Zaroth was debating whether he should go or not, but that sealed the deal.
"And elf?!" he spoke with disbelief as he gazed at Zoe, wanting to make sure that he had heard correctly.
His tone carried more emotion than Zoe thought he was capable of making. The unexpected weight of it startled her for a mont.
"Yes, I can't confirm it, but this is the rumor. I'm sorry, I don't know anything more about the matter."
"This is more than enough. Thank you!" Zaroth exclaid, patting her gently on the head. His hand moved before he even realized it, but he was too thrilled by the discovery to care.
"This is pretty much about my questions, your debt has been paid." He was happy that he saved her and found a way to make her ntal health better. This was an insight that he would not have learned anywhere else, even if it was just a rumor—it was worth it to check it out.
Zoe tensed for a few seconds by Zaroth's touch, but hearing the happy voice behind the mask made her relax a few monts later.
"Thank you for saving ," she spoke with a bow.
If not for this man, whose voice sounded younger than she expected, she would likely have remained a slave for the rest of her life. She was genuinely grateful.
'It is still early in the morning, but whatever! This is cause for celebration!' Zaroth thought as he gazed at Betty.
"Betty, give five shots of the strongest alcohol you have!"
Betty's eyes widened. She was about to point out that it was too early for this kind of drinking, but hearing the happiness in his voice—a rare sound from soone so stoic—made her hesitate. She decided to oblige.
"Wait, I want to do it!" Zoe exclaid, making Betty stop in her tracks before giving her the go.
"Why are you doing it? You have answered my questions. This is all I wanted—there is no need to—" Zaroth began, but Zoe cut him off.
"Actually, I work here from now on," she said as a slight smile ford on her lips.
Zaroth raised an eyebrow behind the mask. "Why?"
'This woman has suffered so much, she has the perfect excuse to just lock in a room for a few days, maybe even weeks, and not do anything,' he thought.
"Because… because if I just lock myself in a room and sulk myself to sleep, it won't get anywhere. So I'm going to distract myself with work, trying to forget my past and look towards the present."
Zaroth was taken aback a bit by her words. 'Distracting yourself to forget the past… Now, does this not sound awfully familiar?'
As Zoe began putting the drinks one by one before him, he began to chug them with devastating speed.
He was kind of used to drinking copious amounts of alcohol, so this weak stuff shouldn't have that much effect on him… however, there were two things that he didn't account for: first, it was still early in the morning and in his stomach there was only the light breakfast he had not too long ago; and second, when he was drinking with his friends, they often talked with one another—but at the mont, this wasn't the case as he just chugged them as fast as he could.
His lips parted as he spoke softly, "Wow." he exclaid as the surroundings began to spin.
'Okay, I think I might have overdone it just a little,' he thought.
'A little?! Zaroth, it is still morning and you are now a ss! What the hell are you going to do now?' Luna's words echoed in his head.
Zaroth hadn't ant to drink everything so fast. But watching Zoe throw herself into work made him want to drown himself in sothing too. And, well… mission accomplished—sort of.
"Are you okay?" Seeing that the mysterious man was looking at the ground with his two hands over his head made Betty worried. It would be bad if this person happened to go rogue, and at the sa ti, she found herself caring for him.
"Yeah, don't mind , just trying to forget about the past," Zaroth mumbled as he continued to stare at the ground. There was no need to think of a plan, as he already had one: he would wait until tomorrow, get his weapon from Torin, and then would enter the Crimson Sun Empire territory, go to the city Zoe spoke of, find the elf, and make them teach him runes—or at least give him so valuable information.
'And what about the city?' Luna asked.
'I will leave you here and it will be your duty to guard it. It is high ti I go to a dangerous place without you, right? I can't always be relying on you,' Zaroth answered.
'Still, don't you think going against a whole city without is a bad idea?' Luna was questioning his judgnt. Was he doing this because he wanted to prove himself, or was it because he was drunk and wasn't able to think?
"You can talk to , you know?" Betty spoke as she sat next to him. Due to his state, he didn't sense her until she spoke up.
"There is nothing to talk about," he reassured as he continued to stare at the floor.
"Then why are you trying to forget the past if there is nothing to talk about?" she challenged.
Zaroth chuckled bitterly. "First Zoe, next —are you becoming a therapist?"
Betty chuckled gently at the joke. "No, I just want to know if you are okay."
With a soft sigh, he gave in. "It's just… a woman I loved died because I wasn't able to protect her. If I was just a bit stronger, things might have been different, or maybe if I was smarter, luckier, or—"
Moving her stool a tad bit closer, Betty was now a hair's breadth away from him. "So you are blaming yourself for your failing her?"
"…Yes," he admitted. Saying it out loud helped… a little. But it didn't change anything. His need for revenge still burned.
"Knowing how strong you are—how you protect this city—I figured you were looking for vengeance. But before you can do that… don't you think you need to make peace with yourself? That it's okay to make mistakes sotis?"
She paused, then asked gently, "Was she the only one?" She asked, expecting a reasoned yes.
"No," Zaroth replied instantly, "there are still three won I am with at the mont." He was speaking about Elysia, Midnight, and even if he had yet to sleep with Luna, the occasional nagging between them made it feel like they had skipped a few steps and were already married.
Betty went quiet for a few seconds; she was shocked. She did not expect Zaroth to say that he was seeing three more won. Once she regained her composure—and courage—she leaned even closer
"Then where are they? Why aren't they here? Why aren't they helping you through this?"
"Because I feel like this is sothing that I must bear alone. It is not right to dump this onto soone, expecting them to fix —that would be pathetic," he replied coldly.
"Even if that's how you feel… it doesn't seem like you're doing so great handling it alone. Don't deny it—not with all the alcohol you just drank."
This was sothing that Zaroth found hard to admit. It was one thing to say that he had made mistakes, but to say that he wasn't able to overco his own emotions alone was an entirely different matter.
"I think I've bitten off more than I can chew," he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. Was that the alcohol speaking, or his heart?
"Then…" Betty placed a finger beneath his chin, gently lifting his gaze to hers.
She was flushed a deep red, her breaths coming in soft, hurried waves. As she leaned in, so close their bodies nearly touched, he could hear the quickened rhythm of her heartbeat. Another button of her uniform had co undone, offering him an even clearer glimpse—one she made no effort to hide.
"If you think it's too hard to face all of this on your own Do you want to spend so ti with ? Just the two of us… alone?"
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