Nightmare Mythos

"I'm here to sell,"

As much as it is unbelievable it sounds, everyone's interest became piqued after hearing that small phrase coming from Cesar's mouth. The receptionist immediately acted professional upon realizing that the person on his front wasn't a noob like they were accustomed to seeing.

He immediately presented himself with a calm demeanor as he talked to Cesar.

"I will certainly assist you to it. May I know if you're already registered with our current list of Hunters? If you aren't, maybe I can do the honors of putting you up on our list,"

The clerk gave a soothing answer that Cesar didn't reject. After receiving that offer, he replied immediately.

"We can certainly do it. May I know when I can sell?"

"Now,"

The clerk left his table before smiling, "We people in the Nightmare Shops are called Handlers. We don't have any names when we're on the job but you can refer us with that nickname. As we introduce you to our shop, I'll begin putting up the description of what you seemed fit while walking around. Will that be all right?"

Cesar glanced around the place before answering, "That will not be a problem,"

At that moment, the clerk began assisting Cesar inside their establishment passing through a few people along the way. Once they were halfway through their destination, the Handler began asking.

"May I know what we're going to refer you from now on?"

Cesar contemplated the name that would tell him that he was that person, but at the same time, not the same in a kind of way. He wanted to put an alias that would not directly link him to being 'Cesar' so that it would not garner too much attention.

"Let's go with Cedeit."

"Cedeit…" The Handler muttered under his breath before smiling, "What a very peculiar yet good name. Mr. Cedeit it is,"

The owner of that name inside his consciousness complained but not in a way that made it sound like it was irritated. Its manner of tone found it strange.

"Hey, don't use my name like that,"

Cesar abrupt shrugged his shoulders before he heard his Handler speaking.

"Well, just as my guess, Mr. Cedeit didn't appear in our whole database. As for why we're able to distinguish this and that, it's because we're tasked to memorize the names that came to our shop to sell their Nightmares. It doesn't matter if they are different branches, this requirement is the least of the things we had to handle as we're on this job,"

Giving a brief introduction about their job description, the Handler proceeded to the topic right away as he added, "Anyways, now that I've started recording Mr. Cedeit's actions, may I know if you have any description of the Nightmare you're going to sell?"

Cesar vividly remembered the scene of the Nightmare that surprised him due to its unnoticed presence before explaining the features of the creature.

"It was a grotesque creature with disorderly features that I couldn't even phantom of telling you about. It had bite marks all around its body and a huge chunk of it was near its abdomen. This Nightmare seemed to be already centuries old. Its abilities are unknown. Its body is humungous and one can mistake it as a Higher Nightmare Creature. And—"

The Handler intently listened to Cesar while nodding once, trying to list the description that he kept feeding to him. After a whole minute of hearing the description of the Nightmare that Cesar was going to sell, the Handler couldn't help but chuckle nervously the moment he was done.

"Sir, what you've described just now is indeed a Higher Nightmare Creature. It wasn't a mistake. But I guess such feats are easy for you," The Handler paused before adding, "Right, Cesar Sparrow?"

Cesar immediately froze at the spot before looking suspiciously at the Handler who continued walking without a stop. Then, the man continued.

"Don't worry, that doesn't contain any ill intention if you're trying to think one. However, if you're going to cover yourself, you should put on a cloth which has special functions. I think others already recognized you,"

Realizing that he had stirred away from the current topic, his current Handler spoke, "I'm sorry if I'm invading your privacy but… I just couldn't contain it. You're Hero of Wheels after all. But let's not stray away, okay? To my current level, this information regarding your Nightmare isn't within my rank yet. I'm going to lead you to different people that will definitely help you make a deal with what you have right now,"

Sensing that Handler didn't mean any ill intention but was merely a fan who couldn't contain his emotions toward his idol, Cesar had to double check to see if Cedeit was in the same opinion.

"You're good to go."

Once that confirmation was guided by Cedeit, Cesar let out a relieved sigh before nodding, "Okay, if you can lead me to another Handler who is a much higher rank than you fast, it will be really appreciated,"

"Of course,"

Saying that in the calmest tone possible, Cesar was a little wary of the Handler. Walking a step back away from him, he found himself being led into a wide room with a single person sitting on a table scratching her head in irritation as she read the stack of papers laid bare for her to see.

"Ma'am Executive,"

Being distracted as a person entered his room, the Executive cast a glance at Cesar before shifting it back to the Handler.

"Handler, another special client?"

"Certainly,"

The Executive shifted it again to Cesar before she stood up from her seat and introduced herself, "Hi, I'm an Executive for this Moren Nightmare Shop. You can say I'm a branch owner. Nice to meet you, Hero of Wheels,"

'Of course… If I lackey can recognize me even if I'm using this kind of cover, there's no way the boss wouldn't,'

Cesar shook hands with the Executive as the Handler left the room. She then moved closer to the door to close it before gesturing for Cesar to sit down at the available chair.

"Sorry for the mess,"

"It's okay,"

The Executive lingered her gaze at Cesar briefly before stating, "All right, if that Handler used his coupon to choose a special client like you, it means everything related to your entire sale will be listed through him. Congrats, you just earned yourself a Handler. In Nightmare Shops such as ours, it is kind of a trophy,"

She then clasped her hands before saying, "All right, Sparrow. Get on with it. Let's see what you'll show me,"

Looking at the Executive with a questioning look, Cesar begins the process of carrying the Nightmare Flesh out of the storage room with the Librarian's Key. Not daring to hide it from the Executive since he really doesn't have a choice but to openly do it, he begins to pull out kilo after kilo of Nightmare carcasses and flesh.

At first, the Executive looked a bit surprised upon seeing the power behind the Librarian's Key as anyone would willingly kill someone who possessed it to make it on their own. However, as Cesar continued pulling out those pounds of flesh, her face started to gain visible change.

'How the hell did he manage to acquire this much?!' The Executive mused inwardly as she came into a thought that almost absurd thing to think off, 'Don't tell me he soloed a creature of this magnitude? It seems he was the only one who possessed this flesh!'

The Executive sneakily grabbed the Handler's description of the Nightmare that Cesar was willing to sell before gasping in an inconspicuous manner.

'My god… if I'm thinking right, its rank is indeed a Higher Nightmare Creature… How come he was disturbing its flesh on his own as if he was selling it to some store?!'

Finally, after putting up the flesh he managed to garner for himself and putting it down on an available weighing scale that the room already provided, Cesar wiped the beads of sweat that formed on his forehead before asking.

"How much?"

The Executive took a mouthful of gulp down to her throat before answering, "This is worth a hundred thousand Vennon Cash right in this instant. However, that seemed too underwhelming. Yes, I can pay you straight up with the cash right away but what about you a credit card that is only available for the shops relating to Moren?"

'Credit card? What's that?'

The Executive rummaged through under the drawers of her table before grabbing out a single silver-plated card. Closing the distance between her and Cesar, she handed it to him and said.

"This Card is only available for the people that are highly very, very important person anything related to Moren. You can buy anything, literally anything using this Silver Card. The amount of items you can buy is ten,"

Cesar began to reassess the situation as he clarified, "Let me get this straight. I'll be receiving this Silver Card and money worth a hundred thousand cash in one go if I accept this deal?"

The Executive nodded before Cesar chuckled as he didn't wait even a few seconds later to think.

"Deal! Where are the papers I need to sign?? "