03. It's Not A God

Sieghal walked briskly out of the hospital, feeling that he might lose control of his emotions if he stayed inside any longer. But as he was about to enter the elevator, he accidentally bumped into someone coming out, causing him to fall.

"Ack!"

Sieghal yelped as his butt hit the cold hospital floor. But immediately, the person he had bumped into extended a hand, trying to help him up.

"Can you get up," he said, hand outstretched.

Initially, Sieghal was willing to take the man's hand and apologize for his clumsiness. Still, when their eyes met, Sieghal quickly withdrew his hand, ignoring it. Meanwhile, a woman standing beside that man watched them silently without intervening.

Sieghal entered the elevator without saying a word, intending to leave them behind. Still, as he was about to press the button to go down, the man grabbed his hand and stepped into the elevator.

If it were anyone else, they would be mesmerized by the man's handsomeness and well-built body. Standing nearly six foot three, with long hair tied and draped over his right shoulder, he had beautiful golden eyes, long lashes, a well-proportioned nose, and slightly reddish thin lips. He was truly perfect.

If someone could be called a living beauty, it was Helbert Dylan. Despite his stunning looks and perfection, Sieghal was disgusted by his handsomeness, so he tried to free his hand from Helbert's grip. However, a difference in their strength was evident as Sieghal struggled to break free.

"Can you let go of me?" Sieghal asked.

"Is it hard for you to apologize or thank me for trying to help you?" Helbert asked as if he had just done something extraordinary.

Sieghal frowned, the words he had just heard made him uncomfortable, and he quickly brushed off Helbert's hand to stop him from holding on. With a cold stare, Sieghal tried to intimidate him, but it was useless, and now Helbert returned the same expression.

"Can't you just pretend not to know me?" Sieghal said, pleading with emphasis.

Instead of answering immediately, Helbert stared silently at Sieghal, who grew angrier at him. After a few minutes, the man finally spoke.

"Thirteen years, is that how you ignore me?" he said, making Sieghal flinch. "I know you need a lot of money for your dad's medical bills. How about we make a deal?"

Sieghal glared. He was angry, feeling insulted by the 'deal' Helbert was trying to offer him. With anger boiling over, Sieghal brushed off his hand and spoke in a low, emphatic voice. "No one ever asked for your help."

"I'll make a high offer for the house and boat Theo offered me," Helbert's words made Sieghal fall silent and glare at him again.

"What do you mean—"

"It's just an old house that hasn't been renovated in ten years, I'm not sure if it will be profitable for me, but it's worth it even though the price won't match what you owe the hospital. Or, I might offer you a job with your skills as a Dealer?"

Sieghal didn't answer. He just stared at Helbert with a cold gaze, then walked away as the elevator doors opened in the hospital lobby, ignoring the offer the guy had made without a word.

He knew this would happen. Being in the same city as that person made this encounter inevitable, even though he didn't expect it to happen so soon. Besides, how did Helbert Dylan know about his job as a Dealer?

Sieghal's steps stopped at the bus stop. Memories of receiving a call from Yohan felt real now. The person he had seen among the people he bumped into when he panicked that night was not a hallucination. Of course, Helbert Dylan could be anywhere, including in Las Vegas, and that night, the figure he saw walking away from him when their eyes met was indeed him.

Sieghal wiped his face and took a deep breath, trying to think of a way out of this mess. Maybe he had to go back to Vegas to get a loan from Vasco, and that was the best way to pay off all the hospital bills, even if it meant working for the casino owner for life. At least he could leave Shira and stay away from Helbert Dylan.

Taking the bus, Sieghal returned to Shira. Initially, he thought of going home and calming his mind, but someone greeted him. It was Yohan's father, Mr Calgeur. Like Yohan, Mr Calgeur hugged and laughed happily when he learned that Sieghal had returned to Shira.

"Oh my, my son! Your dad must be happy you are back," he laughed joyfully.

"Yeah, but he can't laugh as you did now," Sieghal replied, immediately changing Mr Calgeur's expression.

"Theo did his best to protect the entire crew, but your dad insisted on pulling the fishing net that night, so this unfortunate incident couldn't be avoided, I'm sorry Siegh," Mr Calgeur said regretfully.

Sieghal shook his head. "No, it's no one's fault. I guess everyone knows how stubborn my dad is when he's at sea," he replied. Mr Calgeur nodded as if agreeing with that statement.

"Would you like to see the condition of your dad's boat?"

Sieghal flinched. He didn't want to get close to the shoreline, but his curiosity made him want to do it. When Theo said there was something that tore their fishing net, it made him worried.

"Yea—yeah, sure," he replied hesitantly.

After agreeing to Mr Calgeur's invitation, Sieghal immediately followed him to the dock. There were dozens of boats lined up there, all kinds of fishing boats he could see, and of course, one boat that looked damaged in several parts, with a broken mast, a damaged net puller, and a torn fishing net, as if it had been shredded, and a hole in the side of the boat, as if it had been rammed by something huge.

"Look, it's in bad shape, the storm must have been very bad in the middle of the sea that night, it seems it also hit the underwater rocks when the big waves came, and the moon couldn't guide the gods to lead this boat," Mr Calgeur tried to explain.

Gods? What kind of creatures are they?

Sieghal knew that all the peoples of Shira believed that an entity always protected them whenever they went to sea to fish. With its blessing, the gods provided endless abundance and safety for the fishermen. However, no one knew what that entity was, so all of Shira believed they were sea guardian gods. But not Sieghal.

While they believed it was god, Sieghal was convinced by what he saw as a child that it was not a god but a terrifying creature, massive and more dangerous than the most ferocious shark, always opening its mouth wide, ready to devour him at any time.

Sieghal's legs suddenly felt weak, his body trembled, and a cold sweat began to soak his face as the bad memories returned until he finally fell to the ground. Mr Calgeur saw this and immediately approached and helped Sieghal to stand.

"Hey, kid! Are you okay?"

"N—no! I'm fine," Sieghal replied with a trembling voice, "I'm sorry Mr Calgeur but I—"

"Are you still afraid of the sea, kid?" he asked cautiously.

Quickly, he shook his head, then turned and ran away from the shoreline. Running until he reached his house and closed all the doors. He tried to calm himself, covered his ears tightly, and closed his eyes, trying hard to stop thinking about the fear that had haunted him for years, convincing himself that he would be fine if he stayed away from the shore and avoided the sea for the rest of his life.

In his fear, someone knocked on the door. Sieghal tried to ignore it, but the knocking continued, forcing him to see who it was. He thought it was Theo and Yohan coming home, but when he opened the door, he saw that man again, Helbert Dylan.