As the crimson red moon begins to rise in the kingdom infested with demons, Xander explored the city in search of someone. Suddenly, he halted his search in front of an old building. The shattered windows which were replaced with wooden planks instead of glass and the worn-out door which seems as though it can be broken with a slight nudges indicates that the apartment seems abandoned and hadn't been inhabited by anyone for many years. Or so they thought. But for Xander, he thinks otherwise. It looks like that man had made a perfect job making himself unknown by anyone,' he thought.

Xander stepped into the building, eyes sweeping across the room for any sign of people. Sure enough, there actually was someone there. An old man with ragged, tattered clothes with a walking stick in his hand approached Xander. "What the yer think yer doing ere?! Tis ain't yer lawn. Get out!!" the old man warned. "I'm looking someone who claimed himself as The Dark Merchant."Xander replied back to the beggar. "The dark who? All right ere, sonny I don't know who yer looking fer but tis is my home so GET OFF OF MY PROPERTY !!!," he said as he is swinging his walking stick towards Xander. "Maybe this can convince you otherwise," Xander said as he grabbed the stick with his left hand and showed the old man his right hand revealing a strange sign on his palm. The old man quickly muttered a spell and the sign on his right hand begins to glow.

"So you really do know want to meet him after all," the beggar says and then pulled the torn carpet on his feet. Xander then examined the floor carefully and he slightly noticed that there was a rough square cut into the floorboards, breaking the pattern of the floor, with the boards inside the square being slightly higher than their surroundings. "Sorry bout that. Just making sure that yer not one of those damned kids that stumbled into this place by accident. We can't be too careful nowadays now, can we?". With that, he opened the hidden door on the floor and revealed a large staircase which seems to be leading into the underground. "Best bring a candle with yer," he says as he gives Xander a lamp to guide him in the dark corridors beneath the building.

As Xander began to went down into the staircase, the old man closed the hidden door on the floor and covered it with the carpet. Judging from how the man acted and the fact that there is a hidden staircase here, that merchant really does know how to make himself well concealed by others, Xander thought. He continued down towards the staircase until he reaches at the end and found himself in a room accompanied by a demon wearing a robe which appears to be a noble.

'Come in," the demon said as he opened the door for me. When he entered the room, there were another 3 doors in front of him. Although Xander had not meet with the merchant for a long time, but he can still vaguely remember where does each room lead to. He is also aware that there were two massive golems standing besides the door where Xander had entered. Giving the stationary golems a few glances, he proceed to the door in front of him.

A voice can be heard right after Xander entered the study room."So you've arrived," the voice said. He searches for the source of the voice and found the Dark Merchant sitting on a chair near the fireplace with a book in his hand. As Xander come closer to him, the merchant placed a bookmark on the book and closed it. "I thought you already expected me to come," Xander replied. "I already did. It's just that I'm surprised that you came to me sooner than I'd expected,". Xander then sat himself on a chair near the Merchant, unsure whether the merchant is either lying or speaking the truth. "So tell me, how was your life living as the god of death's pawn feel like?,". "Nothing much, that's all I say," . The demon who had guide Xander into the room had poured some tea and placed it on a nearby table near them."I didn't even know why did my old human self wanted to serve Airis in the first place," Xander said as the merchant grabbed the cup of tea in his hand and slowly sips it. Of course you don't know, you had lost so many memories of your past self that you even forgotten your own name, the merchant thought. "But I'm not here to talk about my life as one of Airis's servants," . "Then what do you wish to talk about when you came all the way here just to see me. It's very unlikely that you've just decided to come here without any reasons,". Then there was a few brief moment of silence. Xander then broke the silence by saying "..... I want to know more about my demon self,"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you more," . "Why?!," . "I told you before haven't I, you have to find out about it yourself," . "Your the only one who knew about it!" Xander stands up as he pushed the chair down, feeling outraged. Clearly he didn't try to find the merchant for so long just to know that him won't give him any answers? The merchant remained calm, not feeling even slightly intimidated by the assassin's action. "....There was once a saying 'The closer you get to the truth, the darker your secrets will be'. There are reasons why you didn't remember everything about your past life," he said.

"But if you really want to know.......," . Xander heard him, he tried to calm down to clear his mind while at the same time feeling confused. What is wrong with me? he thought. It's not like him to to went on a sudden rage like that. "I don't blame you," was what the merchant said to him. "Say again?". "Your current feelings are somewhat related to your past, especially at the event seven years ago when you've encountered memory loss," . What, memory loss?. Xander tried to explore his memory about something that had happened seven years ago, but to his surprise, discovered nothing. It's like as though between the time when he became a demon to his current visit to the merchant, there is a very large gap at the middle. No matter how hard he tried to remembered it, he just can't. "......Are you done yet, my boy?". The assassin shifted his view towards the merchant, noticing that he had just discovered that he had a memory loss that he didn't even notice. Now his mind was filled with more questions. The man who has all of the answers and the only link to his past is standing right before him.

"Forget about your memory loss, the real question is.... why do you want to find out the truth?". "Because..," He stopped. He doesn't know what to say anymore. It is as though he doesn't even know why is he chasing the truth. Is it out of sheer curiosity... or maybe something else that he can't describe. "Well?." the merchant asked. "....Because... I want to know more about myself," It's not his most accurate answers that's for sure, but it's the closest he can think. The cloaked man looked at Xander, as though he understands what he meant. Then he reply "... I can only give you three hints if you want to rediscover your lost memory,". Xander thought, Only three? Why can't he just tell me who am I really am? Is he playing a game with me?. "If I told you more, then you might not have the heart to carry on with your quest. On the other hand, if I told you less, then you'll never know the answer no matter what you do," he said, as though responding to the assassin's thought. "Now listen carefully,". Xander grabbed his chair on the floor and sat on it, deciding to play along with his games since he is the only one who knew more about him.

(W.I.P)