I yawned. Not of tiredness but out boredom… No, that was wrong. It was not even of boredom since watching the river was more interesting than I had thought. Well, not exactly the river itself but its inhabitants: the fishes.

In my quest to find a way to pass time, I reached a spot in the river filled with fishes some distance away from town where I observed them swim. The action itself of swimming was not what brought my attention but the way they used water energy to glide through the water. These fishes in particular exhibited behavior patterns like salmons back in Earth in the way they swam up cascades except the cascade was over 2 meters tall. Yet they showed that they achieved in climbing it without much effort.

Me being a science kid, I was amazed at how energy is so assimilated in life to the point of it that it cannot exist without it. Fishes that swim thanks water energy, birds whose wings beat with air energy and the roots of the trees that suck the lingering natural life energy mixed in the earth from who-knows-where-it-came from. Back in Obsidian, these would not make me bat an eye since I would give all the credit to it being a game. However, as a reality it brings me wonder and novelty akin to an ever-curious child.

'Maybe I should be a researcher? I do have the time and the money for it………… Nah! If I had the choice between doing something or being lazy, I would choose being lazy in a heartbeat. In all honesty, the fishes were entertaining just because there was nothing else more interesting. It did keep me occupied for a few hours but now, there is something way more interesting to do.'

I got up from the ground and stretched my body. I let out a sigh of satisfaction once I reached the limit and started making my way to the orphanage to implement an idea born from a whim, much to my satisfaction and Nova's distress.

It was still early morning; therefore, I took my time with returning to town. Thus, 20 to 25 minutes later, I was in front of a door which was quite delighted to open itself for me.

I did feel some basic traps here and there which was probably the work of the super-packed-schedule Zane who did not have time to put more sophisticated ones 'Poor, poor Zane'. Although, the traps were simple by nature, once triggered they would result in unforeseeable consequences. The poison needle trap, which was among them, for example, is just a trap that stings the person who triggered the trap with a small needle that contains some type of poison. The most likely content of the needle should be paralyzing poison since it would not be good to kill someone on your doorstep even if the other party tried to break in. 'Maybe… In truth, I do not know exactly what happens inside Zane's head. He may even be the king of psychopaths for all I know.'

I walked inside while muffling my sound. Relying on my memory, I walked upstairs and stood before what I expected to be Nova's room.

First, I put my ear against the door to perceive any sound that would indicate that the person inside was awake. The answer was negative. Afterwards, with some coaxing of soul energy, the basic lock was unlocked. Then, I very carefully opened the door and checked the person laying on the bed thanks to the sliver of light that entered from the gap of the opened door..

First, it thankfully was Nova meaning that my memory worked in my favor this time. Second, she was not sleeping, she was just on the bed looking upwards occupied by her own thoughts to the point of not noticing the door opening.

Thus, I let go of any pretext and entered the room yet even then, she did not glance at me which was worrying me quite a bit. Therefore, I came near her and poked her cheek which finally resulted in a reaction of her almost screaming in surprise that I did not allow by covering her mouth.

When her eyes turned in my direction, I placed a finger in front of my mouth "Shush, people are sleeping."

Although the light was not intense enough for her to perceive my appearance, she must have recognized my voice and seemingly calmed down. Therefore, I retracted my hand and created a [Candlelight] so that we could see each other.

The result of sudden appearance of light caused Nova to release a soft cry of pain. Thus, I reduced the brightness as much as I could and sent the spell upwards so that it would not be directly in our line of sight.

"Sorry about that. Is it okay now?"

"Yes." Her answered contained drowsiness mixed in meaning that she either just woke up or stayed up until now. Just by her reaction to the light, I would bet on the latter.

I did not want to beat around the bush, so I directly asked, "Did you get any sleep tonight?"

"Not really."

"Why?"

"Because of things."

"Yesterday things?" That was the only thing that came up to my mind to result in her appearance right now.

"Yeah…"

"You are being a worrywart." I pocked her cheek "It's still early, try to sleep."

"I tried. I cannot. The thoughts keep popping inside my head."

"Hmm. Perhaps alone, you cannot." I noted that the bed was just big enough for two people and I was on the small side. Therefore, I changed my attire into my pajama, and I told Nova "Move over."

"What?"

"Just move over so that I can get in."

Confused, Nova moved to the side allowing some space where I could lay down. As usual, my measurement by eye was wrong as I felt a bit constrained in the bed indicating

Once tucked in, I hugged her body close to mine and started to pat her head in way where my fingers parted her hair and massaged her scalp so that she could relax.

"Close your eyes and try again. But this time focus on my fingers." She obliged and closed her eyes while I continued patting her head.

With me diverting her attention from her worries, her exhaustion finally took over her after a few minutes and soft breaths could be heard. However, I did not stop patting her since I came to like the feeling of her hair flowing through my fingers.

'I have to say that this feels pretty cozy…'

.

.

.

My consciousness felt as if it was surfacing as I felt not harmful shocks coming from my front. I opened my eyes to find Nova flailing her arms at me. Even thought I was surprised by the situation I found myself in, I was lucid enough to grab her arms with my two hands.

"What?" Still, not understanding I felt a yawn coming from my depts which I immediately stifled. That was the response to my question.

"You wouldn't wake up no matter what I did." Nova affirmed my theory

"Yeah… So, it seems." I slowly but surely got up from the bed into a sitting position. I massaged my face with my hands and then I got on my feet and stretched my body "It felt so nice that I ended up falling asleep."

After I said that, I flicked the light on. Although, it was more like turning the inscription on than flicking a switch but that is just a minor detail.

"Please think of the person who ended up being hugged by another with an iron grip."

"Did I really do that?" I asked concerned if I had used my brutish strength on her. It would be no laughing matter if I had since a kid's body should not be able to withstand it.

"No, not really. You just did not let go. Like at all"

There was a sigh of relief hearing her side of the story and since I wanted to put that matter behind, I said "Well, you see. You were such a warm and nice pillow that I ended up not willing to part with. I might want to this again."

"Well. Don't." she also got up from her bed and went into the direction of the wardrobe

"Stingy." I pouted

"Again. Put yourself in my position."

"Why are you so against it? Is my body too hot and hard?" That was perhaps the most important worry I had with this body: 'Am I too inhuman?'

"It was soft and warm." She replied erasing one of my many worries

"If so, what's the problem?"

"…"

"Nova?" I glanced at her, but she seemed to pay no mind to me as she dressed herself.

I once told her that remaining silent was also a way to communicate. Thus, in this situation I felt that she was telling me "I won't go along with your nonsense."

'She used to react to anything that I said… Now, she does not care anymore. How fast they grow… Sniff'

Leaving jokes inside my head aside 'this sounds really wrong', I switched my pajama into my previous attire.

"What time is it?" I wondered

"I have no idea."

The small room did not have the luxury of a window. Therefore, we could only guess.

On another note, this was probably the first time that I fully slept. Since I normally camp outside, I leave a part of my consciousness awake in case of danger. Even when I slept on Kiria's house, the first time was on a stranger's house, so I was cautious, the other times well… some liberties were taken. Here, however, I was with my daughter inside an orphanage managed by Zane who I feel like I can trust more than some random guy even though I criticize him a lot and all summed up, caused me to lower my guard.

Nova was done with dressing herself up, thus we exited her bedroom.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her

"Hm?" She did not seem to have understood my question, but that was normal since I was not clear

"Did you have enough sleep or are still very tired?"

"Oh. Um, I am definitely tired but not to the point of falling over." She rubbed her eye as she said that

"Is that supposed to reassure me? You are tired but not as much to fall over. Does that mean you are close to falling over or the opposite?"

"No. I mean, I am tired but not that tired, you know."

I rolled my eyes at her answer since it was almost the same as her previous one, but I could understand the message she was trying to communicate to me. She was basically saying that she had enough energy to accompany me on our small trip to the market so that we can buy our provisions for the camping trip. I was pretty sure that was what she was saying. However, I did not know if we would have enough time to finish it today since the sunlight spilling from the windows indicates that it was close to midday.

"First of all, let us go eat something. I imagine that you are hungry since you have not eaten yet."

"Now that you are mentioning it." She put a hand on her stomach "Maybe there are some leftovers from lunch. Let us take a look."

"I have a better idea."

"Oh yeah."

"Yes. We will meet up with Zane." I changed our course for Zane's office

"Uncle Zane? Why?"

"A gut feeling."

It did not take long until we arrived in front of the office. The door was fully open just like last time. I did not know if it were a habit for him to leave the door open, but I thought it was a terrible one since the kids could come over and ruin important documents… Or perhaps not, since it was Zane we were talking about, he would have a pretty good control over his office.

"Good day." I greeted him

"Good afternoon." He greeted back 'So it is afternoon already'. Afterwards, he wordlessly took out two plates with forks on top of them 'Of course he knew that I broke inside and that I slept here, although unintentionally. This old man really puts up a lot with my actions'

"Yay, thank you." I took the two plates and passed one to Nova.

Although, she appeared curious for why the supposed Uncle Zane had two plates of food ready for us, she took the plate and exited the office. Unlike Nova who showed some manner of good manners by choosing to eat elsewhere, I shamelessly started to eat in the office while standing up.

"So, anything new?" I asked Zane before scarfing down some food

"No. Nothing outside the usual stuff."

I made sure to properly chew before swallowing "I see. Can you tell me what time it is?"

"We passed the midpoint of the day an hour or so ago."

'I see. So it isn't that late'

"Are you thinking of taking Lenova with you today?"

"Yep. That is the plan. We are going to do some shopping."

"For the trip I imagine."

"Correct. However, if we have some time to spare, I think we will also do some window-shopping since all I need is a tent, provisions, and finally a swimsuit for her. Nothing too crazy. Everything else, I believe I already possess it." Then I added "Although, we may not even need to buy provisions since I hunted a beast recently and I don't really plan to spend a long time on it. Once we feel like returning, we will. So, we'll be off for at least 3 days but not more than a week."

"I understand everything that you said. But why the swimsuit?"

"Why else? To take a swim."

"And where will you swim?"

"In the river."

"You mean in the river that may have a strong enough current to wash away a child?"

"You're way exaggerating and in the event that it is, I'll find a workaround."

Zane started massaging his head indicating he was suffering from a migraine.

To make sure that we would not continue the topic, I diverted the topic "By the way, why did you put those things on the door? What if a child got caught up in them?"

"What? Ah, those. No worries about that since they will only activate if someone does unusual actions to the door."

"Ah, I see."

A smirk appeared on his face "But if they end up actually doing it, it will serve as a good lesson for them." 'and a traumatizing one at that'

I finished the food "Do I give the plate back to you or…?"

"Put it near the sink in the kitchen. Someone later will clean it with the rest."

"Poor kids being made to work at such a young age."

"It does not necessarily mean that a child has to do it. For example, since you are free you could do it in their place, couldn't you?"

"Are you sure? What if I broke all the plates?"

He put a thoughtful expression and then nodded "You are correct. It is indeed better to have someone else doing it."

"Ow. How come you did not deny it?"

"Because, knowing you, you would feel that washing a plate at a time would take too much time and then you'll try to come up with some kind of horrible idea to shorten it and then… well, who knows how it would end."

I definitely could see myself doing exactly that. Therefore, unable to deny it, I just pouted in reaction.

"Please take in consideration your age before doing such an expression." He commented

"Well. I don't care." I shrugged "Well. I must go. See you later."

"Yeah. See you."

I exited the office and went to the kitchen to deposit the cutlery. Coincidentally, Nova was already there, I imagined doing the same.

"Are you done?" I questioned her

"Yep."

"Then, shall we depart?"

"What? Depart? What?" Her expression of confusion was so cute

"Yes. We talked about it yesterday."

"Wait a second! We're going on that trip now!?"

"No. We'll just buy things we need in advance."

"Ooooh." Realization dawned on her face. Yet as soon as it came it was replaced by her grumpy one "You won't need me for that."

"But I want you to come with me." I pleaded

"Well. I don't."

"So, it seems I will need to use the adult's privilege to get you to come with me."

She let out a defeated sigh "I'll go." She weakly stated, "I'll go." She repeated herself a second time with more determination in her tone

"What made you change your mind?"

"If your adult privilege is to forcibly drag me against my will, I think I prefer willingly go."

"I would never do that!"

"No, you would pick me up and carry me in an embarrassing position all across town." Her body shuddered as if she akin if she was imagining an unspeakable torture

In all honesty, she was completely right. She had learned and figured me out. However, that left me with no more excuses to carry her up in my arms which was one of my biggest pleasures in present times. I knew that one day I would no longer be able to do it, thus I was taking advantage of the time when I could do it. Therefore, it left me with disappointment in my heart along with the happiness of her growth.

"Are we going or not?" I heard Nova shouting from the direction of the exit. It seemed that when I was occupied with my thoughts, she had already moved without me noticing

"Coming." I quickly focused myself on today's objective and walked out of the orphanage and addressed Nova "Nova, do me a favor and be like that for a little longer."

Confused she asked, "What are you talking about?"

I did not answer her and just ruffled her hair.

.

.

We had arrived at the marketplace. Normally one would go into the store that sells the product they were looking for. However, I did not really know the layout of this place yet, even though I should. Therefore, I would just go to a reseller store and see if they had what I needed since they have a great variety of products. Although resellers sell their products higher than the original sellers, but I did not really care about that.

The particular store we entered was the one I sell the materials from the beast I hunted a few days ago. The store had all kinds of items all over the place in arranged in orderly manner. Frankly, I felt it was a pain to check among all the items what I was looking for, so I just went to the counter to ask the shopkeeper.

"Welcome. Are you looking for something specific to buy?" Asked the shopkeeper

"Yes. A tent."

The shopkeeper made an expression representing sadness "I am sorry, but we do not have any tents in our stock." His expression then turned to a brighter one and with a matching voice tone he continued "However, we do have recently obtained a portable habitat that may interest you. It may be small for a habitat however its space was efficiently used making the insides feel spacious-" The shopkeeper continued with his sales speech which I filtrated from my ears and thought to myself

'It seems they do not have a tent. Maybe I should go check with the productors and order one. Although this guy is going on with the habitat talk, I don't really need that.'

"I see. Well, if you don't have it then we will go elsewhere." Although I had filtrated most of his sales pitch, the bit that I had not was enough to make me somewhat annoyed. Therefore, I ended up being rather toxic which is something I try to avoid. Thus, even though I was impolite with him, I was not really going to apologize since it was his fault and because I was being petty.

Anyway, I turned around to exit the store with Nova.

"Wait, wait, wait!" However, before we could do that, the shopkeeper immediately put himself between the door and us. 'Now, I am officially annoyed'

Perhaps he felt my irritation as he instantly changed is demeanor and after clearing his throat "Excuse me for my attitude. It was unbecoming of me. However, I do think you would be extremely interes-"

I raised my hand to stop him right there before he said something that he would regret 'because I definitely won't' and with a sigh I stated "Look. It is better if you are honest with me from the start and straight tell me what you want."

He understood my position but at the same time it seemed that he did not want to tell me. Thus, he looked very, very conflicted as his clenched and unclenched for like a minute before he let out a sigh "Are you interested in buying the habitat?"

"Not really. All I need is a tent for a few days."

A habitat is mid to long-term moveable base. It depends on the functions they possess but they are useful in extreme environments such as underwater or near a volcano. There also been cases of using them as center of command because of their protection. 'I never had one since I could teleport anywhere'

However, I only needed a tent for a few days to camp in the forest which is not an extreme environment and then afterwards perhaps rarely use it since I will have a permanent residence. Therefore, I could not have any interest on buying one.

"But this habitat will surely be ver-"

I raised my hand once again to stop him right there "Like I said I am not interested."

He slumped his shoulders, defeated.

Looking at him like that I thought that either this person was good at expressing his emotions or he was good at manipulating other's emotions because I felt guilty even thought I did nothing wrong. Thus, I decided to throw him a lifeguard.

"How about telling me why you want to sell me that badly? I am whimsical by nature, so maybe your story will move me in the direction you want."

It seemed that a light appeared on the abyss that was the shopkeeper's eyes. He walked back to the counter and started to tell his tale "Well you see. Not long after we came to this place, someone came to me to sell a habitat. Naturally, I did not have the money for it and then… Long story short, we signed a contract where I would sell the habitat and give a percentage of the profits to her." He took a break to catch his breath

"Okay. I don't see how correlates into pushing customers to buying it…"

"I was getting to that." He cleared his throat "You see. I thought it would be easy to find a buyer since it would be the only habitat to sell in this town, but I was wrong. Nobody was willing to buy it because it was either too expensive or it was not necessary for this type of environment or it was too small for a full party…" he let out a sigh "And then a month was gone and I still haven't sold it." He threw up his arms in the air

"Because of that, you are trying too hard to find a buyer." I nodded in understanding

"Well… not exactly." He looked awkward "At this point, I believed that I would not be able to sell it in the near future or perhaps ever. I understand it, though. A habitat is an investment. One that people will consider when their situation is stable enough."

"Huh huh. Can you like go into the main topic?"

"Right… Like I said, I believed that no one was going to buy it, you see. But then, I saw you enter my store and ask for a tent and I heard rumors about your wealth and your spendthrift actions and then I thought… maybe?"

"…" I did not know how I should feel about what he said. Annoyed? I was already annoyed. Miffed? Perhaps. Anyways, any kind of negative emotion would cloud my judgement and I did not want to be a bad example for Nova. Thus, I just scratched my temple irritably. However, there was something that he said that brought my attention.

'How in the world is the rumor about my wealth keeps circling around? I have been truthful about it, but I have never flaunted it yet apparently everyone seems to know. The spendthrift part, I cannot really deny it since sometimes I buy stuff that I never actually use, but it's only sometimes and they are mostly cheap stuff.'

"Okay." I started " I understand what happened." That was a silver lining, at least. "But that did not move me towards buying 'rather, the opposite'. So, yeah, sorry about that."

"Is that so?" he slumped his shoulders once again, but he did not seem to have given up as he tentatively asked me "Are you sure?"

"Pretty much."

"Even though habitats offer more protection than the most enchanted tents."

"Uh… yes." I had hesitated on the prospect of protection not for me but for Nova. If I could assure Nova's safety even more, in a freedom non-constricting way, I would be all about that. However, the same argument I had against it came back: I only need a tent for a few days

However, unlike me who had my resolution set in stone, the shopkeeper latched on to my hesitation and just when he was making the motion to start his sale's pitch once again, I raised my hand.

"Stop. I don't want to hear it."

Yet that seemed to not have wavered him "Come on! I am sure you will like it. The habitat is just like a small apartment. It possesses all the things you wou-"

"Can you repeat that again?" I cut him off

"The small apartment's part?"

"Yes, that part. So, you are saying that the habitat was customized to be like an apartment? With all the furniture and stuff?"

"Indeed! Are you interested?"

"Yes, I am interested. However, not in the way you are hopping. I am curious into why someone would sell such habitat in this time of lodging penury."

There was a twitch on the shopkeeper's face. However, as his profession dictated, he immediately erased it. Too bad that I had witnessed it and that put me into a position of doubting his next words.

"I, myself, did not understand her reason in its entirety. It seemed that she needed money for the sake of resupplying stuff that she lost on the… transition…? No, transfer? What is the best word…? Anyways, our coming to this world if you understand what I mean."

"I understand what you are saying. However, that does not change that it is quite sketchy. To me, it feels like someone was trying to get rid of it and you playing the part of the broker."

"Shh!" He put his index finger in front of his mouth and while paranoidly watching his surroundings he strongly whispered "Please do not say that! If someone hears it, my life as a merchant may be over!" I could detect a bit of horror in his voice

Reputation is important to merchants and it may even dictate either their success or failure. The same rule applies to brokers. However, I would understand if he did not want people to hear of his shady deals but his overaction seemed out of place.

"So, you are one?"

"Not willingly!"

"I do not understand."

"The thing is: The contract that I signed with the seller… I do not remember signing it."

Realization came over to me "Oh! So, you were most likely a victim of a charm spell?"

"Not most likely, definitely! When I came to, the contract was being dangled in front of me with my signature and I verified it many times over that there was no forgery. It was as authentic as it could get." Despair oozed out of him "How did it come to this!? I always wear an amulet in precaution against such situations, yet it seemed that this time was an exception!!" He took out the amulet that was tucket inside his shirt and showed it to me.

I could neither say that the amulet was exceptional or ordinary. It was a good one to have against every run of the mill that tried to use charm or any other spell of that nature, meaning that this time there was someone who either overpowered the protection or found a weakness in it and exploited it. Either way, it meant that this guy happened to have bad luck.

I tried to console him a bit "Assuming that the people who put you up to this are expert in their field, that must mean they would not try to sell it in the same town as the proprietary." 'That is if they aren't trying to push the hot potato to someone else and ripping benefits while doing it.'

"Perhaps. But that does not change the fact that I need to sell it quickly or else, I am screwed."

"Why is that?"

With a sigh, he stated "In the contract it is written that unless I am able to sell the habitat, I will be in their debt."

"How much?"

"4 mil."

"That does not seem too bad."

"If it were back in Obsidian, I would say the same. Here though, the way things are going, it would set me back for a long time."

"Is that even legal?"

"It's a grey area. Technically, I am the one who is taking advantage of them since the habitat is easily 3 times more expensive." He then chuckled and with a dried tone he continued "Speaking of law, I don't think I can go before the tribunal in hopes of making the contract void since I have no evidence of being mind-controlled while signing it. Not to mention that it has been a month since then…"

The judiciary in this town follow the principle of innocent until proven guilty. Therefore, with no evidence backing up your claims, the other party will be considered innocent.

"Yep, you're definitely screwed if no one takes the damned thing of your hands. So, I'll buy it."

"Yep, I am- Wait! What did you just say!?"

"I'll buy it." I repeated myself.

His story was moving enough to make me change my opinion. Technically, I was already considering acquiring the habitat, but all that was stopping me was the fact that it felt like a waste and I felt that I should not do high priced purchases with the aim being a good example for Nova. That was why I had asked for his story to convince myself of truly doing it and I got more than I expected.

He cleaned his ear with his finger "I am sorry can you repeat yourself?"

"I'll buy it." I repeated for the third time

"Maybe I am having some kind of auditory hallucination?"

"Do you want me to exit this store?" I curiously asked

"Wait! Wait! Wait just a minute! I will go fetch the habitat!" The shopkeeper run inside his shop, leaving me and Nova on the opposite side of the counter

'Wait a second. Where is Nova?' When I glanced at her previous position, Nova was not there anymore. It seemed while I was focused on conversing with the shopkeeper, she had wandered off. I glanced over the shop but there was no sight of her.

"Nova?" I called her, hoping that the worst of my imaginations would remain just that

"Yes?" I heard her voice coming from a corner

I went over there and found her looking at some of this store's products while crouched which was the reason for why I was unable to see her.

Releasing a sigh of relief, I went over to her and flicked her forehead. Since she was crouching, my flick caused her to lose balance and fall on her back.

She quickly got up and yelled in indignation with her hand over the spot where I flicked "Why did you do that!?"

"Because you wandered off without telling me. I was really worried, you know."

"I didn't wander off! I did not even exit the shop!"

"The moment you decided to leave my side, you should've at least said something."

"It's not like anything would have happened."

I was irritated by her nonchalant attitude "Nova, I don't want to start a nonsensical argument with you. Just promise me that next time you wish to leave my side, do inform me. Okay?" I looked straight into her eyes as I awaited her answer

She finally could bear my gaze and averted hers, but she answered nonetheless "… Okay."

Releasing all the tension I had built up, I gently caressed her head. "I am sorry if I seemed a bit overbearing but thank you for answering as that question was very important. Anyway, what were you looking at?" It was a bit awkward to change the topic of the conversation that suddenly, but it would best if we just leave that kind of talk behind and move on with our future

"Well… This." Thankfully also chose to move on and pointed at the product she was watching

I followed her gaze and stiffened for a second. For a moment I had forgotten, but this shop has items catered for Vanguards, meaning dangerous ones were also included.

'I should probably use this to dose some reality onto her.'

"What were you so curious about that?"

"Mostly why they were so expensive even though it is just a piece of papers with some weird drawing on them?"

"That is because they are paper talismans. Basically, they are single-use items that contain a basic spell. The drawing is the inscription in 2-dimensional format."

"2-dimensional?" I saw confusion over this word

"You'll learn this at school or probably have." I pointed at the talisman "Think of 2-dimensional as flat. For example, the inscription is flat on paper, you see. Do you understand?"

"Uh… Yes."

I took a gem from my inventory that was shaped as a rhombus and passed it to her "Send your energy inside and observe the inscription."

She did as I told her and the inscription for [Candlelight] alongside with a simple [Air discharge] inscription was activated and a small, yet bright flame trapped inside the gem was born. This type of item was very useful to create lighting in places where it is difficult to use the [Candlelight] spell like underwater since it was built in a way where the air consumed by the flame could only get out.

"Can you see how the inscription is not flat like the one on paper?"

She was entranced by the flame inside, but she still answered me "Yes."

"That is 3-dimensional."

"So, 2 dimensional if it's flat and 3-dimensional if it's all over the place?"

"… Yes, if you put it like that." She was not wrong, but something felt off about her answer 'probably the fact that there are more than the 3 dimensions'

'Woops. I kind of went on a tangent there. I must tell her before I forget'

"By the way, just like the way you are activating that lantern, with the same method you can easily activate those talismans. However, the result would be very different." I decided to here for the moment to await the obvious question

"How come?"

"Because, if would have done so, you would have had to say goodbye to your hand." I was trying to exaggerate, but as I thought of her body that was weak and that she had no shield to speak off, I felt that my words were not that far from the truth which was like a bucket of cold water was poured on me.

"What?" she squeaked in surprise

"I am not kidding." I spoke seriously "There are many things here which are dangerous that you do not have knowledge of. Therefore, try not to touch anything since they may literally bite your fingers off."

She was stupefied by my words but gradually calmed down "I am sorry."

"Don't be. The fault does not fall on your shoulders alone. I should have informed you beforehand. It is good that nothing bad happened. Anyways, you can go look around but try not to touch anything even though they appear to not be dangerous just like these pieces of papers."

"I don't think I am in the mood for looking around anymore." She moved away from the talismans

I glanced at the counter "Well, since the shopkeeper is taking his sweet time, why don't I accompany you in looking around?"

"Nah."

"Are you sure? That way I would be able to teach you about what is dangerous and what is safe."

"Yeah. I just don't feel like it anymore."

"Okay." I was planning to use my proposition to kill time if she had accepted. However, since she had not, I tried to find another way "Is there anything you think we need to buy today?"

"Wouldn't you be the one to know that answer rather than me."

"Hey, you are also included in this."

"Really? Because I felt that I was more luggage than anything else."

"… Nova? Are you upset?"

"I am not upset." With the tone of her voice, she could probably trick a child but not me. The problem was for how long she has been like that and I did not even notice until now

"Why are you upset?" Although I asked, I had a feeling that I knew the answer already

"Like I said, I am not upset."

"Is it because I do not listen to your opinion?" I decided to stop beating around the bush

"If you know, why do you even have to ask?"

"Because I wouldn't know if you don't say anything."

"Well, now you do."

I sighed "I believe I already told you the reason for it. From my point of view, your opinion is detrimental to your future. You do not want to go on this trip because you deemed the forest unsafe and therefore, you do not want anything to do with it. For example, once I informed you of the danger in this store, you decided to stop looking around even when I proposed to accompany you. To me, it feels that you are building a cage around yourself with all the things you deem safe while keeping out that which is unsafe." I took a break to breathe "Did you understand what I just said?"

"You are wrong. I just did want to continue looking through the store because I did not feel like it."

"I don't want to tell you how to live your life. Believe me, I don't. You are the only one who is eligible to do so." I stopped there because anymore would turn me into a hypocrite. I needed to approach this matter differently "If you really think about it for a second, everything is unsafe."

It seemed that last sentence brought her attention.

"The very air that you breathe may be filled with poison for all we know. A poison which is weak enough that it cannot be detected, but sufficiently strong to last for years and when the day comes when we will detect it, it will be far too late."

"Now you are exaggerating." 'I guess it was too far fetching example.'

I decided to pick an example that truly happened to her. One that might hurt me a little in the process.

"Then, what about me? I have hurt you before, not physically. Remember the day after we met. What makes you certain that it won't happen again?" I was already regretting exiting those words from my mouth, but I did not show outwardly as I maintained a facade

She was silent for a moment, contemplating my question. A moment that seemed to last an eternity from my point of view.

"Yeah." Nova nodded "I can definitely see that happen."

"What!? I would never do that!" Her words shocked me so much that I impulsively refuted

"Nope. I don't think so." She confidently stated, "You give me the feeling that you would throw me to the beats and watch me run away from them for the hell of it."

I imagined such scenario in my head: Nova running away from a beast half-crying while throwing her arsenal of insults and curses at me... I had to control myself to not smirk from the hilarity of it. 'It is definitely an urge that I need to keep in checking'

"There! You just laughed!" She pointed directly at my mouth 'Oops! It seems that I was not able to control myself after all'

I put my best poker face on and said, "You are imagining things."

"Nope. I definitely saw you smiling!"

"I just smile a lot."

"Do you even believe that your excuses have any convincing power?"

On one hand, I wanted to keep my pretense. On the other, I knew that I was not fooling her. Therefore, I raised the white flag in my mind.

"Okay, okay. I may or may not do something like that. But I would never allow any kind of damage be afflicted onto you in the process." 'and I meant that'

I cleared my throat to indicate a change of topic "In any case, I need you to answer this: Knowing what could happen in the future if you stick me, why do keep doing so?"

She appeared confused "Did you not say that you wanted to be my mother?"

"That is what I want. The question here is you. You know that I am dangerous. So, why?"

"Well, I… Huh… I…" she seemed to at a loss of words and as time kept flowing as she thought of an answer to no avail, she became more frantic. Her fingers were playing with those of the opposite hand at a fast rate and her gaze was roaming non-stop as if the answer to her plight would jump into her sight.

Seeing her like that I decided that it would be best to stop her since she also did not know the answer herself, or was about to when-

"What was that?" I asked her. Amongst her almost incoherent something caught my notice, but I was unable to catch it since I was not paying attention.

My question seemed to have snapped her out of her loop "What?"

"Can you repeat what you said just a moment ago?"

She went silent, thinking back to what she had said. It took some time since she probably just said it without her brain filtering it, but it became apparent once she did remember as a blush crept on her face. Yet, she did not voice it out, leaving me in the unknown.

"Well, what is it?" My curiosity was killing me

"It's nothing."

"Don't give me it's nothing excuse. Come on, tell me."

"I don't want to."

"What!? Why? Tell me!"

"No."

"Come on!"

"Again no!"

We continued this back and forth, like two bickering children, until the weaker one finally broke which I was proud to announce that it was not me.

"Alright! Fine! I'll tell you."

"I am listening."

"Okay. Here it comes…"

"Yes."

"I am going to tell you…"

"Yeah…"

"…"

"…"

"Are you going to tell me or not!?" Now I was the one who snapped

She opened her mouth and started mouthing the words but that was she did as there was no sound, or if there was, it was far too low for even me to perceive. I could attempt to read her lips. However, I was not confident of doing it correctly. In the end, whatever it was that she said, it only resulted in her gritting her teeth as if ready to suffer some kind of attack and my confusion.

After a moment passed, she peeked at me and I just stood there.

"So?" she asked confused

"So, what?"

"Are you not going to anything?"

I facepalmed "Girl, how do you want me to react, if you did not say anything."

"What are you talking about? I just said it!" she seemed upset of my answer

An idea popped out of my head. That idea entailed that I needed to make Nova angry, or at least more upset. Therefore, I said with the most nonchalant attitude "Maybe to yourself, because I did not hear anything."

"I did say it!"

"No, you did not."

"I did!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

"You're just deaf!"

"Oh yeah. Then, why don't you try to say it again and see if you can call me deaf."

"I said I like you, alright!" The effectiveness of my idea was more than expected hence, it caused Nova to flare up in a loud voice that reverberated inside the store

Surprised by it, I only managed to utter "Oh, is that so."

There was a moment of silence between us. Nova was the first to recover and she put up a defensive posture while slowly backing away from me as if I were going to attack her which caused me to remain in a state of stupor.

"What are you doing?" I asked

Nova looked carefully at me and replied, "Are you not going to…?" her words trailed off

"Attack you or something?"

"Did you not hear what I said again?"

"I heard you say you like me. So?"

She looked at me awkwardly before putting her arms down, "No bearhugs or a million kisses?"

"Well, if you want a kiss. I can give you that."

"I did not say that."

I pretended to not to hear that and calmly approached her. She looked like she was about to bolt, but I reached her before she could and gave her a small kiss on her forehead before backing away.

"Do tell me if you want more. Okay~?"

"…" A blush like no other made its presence on her face. Perhaps, me acting more normal made her become her feel even more embarrassed than when I smothered with kisses and hugs.

It was to the point where I could even imagine steam coming out of her head. Seeing her like that made me smile but I was no better than her since what was going on in my head was: '… She likes me! She likes me! She likes me! She likes me! She likes me! ...'

It was the first time she had said something like that at me. Maybe she had done before with her actions but never actually expressed it in words. Therefore, in my head I was rolling around in happiness but outwardly I kept a calm appearance, else I would have done exactly as Nova predicted.

I clapped my hands to get us both out of our tangent and get back to the main subject.

"You know I am dangerous, yet you don't keep me away and the reason for that is because you like me." I savored those last words "Then, why do you like me?"

"Eh!? Huh…" Caught by surprise, once again she had no readily available answer to give me. Consequently, she stammered once more.

"Wait." I realized my mistake and stopped her there "I am sorry. You don't really have to respond to that. To like or to not like someone is something completely subjective. What I was trying to get to was that only happened because you came to know me. Do you understand why?"

"Okay, okay. I understand. I don't really want you to start preaching me once more." Nova put her hands up

"And will always preach when necessary. It is fine to be afraid of something, but it is not fine to attempt to completely exclude that something out of your life. At the very least, learn about it…… Although I said that, I feel that there are some cases when that does not apply but I can't put my finger around it… Hmm…" I was using my head and trying to think about, yet nothing came to mind

"… Are you done?"

I was taken out of chain of thought with Nova's question "I think so. Why?"

"Because the shopkeeper has been waiting for a while now." she pointed behind me

I turned around to find the shopkeeper awkwardly standing behind the counter. If what Nova said was true, then he should have listened into our conversation which was a bit embarrassing but technically this was his store so I could not be mad about it.

Therefore, I acted like nothing had happened and walked towards him, "You should have called me when you arrived, Mister broker." Although there was a bit of spite because he made me wait for some time

"Don't call me that!" He shouted as if his soul was coming out of his body then with a more controlled tone he continued, "I told you, I am not a broker willingly."

"Well, I don't really know about that. The story you told me could be just that, a story."

"But it is the truth!" he indignantly said

"Let's leave it at that. Do you have the habitat?"

He took a few breaths, "Yes, here it is." He put a big cube with visible inscriptions etched on it. It was basically a mirage enchanted cube that had a bigger capacity inside than it physically appeared to have. Such items are useful to storage large items in smaller spaces. However, they cannot go inside the inventory since apparently, the enlarged spaces will conflict with each other.

"And here is the money." I passed him the money

"8 mil!? Aren't you taking advantage of me!?"

"So are you by selling this to me and wiping your hands clean."

"But this is easily 3 times more expensive! Not to mention that this must be the only habitat on sale in the entire town!"

"I know and I am willing to pay 8 mil."

He made a face as if had bitten a bitter bug and after a few deep breaths he yelled, "Blast! Screw the money if there is no future!"

"Well said~." I affirmed with a warm smile which others may describe it differently

He took the money whereas I sent a [Soul thread] inside the cube and connected it with the habitat inside it. Then, by using the switch trick, I brought it inside the inventory.

"Pleasure doing business with you." I said, "By the way, do you know if there is someone selling provisions?"

"I am selling provisions, though…?" He responded to my question uncertainty

"No, I meant like food and stuff."

"Oh, that. That is complicated. Everything food concerned is being controlled by the government and other organizations due to its scarcity."

"Scarcity? Is it that bad?"

He shrugged "Don't know. However, I have heard that apart from the minimal food required to feed the town, everything else is being sent to them. I don’t know what they are doing with it, though."

"I did hear that they are cautious of running out of food during winter or something."

"So, you are saying that they are preserving it?"

It was my turn to shrug "No idea."

We spent a moment in silence before he broke it with a sudden moment of realization:

"Ah!" he took a block of sheets out of his inventory and handed it to me "This is what took me so long."

"This is?"

"Think of it as a manual for the habitat. I did not know if you already had experience with habitats or not, so I wrote this. It was done in a hurry hence it may be a bit difficult to read but I believe it has all the information you need to know."

"Thank you. That was very kind of you." I said while I scanned the text written 'Water tank… water purification… waste purification… and even air conditioning… Oh wow. No wonder people say so many good things about habitats… The only downside is perhaps the energy consumption. It needs to be recharged around every 10 hours.'

I saved the sheets inside the inventory near the habitat and addressed the shopkeeper "In any case, I think that was all I needed from this store." 'rather, I received more than expected'

"Thank you for your patronage and do come again for more normal business."

"Which reminds me." I put a finger vertically in front of my mouth "Let us keep what happened here between us."

"Don't even need to tell me twice. Hell, I just want to forget this entire ordeal and move on."

"Goodbye. Nova let's go do some more shopping~!"

"Wait, are we not done yet?" questioned Nova as she ran towards me

"Nope. Still a few more items that we need."

"Is that so?" she sighed, then turned to the shopkeeper "Bye, Mister Broker."

The shopkeeper who heard Nova's farewell as we exited his store seemed to have choked on his own saliva and started coughing.

As we walked on the street, I addressed Nova while holding my laughter, "Nova, you are so bad~."

"What? Why did you say that?" she asked confused written on her face, which consequently caused me to be confused as well

"Did you not call the shopkeeper Mister broker?"

"Yes. Is that not his name?"

"… Did you not hear our conversation?"

"Well… A little bit, then I went looking around and did not catch the rest. Why?"

"Nothing really…" I did not know if I should be glad that Nova was unable to see the dark side of the town "In any case, we need to think about what you need. Clothes and such."

"Wouldn't my training gear be enough?"

"I also think the same."

The training gear that Nova wore seemed to have enough protection for just simple clothes. Although there was a part of me that wanted to buy some armor, there was another thinking that would be cumbersome on her body. Furthermore, she was in the age of growth spurts, thus it would quickly lose its use.

"I think your training gear will good but do bring some other clothes. You are going to sweat a lot thus you'll need some clothes while the others are being washed."

"Okay. But what about you?"

"Me?" I switched my clothes to the ones I was planning to wear. Following along my monochrome tastes in color while appearing flimsy outwardly as a deception to the protection hidden underneath. "I already have all I need inside my inventory so we can skip that."

"I feel that your inventory is way too big…"

"And I have more than enough energy to spare."

For some reason, she sighed "Well, at least those clothes are better than the other ones."

Hearing that I froze "Wha-" I stammered "What do you mean?" I tried to ask her while maintaining some form of composure

Seemingly unaware of my disposition "You know the clothes you showed the other time on top of the mountain, they looked… how do I say it? Weird."

"Weird!?"

"No, more like as if it was too much...?" Nova pondered

"Too much!?"

"I don't know how to put it… It was as if you were trying too hard or something…"

The emotions that were swirling within me, my vocabulary proved to be too lacking to describe them. There has not been someone who criticized my choice of clothes which I always thought of them being either awesome or cool. However, never would I expect my own daughter to be the one to call me out on them. The only thing I could think of was: 'I will never wear that outfit ever again…'

I wiped a tear from my face that felt so real even though I was certain that it was just my imagination going wild.

"Let's leave it at that. We have more important business to do such as buying you a swimsuit!" I immediately used my trump card to divert the conversation from such a soul-wrenching topic

"A swimsuit? Why would I need a swimsuit?" Nova took the bait with no suspicion over it because of the surprise my words carried

"Because you will need it."

"Won't we be camping in the forest?"

"Yes, but we will be near the river."

"I still do not understand."

"Trust me, you will later." I spouted such lie with no change in my expression

"Okay…" she sighed "Let's go and buy it." Nova showed a surprising growth in tolerating my shenanigans

The following events were rather weird. Nova and I found a store which was selling some swimsuits which was something surprising knowing the town's circumstances. I was ready to forget my idea or force Nova to swim naked. I was not that cruel hence would probably choose the former… probably.

However, since they had them, I did not to choose either of those options. Although, I did not want to question why they had swimsuits since the answer would be either they brought a great quantity with them they came to this world or they prioritized making them after the arrival. Both answers would creep me out, thus I decided to remain ignorant in that aspect.

Yet, that was not what felt weird. To me what was weird was that Nova chose a swimsuit with a color that was pleasant for her. Then, she tried it on but found it that its dimensions did not suit her, so she decided to try a similar one but a size bigger. The result was satisfying for her, so we bought it and we exited the store.

Nothing out of the ordinary, however, there was this expectation inside me during the entire process. As if something that should have happened, did not. Nevertheless, I analyzed each step that we took, from beginning until the end, yet I found out that nothing was missing no matter how much I thought about it.

It was then that it hit me: 'Anime ruined my life!!! Or manga. Either one of them!'

As I researched my memories for the reason of the discrepancy that I felt, I found out that anime and manga glorified the act of buying swimsuits for some reason and that had influenced me to have phantom expectations.

"What are you doing?" asked Nova who witnessed me suddenly hunch over with a hand over my chest

"Just having a sudden realization of the corruptness in my heart."

"You only realized that now?" Nova's taunt caused me to glare at her and she, intelligent as she was, stepped outside the range of my reach in fear of receiving a flick she so deserved. However, what she did not know was that if she ticked me off just the right way, I would not have any calms of creating a new spell on the spot dubbed [Flying flick] and unleash its fury. Thankfully for her, I was a very understanding person who could look past her misdeeds.

"Anyways, was that all we needed to buy?" Nova utilized her new acquired skill: subject change

I also did not want to start another of our meaningless fights, so I obliged her "I think that is all. Unless, you have something in mind?"

"Well, there is one thing."

"What is it?"

"Well…" she hesitated "You said that this was going to be a training camp or something along those lines." She looked at me for confirmation

"Indeed." I was wondering what she was so hesitating to say to beat around the bush

"What about weapon training? Can I do that?" 'Ah, I see what she wants now. She may have given up on vengeance and become a person against violence in general. However, it seems she hasn't given up on that.'

"Yeah, sure. You said that you wanted to use the bow and storm energy before. Has that changed?"

She seemed surprised by nonchalant attitude over the subject "You sure?"

"Yeah. I did say before that you could become whatever you wanted, and that I will support you to my best."

A smile of pure joy like no other I have ever seen blossomed on Nova's face when she heard my reply. It caused a little prick on my heart which I promptly ignored it since I had no right to have those kinds of emotions.

"Nova." I started "Remember all my life advice I gave you?"

She nodded.

"Add selfishness onto the pile."

"Why do you always give me the opposite advice than everyone else?"

"Because you are too much of a good girl." I patted her head and started walking in the direction of the crafter's district to search for a bow maker and ask them for a training bow for a child "Nova, are you coming?" I noticed that Nova was not following me, thus I called her

"I'm coming."

By looking and asking around, we were able to find the store with relatively no problem. Once inside, we told what we wanted to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper informed us that they had no such product at the present moment. However, he did propose that if we could wait half an hour, they would have prepared a bow.

Although I was skeptical how they claimed that they could make a bow in 30 minutes, I wasn't against it since there was nothing to lose. I asked Nova for her opinion and she said that it was okay for her. However, she raised a very good point to the shopkeeper:

"Do we have to wait here, or can we go out and return later?"

"Oh, you can absolutely return later. However, in that case, I would prefer that you pay in advance." Responded the shopkeeper

"Half now and half later?" I suggested since, just like the shopkeeper, I preferred to have an insurance than not

"That is fine by us." The shopkeeper accepted

With that, I paid the first half and then we exited the store. However, I had no idea what to do next.

Thus, I asked Nova: "Is there anything you want to do?"

She thought about it for a second "… No, not really. Is there nothing else we need to do?"

"I believe this is the last thing we need, that is why I asked you if you wanted to do something quick… But since you don't have anything, what about some window shopping?"

"Or we could just find some place where we could sit and wait?" Nova suggested

"We could, couldn't we…" Her suggestion really tempted my inner laziness, but at the same time it felt that we could use this time to have some fun doing something else-

While I was deliberating, Nova pulled on my clothes "Hey, let's rest. I am tired of walking around."

I could always accept her request, however, I saw an opportunity for teasing her. Therefore, "I could always carry you if you are tired~." I kindly offered my assistance

"I. Don't. Want. That." She stressed her words to express her denial

"Fine." Her blatant refusal made me pout

"Thank the spirits" she said with a sigh. Making me a little frustrated in how it indicated how much she hated me carrying her.

On side note, it is unknown if the spirits exist or not. They are categorized as sentient energy and it is possible to make a contract with them to give a little oomph to the spells of their respective element. However, only a small percentage of players claimed their existence while the majority remains skeptical as they were unable to perceive them even with the help of the ones that can. 'I have never seen them either'

"Where do you want to go to rest?" I addressed Nova

"I don't know. An inn or something…"

"Okay. Then, shall we search for one?"

"Yeah."

With her affirmation, I quickly picked her up and Nova let out a squeak of surprise then I started walking in a random direction since I did not know the location of such place. After a moment of walking, I glanced questionably at Nova since she did not complain as usual.

"I just gave up…" probably sensing my gaze, Nova answered

"Ooooh, that was half the fun~." I was sincerely disappointed, but that also meant that she had accepted my actions, so it was not that bad. "By the way, I am doing this because you are tired."

"Huh huh." She did not care at all

It was kind of sad that she no longer protested or anything. I was tempted to try to find new boundaries but then I thought that there were some boundaries that could not be crossed which meant that Nova would likely resent me for it. Therefore, I just gave up before even trying.

My own temptations aside, luckily, we came across what appeared to be a café slash bar not long after we started looking for it. Although, that also signified that my little fun carrying Nova was over since I needed to put her down, which I promptly did. 'So sad…'

We walked inside. I noticed that there were a few customers, however, I was unconcerned by them. Thus, me and Nova just chose a random table to sit at and waited for the waiter to arrive, which wasn't long.

"Welcome. What would you like to eat?" With a calm and clear voice, the waiter asked us

"I don't know. What do you recommend?"

"What about a fruit salad?"

"That is fine with me. I'll take one." I was only going to pass time here, so I did not give much thought. Then I turned to Nova "What about you?"

Nova seemed a bit intimidated with speaking with a stranger, "I think I'll have the same but with some juice."

"All the juice we have is from indigenous pressed fruits." His voice towards Nova was a tone gentler than it was with me, showing that he was fond of children. "Have you tried any before?"

Nova shook her head.

"Then, would you be okay if I bring a juice of my recommendation that I am sure you would enjoy?"

"Yes, please."

"Then, please wait and I'll be back with your orders in a moment."

With that, the waiter moved to accomplish his task, leaving me and Nova to ourselves.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

The silence was a bit unbearable for me "… Well, anything you want to talk about?"

"Not really…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

It was now becoming agonizing, then an idea of the century descended upon to me.

"Nova! Come sit here." I tapped on my lap with my hands

"What? Why?"

"Because like that I can pass time by touching you however I want."

"Absolutely not."

"Why?"

"For what reason do you even need to ask that…" she commented exasperated

"Because I don't understand your reasoning."

"In what world would I allow you to touch me however you want!"

"I will just touch you wherever my hands can reach like your hair or your cheeks. There may be some hugs and pinches involved but you can pay them no mind."

"I don't want any of that! You pervert!"

"Wha-!? Pervert, you say! My intentions are pure as driven snow!" I exaggeratedly countered

She did not say anything more, but her expression as she glared at me told all that I needed to know.

Not long after, the waiter brought our plates and Nova's juice to the table. Because Nova and I had the sense to keep our dispute between us so that we could not disturb the other customers, he was unaware of what had transpired and just did his job.

"Here we go. Please do enjoy and call me if you need anything else." He slightly bowed his head toward us and went off to do his other tasks

I looked at the plate and noted that the quantity was bigger than I had expected. The rumours that I came across indicated that the people in power were hoarding food. Not for a bad reason, though. Therefore, this caused my expectations to be different from reality.

'Now that I think about it. Although Obsidian was a more down to earth kind of game, it was still in the realms of a wish fulfilment and I remember that food was extravagant in every sense of the word. They were quite the feast. Perhaps my values from Earth are colliding with those from Obsidian and caused this divergence… Well, whatever. Let's eat.'

I grabbed the cutlery and started munching on the fruits which were not bad. Although, I have always been the carnivorous type, I could appreciate them. I was not especially hungry nor pressed with time, thus I decided to take my time with savouring them.

I glanced at Nova and witnessed her also munching on her portion while keeping that glare of hers fixed on me. The problem for was that every time that she put a piece of fruit in her mouth her cheeks slackened but she did not change her glare which caused a pretty weird contrast. The result was me holding the laughter that threatened to erupt which caused my shoulder to shake and Nova noticed it relatively quickly.

Nova swallowed what she had in her mouth and clearly stated "I hate you."

I let out a chuckle escape "Well, I love you. And now I know you love me too." I remembered what she said earlier in the day

"I said I like you! Not I love you! Completely different things"

"To me they are the same~." Although I did not truly believe what I said, I just did it to annoy her

Nova gritted her teeth "Why do you have to mess up with me every single time!?"

"Because I love seeing your reactions." I said as a matter of fact

"Why don't we talk about something else?" she attempted to change the topic

"Like what?"

"I don't know… anything else…"

"Yeah… However, nothing is coming up my mind…" I ate another piece of fruit "What do girls your age like to talk about?"

"Just some random stuff."

"Yeah… Small talk isn't really my thing… What kind of topics usually come up during your talks?"

Nova put up her thinking expression and answered a moment later "We talk about classes. Well not lately. Also, about the boys we like, but I can't really get into that…" she seemingly became dejected

"You don't want to inform them of your preferences?" 'It could always make life easier. Or not. But at least she could exit this stalemate.'

Obviously, Nova said: "How could I!?" and then, returned to her depressed state

I supported her decision of not coming out with the truth just yet since they were still children and I understood how cruel children can be. However, I was not going to tell her that out loud because I did not want her to misunderstand my words and choose to keep her little secret for life.

Either way, what was most important at the moment was that to breach her out of her depressive thoughts "Then, how about discuss it with me?"

"Hmm?" she looked questioningly

"Don't forget that I know your circumstances. If you need a shoulder to cry on, I am always willing to give it to you~." I added a wink to end of my sentence "… But now that I think about it, there won't much to talk about."

"Why is that?"

"Remembering how you could not sleep because of yesterday's ordeal, I feel that you are too much of a coward when it comes to relationships which is kind of weird since you are normally fearless."

"I am not fearless." She pouted

"Girl, you punched me 3 times in the face just this month." 'If that was not fearless, then I don't know what it is.'

A blush crept on her face "That was because you deserved it and believe it was just 2 times."

"3, 2, whatever." I shrugged "The fact remains that you did."

Nova looked uncomfortable when I pointed that out for her "What about you?"

"Me?" I asked confused

"Yes. How could you say anything about others when you have the same problem?"

"My problem is different from yours. I am just too lazy for my own good hence I felt that relationships were just a pain in the butt… However, that may have changed recently." I felt my face heating up. Thus, I rested my head on my hands with my fingers covering my cheeks

"Can you go into more details?" Nova seemed to have read between the lines and was greatly interested in my story

"Well…" I wasn't really against telling her. However, I did not want to reveal the details that made it consequently I was a bit tongue-tied. I glanced at Nova and I felt she was eager to hear what I had to say. Therefore, I sighed and tried to summarise what happened "Do you remember the shopkeeper that I told you about?"

"Yeah."

"I won't bore you with the details but let me just say that something happened that brought us closer." Although how close, I had no idea. A sudden question appeared in my mind "Hey, Nova. Can I try something on you?"

She looked at me with a little bit of apprehension "What is it?"

"It's not something bad. I am just going to send my soul energy into your body."

"And that is not bad?"

"Sending raw life energy is bad but not soul energy. Then, can I do it?"

"I don't see why not. Is there something I need to do?"

"Not really. Well…" I reached my hand towards her "If you can touch my hand, it will make things easier to me."

She complied and reached my hand with hers, then I sent my soul energy inside her hand with the objective of scanning her soul structure. After a moment, I asked her "How does that feel?"

"It feels weird." I noticed no lie from her

"Anything else?"

"Nope. Should I feel something else?"

"Nah, you should not…"

Nova was confused but so was I. I had done nothing different than I did with Kiria, however, the results were very different. What happened with Kiria may have worked in my favour, but I would prefer to prefer to have complete control over it if I did not want any future accidents.

As I racked my brain a stupid theory was created. It sounded stupid but it seemed to be the most plausible solution and that was: 'Before the accident, I used soul energy to make Kiria reach *cough* new heights. Why am I coughing in my own thoughts…? Whatever. If I think that her body reacted in a similar way as when someone who burned himself before touches a hot surface and immediately retracts back as a reflex because the body remembers it, then maybe I can understand what happened then. Kiria's body memorised when the foreign energy entered her body, namely my soul energy, and reacted based on those memories. In conclusion, that pleasure did not come from me, but from Kiria herself…… Stupid, but plausible. But that still sounds stupid…'

"Hey, are you listening?" Nova's broke me out of swirling thoughts

"What? Ah, no. I was not listening. What did you say?"

She seemed a bit vexed because I had not listened to her but repeated nonetheless "I was saying that isn't that basically cheating?"

"What?" my mind drew a blank

"I mean, I remember you saying that she had a boyfriend, didn't you?" she waited for my answer

My eyes grew in shock of her statement. It felt like my eyes were wide as a deer in front of the headlights or perhaps, it surpassed that. The thought never had crossed my mind. However, my surprise was not that simple because what Nova had brought into light was that I had betrayed myself, hard.

My motto in life has been for a long time: Do not become what you hate or do not do what you don't want others to do to you. Even if I come as unpredictable or plain mad to others, I have always tried to follow that principle to a T. Yet, it seemed I had knowingly broken it.

'Knowingly… It was not a matter of acting in ignorance for I had all the information. No, it was a matter of unconsciously, or perhaps a very conscious decision to erase that fact from my mind for my own benefit…'

Many emotions swirled inside me and clashed with each other nonstop in a single frame of a second. The end result was an incredible psychological weight that physically affected that and made me lose my strength and fall over the table. Of course, I had enough reasoning to avoid the plate.

"A-Are you okay!?" so shouted the distressed Nova while still giving a piece of mind to not bother the other customers

"Yeah… I'm fine… Just reality crushing down on me, nothing more." I weakly answered.

Nova did not say anything in response, as it should be because I did not want to give her the details.

'I must salvage the situation as best as possible… But how? The deed was done… I definitely should stop seeing Kiria, correction, Yukiria… Ugh!!! I really don't want to! No, no. Control yourself! I should at least inform Yukiria of my decision… It isn't nice for someone you were on talking terms to suddenly start avoiding you without knowing the reason for it… Damn, why did this happened with a person who was already taken!? In the positive side, at least I have not fallen to the point of being captured in lovesickness… Yeah, that is not really positive…'

I let out the first sigh out of a hundred more that would be surely following it.

"Seriously. What is wrong with you?" Although the words were crude, I could feel Nova's honest concern through them

"It's nothing, really." I forced strength back into my body and straightened my back, but my gloom did not allow me to return to my previous jovial self. Knowing myself, I would get back in shape in no time but for now, I even lost my appetite. However, I did not enjoy wasting food, specially in these times, therefore I asked Nova if she wanted my portion.

The answer I received was a "No, thank you." Thus, it was left up to me to deal with it.

The meal did not notice the mood and maintained its flavour and, even though I am more of a carnivorous type, I did enjoy it which by consequence forcibly raised my spirits 'delicious food always helps when one is down… Although, me being fickle definitely played a part.'. Thanks to that, I was able to stop making Nova worry about me and we could keep going on with our business.

On our way back to the store, Nova asked me "Do you need me for something later after we buy the bow?"

I raised my fingers as I enumerated the things that we needed and came to the conclusion of "No, not really. I think we got everything, unless I am forgetting something…" I racked my brain in attempt to remember anything that we missed, but it appeared nothing came to mind 'Oh well. We'll eventually find out what we missed.'

"Then after this, I am going back to the orphanage."

I put a pained expression and asked with a weak voice "Don't you want to spend time with me?"

She completely ignored my shenanigans, as if already completely used to it and answered "I am drowsy."

"Did you not sleep enough?"

She stifled a yawn "Apparently not."

"I see. Well, when we are done, I'll accompany you back to the orphanage." There was a part of me who wanted to propose that we sleep together once again, but from the experience this morning, I felt that it was not that comfy to be in such a small bed with two people. Furthermore, I wanted to her to be at full energy for when we depart.

"Okay."

When we arrived at the store, the storekeeper perked up and immediately presented the bow along with training arrows which I thankful for since I had completely forgot to ask for them.

"I am surprised that you were able to make one in half an hour, like you stated." I commented while I handed over the payment

"Well, it is just a training bow for a child." He shrugged "Just cut a piece of wood, shape it like a bow and add a string. Boom, it's done." He explained the process in such a sloppy manner that I wouldn't be able to connect the process he described to the finished product "Either way" he continued "Let the kid try the bow and see if it's fine."

I wasn't opposed to what he suggested and handed the bow to Nova. She in turn looked at us questioningly for a moment, but she quickly caught up on what we were expecting. Thus, she pulled the bow string and let it go.

Watching this, I came to two conclusions: First, I should probably not use that bow, unless I want to snap it. Second, Nova's posture needs some work 'although I am not an expert on archery… or anything really'.

"That looks fine to me." Remarked the shopkeeper

I passed the training arrows too to Nova who put it inside her inventory alongside the bow and addressed the shopkeeper "Thank you for the bow and the arrows. Goodbye."

"No, thank you for your patronage and do come back when you need archery supplies."

I nodded my head in acknowledgement.

"Bye." So said Nova

Outside the store, we started walking towards the orphanage just as we planned before. The walk back was silent since I had nothing particular to say and Nova appeared to be the same.

When we arrived, I asked her "Are you going directly to bed?"

"Maybe."

"Is that a yes 'maybe' or a no 'maybe'?"

"What?" she looked at me extremely confused

"Well, you see. I'm curious if you are going to play with your bow."

"I'm not going to do that."

"Truly?"

"Yes, truly."

"… Okay, I guess. Because if you do, I'm just asking yo-"

"I'm not going to use the bow." She cut me off

"I understand. I just want to say if you do-"

"Like I said! I'm not going to! Who do you take me for!?"

"A kid who just got a new toy and is itching to use it."

"Well, I'm not that."

"Alright, if you say so. Anyway, have a good rest since we might depart either tomorrow or the day after."

"Yeah yeah."

"Then, see you tomorrow."

"Bye." And after leaving that valediction, she entered the orphanage, closing the door behind her.

I stood in place for a bit, having difficulties believing that she would do as she had said. The reason for that came from experience, personal experience. When the basic elements were discovered, I went a bit crazy with that 'I mean, they were just like superpowers'.

I stopped reminiscing of my younger, wilder days and started thinking of what I should do since I basically was free and there a several hours until night. Just like I had stated to Nova previously, we prepared everything that I could think off, perhaps too much.

'I've got the meat that I kept from the beast for provision, but I also plan to forage the forest. I am not exactly good at that, but the meagre knowledge I have should be helpful in teaching the ropes to Nova. Then there is the lodging problem that was solved with the habitat… Maybe I went too far with that purchase since I wanted to teach how to prepare a tent… But it was a chance to get a habitat which does not come often or at all, at least for me.'

Having money does not correlate to being able to buy everything I want. Connections are also important in that regard and me being antagonized… Well, it wasn't exactly until that point, but it still made my life harder since I was only able to get the mass-produced stuff and not the more epic or legendary type of items. I do not know if the others in the same situation as I had a similar issue with that, but thanks to it, I learned to use what I had or improvise… However, I knew that if I really wanted something like that, I could always buy the materials from the trading guild, then entering in a contract with a respectful crafter, but I didn't. The main reason for that was because I felt that it was too much work. 'In other words, I was just being lazy ass.'

'Ah! I'm deviating from my original thought. Where was I? Something about the habitat being too luxurious…? Either way, I think that is all that we needed for a camping trip: food and lodging. Then, there is the bow. Afterwards, perhaps information…? And after that, I have no idea what else we would need.'

Thus, I was free, which was a state that I really did not want to be because of what I learned earlier. I could always ignore it, but I knew from personal experience that was the worst thing I could do and since I had no excuse to circumvent this matter, I had to just grit my teeth and strike the iron while it's hot.

.

.

.

I opened the door to not hearing the usual greeting which made me wonder for a second if she was not present. However, since the door was unlocked, and I could hear some noise from the counter as someone was hunched over doing something. Although the thought of a burglar came to mind, it was immediately dismissed because there was really nothing worth to be stolen here. 'Wait! There is the whatchamacallit which is made of rare materials.'

I was still doubtful that it was the case, but just in case, I was a bit cautious as I approached. However, I did not expect the subject of my worries to be the one moving around.

The thingy? The robot? Puppet? Whatever it should be called, turned around and faced me before "You're here again, huh." And surprised me by hearing Yukiria's voice coming from it.

It took me a second to come out of my stupor "… Are you remotely controlling it, Yukiria?" I tentatively asked as I could not see her nearby when I scanned my surroundings with my vision.

"Indeed, I am." She answered not noticing the way I called her. On another note, it was weird to hear the pride in Yukiria's voice to come out of an emotionless doll 'I think that is a good way to describe it'.

"That is amazing…" 'and scary' I honestly told her while withholding my trepidation of what necromancers may be able to do with this in the future. Hopefully, the difficulty to create something akin to this doll shall remain high forcing the necromancers to not use it as however they want.

"But why the maid outfit?" I asked the question that was on the tip of my tongue ever since I put my eyes on the doll. Furthermore, it wasn't like an outfit for work, but more one for looks.

"Obviously, I couldn't leave it naked since it looks too much like a person hence the outfit." She said it as a matter of fact. 'That wasn't my question though…'

"Is that so…" I noticed that my thoughts were straying off my original objective, thus, I shook my head internally to get rid of them and psyched myself. Furthermore, this could work with me and be easier than facing her directly, although it was cowardly to do it this way…

"Anyway, I have come here to tell you something."

"I don't want to hear it." She stated as she moved the doll to and from the counter with various things in its hands as it walked like a caricatural robot with stiff movements to the point that it feels like it would fall any time soon and because it looks like a person gives me this instinctual urge to support it.

"You don't even know what I was going to tell you."

"I have an idea and I don't want to hear it."

"Actually, I think you do." I smiled in self-derision. However, since she wasn't looking at me when I spoke, thus my smile went unnoticed.

"Oh yeah?" she looked at me attentively or so I assumed because, again an assumption, Yukiria was looking through the eyes of the doll.

"Yes." I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and did my best to look at her straight in the eyes 'Here we go' "I decided to stop pursuing you."

There was a moment of silence as Yukiria digested the message and I felt that it would be an incredible stupid move to just leave hence I awaited her feedback.

"Heh… That was fast." A nonchalant voice exited the doll's mouth.

'Ah, this was a mistake…'

The mistake was that I realized far too late that it would be much better to talk to her face to face as that would not let my mind run wild with suppositions upon suppositions on what exactly her words meant. For now, I took conscious control of all my muscles to not let out anything from within me get out, especially my eyes 'although, I don't think they are really muscles' and just kept a calm façade.

"I guess so…Haha…" I bitterly laughed

There was another moment of silence.

Now that I had done it, I did not know what to do next. 'I should probably leave'

Just as I was about to tell her goodbye, Yukiria asked "May I know why the sudden change?"

"It's rather shameful, but long story short, my own hypocrisy was revealed." Furthermore, the most shameful part was that it was Nova who was a kid of 12 years old who did it. Normally, I pride myself in being rational, but this event showed how wrong I was.

"Either way, that was all I wanted to tell you. I will probably not appear before you until I feel no longer awkward about this. So, until then, goodbye." I quickly gave her these words and exited the shop.

I would pat myself on the back for acting natural and even waving with a smile before leaving the store, but I wasn't in the mood for it because I almost burst there. I looked at my hand and saw it shaking a little indicating how I was losing control over my emotions. I tried to clench it to get rid of the shaking, but even my usual strength faded.

Taking these into account, I decided that tonight I would just let go of my bottled feelings, even though I just wanted to let go and burst into tears right here and now with no consideration of the surroundings. However, my pride was currently my driving force that kept me together and it would not let me just bow to my desires.

Thus, since I wanted to have some privacy, I would try to see if I could rent a bed. I was hopeful since the town grew a lot compared to the beginning, thus, perhaps there may be an inn with a vacant room. If that did not work, then I would just compromise and find a safe corner somewhere in the forest. 'beggars can't be choosers'

However, one thing for certain is that even though the relationship with Yukiria ended in tragedy for me, I was not going to forget anything for I was thankful.

'The happiness, the sadness, the hot moments, the weird moments, the stupid moments, the anguish for her attention and finally but most important, the warmth that it brought to my heart-' My vision suddenly blurred but I quickly regained control and soon became clear again 'Not yet!'

Those emotions. Those feelings. They did not represent some fancy I had towards someone, they represented-

"Goodbye, my first love…" I whispered towards the wind