Chapter 501: A Worthless Paradise

Elise had not liked his decision, not even one bit. She had tried to convince him otherwise, but he did not budge. After all, he knew that if she were to come with him, the chances of her dying were high.

He didn’t want yet another person to die because of him; there were already too many. He could make a museum with all of them, all having their own story.

In the end, he just left, not wanting to argue any longer, since he knew nothing was going to be able to make him change his mind; the fear was engraved deep inside his mind, too deep for words to reach him.

If he angered her, then so be it; it wasn’t like he knew her that well, so if her being mad at him and not liking him anymore meant that she didn’t die, he was fine with it.

A human life is worth more than any connection.

He chuckled. ’Huh... interesting, so I’ve started to think of the value of human life again... young me would be against it, just like he was with Elpis.’

Outside Elise, there was only one person who he still wanted to say goodbye to: the person who had saved him and the leader of this whole place.

Sighing, Aether entered his office. He had made an appointment with his secretary earlier, so he didn’t have to knock. He wouldn’t even be let in to knock if he didn’t make the appointment in the first place.

Seeing him, the Harbinger chuckled, opening his arms as he moved in his chair to take a more polite and formal position. "Ah, Aether, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Aether didn’t respond; he walked over to the desk... though this time there wasn’t a chair to sit in, which was weird, since in every office until now there had been... ’Breaking the repetition, I see.’

"I wish to leave?"

The man frowned slightly, raising one of his brows. "And may I ask why?" He sighed, letting his hands fall onto the desk. "You have everything you need here: food, your own home, and more importantly, safety."

He leaned forward. "You aren’t even on the team that goes to gather the materials for houses, food, and everything else, so what do you have to complain about?"

Aether rolled his eyes, not liking how the man was talking to him... he thought too highly of himself. He knew that most of the safety came from him, so he made a big deal out of it.

"It’s not that I don’t like it here; I just don’t want to stay."

"You aren’t making sense, young man." He said, now the frown on his face clearly visible. "You have everything you want in this place, so why would you want to leave this paradise?"

...

"Because I don’t wish to live in a paradise." He stopped for a second. "At least not while everyone else is dying... If I just stay here, those I care about will die." At that moment, in his mind, he only thought about one person...

"And?" The man said, getting up on his feet. "You are safe. So what do you care about everyone else? Don’t be a hero; this place isn’t a fairy tale. You’re a Seeker, so what the heck can you do? You’re weak, fragile,

and absolutely useless."

He didn’t let his anger show, just staring at the man with the same unbothered expression, but inside he was burning, and really, if you looked closely at his eyes, you could see it. How much his mood had changed.

He chuckled. "Maybe I am, but if I do get out, haven’t I already done more than you to help the others? Wouldn’t you be more useless than me?"

The Harbinger lunged forward, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him closer. "You really know how to make a man want to kill. You know that?"

Aether pushed him back, making some distance between them. "Really? Is a Harbinger really going to kill a powerless Seeker just because he doesn’t want to do whatever he wants? Pathetic."

...

The man took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he calmed himself, as in reality, he wasn’t far away from killing him. Opening his eyes, he instantly looked into Aether’s. "You want to leave? Fine, do it; I don’t care for someone like you."

Aether smirked at his comment. "Thanks." He turned back, putting his hand on the knob, but turned to face him one more time. "Hope you die." Then he left. Before the man could argue, he heard him scream something as he left, but he wasn’t going to turn back.

’Let him scream; that’s all he knows to do.’

Their interaction had not gone close to how he thought it was going to go. He had spoken to him before, and he didn’t seem like a nice person. ’People show their true faces when you hurt their pride. It’s simple.’

To him, this place was his territory, and everyone inside of it was one of the little pawns he controlled; he didn’t like losing one. Even if he wasn’t all that powerful. Also, because for him it felt as if that person disrespected what he had built. And even him.

’Loser mentality at its finest. Hope I don’t become like him someday...’

It was pretty funny, since if you looked at it, he was pretty useless; he didn’t have that much strength to change things, but the man did. A Harbinger could do a lot, and yet, the one who was actually trying was him.

’Not everyone is the same; people see situations differently. Maybe some are more optimistic than others.

And maybe some lost hope faster and lost their motivation to fight.

But for someone who supposedly went through so much hardship, since reaching Harbinger isn’t easy, how could you admit defeat so fast?

Is that just how weak you are inside? I’m fine with all the Seekers in this place; after all, there are monsters much more powerful than us in this place.

...

But if you, as a Harbinger, are as scared of this place as some Seekers are.

Then I mean it when I say you should die.’