Auren observed her for a few moments, convinced recognition would flicker across her face. He expected it to.
But strangely, Meredith had no clue who he was.
If she hailed from Hope Province, that meant they stood in the same cathedral on their awakening day at the Central State. Which likely meant she witnessed the spectacle of him receiving a curse instead of a blessing.
So how could she not know him?
Or was she masterful at pretending? He couldn't tell, and there seemed little reason to probe further, if she accepted the offer...
At that moment, Meredith spoke, halting Auren's train of thought.
She fixed her gaze on him.
"You don't need to sell me your Major Tainted soul heart."
Her gaze shifted to the pouch in her hand.
"Besides, this can only hold a limited number of soul hearts. It's not like we came all the way here to hunt monsters. Shouldn't you focus on passing the trial?"
Auren remained silent for several heartbeats, regarding her with cool detachment.
After a weighted silence, his lips curved into a subtle smile.
"These soul hearts fetch a fortune. They would provide a vital source of income for me... now that I have been casted from my familt and have nothing else to depend on."
Meredith narrowed her eyes, her expression softening with a hint of compassion.
"Oh. I'm sorry."
Auren dismissed her sympathy with a slight wave.
"There's no reason to be. You weren't the one who cast me out of my family. But if you harbor any shred of empathy for me, you might consider my offer."
He let the words linger, watching for her reaction. Then, with deliberate ease, he added.
"One more thing."
Meredith arched a brow as Auren continued.
"I'm not sure if you'd want to... but would you mind answering some of my questions?"
Her gaze remained cool and impassive.
"If they're answerable."
Auren's face brightened with a knowing grin.
"Oh, they definitely are."
He paused for a beat then spoke again, his tone flat as undisturbed water.
"How long have you been in this trial?"
Meredith glanced down at her hands, counting silently. Then she lifted her cold eyes to Auren.
"About four days?"
Auren nodded at her response, his gaze drifting unfocused for a moment as he contemplated this revelation.
The fact that she said four days meant the time was actually countable. Auren had been skeptical because nothing but dark skies had greeted him since his arrival, and preschool taught that the ecology of trials could vary in countless ways.
He had almost assumed this realm existed in perpetual night. But her words confirmed otherwise. At the very least, he trusted she possessed enough intelligence not to say "days" when meaning nights.
Actually, she clearly did. No fool could display the combat prowess she had demonstrated.
He studied her face.
"What about the others? Where are they, or did you enter alone?"
Meredith fell silent for several heartbeats.
"We dispersed after receiving a mission from the pope of the cathedral."
A frown etched itself across Auren's forehead.
"You received a mission... from the pope... in this trial?"
She nodded.
"Yes, we did."
His eyes narrowed with curiosity.
"What was the mission?"
Meredith exhaled coldly and fixed him with a vacant stare, her composure shifting subtly.
"To find and kill all the heretics that oppose the law of Hope."
A shadow darkened Auren's face. He tilted his chin upward slightly, his eyes glinting like frost-covered stone.
"Is that so..."
He couldn't fathom why they appeared in a trial with the luxurious privilege of immediately meeting the pope to receive a mission—likely the exact clue they needed to pass their trial and prove themselves to the Archon.
But what of him, who had materialized in a prison and fought desperately to avoid a second execution? Was he supposed to hunt heretics too?
To prove what? And to whom?
He had clearly been cast away not just by his family but by the archon, by Hope. His role in their trial couldn't possibly be to kill heretics and impress the Archon of Light.
In fact, the roles might well be reversed. Given his circumstances, he could very well be counted among the heretics they were tasked to eliminate.
He sincerely hoped this wasn't the case—that he was merely a passerby, an insignificant side character in their story.
Because if he turned out to be the antagonist of their so-called trial, he pitied them. Their chances of passing and awakening would plummet to absolute zero!
As far as dying went, that option no longer applied to him. If push came to shove, he wouldn't be the one facing death, and he certainly wouldn't hesitate to kill if it meant his survival.
And he definitely wouldn't spare any mercy, not after what the Province of Hope had done to him.
Auren exhaled coldly, the crimson glow in his eyes dimming slightly.
"Okay, lastly, is there anything you can share about the trial? I seem to have entered it only moments ago..."
Auren harbored deep reservations about asking for help, especially since he stood in a position where he couldn't afford to owe anyone. The world had cast him away; to them, he was dead, cursed, an anomaly that shouldn't exist.
He questioned everything involving another human, particularly those who were Blessed and belonged to the Province of Hope.
If he became indebted to anyone in this trial, what guarantee did he have that it wouldn't return to haunt him when he reentered reality? In fact, how certain could he be that these people wouldn't betray him and surrender him to the church the moment they stepped out?
That was assuming they somehow managed to pass the trial by some miracle — that definitely wouldn't involve killing him.
Countless doubts, questions, and confused scenarios bloomed in Auren's mind, but he focused on one single principle.
'Let's handle what I can at this moment and continue moving forward step by step. First, gather sufficient information to understand why I'm here...'
Fortunately for him, Meredith wasn't transactional. She answered all his questions freely without pressuring him or demanding anything in return. For someone with her level of skill, Auren found her unexpected kindness surprising.
Nice people were rare in the Province of Hope. In fact, he could count only three, and he certainly wasn't among them.
'I guess that makes four now.'