Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 207: Debt settled?

To Hana’s relief, Ozul simply nodded his head again. She quickly opened the door and entered, followed by him.

When Ozul entered the room, he ignored everything else and first looked at the person who he had noticed peeking at him from a distance.

To his surprise, it was only a kid. More precisely, it was a girl around the age of 17 or 18. She appeared to be just a kid in Ozul’s eyes as he was already past 25, but only looked younger.

“Oh, you haven’t met her. She is Rina, my sister,” Hana introduced the girl that almost resembled her. Because Hana’s sister, Rina, did not have any icy cold expressions like her. She only had this innocent curiosity on her face.

“She is the one who I wanted the Harmony Leaves for,” Hana added, reminding Ozul of the reason she was so desperate to obtain them.

Ozul nodded his head, but he lost his interest immediately. Unlike him, the girl looking like the younger and better version of Hana kept staring at him with burning curiosity.

“...”

.....

Hana noticed her younger sister’s staring and laughed it off. “He is the mister who brought in the herb that was used to cure you. Come on, thank him. He is the reason you are all fine now,” Hana instructed Rina like a mother.

Rina also nodded her head like a child and repeatedly bowed her head toward Ozul in a flustered manner. Ozul guessed that she probably had low self-esteem.

“I didn’t give anything for free. She bought it from me,” Ozul said, making his way to the couch. Why would a person talk while standing when they can do the same after taking a seat?

“Still, if it wasn’t for you, I don’t know where I would have found another herb. I forgot to mention it before, but I am really grateful,” Hana said with deep gratitude. Even after all this time, she couldn’t find the culprits who had stolen her Harmony plant. Their traces had just gone missing at one point.

Seeing that Ozul had taken a seat, Hana did so as well. Only Rina stayed standing behind her sister. She moved her eyes to every corner of the room, avoiding looking at Ozul. She was caught peeking at him from above, so it was quite awkward for her right now.

“Do you have something else to auction?” In the end, Hana had to ask the question. She did not know what was wrong with this man before her. It was always other people who were eager to start the conversation with her, but here she had to take the initiative.

“No. You still had to pay me, remember?” Ozul answered ever so casually.

Hearing his response, Hana’s eyes twitched. ‘Tch! I gave you so much in return, can’t you just forget the last amount for a beauty like me?! Stingy...’ she thought inside her mind while trying her best to keep a smile on her face.

Her attitude was a lot different than the previous time. She was desperate to obtain the Leaves and she could only do so by being as nice as she could to the person who had them.

“Your emotions show on your face,” Ozul commented. He did not have to read her emotions to know what Hana was thinking. Although she maintained her smile, it had become quite restrained and obvious.

“Hehe... Of course, I remember. So, what can I do for you? Just say the word,” Hana answered his previous question, completely ignoring his comment. She acted as if she did not even hear his words. That was the only way she could maintain her dignity.

“I need more books on formations. One is not enough. That will be all, I won’t ask for more,” Ozul stated his demand. In his mind, he was being generous to the woman before him.

However, Hana had different thoughts in her mind, ‘Why don’t you ask me a book on how gods ascend as well?! Do you think knowledge about formations is that easy to find!?’

Just as she thought that she realized something and noticed Ozul staring at her with his usual stony face. She asked, “Did that... show on my face as well?”

Ozul nodded his head causing a small blush to appear on her cheeks, ‘Am I that easy to read?!’

“Yes, you are.”

“...”

This time, even she had to turn away her head in embarrassment. One wouldn’t find Hana, the manager of Littlewood Auction house ever being flustered like this.

After she had recovered, Hana spoke truthfully, “It’s just that knowledge on topics as rare as the formations is difficult to find. I might be able to find you a couple of more books, but they wouldn’t be much different from the one I gave you previously...”

Unlike what Ozul had thought, the knowledge of runes and formation was not so widespread and easy to obtain. Even when one had the price to buy books related to it, they would still have to become an apprentice under a master that is already versed in this field to obtain books or direct lessons of advanced knowledge.

Even if some lucky ones or people with connections across the globe could buy such books, but Hana certainly could not. With her connections, basic knowledge was the best she could obtain. She was only a Rank-7 Mage after all.

Hearing her words, Ozul did not blame her. Instead, he looked down to contemplate his other options to obtain the knowledge.

In Hana’s eyes, it looked like Ozul was quite disappointed. She felt a little bad since, in the end, he did bring the Harmony Leaves which saved her little sister’s life. Looking to her side, she smiled at Rina who got confused as to what her big sister was thinking.

“I might not be able to provide you with advanced books on formations, but one thing can be done,” Hana said, making Ozul look up in interest. He had a couple of things he could do to obtain the advanced books on the matter, but it would only be a bother.

When Hana noticed that she had his attention, she said, “You see, my sister here is also a genius at formations. She might not be the best you can get, but she was an apprentice under the master of formations in the Ashin family. She might be able to help you, even if only a little.”

Rina looked surprised at her big sister’s proposal, “N-no! Big sister, I am a beginner myself-”

“You always say that Rina. Even your master told me that your concepts were already solidified. You just have to share them with him. I am not asking you to discuss anything you don’t understand yourself,” Hana persuaded her shy sister.

Under Hana and Ozul’s stare, Rina could not hold onto her opinion for much longer as she gave in, “A-alright.”

“So, what do you say?” Hana turned her face back to Ozul who had yet to agree.

Ozul contemplated his option again. He looked down at the silver ring on his prosthetic finger, ‘I can easily get as many books I want or even someone to teach me directly, but...’

The more he asked from the Ashin family using his identity as their Head’s nephew, the more he would be involved in their matters. He wanted to avoid that as much as possible. He wouldn’t think twice if he had no other options left, but that wasn’t the case right now.

‘I have enough time. I can just learn from her and if I feel like I need more, then the Ashin family it is,’ Ozul decided that it was the best course of action for now.

But when he looked at Hana’s sister, all he could think was, ‘But she is just a kid... How much will she even know?’

He pondered on it for a few moments but then realized that he shouldn’t judge people by their looks. After all, people died who judged him by his age. How couldn’t he know the consequences of underestimating someone?

“Alright,” Ozul responded.

Hearing his answer brought a smile to Hana’s face while Rina only got more fidgety. She still didn’t think she was qualified enough to start teaching others, but still agreed because she only had to explain what she completely understood... at least that is what she would like to think. However, the real reason was that she did not have the courage to say no.

“It’s settled then. That would also settle the debt, right?” Hana shamelessly asked. Even she knew that this was far from enough since Rina herself was learning, but she wanted that debt off of her back.

Unlike what she thought, Ozul stoically answered, “No. That would be up to me to decide.”

*Tch!*

“You have any problem with that?” Ozul asked when he heard her ‘tch’.

Hana again acted as if she hadn’t done anything as she answered, “With what? Oh, no no. Of course not! It’s your right after all.”

“Sister... you might be shameless, but please stop embarrassing me,” Rina whispered in her ear with a reddened face.

Hana coughed with no change in her expressions. If even her little sister had the courage to tell her that, then she might really be overdoing it.

Ozul did not wait for them to say anything else. It was enough for today as the day was ending. He stood up and walked to the door.

Before Hana could even stand up to show him the way out for the basic courtesy, something shimmered on Ozul’s hand which immediately caught her attention.

“That...!”