I opened my eyes to another new day, feeling optimistic and a slight disappointment.
Optimism because it’s a new day, and disappointment because the rift didn’t appear while I was sleeping.
It had been six months since I had presented the gate and two months since the time of the rift’s appearance began. Now, it could appear today or at any time within the next nine months.
The waiting is painful, but there is nothing I can do but wait.
Though my waiting is nothing in front of the people of this village who had been waiting for hundreds of years and over a millennium.
I stayed on the bed for a few seconds before getting up and then walking to the bathroom to freshen up.
Once that was done, I went to the practice room and practiced the Garsonath Transformation. Once that was done, I showered and then rested for a while before walking out of my cottage.
I nodded at people, and now and then, I would see them looking at the sky.
Since I revealed the gate, I noticed many looking at the sky, waiting for the rift to appear. So, they could get out of this damn realm, where they have been imprisoned.
It is not the only change that brought. There is another change that this has brought.
The bustling market; there was already a market, but not as bustling as it is right now.
Since I had revealed to them that I would provide them with the storage ring before they left, and they would be able to take it with them, it filled them with a desire to gather as many resources as they could.
There had been a big meeting in the city hall where they had decided on the share of the repository.
There are massive resources there, and everybody wants a piece of it. I had gotten the piece of it, and a big one at that, thanks to my effort for the gate.
I gracefully took it.
As time passed, people gained more confidence in the gate. It is still in the village square, and a middle-aged woman is performing tests on it with different tools.
The crystal-haired woman is a ghost. Many had thought her dead. She wasn’t seen for a century and a half before she suddenly turned up two and a half months ago.
She isn’t the only one, but she is the most powerful of them all.
She feels only slightly weaker than three, and I have a feeling. If any of them wants to kill her, they will have to give their everything for it.
They might not even be able to kill her. Seeing this woman is a defensive fighter. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by NoveI-Fire.ɴet
They have praised her abilities a lot.
I was walking past her when the woman suddenly turned toward me.
"Prime Arys," she greeted with a smile on her face. It sent a shiver down my spine; I fear this woman a lot more than the cultist.
Not because she is bad, but because she is mad. She is on the verge of it, barely keeping that madness at bay, which could seep out any time.
This makes her very dangerous.
"How have you been, Prime Mirna?" I asked. "I am good," she replied with a smile.
"Very good actually, now that I have found a very interesting thing at this gate," she added, and it didn’t give me a good feeling.
I wanted to walk away, but seeing her expression, I knew she wants me to ask her about the interesting thing she had discovered.
"What is an interesting thing you have found, Prime Mirna?" I asked.
"Red-sartil. It’s quite surprising that you have found such precious metal. It’s a perfect thing to use for the core of this tool," she replied, with a smile, making my heart skip a beat.
"I was lucky," I replied after a moment of silence, thankful that the woman was sane enough to use privacy while speaking.
"Luck is far from enough to reach the core of the violet zone," she said immediately. I know, the woman had been there, seen what I had seen.
It seemed like she was stronger than I had realised.
"Have you been there?" I asked, and she nodded after a moment of silence.
"I tried for it, but that damn snake had nearly killed me. It was sheer luck that I survived that day and never dared to try it ever again," she replied with a shudder.
I could understand that shudder, because I know how strong that snake is. No one here is its match; it could tear everyone here apart without any exception.
"How are you able to get it under that bloody snake?" she asked. "As I had said, I was lucky," I replied.
It is the truth, but also an evasion of the answer. The woman seemed to realise it as she nodded a moment later.
"I would like some," she said, and I thought about polite words I could use that wouldn’t make her mad. She is the problem, but she revealed that it would create another set of problems.
They would plague me not only here, but also follow me in the world outside.
"Don’t worry, Prime Arys. I am not asking it for free; I have something of equal value, which I think you would like very much," she replied with a smile.
"We will talk in the evening then, at my house," I stated, and she nodded.
I didn’t say anything further and walked toward the restaurant while checking out the things in the stores.
I had bartered a lot of things and continued to do so for anything I liked. There are a lot of interesting things coming out, now that people have started to open their personal vaults.
Even the cultists are allowed to barter under the strict rules.
I hate the bastards, but they have some very good things, which isn’t surprising. They live outside and explore a lot of places.
Soon, I reached the restaurant and ordered.
I chat with the people as I wait and eat after my food arrives, before walking out, while thinking about the preparation I need to make before the woman comes to my cottage.