting the sky with its heat, leaving trails of light.
Time passes as Esdeath watches the twin sister taken in by village chief and raised by him with proper care. .
Time passes by, they had already turned around six to seven years old. Right now, Esdeath watched as an annual festival was going on. The village was alive with activity, colors and sounds filling the air.
Alaxmi was wondering around alone, enjoying the day because her sister was with village chief. Actually, she heard rumors that yesterday, her foster father, the village chief, won quite the sum in gambling because of Laxmi's unnatural luck.
At first, she had thought it was just rumor, since village chief had habit of gambling, so it was natural for him to win something big one day that might seem unreal.
But after meeting village chief, she got to know that it wasn't a coincidence and what almost half of village was talking about was actually true.
That's why today too, village chief had taken Laxmi with him, since today was once in a year festival. There were even more gambling dens and even more things to win.
Only if those shopkeepers get fed up with Laxmi's unnatural luck and eventually ban her from gambling.
Esdeath wondered around the Alaxmi as she traveled around the festival. No one could see her, and she could pass through walls and people like she was a hologram.
As Alaxmi enjoyed the festival, without being a bit bothered that her twin sister was getting special attention, But Esdeath noticed something familiar and eerie. A sense of déjà vu washed over her.
There was something very similar to a sumo ground where instead of sumo, two people were having a contest of rock paper scissors. The game was simple yet brutal in its own way.
Whoever won had the right to slap the other person hard and vice versa. It would eventually go on until one person falls to ground or accept defeat. The crowd cheered with each slap, their faces alight with excitement.
And then there was a 'Ghost house' for fun purpose. There were many sections where villagers can enter after buying a ticket and explore while the fake human ghosts would try their best to scare them to their wits.
Most popular one was the 'Quiet library' section, where one had to be quiet and don't make any noise. If they do, the bell will ring and several cosplay ghosts would run towards them, beating them with soft plushy rods until they ran out of the library.
Of course it was kinda cringe, but it was quite popular between young kids, so parents had no choice but to buy tickets for them.
"Isn't it quite similar to the illusory inheritance?" Esdeath thought to herself, her mind racing as connections formed.
The slapping sumo game, and the library where everyone had to be quiet. It was the two stages of the illusory inheritance that she went through.
As she was pondering, her suspicion turned into certainty when Alaxmi entered the 'tunnel of evil.'
Of course, it wasn't exactly 'tunnel of evil' but actually a normal tunnel below the village. It had yet to become 'tunnel of evil' of the illusory inheritance.
Alaxmi has come here while helping Uncle Bren deliver vegetables and fruits inside. Her small hands gripped the basket handle, her steps light and purposeful despite the weight.
Of course she was not alone, some other village children were with her, each carrying a small basket of either fruit or vegetable. Their chatter filled the tunnel, echoing off the stone walls.
Esdeath followed them, and just like she had expected, the interior was definitely as it is. Only difference was that it was too lively.
People were going in and out, many piles of vegetables, fruits, spices, and many other things were already put there. There were some guards as well, their presence reassuring rather than threatening.
Since the tunnel also acted as the fastest route between the whole village if one has to take some goods from opposite corners. It was a vital artery of the village.
"Uncle Bren... why is there a tunnel below our village? Does all village have them?" Alaxmi asked with a subtle smile, her curiosity genuine.
Bren smiled lightly replying, "No, only some of them have. This village rests in outer settlements, so once in few years, some wars break out, especially civil wars and we are most likely to get affected. And even monster attacks happen. The tunnel acts as hidden route, as well as a large storage for village and guards. People can hide well here as well," he explained despite knowing Alaxmi was just a kid, so some half-assed answer would've been fine as well.
Time passes by, the rumors of Laxmi's unnatural luck grew more and more. People started to take her to their shops, house or made her say few encouraging words for them, so that their luck get enhanced. The village's fortune seemed to rise with her fame.
Because of this, Alaxmi was starting to spend less and less time with Laxmi. The distance between them was growing more and more, an invisible wall rising between sisters.
She was getting sidelined. Still she wasn't getting jealous or anything, she just felt a bit lonely.
Especially right now that village chief was also very ill and his condition was slowly getting worse in these days. The man who had taken them in, who had been a father to them, was fading away.
As she was sitting by the ficus tree, resting her cheek on her palm, thinking about village chief's condition, one of her friends came running towards her.
He was just a year or two older than her, thus more tall in height as well.
"Alaxmi, Village chief and everyone is waiting for you," he said, his voice breathless.
"Why? What happened?" she asks, her heart sinking with dread.
"You know chief's condition right? Now even Apothecary have finally given up. He said, chief is quite old with unhealthy routine, just medicine won't do, he also needs luck," he replied, his words hanging in the air.
And then with a pause, he added with a bit heavy voice, "You know what it means right? 'Luck.' So all you need to do is personally feed the medicine to chief,"
"Why me? Why not my sister?" Alaxmi questioned, her confusion evident.
"The city lord has invited her to attend banquet, there's still a week of time till she comes back. Who knows his health would grow much worse by then. Besides you are sisters, everyone is sure something will work out," he replies, his eyes pleading.
Alaxmi was silent for a few seconds and then nodded and went with him. Her steps were heavy, burdened by the weight of expectations.
That day, Alaxmi fed medicines to chief with her own hands and let him rest.
The evening came and gone and night loomed in and soon it was already morning.
Many were ready to meet and ask about chief's health. If he would been feeling better than it only meant both sisters have the unnatural luck. Which only benefit the village further.
But in the morning, everyone went in absolute shock when they found out that village chief was dead.
Just like that.
His condition were growing worse but not enough that he would die overnight. The suddenness of it was jarring, inexplicable.
And so, Alaxmi's bad days started as her rumors of being bad luck swept through the village. Whispers turned to accusations, suspicion to certainty in the minds of the villagers.
People started avoiding her on purpose, parents didn't let their kids play with her, discrimination started as well and Alaxmi started to realize it as well.
But one brave day, a shopkeeper approached her with fearless heart. His eyes were kind, his smile genuine.
"I don't believe in rumors, I know that death was just an eerie coincidence. How about you stay at my grocery shop and show them?" he offered, his voice warm with conviction.
Alaxmi happily took his invitation but the results were not even close to satisfactory.
Nothing happened while she was there but after that day, rats ate his rations stored underground.
Lightning fell upon his shop, causing a huge fire. The blaze consumed everything he had worked for, leaving only ashes behind.
His wife cheated on him.
He himself lost a limb because he bumped into a predator animal.
In just a week's time, his entire life fell apart. The cascade of misfortune was undeniable, systematic.
The same bright man who always smiled couldn't stop cursing Alaxmi everyday. His face twisted with bitterness, his words filled with venom.
And because of this, villagers' perception towards her only grew worse and worse.
As the years went by, Alaxmi turned twelve, and her curse of bad luck only seemed to grow stronger. People believed that even just brushing past her could bring them days of misfortune and hardship.
The only reason the villagers didn't kill her or drive her away completely was because of her sister, Laxmi. For every bit of hatred they felt toward Alaxmi, they felt an equal amount of love and care for Laxmi.
Laxmi's presence seemed to cancel out Alaxmi's unluck, creating a delicate balance that kept the village from falling into ruin. That was the only reason why the entire village hadn't already been abandoned.
But disaster struck again when the king officially named Laxmi as this generation's saintess and took her away to the capital city. The village had lost its child of fortune, yet the child of misfortune remained.
With nothing to hold them back anymore, the villagers expelled Alaxmi from the village. She wasn't allowed to come inside anymore. All she could do was sit beneath the same ficus tree and watch the children playing, adults doing their work, and the life of the village continuing without her.
The first few days weren't too bad. She could drink water from the river and eat some fallen fruits she found on the ground.
But without any knowledge of how to survive on her own, as the days passed by, her condition grew worse and worse. Her stomach rumbled constantly, but there was nothing to eat. Whenever she tried to enter the village or ask for food, she received only death threats.
People wouldn't let her come near them, throwing rocks at her to chase her away without getting close. Each stone that hit her left a new bruise, but it was the rejection that hurt the most.
With nothing to eat, all the fat and muscle seemed to melt away from her body. She looked more like a skeleton covered in skin than a healthy human girl.
"Eat... I want to eat..." she could only whisper, not even having enough energy to shout. The words were barely audible, carried away by the wind.
Laying beneath the same ficus tree, covered in dust and bleeding from wounds where rocks had struck her, she was probably taking her last breaths.
That is, until someone came to save her.
****
The smell of something good and fresh reached her nose, causing her eyes to snap open. The aroma was intoxicating, a promise of relief from her suffering.
She immediately sat up with all the strength she had left and saw a middle-aged man with a mustache but no beard, wearing formal clothes that contrasted with his yellow-white skin. His appearance was neat and strangely out of place in the dusty surroundings.
He was smiling, but it was far from a genuine smile—it was more creepy than comforting. The expression didn't reach his eyes, which held a calculating glint as they looked down at her.
She knew this man. He was quite famous in the village. He used to be a Rank C awakened working in the capital city, but had returned to his hometown—this village—to open some shops. He also worked part-time as a guard who helped whenever there was a monster attack.
"Sir Valor?" Alaxmi said slowly, her voice raspy from disuse.
"First eat, and then we'll talk," he replied, extending the food toward her. His movements were deliberate and controlled.
Alaxmi didn't even nod. She quickly grabbed the food and ate it in a hurry, as if someone might snatch it away at any moment. The taste was divine, nourishment flooding her depleted body with each bite.
After she was done eating, Valor continued, "I can keep providing you with food and clean water. However, you need to help me in return."