Chapter 21

Upon returning to town, John decided to walk around. It was still in the afternoon. He already reported his progress to Ellie, along with asking for yet another night in the guild’s room. Ellie didn’t seem pleased with this familiar request, yet she didn’t deny it either. She truly didn’t care.

She didn’t tell him about the rear door, only reminding him that they needed to be back by ten or use the rear door. John began doubting that the rear door even existed.

There was still time before the ‘curfew’, though, so John decided to go out. After getting some food, he spent the night walking through the shopping area of the town. Many of the shops sell equipment used by students of the academy. Uniforms, pens, magic wands, and even flying broomsticks. These tools helped with controlling the spells. It’s like adding an extra set of hands during the juggling process.

As John looked around, he noticed Leyla in one of the stores, sitting in front of the canvas. At first, he thought she was just looking at the canvas, but then he noticed her right hand moving with a brush in it. Curious, he approached her.

“What are you doing?” John asked. Leyla looked up, then back at the canvas.

“Not your business.”

A beautiful drawing of a person occupied the front of the canvas. It didn’t look familiar.

“Is that… her?”

“... The creator of the chair? Yes.”

“She’s pretty.”

“All laikaats are.”

Looking at Leyla, it was undeniable that she had her looks going for her. She wasn’t as cold as when they first met, but she didn’t exactly have the best personality.

“You’re thinking of something rude, aren’t you?” She glared at John. Even when she was angry, her face was still pretty.

“See what I mean?”

“Who are you even talking to?”

There were only the two of them there.

“What are you doing here in the first place?”

“Why do you want to know?” She continued painting, keeping her eyes on the face before her.

“Is it that bad if I’m curious about you?”

“... Is it surprising if laikaats have hobbies?”

“Not at all.”

“I guess, at least in my case, I’m good at doing what I like.”

John looked at the painting again. It was undeniably stunning. This world didn’t have AI in it, so she could still make a comfortable living doing it for life.

“How about her?”

“Her? Well, she’s terrible at doing what she likes. Yet, at the same time, she’s also terrible at giving up.” Leyla sighed. “I can’t believe how much human life changed her.”

“... How about you?”

“Me? I’ll never change. Never, ever.”

She sounded so sure of herself.

“... How about you? What are your hobbies?”

John wasn’t expecting her to be curious about him, or maybe she asked out of consideration. He did show interest in her life, maybe she decided to do the same.

“... I don’t know.”

“How is that possible?”

“I used to have them… but after getting a job, I could no longer do it.”

He could no longer play games to the fullest, watch anime he wanted, or even just read books. He had very little time off between work, and whenever he had the chance, he was too exhausted. He ended up using his free time to recover the sleep he lost thanks to his job.

“So you have that kind of life…”

“How about you? Is being a laikaat tiring?”

She gave him a short glance before returning to her work. “It’s not as bad, I can say.”

“You get breaks often?”

“There are many of us, and humans don't feel a thing when they're waiting for their turn.”

All John remembered was that he woke up already in that room.

“How long since I died?”

“Three years.”

That was certainly longer than he expected. He thought a couple of months at most. If he somehow returned to Earth, then the world he returned to may be a much different world. He already had no place over there when he died; he couldn’t imagine how things would be if he returned now. That made him curious.

“What happened to those who wanted to return?”

“You can’t,” Leyla casually said, as if it had nothing to do with her. "Humans can’t return to their previous world. Most people didn’t even remember their past life.”

John pointed to himself. “But I remember?”

“Yours is a special case, because you accepted that quest to get the chairs.”

“So… If our meeting went normally.”

“You’ll be here, maybe born into an important family? I don’t know.”

Her eyes made a sudden shift, glaring at John. “Why? You want to return?”

John had no intentions of doing so, but he was curious.

“What if I say yes?”

“I’ll knock your memories out of you.”

“... Then I can’t go look for the chairs?”

Leyla stood up, gripping the brush tight, glaring at John. Seeing her, John panicked.

“I’m not serious! I’m just curious! I swear!”

Leyla sat back down, continuing her painting.

“Returning is the one rule none of us can break. That includes us laikaats. If you’re going to make a big deal out of it, then I'd rather put you to sleep,” she said in an icy tone.

John was used to hearing it at this point, but something about this topic seemed to pull out another level of Leyla’s seriousness.

“That’s scary.”

“It is.”

Realizing just how much of a scary topic it was, John decided not to discuss it any further.