Chapter 42

We searched for a safe place to rest for the night. Most of the capital had been consumed by the black patches, which showed no signs of fading after our battle. Defeating Elerina’s father didn’t mean cleansing the place, unfortunately. Still, after looking around, we managed to find a small place that escaped the darkness and decided to rest there. I teleported back to my world and grabbed some more clothes for Elerina’s father, to make sure the dark magic didn’t consume him once more.

“How are things looking back at town?” I asked. We sat in the small street in front of a building. Based on its shape, it looked like it housed some kind of store in the distant past. It might be a house, though, considering the difference in architecture.

We sat around a campfire we built. It had been a while since they last visited any proper town. Angen used her telepathy magic to communicate with them. She had sent the news that the demons had been defeated.

“They didn’t believe me at first, but the demonic magic placed on the monsters had all but disappeared.”

“So it’s a one-sided hunting spree?”

Angen nodded, much to my relief. This world would finally return to peace.

“I’m… sorry,” Elerina said timidly. “I wasn’t expecting my… father to be the cause of all this.”

“It’s alright.” Memorus waved his hand. It was a hard pill to swallow for all of us, well, except me. I didn’t suffer from his actions, and he was the one that brought me here. That said, it wasn’t something any of us could blame on Elerina, especially since she also suffered.

She believed she was outcasted by her town because of her inability to use magic. Her father disappeared and planted terrible memories inside of her mind. She fought hard to be a strong warrior because of her weaknesses. She was among those who suffered the most, and she didn’t even know about her father thanks to his manipulation.

“Still, that’s a pretty terrible thing to do,” Memorus said, glancing back at the corner where we let him rest. “He went that far to curse his daughter, to prevent her from falling to the dark side, only to fall himself.”

There was a touch of irony in that. Had he not gone, had he not cursed Elerina, things might be different. Her mother might still be alive today, along with all those who had died during the war. Elerina might not fall in the first place, assuming she even got into contact with it. She could use the spell no problem, even using it to defeat the dark magic itself.

“I honestly think this is the dark magic’s fault,” Angen murmured. “Or maybe our ancestors' fault.”

If they found a solution to it, or if they didn’t toy with it in the first place, none of this would happen. There are simply secrets that you shouldn’t know, things you shouldn’t try to understand. Things that are better when left a mystery.

“Curiosity killed the cat…”

“Curiosity killed the what?” Angen asked.

Memorus looked confused as well. “What's a cat? And how would curiosity kill it?”

Now that things had calmed down, I finally realized that I was speaking in their language. I still couldn't read or write, but their language was ingrained into my mind.

“It's an idiom from where I came from, basically curiosity leads you to do dangerous things, and those things could kill you, and in this case, you're the cat.”

The animal cat does indeed exist in this world, albeit in a different name. When I said it, it was automatically translated into the word ‘cat’ in this language, but they didn’t understand that it was the animal cat, thinking it was something else.

As we were talking, I noticed Elerina occasionally glancing back and forth to me. She must have something she wanted to say.

“Anyway, I'm full, so I think I'll take a walk.”

“I'll escort you,” Elerina said.

“Alright, don't forget to return.”

We waved to Angen and Memorus, before heading into the ruins. There wasn't much left. It was a wide area occupied by nothing but broken stones. There was absolutely no life in these regions, meaning no plants either. Just black with a touch of brown as far as the eye can see. It was an unreal sight. Thanks to the many openings, we could still see no problem, even with the remains of dark magic all over the place.

Elerina held my hand, then hugged my arm. I looked for a structure that still somewhat resembles what it used to be and took her there, away from everyone else. I found a space where we could be safe. I cleared up the floor from any rubble and sat down. She sat next to me, leaning her head on my chest. Tears welled up in her eyes. I lightly stroked her hair.

“You can let it out,” I whispered.

She nodded, and sobbed, then cried. I hugged her tightly, never wanting to let go.

•••

Ting ting ting.

An annoyingly loud melody played in my ears. I let out a groan, rubbing my eyes with my right hand. Something was hugging my left hand, preventing it from moving. Something lay on my chest. It didn't take me long to remember what had happened.

Last night, we were pretty exhausted from our fight. I mean, after that fight, we still needed to walk out of the room, then ride the hoverboard away. It wasn't easy, to say the least.

Elerina cried a lot yesterday, and I was there with her. Since we were no longer connected, I needed to choose. If I slept back in my world, that would mean being unable to be next to her. Thus, for the first time ever, I spent the night in Elerina's world.

While I did buy sleeping bags for all four of us, Elerina cried herself to sleep, so she ended up sleeping without a sleeping bag. Since I didn’t want to let go, I couldn’t get mine, and was forced to endure the cold. We ended up hugging each other tightly enough to share our heat, though, so it’s fine.

We chose a spot next to a large opening, so despite the darkness inside the room, I could still witness the breathtaking view of the sun rising up.

“... Nicholas.” Elerina called out.

“Sorry, I must have woken you up.”

“It’s alright.” Elerina got up. We returned to where Angen, Memorus, and Elerina’s father were. All three of them were still sleeping, so we headed to the street in front of the building.

“Alright, time to test this.”

Elerina nodded, then she began walking away. After she was far enough, she hid behind the building.

“Transport.”

I returned briefly to my room and picked up some cup noodles. I also turned on the water heater.

“Transport.”

When I returned, I was where Elerina was.

“So you teleport to wherever I am.”

“It seems like that's the case.”

We returned to our base.

“Good morning.” Angen greeted us as we returned. Memorus stood behind her, stretching.

“How's the result?” Memorus asked, talking about the experiment. We talked about it on the way here. Since I'm no longer tied to Elerina, I don't want to be left behind all alone in the demon territory. Luckily, I'm still sticking to her when transporting between worlds.

“He'll teleport to me.”

“Good to know.”

We sat down around the fireplace. The morning air was quite cold, and what other perfect way to warm yourself up then some cup noodles. I returned to my world, picked up the hot water, and came back, then poured it for the three of them. Out of all of us, Elerina was the only one who didn't put seasoning in her noodles.

“Seeing you makes me wonder how you'll survive in my world.”

Elerina tilted her head. “Does all the food in your world have that ‘fake’ taste?”

“Fake?” Memorus murmured, looking down at the cup. Angen didn't seem to mind, as she continued slurping. I rarely gave them cup noodles, usually instant meals, but I didn’t have time to prepare them today.

“You didn't realize it?” Elerina asked. This wasn't the first time they had eaten cup noodles.

Memorus shrugged his shoulders. “Tastes good to me.”

“Don't humans put a lot of spices in their food?” Angen asked.

“How about you?”

“We felinks like to keep it simple.”

“You felinks have a terrible sense of taste.”

“What the heck are you talking about? I can taste good food no problem.”

“You said Mori Anezoria tasted great.”

“It does!”

While the two began bickering again, I turned to Elerina. “What's Anezoria?”

“It's a square bread with red sauce and various kinds of meat on top.”

Like pizza, then?

“Mori is a sour fruit that comes from the felink territory. The felinks really like them.”

So pineapple pizza…

“Yep, I agree with Memorus on this one.”

“Have you even tried it!?”

“Nope.”

“Then don't comment!” Angen said, exasperated.

“Sigh… I wish I could treat you to some food at Aunt Aner.”

“Aunt Aner?”

Elerina looked down at her cup. “Recovering my memories made me remember the stuff the villagers did to me… they're actually very nice.”

“Oh.”

She lifted her head and let out a pained smile. “But that's the past. I don't know who's still alive but… I'd love to tell them the truth. In their eyes, I just went up and left one day.”

The day she lost her magic, that was the same day she left, since in her mind, she thought the villagers had been harsh on her since she was a child. That was, of course, a lie.

“Speaking of truths, are we going to tell them exactly what happened?”

We all turned toward where Elerina's father rested. He had yet to wake up.

“I'm… surprised he's still there, honestly.”

“You thought he would die?”

Elerina nodded.

“Well, I figured that if he truly wants to pay for his mistakes, it would be best if he helped with the rebuilding.”

You couldn't help someone from the grave, after all. And since he showed that he regretted his actions, I don't think he's dangerous anymore.

“But… How did you save him?”

“Remember the vision when they stopped dark magic from spreading? Someone used Izoma, right? I thought that might work. No pain in trying?”

Elerina gave me a grin. “What if that canceled the spell.”

“It didn't.”

“If we're going to let him live, we'll need to come up with a fake story,” Angen said. I'm sure many wouldn't be happy if they knew that he created this mess, and might go after him.

I held out the stone I recovered from beside his body.

“What if we say that we defeated the demon king, recovered this as proof, and rescued him while we're at it?”

“What’s he doing in the former empire territory?”

“Trying to protect the world, I guess?”

In a way, that wasn't a complete lie, as he did try to protect his daughter and to an extent, protect the world. He failed miserably, of course, and we rescued him.

“That's a pretty good story.” Memorus gave me a thumbs up. Making half-truths would be much easier to keep up compared to complete lies. We discussed some more of the story we're going with. After a while, my phone showed that it's time for me to return, as I have university.

“All right, see you guys soon.”

“Stay safe.”

“Goodbye.”

“See you.”

I teleported back to Earth.