Benny shakes his head at Eli. "I am not keeping a leprechaun in my house."

"If I leave it at my apartment, someone might steal him away." Eli glances at his shadow. In the nick of time, he was able to capture the leprechaun before it could escape. Since he's moving in with Nell, keeping this leprechaun imprisoned inside his shadow is not good. He also needs some privacy when he's with Nell. Besides, the leprechaun might die if he stays inside his shadow for too long. He plans to get the leprechaun's treasure and give it to the most beautiful woman in the world. It belongs to her since she was the one who caught the leprechaun first.

"Do you know what this means?" Benny points his plump finger at Eli's shadow that looks a little pregnant. "The Fae are involved."

"You are also a Fae." Eli curves his brow. The leprechaun is still unconscious. "Why can't a dwarf and a leprechaun live together? You can keep him as your slave and get the gold. Think of this as payment."

"I was thrown out of the Fae realm," Benny grumbles He always has to mention that. It's not easy to keep a leprechaun as a slave, but he does need a housemaid. "Why did you end my call earlier? I had something important to discuss with you"

It looks like his friend would keep the prisoner. Eli's eyes turn solemn. "I was busy with something. What were you going to tell me about her?"

"I looked into the deaths. The first one was a coincidence. She was at the wrong place at the wrong time. My people are already looking for the murderer. However, the second and third deaths are related to her in some way." Benny says to him with a casual voice, "Your girl has some connection with the Fae world. She's also living on borrowed time."

Borrowed time? Eli's stomach churns. What does he mean? Does she have an illness? Her physical tests didn't have anything abnormal other than weakness due to the heavy loss of blood. She might need to see a therapist for the voices she hears. He feels a little guilty for using her weakness against her earlier when she saw the leprechaun. But she might not be able to handle the truth at her current state.

Why can she see the leprechaun in the first place? Did this creature not use the veil?

"It hasn't been long since you came to the city. It's not surprising that you don't know about the incident that changed the relationship between the council and the fae realm." Benny continues with a heavy voice, "One of the gates to the fae realm is closer to this city. Around ten years ago, a group of satyrs escaped to this city. It was the middle of spring."

"So?" Eli frowns at him. "How is it related to her?"

"The satyrs can't control themselves during the mating season-- not that they can control themselves much in other seasons." Benny lowers his voice. "The victims were six human females and two males."

He becomes utterly silent. He did hear about incidents like this frequently in the past. The otherworldly creatures often targeted human females because of their high fertility. Especially the fae, they liked to capture human females and children. Before this moment, he was never bothered about it. He would have never imagined that Nell could be one of the victims of those incidents.

"Four females and one male were taken to the fae realm in the same night. They were never found. Out of the other three victims, a young girl and a boy were found dead." Benny notices that Eli is clenching his hands so hard that his knuckles are nearly white.

"The last girl was still breathing. The Fae realm didn't want to take responsibility. They saw it as something natural. They blamed the council for not guarding the gate properly. Before, the council used to bury incidents like this. But they didn't do the same at that time. Those were chaotic times. The council sent the hunters in the Fae realm and killed half of the Satyr's population. Those were tense times."

The veil must have broken at that time. That's why she could see the leprechauns and other things that a human shouldn't be able to see.

"How did you find out?" Eli hopes that this is a lie. Maybe Benny found wrong information. But he is aware that it's a false hope. Benny is good at his job.

"I went to check the Council's records if she had some link to the other world." Benny replies, "In the records, it was mentioned that her damaged body was healed by a miracle. The goddess of night rarely bestows a miracle like that. That goddess is especially kind to the broken ones."

How loud was her cry for help? Even a goddess was awakened from her slumber. Eli runs his fingers through his hair and sighs. "Are all those satyrs dead for sure?"

"Why do you ask?" Benny narrows his eyes. "Are you going to look for the rest of the satyrs and erase the entire species? You already retired from your evil ways. Don't go back to that side."

Eli has been considering doing that. To be honest, he wants to obliterate the Fae realm. That seems like a lot of work, but it's worth it. Right now, his priority is to keep Nell safe from herself.

"By the way, are you serious about that human female?" Benny looks at him with scepticism. "You aren't in love with her for real, are you?"

"I am," Eli tells him with a straight face.

The dwarf gapes at his friend. Did this ghoul eat a wrong brain? "If your family finds out that you are pursuing a human female, they will cook her for dinner."

"I will cook them for dinner before they get the chance to do that." Eli chuckles. "Besides, they will never find out."

This idiot ghoul is serious about the human female. Benny had a headache. "Do you think that she will ever love you back? If she ever finds out that you are a ghoul, what would happen? I have never heard of a human being with a ghoul."

"She will never find out." Eli smiles at his friend. "I will live as a human for her."

"That's impossible." Benny massages his forehead. His friend has gone insane. "Ghouls and humans are too different. If you were a vampire or an angel, you might have had a chance. Young human females like to fantasize about them. Even a god would do."

Eli grabs Benny's hands and widens his eyes. "Do you think that I have a chance if I was a vampire or a god? Should I change my species? An angel is a stretch, but I can try."

"You are joking, right?" Benny jerks his hands away. "You are a ghoul. How could you change into another species?"

"I can give it a try." Eli scratches his chin. "I only need to sew wings on my back to become an angel. Well, I only need canines and pretend to drink blood. It's not like the ghouls can't become a god. I might become the first ghoul god."

This guy is seriously considering it. He's always been eccentric. Why did he meet this ghoul? This ghoul always manages to plummet his blood pressure within an hour. "You should ask her first. What if she doesn't like any of them?"

When the ghoul doesn't answer him, Benny follows his line of gaze. The shadow has a bulge. Something is struggling to get out of his shadow. Eli waves his hand nonchalantly. A leprechaun emerged out of the shadow, gasping for breath. He looks at the ghoul and the dwarf with a blank face.

"Don't kill me." The leprechaun lies down flat on the ground on his stomach, quivering in fear. "I didn't know that she would come home suddenly."

So, this creature went to her place because she was not at home. Eli stares at him. "Why did you go to her place?"

"I was told to deliver an object for her." The leprechaun has a lot of grievances. Why did he come across a ghoul? A dwarf is here too. He has no chance to escape. "Before I could leave it, she came inside the house."

"Show me," Eli commands him with a chilling voice. Even Benny flinches and shifts away unconsciously. The leprechaun takes laborious breaths. It feels like he's being pulled into a void. He takes out the pouch from his pocket and places it on the floor. He has no idea what is inside the pouch.

The ghoul picks up the pouch and undoes the knot. He takes a peek and asks the leprechaun, "Who asked you to deliver this?"

"I don't know." The moment he says those words, a shadow hand immerses into his back and claws the wall of his stomach. Benny shuts his eyes. He's not a fan of violence or screams. Can't this ghoul do this at his apartment?

"I am telling the truth," The leprechaun shrieks. "That person didn't show face or give a name. I was given the gold and asked to deliver the object to her bedroom. I didn't know that she would be able to see me."

"I find it hard to believe." Eli grabs the leprechaun's head. "Should I break open your skull and eat your brain to see if you are telling the truth or not?"

"No, please don't. I am telling the truth," The leprechaun implores him, panicked. "I don't know who gave me that pouch."

"Wait!" Benny yells, "The Fae cannot lie. He's telling the truth."

If this ghoul breaks that creature's head in his office, who would clean it? He already has so much work.

"They can't lie, but they are experts at manipulating the truth." Eli grimaces at the leprechaun. "What do you remember about that person?"

"That person was using a strong veil to hide themselves." The leprechaun replies anxiously, "I am telling the truth. I was only going to deliver the object."

Eli lets of the leprechaun and stands up. "I hand him over to you, Benny. You can keep him or kill him."

The leprechaun lets out a breath of relief. The dwarf doesn't look strong. He will get the chance to run away.

"You are dumping your problems at me." Benny clicks his tongue and walks to the table to get something from the drawer. He will accept this creature as the payment anyway. The leprechauns are good at stealth.

"By the way, give me your treasure." Eli smiles at the leprechaun. "I caught you remember."

The ghoul knows. He's been hoping that they wouldn't remember it. A leprechaun has to hand over his treasure to the person who catches him. Leprechaun utters with a meek voice, "But it was the human."

If they take him to the human, he can fool that person and escape. Just then, the dwarf comes back and puts on a black collar around the leprechaun's neck. The leprechaun turns pale when he feels a cold metal around his neck. Agonizing pain bursts in his soul. He writhes on the floor. The slave collar would hurt him whenever he thinks about escaping.

"She shouldn't see your ugly face again." Eli pulls the leprechaun's beard. "Your freedom and gold belong to my friend now. Hand over your life treasure."

Three things are most precious to a leprechaun: gold, life, and freedom. Without a doubt, this case would become big in the future if the Fae are involved. Benny will take the freedom and the gold of the leprechaun as the payment.

Besides, If she gets the gold, she's likely to kick him out after paying for the charges for her surgeries. Also, the leprechaun's gold often brings bad luck. It's best to give it away to someone after taking it from the creature. In addition to that, he doesn't want her to owe anything to Benny.

"Life treasure?" The leprechaun widens his eyes in horror. "If I give it away, I won't live long."

"Why are you still clinging to life when your hair is white as snow?" Eli slaps the leprechaun's cheek. "Even without life treasure, you will live for a few decades. Do you want to spend centuries as a workaholic dwarf's slave? It's for your own good. Give it to me before I change my mind and break your skull. Even letting you live for a few decades is getting on my nerves."

So, he's only getting the gold and a dying leprechaun. Benny exhales. Why did he think that he had the upper hand? The ghoul is giving him the gold because he doesn't want it. Still, a leprechaun as a slave for a few decades isn't bad. It's more than enough as the payment.

The ghoul seems serious about killing him. The leprechaun has no choice but to accept whatever the situation is offering him. A glowing gold coin manifests on the leprechaun's palm. He looks at it with wet eyes. He has to hand over his life. Still, he has a few decades left. In the future, he can steal the life treasure from this ghoul.

Eli picks up the coin throbbing with energy. Since he had already stopped her fated death once, death can visit her anytime. Having this life treasure on her body would keep away the reapers from purging her soul. But there's little any treasure can do if she doesn't have the will to live.