However, that didn’t discourage him in the slightest and he tried to make fire.

Firstly he took off the splinters he could get from the food and made it into a small pile.

That alone took him some time but it was needed as the flint and steel makes only sparks.

Once he was done, he trained the technique.

He knew how to do it. He heard about it somewhere. It is just that he never tried it before.

‘If I am not wrong then the striker should hit the edge of the flint. Not to chip the flint but to slice a little of the striker itself. That should be done with the curved strike. All right.’

With this, he tried it again and again.

This took him a lot of time which many would say is a waste of time.

But he saw it as a challenge. Learning this could be very beneficial for him in this place.

And so he tried for a very long time until he got tired.

Just as he was about to give up and try it the next day, one spark appeared.

But that wasn’t enough as he needed to continue so more sparks showed up.

But that alone made him happy as he was on the right path.

What he didn’t expect was the spark landing on the firewood inside of the door and flare up in a miniature explosion.

*Boom*

“...”

He didn’t expect that just one spark could create such a big flame in a matter of seconds.

If he missed then wouldn’t the entire room just burn down to the ashes?!

He applauded himself at the fact he hit the target and with a deep breath closed the square door.

“Damn… I will need to be more careful.”

This place was too dangerous for his liking.

But he couldn’t care less now that everything was done.

He didn’t even bother to clean the mess up and just waited for the water to heat up.

It didn’t take long. Just a few minutes of waiting made the water hot.

When he checked it with the hand he nodded in satisfaction.

He quickly looked into the door if there was still fire and noticed that most of the firewood had already disappeared.

That meant that he won’t boil himself and he could let it be.

So he stripped himself and got into the tub.

“Haaah… This is what I needed…”

This was the best feeling he got after a long time.

The sacred water was a delight to be in even before but this time he felt so relaxed that he felt he might just melt.

He never was a lover of long baths as he deemed it a waste of time.

He always just showered and got out as soon as he was done.

‘Maybe it is because I never felt so tired as today? Well, I certainly deserve at least this. Moreover, I am not wasting time since time doesn’t flow here, hahaha!’

Thinking this he relaxed with closed eyes.

He just hoped that there wouldn’t be something watching over him as he bathed.

But thinking about it won’t change anything so he might as well just enjoy it.

He completely forgot about all of the troubles and let the water wash his exhaustion. No thoughts about how to escape this place or how to become a Housekeeper passed through his mind.

It was as if he reached enlightenment at this moment.

……..

It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep.

This day was really arduous for him. Not only for his body but also for his mind.

So it wasn't a surprise when he fell asleep as soon as he got the opportunity.

He already wanted to take a nap on the balcony but was soon interrupted.

Here, however, was no one to annoy him.

And so he slept for a long time.

When he woke up again, the water was already cold.

*Yawn*

“I fell asleep? I guess I am really sleepy.”

He kneaded his eyes as he slowly got out of the tub.

With a towel, he wiped himself dry and looked around.

The now dirty towel, discarded clothes, flint and steel, the rest of the firewood, and still a full tub of water were lying all around him where he left them.

Seeing this he groaned.

“Tomorrow…”

But he wasn't in the mood to clean the mess up. He could do it the other day.

And with this thought, he went towards the main room.

As he entered the front room of the bathroom, he saw his naked body in the mirror.

That made him sigh as he wasn’t satisfied with what he saw.

Lately, his diet got worse as he could afford only junk food and instead of working out, he entertained himself. The long nights of studying for exams also didn’t help.

All of that made his physique quite undesirable. Together with the fact that his charisma never blossomed he felt his confidence disappearing in recent years.

That made him close himself at home even more and he was spending time only with his closest friends.

But even those were infinitely far from him now.

It was just a day in Earth’s time but the loneliness he felt was similar to the time he lost his parents.

He felt alone and helpless.

Yeah, Sera and others, while bothersome, didn’t look like bad people but that didn’t make him feel any better.

This entire day he was yapping as an idiot to ward off the fear in his heart.

The unease going through his mind.

When looking into that mirror where the normal young man stood he saw the fatigue and disheveled face.

“Haah…”

In the end, he just shook his head and headed to his bed.

Along the way, the grandfather’s clock was still swinging its pendulum.

When he looked at how much time passed he realized that it was almost midnight.

That surprised him.

“I slept over three hours in the tub?”

He muttered to himself as he made his way next to the bed.

There, the kitten was lying in the same place still sleeping.

However, besides it was folded something.

When he got closer his eyes widened as he confirmed what it was.

“Is this pajama?”

He looked around but didn’t find anything wrong.

So he just shrugged his shoulders and started to dress up.

It was a neat black set of two pieces. Nothing strange.

Once he was done he sat down on the bed and crawled to the center.

This was because the bed was so big. He closed the hinge behind himself and buried under the blanket.

As he got comfortable he stretched his hand out to get the kitten into his arms.

*Meow*

Kitten woke this up and she meowed in question.

However, he just took it close to himself and cuddled with it.

This made it purr in content as it closed its eyes again and soon fell asleep.

“I probably should name you, shouldn’t I? Maybe tomorrow…”

He mumbled this as he closed his eyes and fell asleep again.

This time with the intent to sleep until morning of the next day.

……..

Everything was bright.

When he realized something was different he was already lost in the place he was wandering.

He didn’t know how much time passed or if any time passed.

Everything was blurry and too fucking bright.

He was walking in the long corridors. Those corridors were made of dark stone that looked to be centuries old. It was as if he was walking the hallways of the ancient castle.

Looking around, the adorning of the place was pristine and full of mysterious aura.

He walked around for who knows how long.

But suddenly he stopped.

‘Why is it so bright?’

This question popped up in his mind.

He felt like it was unnatural. Something was weird.

So he looked around once again.

This time he noticed it.

The arched windows. The rays of light were going through them right into the hallways.

It was nothing uncommon yet it somehow unnerved him.

And so he decided to look.

He got closer to the windows and looked outside.

What he saw took away his breath.

The sight in front of his eyes was like that from a fairy tale.

Several suns were hanging in the bright blue sky illuminating the land around.

It was different from what he expected.

He was at the highest point in this place and could see everything around.

The clouds were covering that view but he still could see through them.

Several gigantic islands were floating in the ocean. Some of them were even floating. They were full of green as the entire place seemed tied to nature itself. However, the buildings on those islands were full of splendor showing the ingenuity of whoever built them.

All of those islands were connected by floating bridges or had ports for the boats or flying creatures. The boats could sail through the both sky and ocean as they had wings with propellers on themselves.

The ocean itself wasn’t normal water but seemed to be some kind of unknown substance.

In the distance, many of the islands were so big that it would be impossible to see their ends yet he could see the entire everything in this place. He felt omnipresent at this moment and he loved every second of it.

Each island was special in one way or another, be it because of the structures, creatures, or nature surrounding it every last of them was one of its kind.

There was one island with gigantic trees with one toppling over every other one in the center reaching the zenith of the sky.

He felt it was familiar but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

Soon he stopped caring and continued observing this wonderland.

When he looked down he realized that the building he was in was some kind of castle in the center of this all. It could even be called a citadel.

It had walls hundreds of meters tall, towers with a width of that of skyscrapers, and turrets as numerous as stars.

All in all, it was a magical view that made him even change his outlook on life.

He felt a very profound feeling of satisfaction as he applauded with cheer.

Everything was so full of life. Even from a distance, he could feel all kinds of creatures living their lives. They were blurry in his mind and he couldn’t guess what kind of species they were but it still made him feel as if he wasn’t alone.

However, some of the creatures suddenly looked at the citadel looking right at the window he was looking from.

That surprised him as he distanced himself from the window.

*Meow*

Suddenly the sound of meowing resonated throughout the entire land making it quiver.

The entire place started to collapse together with him…

……..

*Meow*

The sound of meowing resounded inside of the master bedroom but only silence followed afterwards.

*Meow*

Once again, the meowing sounded out.

It was made by the snow-white kitten that was now standing on the chest of the young man who was still completely asleep.

There was no morning light coming through the windows making it harder for him to wake up.

However, the kitty didn’t let it slide.

It started to slap his face with its paws lightly and was incessantly meowing while staring deeply into his face.

It had big eyes of sapphire color making whoever looked into her eyes fell in love with her.

Despite that, one of her eyes was flickering while changing its color into that of amethyst.

It was a mysterious phenomenon but nobody noticed.

*Meow!* *Slap*

“Agh!”

In the end, the kitty lost its patience and used more force.

That jolted the young man awake from the deep slumber.

“Aaagh!”

As it wasn't a peaceful way to wake someone up he got startled a lot this time.

The more so when it combined with the dream he had.

With a violent start, he catapulted into a sitting position as his heart violently pounded inside of his chest.

That made the pitiful kitten fly away as it was lying on his chest.

*Meow*

It looked very miserable as it fell on the sheets.

He, however, didn’t notice that as he gasped for air to catch his breath.

His sweat-soaked sheets clung to his trembling body as he looked around.

“Where is this? Why am I here… Wait… Right..”

At first, he was a little confused since he was in a big bed that had its own canopy but then his memories of yesterday flooded him.

“So it wasn’t just a dream, huh?”

He muttered this but frowned immediately afterward.

‘Dream?’

He felt like he had some dream. Of something important.

But he couldn’t remember at all.

He felt as if it was there but everything was blurry.

He didn’t even know what it was about.

But by the violent wake up he guessed it was a nightmare.

*Meow*

His attention was attracted by the noise the kitten was making as it looked sullen because of the throw.

“Oh, little kitty. Good morning!”

However, he was unaware of that as he greeted the little one while petting it.

Kitty started to purr at this and seemed to forgive him so all was well.

Unfortunately, he can’t just waste the entire morning in bed.

And so, with difficulty, he crawled out of the bed and unfolded the curtains.

No light greeted his face and the windows were still dark.

That made him wonder if it was always dark here.

He stood up and stretched.

Despite the violent nature of his awakening, he had a very good sleep in this bed.

Actually, he was grateful for it, otherwise, he wouldn’t wake up at all.

*Growl*

The sound of his stomach was heard as he was hungry as hell.

It felt as if he didn’t even eat yesterday.

“I guess it is time for breakfast.”

He looked at the tray of fruits with desire.

But in the end, he shook his hand.

“Hygiene first.”

He wanted to go to the bathroom but he noticed something.

“Hmm? Did I put it here?”

The waterskin was also on the bed table despite his not remembering putting it there.

That made him narrow his eyes as there was really something fishy.

He took the waterskin and kitty intending to leave.

But just as he took the kitty off the bed he saw how the bedsheets he was lying on started to change by itself. It changed to completely different ones with flower patterns and folded everything.

“...”

So there was really some kind of maintenance here…

That made him wonder what other surprises there were.

But now was not the time for it.

He first put down the kitty.

With the corner of his eyes, he looked at the time and was surprised that it was just 6 a.m.

Waking up early wasn’t his strong point.

He was always up until late at night and got to sleep in the morning.

Fortunately, this time he didn’t feel tired so he didn’t mind it even a bit.

He went to the bathroom first as he wanted to take a shower.

Normally, he didn’t take morning showers but this time he was sweaty so it would be for the best to not smell.

In the front room, he stripped and threw the pajamas into the laundry basket and continued on his way.

Then he went to take something to use in the water.

The sacred water will make him clean but the showers weren’t only about that.

And soon he found what he looked for.

Some kind of bodily gel that can be used and something he could use on his head.

It was kinda of hard to distinguish all of the stuff here so he just took it and sniffed it and when he liked the smell he would try it out.

What he didn’t know was that all of those gels, oils, and everything else were extremely pleasant.

So he just took things randomly and entered the rear room.

As he expected, when he entered the rear room, the things he left were already gone.

Hopefully not forever but just in their right places.

Even the water in the tub was gone.

But this time, he was looking at the showers.

He couldn’t use them since they were broken but he can improvise.

He took the sitting stool and stood up on it so he could touch the shower head.

There, he took the waterskin and hung it on the shower head with the straps that hold it one waist normally.

Thanks to that water was flowing freely on the ground.

In satisfaction, he quickly climbed down and entered under the water.

He spent some time there but didn’t waste too much of it and took the waterskin down as soon as he was done.

He wiped himself with the towel, tied it around his waist, and entered back into the front room.

There he looked again at some things to use for the morning routine.

However, there was too much of it and so he only found the most important thing.

It was a kind of mouthwash.

He didn’t find any toothbrush here so he hoped this thing could do its job even without it.

He took a gulp and gurgled.

The feeling was indescribable as it felt he was swallowing the fire into his mouth.

Soon he spit it out into the sink and used his tongue to feel his teeth.

“Wow, not bad.”

He put the towel around his waist into the laundry basket and went out.

As he entered the main room he saw the kitten staring at him.

That made him feel a little weird. He never had a pet so he didn’t think about it before undressing.

But is there any reason for that?

She was a pet, after all.

Why should he feel weird that the pet saw him naked?

She was just a kitten.

But as the kitten stared at him, it started to unnerve him and so he quickly entered the dressing room and took one of the few suits that were available to him.

He noticed that the one he wore yesterday was already hanging there in pristine condition.

He nodded at this and started to dress up.