Chapter 73: Market-I

Startled, Elise turned her eyes around to see the door which the sound came from. Likewise Ian looked at the door but unlike Elise he wasn't surprise. The smile he had fell to a thin line as he drew his brows in a spot with concentration.

"What is that sound?" she asked when the sound of screeching turn to knock.

"The chick." replied Ian, walking to the door he pulled the door for the chick who had been knocking and carving the door with his beak to lose balance and fall face first.

"Damn it!" Hallow, the grim reaper who was now turned to a chick cursed. "This small legs can't balance! How could a small chick have large stomach but small feet?! The proportion is too off balance!" Hallow tried to rub his beak but he didn't have the hands to do so.

"Quiet down chick before I stew you."

Hallow folded his hand to his waist or so that he imagined because now he only have small wings and huffed, "Stew me all you like and your information die with me!" throwing his face to the other side he then turned slightly to peek between his eyelids to see Ian's expression was serious and added, "Just so you know a chick isn't delicious to be stewed." Elise noted that at times Hallow seemed to be brave but then came his reason so Master Ian wouldn't harm him.

"Does a chick not delicious to stew, puppy?" the question was directed to Elise and she thought twice to meet her eyes with Hallow who then gave her a look that seemed as if he was pleading. His large green eyes requested her to say no and help.

"I don't think I have never seen anyone staring chick before, Master Ian. They are often being kept to feed and grow." replied Elise that had Hallow smile widely with his beak.

"See! Did you hear that?! Even the human girl knew that I'm not delicious." harrumphed Hallow.

"We could try and find out then," Ian smiled, daunting the grim reaper to swallow his screams internally.

"Anyways what is she doing here?" Hallow veered the conversation, his feet going right and left to path his way and try to jump toward the table with great difficulty.

"And what are you doing here?" Ian questioned his bloody eyes finding the chick as a nuisance.

"I smell death so I came here." replied Hallow his large green eyes rolled to the side and he began to point Ian. "The stench is getting stronger from you! What did you do?"

"The smell of death came from Master Ian?" Elise held her blue eyes wide. Wasn't that something dangerous?

"Yes!" Hallow bobbed his head up and down, "You see usually this smells of death lingers around people who is going or about to die and I can smell it from you but that's odd, before you didn't give any stench at all and now you're smelly!"

Elise looked at him, severe worries lined on her face where Ian had an unchanging expression as if he was fine with the revelation.

"Could you see Master Ian's time of death, Hallow?" asked Elise and the chick hummed oddly,

"How do you know that I could see time of death, human girl?" From what he knew, humans wasn't supposed to know that grim reapers were able to see the time of death in each soul. Then how could she possibly knows that?

"I read it in a book one time that grim reaper wield time to reap other's souls." and she could still remember the words written in that book.

Hallow on the other side opened his beak wide his eyes were wide, "What?! There was such a book?! How could humans know about us, there is no way!" he defended. The grim reaper's were creature that was hard to see by humans they are one of the secrets of death but there was a book about them in the mortal worlds? That's a blasphemy! Hallow thought in his mind.

"That's not necessary," Elise heard Ian speaking and her eyes looked at him confused. "I will not die." in the first case he wasn't a living being and the smell of death wouldn't be able to affect him. If he had to take his own conclusion it would be that the smell came from the maids that were going to die soon. Of course, in his hands.

"But the smell of death," Elise responded at his calm eyes. Far more than him, she was worried of his life.

Ian smiled broadly, he reached out his one finger to placed it over his lips and whispered, "Shh, don't you believe that I will be able to protect my own life, puppy?"

"But the book said that once a person is timed for their death no one could ever stop their death." she said her nerves were restless. She looked at the Lord whose face was relaxed, the smile he had didn't diminish and instead it became stronger and wondered how could he still maintain his smile because now she was in a tip of the iceberg.

"I'm sad that you choose to believe the book instead of me." yet his smile wasn't affected.

"I trust you Master Ian but death is-, it is frightening." her hand trembled, she believed Ian wholeheartedly but the problem wasn't trusting or distrusting and Elise had her reply all over her face. She had seen her family died and she didn't want to see Ian, the Lord she had fall in love with to meet the same fate as her family. "Hallow please," she pleaded to the grim reaper in the chick body.

Hallow whose mind was filled in how to hunt down the book turned his face up to the two people. When he met Ian's gaze then he suddenly feel chill. Ian's expression was clear, ordering him to retract his statement about the smell of death and the chick was quick to feigned a surprise face.

"Oh mother of Hell!" Elise was startled with his sudden scream and the chick turned his whole yellow body toward the her. "Look at that! Where was the smell earlier? How weird I could smell death from him earlier but I don't smell anything from him again. How odd, how odd." Hallow whispered.