"Uh…so…"
They had both been silent for a long time; something that wouldn't surprise me coming from Joakim, but from Renato?
"Something interesting happened?"
Judging by their faces, it seemed so. So why don't they want to say anything? Was it something bad?
"The bird should tell you," Joakim pointed at Renato. "He apparently knows more than he lets on."
I immediately looked at Anser, just as Frederick looked at both of us. Whatever that discovery was...I know we have to prepare for whatever it is.
"Randy is the real villain here, Jeon," I would have been surprised if I hadn't suspected it the first time I went to see him and he knew who I really was. Even so, although I always wonder how he knew, even now, I don't understand how he could have known. "He...killed me before reincarnating as a parrot."
"…"
"…"
What?
That… "Randy Bornman? Kill? I mean, I don't doubt it, but...how come nobody looked for you? Whoever you were, why are there no records of anyone—" No, someone was missing. Someone very important, in fact. "…Renato Doblevida." And, once again, Frederick was right.
Of course! Even his name held the answer! However, no one could have imagined that the real Renato was a parrot! Wait, did even Layla know? She knew that her vice leader was her former sect leader?
"…So you are..." He was the one Elmetron was looking for! His master! Yes, he was alive! Well, he had reincarnated...but he was still alive! So...perhaps because Randy knew he was dead...he decided to kill Elmetron and the few surviving members of his sect? "…" And yet, if I think about it more, remembering the time Randy himself threatened to kill me... perhaps my theory isn't too far from the truth. However, I have no proof of that.
...Or…yes?
Elmetron and his cult were killed by demons; Randy, in addition to his omnipresence, can control the minds of demons, and furthermore, enter the minds of those who belonged to his sect.
"…Oh."
So...they're right.
"Randy...murdered you, and then...murdered your sect, including me."
And Renato, as much as it pained him to accept it—to accept that his once best subordinate, his vice leader...had betrayed him—knew I was right; it wasn't for nothing that he couldn't return to his subordinates now. Since they were all dead. And Randy knew that very well; in case Renato were to reincarnate...he knew he wouldn't be able to face him alone.
"Even though Randy took my powers to use them for himself...he hadn't predicted that I wouldn't reincarnate as a human, much less that Layla would be the one to accept me into her sect."
"And what did he want your powers for? I don't see him using them now…I've never even seen him fight a demon..." Frederick asked before I did. And he's right, I haven't seen Randy directly confront any threat; that was Mandeleine's job, or the guys from other sects, but never him.
Everyone knows that Randy is the most powerful man in the world, however, he has never been seen facing any threat.
"He used my power to create Lahn's parchment, not only my own, but also those of other members of his own sect."
And with that revelation...
"…"
I remembered that Enver himself confirmed that that parchment did not exist.
"Before Randy became the leader of the sect," Joakim began to say. "He was...a powerful ally, however, he began to exhibit some...strange symptoms."
"Strange symptoms?" Everyone present, including Renato, asked questions. None of them knew about those 'strange symptoms'.
Joakim nodded. "Ten years ago I went to see Randy, as I recall it was to give him a report on the new members of my sect, and it was when he checked them that he suddenly vomited blood."
Based on my understanding of the world, it could mean that something internal had been torn, but with what? Above all, how? Given Randy's well-known 'kingly' lifestyle.
"Was that when...he was already a sect leader?" Renato asked, and Joakim nodded. "What color was his blood?"
Joakim thought for a moment, and then answered; "Black."
Black?
"That...wasn't blood, Joakim."
Renato's words made me turn to look at him. Yes, it was strange, and it certainly wasn't blood.
"It's black magic," Frederick confirmed. "Or to put it simply...demon blood; rotten blood, without a trace of vitality or pure magic in it."
"But isn't that impossible? Randy is a being of pure energy!" I immediately got up from the couch. "How did he...run out of pure energy?"
Born to be powerful, to be a god with unlimited power…
Reduced to this?
No, no…
"I don't know, but that's one reason why Mandeleine hasn't reincarnated; that consumes pure energy, and if their leader ran out of pure energy, that means that if he reincarnates, it won't be as a human." Renato explained. "Mandeleine may have already reincarnated, and we have mistaken him for a demon."
"Renato says...that perhaps that's why many of the demons we've faced seem very common here, but not in the third world," Joakim added. "Here we have the runner demon; who uses light magic to travel great distances in a short time, and that would be a good thing in the third world, however, they themselves fear that world, as if—"
"As if they were still human..." I finished, and finally, I was able to confirm that Randy was not someone to be trusted; in fact, he was the prime suspect in the distortion of this story.
And yet, why does he do it?
What is it that he saw in his past life that he fears so much will come true in this life?
Apparently, none of us know.
And, if there is a possibility that Randy has a deeper motivation, a motivation so deep that we are unable to break him down to stop him...that will mean our defeat from now on.
"…Randy…" And when we looked at Anser, that's when we realized that perhaps this revelation would be too much for him. And yes, it was. Because now, his eyes threatened to cry at any moment. "Why…"
And we all looked at each other.
Randy was Anser's only remaining family, and none of us stopped to consider whether Anser was even on our side or not, or whether he was okay with the idea of having to stop his father.
"…Anser," So, I guess it's time to ask him how he feels about it. "Right now...how are you feeling? I know this is difficult, but..."
"But he did bad things...didn't he?" His voice sounded calm, as always, however, this time it held a melancholic tone. "If he did all those things...I can't do anything to defend him..."
"…Ciro…" Renato stood in front of him, and then knelt down. "I'm so sorry, I know how important Randy is to you, he raised you, and you know what? It's perfectly fine if you feel like you don't want him to get hurt or harmed by this, we can avoid hurting him…we can talk to him and make sure he stops taking this path to destroy us all..."
I doubt Randy even stops to think about Anser, much less that he thought about that when doing all this.
Even if Anser decided that we shouldn't hurt him, we would do it anyway, Anser can recover from that, my story no.
"…" Anser simply nodded and looked at me. "Alright…"
And I smiled at him, I couldn't say much, since I can't understand him enough, at least not like before.
And that's when the door opened.
"Huh? What's going on here?" It was July 14, along with Gene and Liam. "What is that guy doing here?!" He said, referring to Joakim, and although he sounded annoyed, he still hid behind Gene in case Joakim hit him again as usual.
"Gene, Liam!" I went towards them; they had finally returned, a little earlier than usual, but they returned. "How did it go? Did you find anything else?"
The two girls looked at each other, and then Liam took something out of his bag; an old, dusty book. "We entered through a large door that seemed to be the entrance to the third world, as you said, everything was destroyed…" He handed me the book, and surprisingly, I could tell what it was; it was a children's story. "But, buried among the land of ghosts, we found not only this book, but several more, books that you and I could have read before as children."
And yes, above all, this book was written in English, a language that does not exist in Anarxie.
"…" Perhaps there are more things underground?
"What language is that?" Without realizing it, Joakim was looking over my shoulder at the book I was holding. "It's so strange..."
"It's an ancient language...I've seen it before when I was on patrol…" Renato said, looking over my shoulder.
"Stupid bird, why do you throw away such useful information when we need it least? I don't know, couldn't you have...SAID IT SOONER?! WHAT IF IT'S SOMETHING IMPORTANT?! IDIOT BIRD!" And right behind me, the two of them started fighting, Joakim pulling the wings off Renato's head, and Renato just squealing.
Although, Joakim was right.
When I went to see Renato, he knew how to write in English for some reason, he said it was thanks to his explorations, and it was truly amazing how quickly he learns.
However, he also said that he suspected Randy wanted to be the sole creator of this story, and if so, the way to stop him...It doesn't really exist.
"I didn't know Mr. Renato knew English, can you speak it?" Liam asked, stopping their fight.
Joakim looked at Renato, and Renato blinked slightly. "I only know how to read and write it...I really didn't know that it could be spoken, or that this language is called 'English'."
Even so, perhaps there's a possibility that someone else has stumbled across a book or something from my world, and...could that mean that there were people who once spoke English?
"Joakim, Renato, could you do some underground searches? Perhaps there are other things that could help us."
In the third world, when I was with Eiram, we found a city. The possibility that there are more buried cities is not low, and perhaps I can argue that Eiram's theory is actually true.
Joakim and Renato looked at each other, and then nodded. "Yes, we'll do it right away. If we find anything strange, we'll let you know."
"Thank you," At least that way we can find out a little more about this world and prepare to face Randy. "We are in communication."
They both nodded, and with that, they left our base, arguing, as always, perhaps about who would carry out the mission, but it doesn't matter, since they would both work together.
At least now, they weren't so tense with each other anymore.
"Jeon," Liam's voice made me turn to look at her, while Frederick closed the door. "Something bad happened, didn't it?"
Eh? "How do you know?"
And then he pointed to Anser, completely depressed and devastated in the couch, not even getting up to greet Gene and Liam after their long journey.
"Ah…" Yes, I should have guessed. "Perhaps I can tell you later...they must be tired, why don't they take a bath and come back? We'll cook for you two."
Liam sighed; he knew she was worried about Anser, and well, we all were, but delving further into it would only cause him more pain than he was already suffering.
"Hah…alright, thank you."
And while the two of them were leaving, perhaps we could take advantage of this moment to help Anser forget about this a little.
"Frederick, July," I grabbed them both by the arm, pulled them to a corner, I know they both hit their heads against each other when I did it, but it doesn't matter. "You know how to cook, right?"
They both looked at each other.
"Yeah." Frederick said, and I believe him completely; he had always gone on excursions, so it's logical that he knows how to cook his own food.
"Who do you think I am, human?" And July 14... "Did you see me dressed as a maid? A chef's hat?!"
"…"
He doesn't know how to cook.
But instead of being something bad...
"Actually, it's fine..." They both looked at me. "Anser is so depressed that we need to do something to distract him; why don't the four of us cook something for the girls?"
We both looked at Anser, and behind us, he seemed to raise his head at the mention of 'cooking', although he had never said so, he had always loved to cook.
"I'm fine with it, if it's for the girls..." The chivalrous Frederick smiled. "…I'll risk my mental health with you three, just for them."
"Hah? Do you want me to kill you, human? Do you think it's so bad to be with me?!" And just when I thought everything would be alright, those two started fighting.
"Ah…" I think...it will be more difficult than I planned.
I saw Mayu come out of its little house to watch us; its curious face reassured me a little. At least we were trying, right?
***
"…Uhm…" Anser looked nervously around; on his right was Frederick, with a bruise on his jaw, while on his left were Ji Noo and July 14, July with a bruise over one eye, which was beginning to heal. "Jeon…what are they doing...?"
Both Frederick and July 14 had their eyes closed.
"I told them that if they wanted to fight, they had to do it in their minds and then let it all out once we finished cooking."
"…" Anser suddenly felt the need to slap them both and encourage them to make up; however, he knew it was like trying to put a cat and a dog together—could they ever get along? "What will we cook?"
"What do you want to cook? You're the boss." Ji Noo smiled, then put a black apron on Anser, and Anser felt the back of his neck warm up a little.
"Let's cook a human body from an exorcist whose name I don't want to mention, but who is right on the other side of the boss, cough cough…" As always, July 14 started the fight.
"Let's cook the wings of a fire demon instead, I bet they'd taste great." And Frederick returned the comment.
However, this time July 14 only blushed, "I-Idiot human..."
"…It wasn't a compliment, what the hell is wrong with you?"
Ji Noo sighed, he knew he had to hold on a little longer, just a little longer...at least until they finish cooking.
"I want to cook a vegetable broth…" Anser's small voice made them both quiet, and upon hearing it, all three nodded.
"Got it."
And with that, the three of them rummaged through the kitchen for what they needed; Ji Noo, vegetables, of course, Frederick, the pot, and July 14, grabbed Mayu.
"JULY, LET MAYU GO!"
_
After a good bath, both finally felt more relaxed; walking through dirt and blood was not their thing, besides not being able to sleep well for fear of being attacked at night. But it was over, they were already back at their base.
"Eh?" Gene's voice made Liam stop, and he looked at her. "What are they doing?" Did her voice sound...amused? It was the first time she'd heard that tone of voice from Gene.
And Liam looked ahead; Frederick chopping vegetables while July 14 ate the vegetables he was chopping, Ji Noo watching over the meat in the pot, and Anser bringing more vegetables when he saw that all the ones Frederick was cutting were going into July 14's belly.
Liam couldn't help but giggle. "Wow, they are so chivalrous..."
Gene smiled back at her, and both of them approached them. "Do you need our help?" Gene said.
Ji Noo turned to look at them, taking advantage of the fact that he was behind Anser and couldn't see him, and through gestures, he said;
He, cry, everyone, dance?
"Ah!" Liam understood. "Anser, you're a really good dancer, aren't you? Haha, I already knew you were so great."
Ji Noo slapped his face; she didn't understand.
"Ah!" And while he was distracted, the meat was already cooked inside the pot; he immediately removed it from the heat.
Frederick finished chopping the vegetables, and when he turned to see how many he had, he noticed that July 14 had his cheeks full of the vegetables he had chopped. "…"
He said nothing, and simply lunged to strangle July 14.
"H-HELP! HELP!"
And amidst all the chaos, Gene burst out laughing.
And everyone stopped, even Anser looked at her. It was the first time they had ever heard her laugh. She was always either very busy or very nervous around them.
And Ji Noo knew that although his plan didn't work well for Anser, it did work for someone else. Perhaps proving that Gene belonged with them was what Anser needed to understand that they were no longer just a group; they were a family.
And accompanying Gene, Anser also laughed.
The two people who very rarely laughed were now doing so.
"Ha…haha…" And Ji Noo just laughed too; perhaps it was very stupid of him to be so tense to make someone feel better, and it would have been enough to simply demonstrate that he did it not out of pity, but out of warmth and friendship.
And along with him, the others laughed, Liam, Frederick, and finally, July 14. «Perhaps Enver was right.» That's what July 14 remembered.
And perhaps, fearing the present is the most foolish thing there is.
«You don't belong anywhere, July,»
Rather, none of them in the group belonged anywhere, and some didn't even deserve to be alive.
«You belong with yourself; don't look for a place where someone will accept you for being someone you're not.»
None of them are alike; they are united only by a single objective: the desire to survive. So simple, so easy, a simplicity that many sought years ago, and which they know was taken from them.
And now, they're fighting for it again.
After having lost everything.
«If you're with yourself now, now that you know who you are…you are capable of anything.»
And right now, they all feel capable of confronting even the god of that world, in exchange for their freedom, and new life.
"Sorry, but my hands are burning from the pot, hahaha..." Ji Noo said, as smoke came out of his hands.
Anser and Gene immediately rushed to help him.
So, this time, they would repeat everything again.
"We'll help you with the broth in the pot." Gene and Liam immediately volunteered and began preparing the broth.
And while Frederick went back to cutting vegetables, but just as July 14 was about to eat what he was cutting again, he grabbed his wrist and gave him the knife. "Your turn."
July 14 turned to look at him, as if that had been the greatest offense that had ever been done to him before. "What?! I don't even know how to do it! All I know how to do is eat!"
"Have you ever played with a toy kitchen?"
July 14 denied.
"Be proud, any kid would want to play in a real kitchen with real cooking utensils, with real food, to cook for real people and not their stupid stuffed animals, now, cut the vegetables."
"Okay, Boss," And Frederick's words, however stupid they seemed, worked to make July 14 feel like she was using something very privileged. "Hehe, stupid kids, hehehe…"
Meanwhile, Ji Noo was in charge of the meat.
Anser, who was never allowed to do anything...stood behind Ji Noo, watching him work, like a child waiting for his mother to finish cooking so she could feed him. Funny, because seeing an adult do that might even be ridiculous, but Anser just didn't know what to do.
"…"
So, as he watched everyone working...he felt the need to do something too...
"…"
He thought, resting his chin on Ji Noo's head.
"…"
And finally, he came up with something.
And while the others were cooking one thing, Anser was cooking the dessert. And finally, after a few minutes, the vegetable broth, with meat after July 14 begged for meat, was ready.
"Phew, we're finally done…" Liam said, as Frederick served everyone the broth they had cooked together.
"I hope you don't love vegetables too much, hehe, I know my cooking is great..." July 14 said, as he passed the plate with the broth next to him; to Gene.
"I bet it is." Gene said, with a smile, and then passed the plate to Liam.
"I hope your vegetables don't taste like domestic violence...Frederick had you under serious threat, July~" And Liam passed the plate to Ji Noo.
"Ha…haha…" Ji Noo laughed nervously, finally passing the plate to Anser. "We hope you like it, Anser."
Anser nodded, waiting until everyone had their plates. Once the delivery was finished, Frederick sat down to eat with everyone…they started eating.
The first spoonful.
Gulp.
"…"
It was very...spicy.
Of course, Gene suggested adding chili, but they didn't know they were sensitive to spice, at least not Ji Noo and Liam. In Frederick's case, poor guy didn't know they were going to add chili.
Frederick, Ji Noo, and Liam ran for water; they needed to cool down the heat on their tongues.
"Waaah! It's very spicy!" Liam said, snatching a bucket of water from Ji Noo and taking gulps of it.
"Who was the heartless bastard who thought of adding spicy?!" Frederick snatched the bucket from Liam, so he could drink from it.
Gene decided to remain silent, eating her broth in silence; she didn't want to give herself away...
"Stop taking away my water!" Ji Noo said, snatching the bucket from Frederick and drinking it himself. And while they were fighting...
July 14 enjoyed eating his meat, anyway, he didn't have a palate that could notice the spiciness. And Gene ate happily. And Anser...well, he was happy just eating together and didn't mind the spiciness.
"Don't drink so much water," Anser's voice made all three of them turn around. "Or you won't be able to try the dessert."
The three of them looked at each other. "Huh?" They didn't know there was dessert.
And after everyone had finished their broth, Anser got up from the table and brought a tray from the kitchen; It smelled sweet, surprisingly attracting the always bitter Frederick.
When he placed it on the table and revealed what it was, Ji Noo's eyes widened; it was strudels. He remembered having tasted them in his past life...though not exactly with whom or where.
"Woah! They look delicious!" Liam was the first to take one and bite into it, the taste of the apple combined with that of the raisins making her smile. "Wow! It tastes like apples! It tastes so good!"
Anser smiled, satisfied, and after Gene, everyone took one to try.
"It's as soft as meat!" July 14 said.
Gene tried it too, and with a shy smile, she looked at Anser. "It's delicious, thank you so much for your trouble, Anser."
And Frederick...for the first time, was smiling. "…" He didn't need words to say that he liked it, and perhaps they had discovered that Frederick has a sweet tooth. But to make him react, July 14 stole Frederick's strudel, taking a big bite. "…You're going to die, you idiot."
And they both got up from the table to finish the fight they had been putting off.
Anser gave a soft giggle, then looked at Ji Noo, chewing silently. "Jeon?"
Ji Noo looked at him, and smiled. "It's very good, I forgot what a good cook you are."
Anser appreciated the compliment, but still... "You're a good one too, maybe someday you'll be able to cook rice pudding again? The same one you cooked for me and Ryuka?"
Ji Noo looked at him for a few minutes, silently, and then said; "Rice pudding? What's that?" And that froze Anser. How come he doesn't remember that? "And Ryuka? Who is?"
"…" What's reallyhappening to Ji Noo? "Nevermind. Just…kidding."