On the table that Sin had just approached, there were four people in total.
The one closest to him on the left was a woman who looked like she was in her late twenties. She wore mostly black clothing, a pointy black hat , and her cleavage hanging out for all to see.
To his right was another woman, a couple of years younger. She also looked a lot more boyish. She had short yellow hair, wore a green tunic with cotton pants, and had on some leather armor.
At the back were two men. One was a large guy. He had quite the belly, but also the muscle in his arms and legs to back it up.
And finally, there was a man with a light stubble, gray hair, and a normal build.
At first, they were all confused, taken aback by the young man's sudden actions.
"Say that again? It was so out of the blue that I didn't even understand what words just came out of your mouth, kid." The large guy exclaimed, an unimpressed look on his face.
Before Sin could open his mouth to reply, the woman with the pointy black hat quickly replied: "He asked about what we are talking about." She said, looking back at the large man with a smile.
The large man crossed his arms, exhaling from his nostrils.
The woman abruptly grabbed Sin's hand, causing him to look down with confusion, furrowing his eyebrows.
"What are you--" Sin was interrupted.
"Shhh..." The woman shushed, caressing his forearm up and down in an almost seductive manner.
Sin couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. A warm blush flushed across his face out of nowhere as he noticed the absolute melons on this lady.
He caught himself staring, quickly looking away as he blushed slightly.
"I'm only assessing how strong you are, don't panic." The woman smirked, "Hmm... your Spirit is horrible. I only tend to speak with people who are at least as strong as me." She looked him up and down like a tiger eyeing its prey.
Sin couldn't help but feel violated. 'How did it get to this?' He thought to himself, shaking his head inwardly.
"You are built powerfully, and I can tell you are strong. But when it comes to Spirit, you are disappointing... like most men I meet." The woman said, letting go of his hand.
"Huh?" Sin exclaimed, "Look... I don't care, to be honest, who you talk to and what you do with them." He finally remembered why he came to this table again.
Everyone at the table looked at him with slightly surprised eyes, a bit thrown off by his upfront approach.
Sin continued: "I need to know what you guys were talking about just then... something about Lucel."
Everyone at the table exchanged glances with each other, "Listen, kid!" The large man exclaimed, "Don't just barge into other people's business and expect a reply. Scram!"
Sin gritted his teeth, nearly clenching his fists.
The gray-haired man in the back noticed Sin's hands, his eyes darting down to them.
But then, a wave of pain radiated through Sin's body, causing his fists to loosen again, 'I can't fight... I need to drill that into my head. Be calm.'
"Listen..." Sin said in a lighter tone, "I... am from Lucel."
The patrons at the table had looked at Sin with surprise before, but never as much as they were staring at him right now.
All of their eyes were widened, their maws open slightly, and their bodies frozen.
Seeing this, Sin smiled slightly: "You guys understand, right? So please, tell me--" He was cut off by a sudden burst of laughter that erupted across the table.
Sin's eyes narrowed, an annoyed look on his face as he sat there while everyone laughed at him.
'I should just beat them all up...' He tightened his jaw.
"I'm dying!" The large man patted his stomach, calming down from the laughter, "Wow, I didn't think you would be so entertaining! I had the wrong impression about you. You're a jokester! I get it!"
"Hahaha!" The gray-haired man continued laughing his ass off, slapping his knee.
The pointy-hatted woman also continued chuckling behind her palm.
The only one who stopped laughing was the yellow-haired woman.
"You can't be serious, right? Lucel was an event that happened five years ago. It's been such a popular story that it has practically become a tale that people tell to scare each other at night. Like, what if the city suddenly blew up! Although, it's more of a joke than an actual scary thought!" The yellow-haired woman chuckled some more.
As Sin heard this, his eyebrows scrunched in with anger. "A joke? What happened to my city... to my friends... my family. It's a mere joke to you all?" He was dead serious.
Although everyone else continued laughing, not able to hear what Sin said, the yellow-haired woman had a change in expression.
"Are you... really telling the truth? I mean, I can't wrap my head around it. Hell, let's say you miraculously survived a full onslaught of Trinion Republic knights... how could you have survived alone for five years? You don't look very old, 17 at max. You are saying you've fended for yourself since you were only 12?"
Sin didn't hesitate to reply, "10."
As soon as the yellow-haired woman heard this, she couldn't help but feel sympathy wash over her, along with a feeling of guilt for laughing as she did.
After a few seconds of silence, the others had stopped laughing as well.
"You aren't telling me you believe him, right?" The large man said, "Come on... it's only a folktale--"
"Don't call it that!" Sin raised his voice, his eyes darting over toward the large man, "Are you messed up in the head or something? When I tell you with conviction that Lucel was my home, the first thing that comes to your head is to call it a fairytale? After you knew what happened to it? How everyone inside was destroyed without a trace?"
An awkward silence ensued.
The gray-haired man broke the quietness: "Surely, you can understand our point of view. This is absurd to us. Even you just said that Lucel and everyone inside of it was destroyed without a trace... so how come you are here?"
Before Sin could answer, the lady in the pointy hat spoke up: "You know what... it wouldn't hurt us to simply answer his question. At this point, even I'm feeling bad."
She glanced over at Sin as everyone else exhaled. They were actually thankful she did this since they found this entire situation had become more stressful than they imagined.
"What would you like to know?" The woman asked.
"Everything you know..." Sin promptly replied, "From start to finish." His expression unwaveringly blank.