On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

"Ta-da! Welcome to the first interesting place in Scentillion City!"

As I look at the place Paulina has brought us to, I can't help clicking my tongue in exasperation. I have half expected something like this to happen—I am not surprised, but I am still disappointed regardless.

"Woah, this place does look interesting," Vibiane remarks.

"Right, right? I mean, look at those shiny things! Can you even believe such shiny things even exist?!" Paulina looks at us heatedly. "I can't wait to ste—bring some of them home!"

"Huuh... This annoying little raccoon." I wish I didn't wear a mask so I could massage my throbbing forehead. "Why did I even let her guide us?"

We are currently at a jewelry store. Apparently, just like the raccoons on Earth, Paulina the half-raccoon is also interested in shiny things.

From this, I can conclude that she doesn't only steal people's money, which reflects light quite well, but also people's jewelry or simply anything that glistens under the light.

In other words, she steals not because she is poor, but because she can't hold her desire for shiny things back. I should've expected this, since her clothes are too nice for a beggar, and she is too well educated to be an illiterate.

"Alright, I have seen enough of this jewelry store, so let's go to the next interesting place."

"Awhh... Are you sure? It's not even a minute yet." Paulina stares at me with her wide eyes. "Can we, at least, get inside the store?"

Unlike Vibiane, I, of course, am not having it. "No. It's our tour, not yours. We need to see the place that we really think interesting."

"Oh, okay then." Surprisingly, the midget is very cooperative.

I, once again, wonder whether she suffers from DID since her mood changes very quickly or she is just a natural manipulator. I kind of her though, since I didn't have that level of acting skill prior to coming here.

Regardless, Paulina continues leading us to the next place, which SHE thinks is interesting. I sincerely hope she won't betray my expectation this time, since the street we are passing is filled with many interesting stores.

"Huuh... Just why are we even here?"

... She managed to betray my expectation, unsurprisingly.

The place Paulina has brought us to is not a jewelry store. I am quite happy for that, but it's still not the place I want to visit; it is, after all, a glass art store, which is another place that is filled with things that will shine when they are under the light.

Paulina looks at the place with her wide, shining eyes, and Vibiane, unsurprisingly, is also excited to enter the store. Since the place is filled with many interesting glass arts however, I sigh lightly and enter the store with them.

Upon entering the store, I am greeted by the scene that I normally see when I go to a specific section of a furniture store.

I have only been to a furniture store once, but since it was one of the rare moments I spent my time outside with my mom, I never forget about it.

As I stand in front of a beautifully crafted glass vase, I am reminded of when my mom told me not to carelessly touch things due to how fragile they were. I ended up keeping a distance from all of them, and it managed to crack my mom up.

"To think that a random glass vase can bring back such a memory... There must be something wrong with me." I shake my head with a small sad smile.

"Take it, young Demon."

"... Who are you?"

I am not going to lie, my heart jumped when the Cyclops suddenly called me. I let my guard down when I was reminiscing about the past, so I couldn't detect the one eyed artisan's presence.

"I am the owner of this place."

"Oh, nice to meet you." I nod my head lightly. "Also, I don't think I will buy that vase. It is pretty, but unfortunately, I don't have the money to afford it."

The Cyclops, who, I believe, is already old judging from his heavy voice and his grey beard, sucks the smoke out of his pipe, then lets it out with a sigh. He looks at me with a solemn eye before shaking his head in, what I believe is, disappointment.

He extends his hand, trying to reach my shoulder, but since his height barely reaches my abdomen, his hand can't reach my shoulder. He frowns like he can't believe his body has failed him, and it managed to make me pity him.

As I slightly lower my body to let the old Cyclops touch my shoulder, his disbelieving eye is immediately replaced with his solemn eye once again. Sucking the smoke out of his pipe, he releases it with a sigh ... Again.

"Listen, young Demon. Do I look like someone who will ask money from the people who are enchanted by my masterpieces?"

"You do—you wouldn't have built a store if you didn't."

"That is true." The old Cyclops nods his head in realization, and it makes me wonder if he is really right in the head. "Enough of that! Just take it, young Demon. I could see the light in your eyes—"

"I am wearing a blind mask—how could you see my eyes?"

"I could feel the emotion you were exuding when you were silently staring at that vase," the Cyclops corrects his sentence. "I do not want your money. For me, seeing that spark of light in you is a payment already—take it."

"... Have you put a curse on it?"

"Hearsay! What kind of artisan do you think I am?"

"You are so adamant on giving me this, so I can't help but be suspicious," I say simply.

"Young Demon..." The Cyclops baffles me by looking at me with pity. "Why are you acting like no one has ever treated you kindly?"

I have just been roasted by an old Cyclops, but rather than getting irked, I shake my head bitterly instead. It hits too close to home—it reminds me about the bitter life I had back on Earth.

Just as when I am about to drown myself in the old memories of my suffering, I feel a pat on my shoulder. It is the old Cyclops who is looking at me with an understanding eye.

He may only have one eye, but it conveys the strongest compassion I have seen so far in this world.

I am slightly touched by his gesture, so the moment he motions at the vase on the rack, I immediately take it, and keep it inside my Spatial Storage.

"Thank you."

"You are welcome, kiddo." The Cyclops smiles before turning around and walks away. He gives me a nonchalant wave as he does, then says, "To enjoy your life is to cherish the moment, no matter how little the fun it has for you."

I didn't expect to encounter a wise man in a glass art store, but I am glad that I have encountered one. What he has said is a little bit corny, but he has made me realize that I am filled with anger.

Unfortunately though, I am fine with the way I am. He may think I don't look like I am enjoying my life, but I just do it differently—getting stronger to have my revenge against those bastards.

"Vibiane, let's visit the other places."

With a glass vase in my Spatial Storage, I leave the store with Vibiane, who has bought more than six arts under Paulina's influence.

I don't bother to scold Vibiane since the money she has spent is hers, not mine. She also seems to be rich enough to not mind the purchase at all; she is smiling through the whole time. It might just be because she is too idiot to realize what she has done though.

Anyway, although the glass art store was not that interesting of a place, I did enjoy my time there, so I have to give Paulina credit for that.

For the next half an hour, the midget takes us to the places she thinks is interesting, and I don't say a single word even though they are just places filled with shiny things. Some of them are pretty interesting too, so I don't really mind.

"Sister, that was really fun! Too bad that you have to leave." Paulina slumps her shoulders.

"Haha. That is too bad indeed, but I still have a mission I have to accomplish." Vibiane pats Paulina's head with a smile. "How about if we spend exploring the city again next time I come here."

"Oh, that's a great idea!"

Since half an hour has passed, it is time for us to head to the city hall, which is the gathering point of the Conquest Troop. Paulina has somehow gotten attached to Vibiane, so she is pretty reluctant to part with her.

On the other hand, the midget treats me like air, but I don't mind that in the slightest. I didn't make any attempt to establish a relationship with her, unlike Vibiane after all.

Since I still don't consider Paulina has done what I asked her though, the Geas can't cancel itself. She is lucky that I am not petty to children—I snap my finger once to erase the Geas off her forehead.

"Paulina."

As I am about to call Vibiane so we can immediately go to the city hall, someone with an overwhelming aura suddenly calls Paulina from behind me.