Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 93: Their Past.

“You guys suck at acting.”

Both Irvin and Haley’s eyes twitched since they were aware of the mastery that they had on their skills.

“Well, that and... many other factors.”- Ozul further added.

“Other factors?”- Irvin did not understand how his decades of experience had let a kid pick up on some mistakes that he wasn’t even aware of!

Ozul noticed that the old couple was still confused, and since he had enough free time, a little explaining wouldn’t be a bother.

“First of all, I can always feel the Magic imbued weapons hidden in your clothes.”- Ozul said while pointing towards the parts where Irvin had hidden his weapons.

Irvin and Haley were shocked to see that Ozul had so effortlessly pointed out each and every weapon that he had hidden!

.....

“Though these weapons are justifiable, how will you explain your expertise in this art of hiding them?”

This comment of Ozul was something that no matter how much Irvin tried, he could not find any words to deny it.

Hiding so many weapons inside their clothes without anyone being able to notice was not something an average guy was able to do. Instead, this is a skill of professional killers!

“However, all that aside. The most crucial point was...your eyes.”- Ozul added, not letting Irvin and Haley recover from the previous shocks.

“Eyes?”

Now, this really confused Irvin. How did his eyes give away that he was not your average old man?

“Eyes... They say a lot about you.”- Ozul’s gentle voice rang out in the quiet room.

He looked at Irvin with vacant eyes while caressing Jinx’s hair, who had been purring for a while now. Both parties completely ignored the dead body of Bafon in the middle and stared right at each other.

“Even when in the face of danger, your eyes never wavered...”- Ozul said before he again went back to focusing on the silky black hair of Jinx.

“Your gaze has that certain sharpness which only the elite does.”- He added to the explanation.

It was true since even when the old couple was afraid of him back then, Irvin’s eyes held a determination as if he was ready to die any time!

The only fearful emotions that he had radiated at that time was the fear of losing his wife Haley and the natural fear of pain.

No matter how much a human trained himself not to be afraid of death, no one wanted to suffer!

Anyhow, Ozul knew from these points that even though Irvin was not a Mage or a Fighter now, it was probably different before.

“Anyways, now that I know... Care to explain in detail?”- Ozul asked since even if he was able to figure out these things, he was not some seer who could see the future and past.

Hearing his words, Irvin looked at Haley. As both their eyes met, they conveyed many feelings without even the need for any words.

As if they had reached a silent agreement, Irvin looked at Ozul with a determined expression.

“I was a killer before.”

Ozul already knew so much and had also saved them from a life-threatening mess. Thus, the old couple decided not to hold anything back.

“More precisely, I worked under a famous House as an assassin and a manager. At that time, I was a Rank-8 Mage and also a Fighter.”

“Mhm.”

‘Rank-8 Mage and a Fighter and still worked under some famous House? Hm... That’s interesting.’

Rank-8 Mages wouldn’t complain if they worked under an organization as massive as the Silverbird Kingdom, but only a House was enough to convince Irvin to work under them? That House must be remarkable.

When Ozul looked up to see why he had stopped explaining, he saw Irvin looking at him weirdly.

“What?”

“You believe me?”- Irvin had thought that Ozul wouldn’t buy any of his explanations.

Irvin knew how absurd it sounded when he said that he was a Rank-8 Mage before! Why would anyone even begin to believe that?

“Yes, I believe you... I know from your eyes.”-

It was a lie. However, Ozul did not know how he would even begin to explain that he can sense emotions. Moreover, it is kind of his trump card.

Though he doesn’t trust anyone so quickly, being able to sense their emotions was a great tool. It could not only help him get out of the situation but also help him in danger.

Knowing what your enemy is feeling at that moment can be used as a weapon against them if appropriately handled.

Back to the scene, Irvin easily believed his words since there was no other answer.

“So, what happened for you to end up in this state?”- Ozul asked. He did not understand how a man who was once a Rank-8 Mage became the ordinary human in front of him.

“They had given me a mission once... and I failed.”- Before Ozul could say anything, Irvin continued;

“The problem was not the failure, but what happened next. I was heavily wounded after returning from the mission. I would have died, but a miracle happened.”-

Irvin said the last part with a sweet smile that really suited an old man as he looked affectionately at Haley.

In response, Haley was blushing furiously! The scene looked really weird from a spectator’s point of view since both of them look quite old, and yet they were flirting.

Ozul being Ozul, also did not interrupt them as any other person would after being put into the awkward situation. He just kept stroking Jinx’s smooth hair.

Only a moment later, when the old couple came back to reality, did Ozul start the conversation.

“You were saying?”

“*Ahem* So I was saying, when I was at the death door, Haley came into my life. She was also the daughter of a noble house...”

In the last part, Irvin looked down the ground as if it was all his fault that they had come to this point.

Haley held his hands and looked at him reassuringly, only then did he continue;

“She was also a genius of Rank-7, but due to the goodness of heart, she saved me. I had never imagined that in my whole life, I could love someone. But she proved it wrong.”

“However, that was the problem. I worked under the House, which would tolerate failures but not weaknesses...”

“They wanted me to leave Haley after she had run away from her family for me. But I could not leave her...”

Irvin began to narrate everything that had happened while Ozul patiently listened.

He described that the House did not allow any weakness, and Irvin having a lover was a weakness.

And making Irvin leave the House was also not an option since he was aware of many things, and this would also turn into their weakness.

Hence, the chain of disasters started, which befell on them from time to time.

The people that Irvin had worked for secretly gave him a particular poison. He was late to realize it.

The poison generated a blockade around the Core of a Mage. When Irvin had realized as such, it was already too late.

The only good thing was that the poison took some time for full effects. And in the meantime, since Irvin was already prepared for the consequences, he had managed to escape.

However, when he reached the place where Haley stayed, he realized that she was also poisoned!

They were chased for miles as Irvin did his best to take on everyone, even in the injured and poisoned state. Fortunately for him, the higher-ups above him had not made the moves personally. If they did, Irvin wouldn’t have been standing before Ozul.

All in all, Irvin and Haley managed to leave, but the poison left all their years of hard work useless.

Their cultivation slowly receded into nonexistent, and all they had left was their companionship and some other useful skills that did not require Mana.

They could also not live peacefully since those people were still searching for them. However, only small-timers would come after the old couple since it had been decades now.

They would change their location from time to time. The Magical weapons that Irvin had managed to run away with were their only lifeline.

Hence, he did not want to hand over those weapons to Bafon’s men. But the situation had escalated to this.

After narrating the whole story, Irvin and Haley stood facing Ozul, who was feeling sleepy already.

*Yawn*

“Finished already?”- Ozul asked with a tired tone.

Irvin was again holding himself back from lashing out on this kid. He had explained all his past tragedies, and this kid was sleepy!?

“So, you said that you still have Core, yeah?”-

“Yes, But the blockage over the Core is not something that anyone would be able to remove. I even read it in a book that this type of poison was almost impossible to cure.”- Irvin dejectedly replied.

“We will talk about that later.”- Ozul stood up from his chair and came before Irvin.

“Let’s see...”