*Yawn*

Ahhhh… Yeah I did just sleep with two girls by my side. No it is not the most egregious thing I have done, the highest number is six. Now then…

“Can you two please wake up?” I asked nicely hoping they’ll wake up just from that, I want them to know that I still have things to do, and that I need to go elsewhere.

“Ugh… I’m up” Floria muttered as she clearly isn’t trying to wake up. Rumel is still sleeping soundly. I can’t just leave them unannounced, considering when it was announced things still went badly.

Guess I have to leave here a bit slow… who tucked off my shirt?

 

#####

 

Might as well make breakfast for them I guess. I still have some ingredients in the space of mine so I could try making something nice for them to eat before actually going back.

Let’s see… dragon meats, some breads, and some eggs still about… Yeah just fried them a bit and it should work… I can’t forget about some seasoning of course.

 

#####

 

“You two! Breakfasts are ready!” I said while holding three sets of breakfast on a tray. Putting it on the table and letting the smell of the food wake them up… which it does, thankfully that worked.

“Breakfasts?” Rumel muttered, still looking quite sleepy. She leans up and looks at me and then at the food. Clearly a bit surprised she got out of the bed before Floria and walked over to see the food. To look at the food and not eat it just yet, just admiring it, I think.

“What do you think?” I asked, hoping this’ll be good enough… Oh Floria also began waking up as well, she must've noticed the smell of the food as well.

“This looks great… I see meat, eggs and bread… Yeah this looks quite nice” Rumel commented looking rather satisfied… I don’t have any fruits or vegetables in it, I should rectify that.

“Oh there are fruits as well” I suddenly said as I brought out a few apples for them to eat on the side.

“Wow!” Rumel let out a sound in slight wonders as I can see Floria walking over here as well. 

“Did you make all of these?” Floria asked, sounding somewhat enthusiastic. 

“Well I didn’t make the bread, but I did prepare everything” I answered. It would take some precision to create a bread on a spot and I can’t be bothered to do that right now.

“That’s amazing!” Rumel complimented. I mean it’s unneeded but if she wants to say that then okay.

“Let’s just sit down and have a nice meal shall we? I don’t think any of us wants it to get cold” I said, hoping to move the day along without being asked constantly.

 

#####

 

“These are great!” Floria noted as she finished her portion before us. She’s a bit of a fast eater…

 

#####

 

Soon all of us finished our meals. It was a pretty good job on my part, but no need to say that out loud.

“How is it?” I asked Rumel who hadn't commented on it since she finished her portion.

“It’s great” She said with a simple smile. This is a nice scene that I hope gets replicated with more people about and…. hopefully not hectic. 

“That’s good to hear… Will you two be fine out here?” I asked just to be sure before I ultimately have to leave. Rumel looked rather concerned and probably began pondering about what I said.

“You mean… you have to be elsewhere?” Rumel asked, trying to verify her theory most likely.

“Yeah. I can’t exactly just leave everyone else to their own devices. Sorry but I still have something else to deal with” I said as I stand back up and look at them both.

“That’s fine but… please be careful” Rumel said, looking like a worried older sister.

“Please come back soon” Floria said, trying not to sound too desperate. They’re both showing how clingy they are now that I accepted their feelings, I need to show it back to them with more than just a nice place to live, some sort of action is needed so to say, but now is not a time to think about such a thing. 

“Of course. I’ll come back safe and sound, be sure to stay safe as well you two” I said while giving a thumbs up before heading off.

*Zoom*

And now I’m back in the room assigned to me… no tampering from the looks of it, just untouched since the last time I’m here. I guess I’ll just get out of this room and then go visit other people.

Out of the door and into the corridor… there is Clara’s room, and the rooms of my classmates between me. I should go talk to them since I was out for most of the time so I didn’t get to know much about what’s going on. I just saw Maova having a pretty alarming expression on her before the training hours are over.

I should go ask more about Maova’s behavior with my classmates, and I also should go talked to Clara to make sure she’s doing fine.

I’ll go check on the boys first then. Walking over to their room and knocking on the door.

“It’s me, Reiza” I said, hoping they'd hear me. Oh the door opened. They don’t look particularly distressed thankfully.

I walked in and closed the door behind me. They’re still wearing the school uniform.

“How are you two doing?” I asked just to be certain of how they’re doing. I walked over and sat at the nearby chair.

“We’re doing fine but…” Mitsuka muttered, suddenly looking a bit stressful.

“What is it?” I asked, not liking where this is going.

“What you tell Yumi and Ran sounds… really distressing. Like if what you said is true couldn’t this Maova lady be someone any of us know that died?” Mitsuka pointed out, sounding rather uncomfortable. He’s not wrong in thinking that but… the reality of how it all works is actually much more frightening.

“It’s… actually much more than just that” I said in a someone uncomfortable tone myself. I know better than most how this kind of thing works as I dealt with it first hand.

“What do you mean?” Kioshi asked, keeping his composure better than Mitsuka at the moment.

“You see the way the soul works is that it is not bound to anything innately, therefore it could wander through both time and space. It could go into the past, go into the future, or a different world. You get where I’m going with this?” I said wondering if they’re getting it.

“...Ah… I think I got it a bit, at least” Kioshi replied, keeping his calm composure.

“I-I don’t” Mitsuka shamefully admitted.

“Basically time and place doesn’t matter for the soul to move about, meaning that those reincarnated could be anyone. For example, hypothetically, if some of our classmates back in our world were to experience some otherworldly problem and died, their souls might go to a different world, and then they could be brought back to their original world in the time where their original self is still around. Does that make any sort of sense?” I said while raising an example.

“That’s oddly specific but… I understand, however it doesn’t seem like that situation is possible here” Kioshi said, clearly able to grasp the concept quickly while the one who should’ve been somewhat well-versed in this look clueless as always.

“Yeah. Another example is someone who died in the future from our perspective could travel to a time and place that in our perspective happened before their death, as odd as that sounds. To make it simpler is that Maova could technically be anyone, she could be you, she could be me, she could be any of the classmates we know of, dead or otherwise” I said while simplifying it even further. That’s one rather chilling thing of reincarnation, time and place doesn’t matter, nothing mattered. You could see your friends in two completely different lights if you’re someone like me. The silent and sad friend mourning a loss to the heroine with great might and determination. A reclusive if lovely girl to blood sucking demon yet still retaining the old charm. Petite and shy girl turned someone rather stacked and more assertive. It is hard to interact with those whom I know the fate of because of that…

“That does sound… scary” Mitsuka replied, looking a bit scared even.

“She could be anyone of us… Hm…” Kioshi muttered, also looking a bit distressed at the possibility of the situation.

“Mind you we have no real clue who she is, aside from possibly being a Japanese, and we’re not even sure which Japanese” I said giving, or rather clarifying on the lack of information.

“That doesn’t give us much to say… or really what to do with it” Mitsuka commented.

“Certainly. I would say don’t worry about it, if she’s not someone we know then our worries will be for nothing” I said to cement that approach, it really shouldn’t be anything more than that.

“Okay then…” Mitsuka said with a small sigh.

“By the way Reiza, where were you? I only saw you when the training was over yesterday” Kioshi asked, so he noticed that.

“I was busy” I answered, simply wondering if he’s going to ask for anything specific.

“Busy with what?” Kioshi asked while keeping his normal stoic expression.

“With what the hell those at the royal palace are doing first of all. I discovered that they put a sensor device in my room so they know if I’m in or out of it” I said, still feeling somewhat moody when thinking back on it.

“That does sound rather… alarming” Mitsuka commented looking a bit nervous and cautious seeing these information came into light, these people are definitely not thinking of our best interest which I can’t blame them for considering the situation but… I also have my own priorities and if they clash then they’ll have to be burned down, if they get in my way.

“I would be careful around them if I were you. I believe those adventurers brought in by Maova should be a neutral party if there’s any consolation, even then we can’t be certain” I said and noted, I don’t have a clue on those adventurers' deal at all, for all I know they could’ve been just some poor schmucks roped in all of this.

“So… what else?” Mitsuka asked, sounding unsure.

“That’s about it really. There’s probably more we haven’t figured out… I just hope you all managed to do something while I’m in the background, I wouldn’t be surprised if these suspicious acts are due to the lack of actions” I answered and advised.

“So we have to try acting out on our own, is what you’re saying” Kioshi concluded. 

“Yeah, I can’t just look at all of this myself. I need you all to try investigating and try breaking out of this whole schedule if possible, of course try to not alert them too much like I did, you all probably can’t go against them just yet” I advised some more. It would be bad for them to go in recklessly when there’s only four of them against what could’ve been tens if not hundreds.

“Will do” Kioshi said, trying to reassure me, even though I feel like they’re not capable enough to do much just yet. Unless I actually went out of my way to train them personally, and probably harshly, I don’t see them improving all that much throughout this whole deal, at least they don’t seem to be showing any sign of dissonance.

“Alright then, I’ll go see the girls now. Take care” I said as I stood up and looked back at them one more time before leaving. Next are Yumi and Ran, I should go talk to them about certain things as well.

*Knock* *Knock*

“It’s me, Reiza” I said, hoping the people inside would hear me.

The door opened for me to go in and I of course went in. Just going in and sitting down to talk to the girls.

“How are you two? Probably not too eventful I’d imagined” I said and greeted them with a simple hand gesture.

“Unfortunately it’s really just a bunch of nothing. Nothing against those tutors but everything feels the same and boring” Yumi immediately complained while keeping her impatience in check.

“Yeah about what I expected” I said with a sigh showing some sympathy for them. When it turns out fantasy stories are more real than they thought I would’ve expected them to show a bit of excitement, which they do but… it’s dulled so quickly it’s nothing short of tragic.

“What about you? What have you been doing?” Yumi asked in return. Ran really just opted to not say anything at all huh… Maybe if she stops that childish crush she’ll try talking to other people.

“Well I already told the boys about the whole looking into the higher ups of this kingdom so there’s nothing particularly important to talk about”I answered hoping to get this over with quickly.

“Are you sure? I doubt that looking into them will be that long when it seems like you disappeared out of thin air every now and then” Yumi retorted quickly. Damn her and her wits.

“Uhhh… Yeah I mean… I am simply… talking to people in this world… the usual” That was a terrible response, this isn’t good! I was taken off guard by that question!

“That’s oddly suspicious wordings from you” Yumi said clearly feeling satisfied with how I reacted, dammit!

“Look! It’s really nothing that we need to discuss!” I said hoping she’ll cave from that.

“Are you sure about that?” Yumi doubled down and walked closer to me. She’s been more confrontational these few days I’ve noticed, maybe being here for a long time makes her a bit cranky?

“I mean why would we need to discuss that?” I asked back.

“Only you know, we don’t, why don’t you clarify it clearly” Yumi retorted… I can’t win can I.

“I was… talking to girls again…” I admitted not really feeling like talking about it, one of the reasons I keep this whole other world and fantasy a secret from them is partially this.

“Talking to girls… you have mentioned something like that before. It really doesn’t sound that important” Yumi muttered and commented.

“Yeah! It’s nothing” I said, trying to make her believe that. I don’t want to be known as someone swooning over multiple girls if all possible, not because I wasn’t doing it, because I was, intentionally or otherwise, but because it sounds like a rather… shameless title.

“Is it? You did say before that your attraction and overall behavior is the same here” Oh no.

“I did say that… what about it?” I asked trying to feign ignorance as best as I can. Will it work?

“You’re flirting with them most likely aren’t you? You did say ‘girls’” I could practically see her smirking pass her covering her mouth. That didn’t work at all!

“Why would you say it like that!?” I asked. This is so embarrassing! Why is it so embarrassing when other people described it!

“What? It is not correct?” Dammit she’s pulling out that smug face she always has when Mitsuka screwed up. 

“Ahhh! Okay fine I was… insisting on hanging out a bit but don’t say it like I’m someone going around doing it shamelessly!” I basically pleaded at this point and hope she won’t spread that information.

“You really don’t like the sound of that despite doing it huh…” Yumi sarcastically commented. 

“Of course not! It sounds so shameless and lacks any possible integrity. I’m not someone trampling on words of others with no remorse and full of hypocrisy like you!” I blurted out feeling really embarrassed and a bit annoyed at the current situation.

“...Okay fine I’ll stop” Yumi said, finally stopping her smug phase. She took a bit of time composing herself and I should do that as well.

“Haaah…” I let out a long sigh, finally.

“Still what are you doing hanging out with others? What happened?” She asked in a less condescending and smug tone thankfully. Seems like she calmed down as well.

“I was just… trying to patch things up between sisters is all, it wasn’t meant to be anything more than that” I said, also calming down.

“What happened?” Yumi asked, thankfully not using a tone that’ll make me uncomfortable.

“They were… they patched things up all fine, but I got roped up further than I thought” I said trying to not say it out loud.

...Yumi just stood there wondering what I could’ve meant, most likely. 

“Are you willing to elaborate?” Yumi asked carefully.

“No” I said firmly, not wanting to say any further on the matter.

…A bit of silence after that. Ran didn’t say anything, Yumi didn’t say anything, and I certainly didn’t say anything. Just a time to ponder on things I supposed.

“Alright then… Are you sure there’s nothing else to say?” Yumi asked once more.

“Nah. If only there is, but I already said all that’s relevant to the boys. Sorry, I was preoccupied with a more personal problem” I explained calmly.

“Well we really have to move along ourselves to get anything done on our end, sorry we haven’t done anything like that yet” Yumi said and apologized, even if she didn’t have to, a lot of things are outside their control.

“There’s no need for that… Perhaps… You all will be a hero of your own story, and living up to the title… Heh, such a cheesy thing to say” I said when chucked at myself coming up with another attempt at sophistry.

“Well. I sure hope I get to do that” Yumi said with a small smile on her.

“Yeah. Perhaps it won’t be long” I said as I stand up. I think this is where we should leave it for now. Ready to leave.

“Going already?” Yumi commented.

“Yeah, more things to take care of on my end. See you later” I said as I walked over the door, looking back at the two girls one more time before leaving.

Next up is…

*Knock* *Knock*

“Clara. I’m here”