"Two rooms are occupied, but at the end of the hall, there's a vacant one."
Aaron leaned against the wall as he spoke, reporting on the status of the run-down hostel that they had arrived at only a few minutes prior.
"That'll work fine then. Should I get the key from the office?"
Gesturing towards the room adjacent to where the boy was leaning, Eleanor received a weak nod from her friend.
『Didn't want to explain that it was a single bedroom, I see…』
Penelope chided Aaron from within his head at his failure to mention the unfortunate situation that he had discovered.
"It's fine… I slept this morning, so I'll just sit on the floor while she sleeps on the bed. No big deal."
Replying with a whisper, he watched as the blonde-haired girl made her way past the frozen hostelkeeper and into the box formerly filled with keys.
There, she grabbed the only one remaining: a key carved from silver and engraved with the number three on its blade.
Turning around, she waved to him with a smile on her face, the key rattling slightly as she did so.
Yeah… No big deal…
…
Thump!
Eleanor fell softly onto the medium-sized bed, a light groan making its way through her lips as she stared up at the ceiling.
"So cozy…"
Still standing at the door, the blond-haired boy chuckled and glanced around the space, looking for the most comfortable seat.
There aren't any chairs…? Do they expect people to just sleep here and be done?
An irksome thought appeared at the back of his mind that he quelled almost instantly; however, it was already making his heart rate steadily increase.
I'll close the curtains and then lean against them for a comfortable support… That'll work nicely.
Executing his thoughts almost immediately, he entered the cramped room that couldn't have been larger than a carriage or two and made his way to the window.
Taking a brief glance at the sea that he could see outside, he smiled, thinking about the beauty of the place he once lived.
I must've done something truly noble to be reborn on a tropical island… Though… I must've done something equally as horrifying to end up with a death sentence before the age of 16…
His right hand tugged on the curtains softly, closing them and allowing the time-frozen room that had seen sunlight for who knows how long to finally rest.
Then, he took both the egg and the sack of food and placed them beside each other against the wall.
After that, he turned back and faced the bed while collapsing against the wall, relaxing against the wool shades that fought against the sunlight.
Eleanor, who had been lying on the bed, glanced over with mild confusion.
Catching her eye, Aaron's heart warned him of something dangerous, yet he couldn't pinpoint where it came from.
"Why are you sitting on the floor?"
Her voice was calm and refined, without even the faintest hint of nervousness or fear.
"Where else would I sit? There aren't any chairs, and you're in the bed. No better place than on these—"
The turquoise-eyed boy was cut off promptly.
"This bed is big enough for two, right?"
Aaron immediately understood that sensation of worry that had weeded its way into his chest, realizing that this was something far more dangerous than an Apex terror.
"I… Uh… It would be improper for a priestess to sleep in the same bed as a man…"
Spitting out any excuse that he could muster, the boy quickly received a scoff from the girl ahead of him.
"If you believe this to be improper, you should've heard what the bishops and archbishops of the church did nightly…"
She shuddered as if remembering a horrifying memory, but quickly rebounded and patted the mattress twice.
"Eh… There isn't enough—"
He was cut off once more.
"I'd pray you wouldn't say there's not enough room, as that would insinuate that I'm rather large."
The sentence he had begun to say before she interrupted him did not continue, his eyes glazing over as he stood up quietly.
Allowing a grin to appear on her face, the blonde-haired girl moved to the other half of the bed, allowing him room to relax.
From her new position, she watched as he carefully sat down on the sheets and then lay back against the pillow, eyes boring holes through the ceiling.
They stayed like that for many minutes, Aaron's eyes fluttering shut while the priestess continued staring, a thought coming to the back of her mind.
"Hey, Aaron."
The boy's eyes shot open as he jolted away from the girl who had moved her lips up to the very edge of his ear, shocking him back awake.
"W-what the hell!"
His voice cracked at the first word, causing him to blush an even deeper red.
Hearing him curse, the girl glared at him, but let it go soon after, since it was her own fault for causing him to jump.
Now, though, they were left in silence, a smirk still visible on Eleanor's face as she prepared another jest for the boy.
"It's kind of cold in here, so maybe we should…"
Knock… Knock…
Both their heads whipped towards the closed door of the room, a sudden chill settling down their spines.
"A knock…?"
Neither moved, waiting for the sound to repeat itself.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Three times now, something banged on the wooden frame in a land where time had ground to a halt.
"Eleanor. Lock the door."
Aaron summoned Ocean's Bane to his hand while hurrying to stand up from the bed, his entire body tensed.
The blonde-haired girl nodded and followed his lead, moving quickly from the mattress and towards the door with the silver key in hand, a slight flicker of red reflecting off its surface.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.
The number of knocks continued to increase as she steadily approached, her hand trembling as she slid the key through the lock.
Please work…
At the same time as she turned the key, the boy behind her glanced towards the covered window, noticing something odd refracting onto the floor.
It was only a sliver of color, however, as if a substitute for sunlight, an eerie crimson glow appearing on the floor.
His grip on his sword tightened as the blood-colored light invaded his mind, emitting emotions of fear, fatigue, irritation, and lust.
To a normal human, such a thing would've overwhelmed them within minutes; however, he was no normal human, especially in the land of the mind.
Returning his gaze to Eleanor, who was about to click the lock into place, he felt the effects weaken considerably.
Another mystical phenomenon that bases itself on sight?
The knocks that had previously been rather kind had begun to shift into more aggressive poundings, the door shaking harder and harder as the seconds went on.
"A little faster, Eleanor…"
The banging grew louder and louder, the noise spreading to the window that sounded as if it were on the verge of breaking.
Click!
Finding the correct mechanism to push the key into, she successfully finished sealing the door.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
The walls sounded as if they were being broken into by hammers, the wooden floor beneath their feet groaning like a collapsing building.
"Aaron!?"
Eleanor stumbled to the side after a massive quake; the boy's forearm bracing her before she could hit the floor.
"What the hell is causing this? We're in a frozen world; how can the sky turn blood red and things be hammering on the room!?"
The boy shouted over the relentless pounding, the nightmare around him devolving rapidly with each wall, door, or window sounding like it was about to break open.
His eyes darted around, looking for anything to barricade the entrance with, but still found nothing.
Summoning the Aether into her palm, Eleanor forged the dagger that she had used once before, preparing to fight until her death if necessary.
The boy did the same, albeit without such glum thoughts spiraling throughout his mind.
THUMP! THUMP! CRACK!
Pieces of wood flew off the door towards the teens faster than they could react; the only thing keeping them safe was the barriers of mana wrapping around their forms.
Grinding his teeth, Aaron tapped the side of his forehead, activating his Mana Vision alongside his newest ability: Crimson Scales, which he had obtained from the massive desert centipede.
Thousands of overlapping threads tore at his vision, forcing him to gag, but after a moment, they began to stabilize around them, a circular ring of pitch-black darkness that existed outside the room.
Dark Magic…
The window shattered, and glass spilled onto the floor, causing both teens to rapidly scan for an intruder; however, much to their surprise, nothing stood within.
Blood-red light still poured in, yet the curtains still hung perfectly over the window, blocking the view of whatever had broken the hostel glass.
At the door and around the walls, the pounding ceased as if the unfrozen intruders had suddenly left.
Such a thing did not make them drop their guards, however, as they were well versed in surprise attacks after countless experiences over the months of their journeys.
"Are they gone…?"
Eleanor glanced down at the smashed window after a few minutes longer of waiting, her eyes widening at the sight of the fresh, golden sunlight beaming down.
"It would seem so…"
Aaron sheathed Ocean's Bane at his hip while closing his eyes to stir Penelope from her continuous slumber.
『Is something wrong? I can't sense anything other than Miss Blondie over there…』
The turquoise-eyed boy frowned at her words, not certain of what she meant.
"If you can't sense anything, then what broke that window over there? Or what broke pieces off the door?"
Attempting to verify based on physical evidence, he posed the question again while waiting patiently for her informative reply.
Could it have been goblins? Fairies? Ghosts? Oversized snakes? Hell, could it be a boogeyman?
Having learned to expect the unexpected, he was confident that he would know what she would reply with.
『It was already broken when we entered the room.』
Aaron froze.
He did not blink.
He did not smile.
He did not sigh.
All he did was freeze.
"What do you mean when you say it was 'Already broken when we entered the room…'?"
There was a long silence as Eleanor stood in confusion, not sure what the other end of the conversation was saying.
『Is all that blushing going to your brain and burning away your precious brain cells? I said that it was always like that. Always, as long as I've known it. Was broken when we got to this island, and it will be broken when we leave. Simple.』
What she was saying was impossible, completely and utterly so.
It was to the point where Aaron second-guessed his own memory: had he really looked through the window earlier?
Was it originally broken?
No. I'm certain… Something is wrong with Penelope… Is it influencing even her?
That was the final straw with this hellish island for the boy; if something could alter the mind of even the god-slaying blade, then it was far too dangerous for their meddling.
"Sorry, Eleanor, but your sleep will have to wait. We need to leave this island before whatever the hell broke that window comes back."
Once more, she didn't even mention his foul language, only replying with a nod as she gathered her few belongings.
Aaron moved on his own, hoisting the egg and food onto his back and cleaning any broken glass off of them.
Then, with a weak exhale, he turned and faced Eleanor, who had already gathered her things and was ready to move.
Reading her expression, he understood at that moment that, regardless of their differences, they both thought the exact same thing.
Just what happened on this island…