To the Depth of Abyss

Chapter 124: She and Her Memories

"Sometimes, one person's sins could implicate another thousands."

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Shield Town / 

Year-8, Month-4 /

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"Come on, Eliz!"

Her big sister leaves her as they are running towards the North Outpost. 

"Alice, wait!"

Elizabeth is not like her big sister, Alice, an energetic and full of enthusiasm maiden. Elizabeth needs more energy and force to catch to her big sister's feet. 

Arriving in the outpost, Elizabeth lost her big sister. She looks around to look for them.

"Hey!"

Alice called her. Elizabeth immediately runs to catch up. 

Alice is sitting in one logs with a young man. 

The young man looks quite messy, with several cuts on the body and torn clothes in several places. 

The young man is drinking in thirsty. That seems he just gets back from the work. 

"Hey, slow down when you drink."

They are not going anywhere, but as if the young man being chased in the race while drinking. Alice didn't like that.

"Gah! Fresh!"

As if the young man just got his life back after the work. 

"Are you okay?" asked Elizabeth. 

That may be an odd question. But looking at the young man's condition, it was as if he had just come back from a tough fight. 

As maidens, the two of them so worried about his condition. Because they live a comfortable life at church, meanwhile he needs to work very hard to make a living. 

"You don't have to worry that much about me. I am a man, it's natural for me to work hard to make a living."

The young man knows the rule of living in Abyssal. Even though there are big differences in the treatment they get after being thrown to that unknown world. 

It might seem a little unbelievable, but he has accepted what happened to them. 

Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Alice still feeling shocked and uncomfortable. They need extra time to get used to that new world,

"Besides, at this rate, I might be able to move up to the Silver rank in just one more month."

"Isn't that too early?" asked Alice.

"What?! Of course it's not! Can't you look around us? All of them are Silver, in fact, many of them are Gold. I can't afford to slack in Bronze."

Of course that is, because they are in the middle of Floor 2. The 2nd floor is the middle of the journey for the Hunters who want to make their dreams come true.

"Oh yeah, how about your learning in the church? You want to be a Priest, right?"

His question made them look at each other. 

Alice smirked. "Hehe, you will not believe me. But I have mastered Minor Healing Arts and have been permitted to practice outside the church."

"Wow, that's great news! Then you can heal my wounds now, right?"

He did not hesitate in asking for that request.

"Geez, you are asking like I am going to give you a free service. Well, if you ask nicely and praise me, maybe I will heal you."

In that order, he put his hands together and bow down. "O Great Alice! The Loving and Giver! Please heal this grassroot to continue his living!"

That excessive worship attracted the attention of many people. However, they, most of whom are adults, used to the sight of that one group of youths gathering. In fact, they are happy because the sight given by the youths is like a refreshment from tiredness after work.

By the way, that embarrassed Alice.

"Y-you don't have to be exaggerated like that!"

Alice took something from her neck. 

However, that made him excited because the sight was quite tempting.

"Come here."

"O-okay."

He drew closer to Alice, with his chest still pounding.

Alice brought her hands towards him while holding an unusual object.

He realized that immediately and got a little surprised.  

"Hey, isn't that [Shoots of Golden Wind]?"

[Shoots of Golden Wind] is a rare item which can only be obtained from Floor 1. 

Alice felt proud of that question. "Hehe, great, right? I got this item from Mother Maria for successfully mastering the first step of becoming a Priest."

"Wow, you meet the great Legend Hunter in person?"

"Hehe, praise me more."

Alice couldn't stop feeling great about herself. 

It made him feel very proud.

Alice noticed the proud gaze and blushed. "Ehem. Turn around now."

He did as Alice said and turned around. 

Alice tied the necklace string from [Shoots of Golden Wind] to her two hands, then brought her hands towards the young man's back

"O Great Abyssal Lord~ Please lend me your miracle~ [Minor Healing]!"

A golden light shone from Alice's two hands. The light slowly reached the back of the young man and slowly healed all the wounds.

"Ok, done. How are your feeling?"

The young man stood up at once. Then move some of his body spontaneously.

"H-hey, what are you doing?"

"What is this feeling?!"

The young man started jumping up and down. Then ran on the spot and made two girls wonder.

"Looks like I can start working again."

"No!"

Alice's healing not only healed wounds but also the young man's enthusiasm and motivation. Of course Alice didn't allow that.

"The healing only speeds up the regeneration of your body. You still need rest to restore all your lost strength."

"But there is still a lot of energy left in my body."

"No mean no!"

The young man immediately gave up his mind, then returned to his seat. 

"How about you, Eliz?"

Elizabeth got surprised when suddenly being asked.

"Um, I..."

Elizabeth wanted to answer the question, but her mouth seemed to have caught something. There, Alice is there to help her.

"She is doing alright. It may be difficult for her to learn all those complex things. But she will surely catch up with me later."

"Ooh, that's great to hear! Can you also practice a healing arts?"

"Um, no, I cannot..."

Elizabeth seems cannot can't keep up with the flow of the conversation. 

There Alice opens her mouth again to help the little maiden. 

"She can't yet, but like I said before, she definitely will. She just needs encouragement and confidence to make her shine."

Alice's words amazed the young man.

"Then I won't lose! I will work hard to be strong and become a knight for the two of you!"

The young man's determination once again attracts the people around them and made Alice embarrassed. 

"Stop that. You got all the attention on us."

That day is the weekend, the only day of the week where they could gather. When the day is over, they have to separate for about one week later.

"We are going home."

"Yeah, See you guys next week."

"See you."

Alice and Elizabeth wave at him as they get out from the outpost.

Leaving their best friend living in the outpost. 

Although that's a little sad, they will meet again next week. And when they meet again, they will tell you a lot of things that happened to them during the week apart.

"I ran away from the monster, but that damn monster chased after me!"

Of course, the one who will tell the more is he who goes on more adventures.

"There is this Gold Hunter who will be Platinum soon! He is a very nice guy! He's a Tank and always looks after his party members! When I get on Silver, I'll come to him and ask him to take me to his party!"

Every single day of the week, they continue to spend time like that, and regret how little time they can get to meet in just one day each week.

"Hey, let's make a promise."

Suddenly, he comes out with an unusual idea. 

"When we grew up, let's have an adventure to the depth of abyss, and realizing a dream that we want."

Alice and Elizabeth shocked at the idea. They need a little time to think about things that are still very far away.

"Don't worry, I will take care of you and of course we will not be alone! We will join a strong party or create our own! We will go through many great adventures together!"

That seems a bit hard and difficult to do. Between her and Elizabeth, Alice is the one who could answer the expectation of that invitation.

"What do you think?!"

What he hopes for is everyone's dream. It is reasonable. Moreover, he is a young man full of spirit and enthusiasm. 

"Maybe, when we get stronger and independent."

"Alright! That's a promise then!"

His enthusiasm gave Alice a boost. Even so, sometimes Alice still couldn't stand the great enthusiasm he had.

"Okay-okay. Now we have to go home."

Their time is up. Time to go back to church and wait another week.

"See you guys next week! Alice! Don't forget about that promise!"

Sometimes, his passion made Alice dizzy. But she didn't hate that part of the man she loved.

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Saint Arcane Church / Night 

Girl's Dorm /

The time is night, time to sleep. But there is someone who finds it difficult to sleep.

"Alice, can I sleep with you?"

"Of course, come here."

Even though their bed is only for one person, Alice happily divided the bed for her the little sister.

"Thank you, Alice."

"Don't worry about it. I know it still hard for you to get used to this world. Even the twin sisters besides us still find it hard even they already one year in this world."

Elizabeth smiles at Alice's comfort. Her words never failed to give a smile to her little sister. 

"Alice, why do you always say 'this world'?"

That question always stuck in Elizabeth's mind. Only now she can encourage herself to ask the question. 

Listening to that question, Alice was momentarily surprised, but quickly showed her sweet smile that could calm the heart.

"Listen, Eliz, this is not our real world. What you are experiencing right now is 'Distraction'. It makes you forget about the world we came from, the world we were born in. But you don't have to confuse it. You just have to remember, that we are not from this world and must return to our original world. You have to remember that. Please, don't forget that."