I 5

“Hmm… checking out your graduation exam’s score aren’t you?” Regina places her chin onto my shoulder. “Yeah,” I turn to her, “you want to go home now?” Regina shakes her head, “No, I still want to celebrate with the class.” Then she narrows her eyes, “Why not just stay with us? There will be a lot of sweets and drinks.” Stay and celebrate huh? I don’t see a lot of reasons why I should stay among a bunch of young students who I have trouble conversing with, not sure it’s a mentality issue or actually related to my own physiology – I haven’t pondered enough whether this reincarnated body of mine does make me think and behave differently than back in the past world. Being Ryle does feel like I’m clumsier in this world. “Let me consider, but chances are… I wouldn’t stay here for long…” “Ah, Regina, you are here!” “Erm, yeah!” Then my new family member gets swarmed by the classmates. It’s pretty weird how easy it is to talk to Regina, compared to other people of my age. Maybe what makes somebody a good conversing partner is always contingent on what kinds of hobbies they possess.

Even though I don’t have much lingering feelings for this school, it would not be true if I say I feel nothing for it. I take a deep breath, glance around. It’s not like I will never see this place ever again. Although, it never crossed my mind until now… that I will pass away at some point. Unless there’s some further mission to be done in my next reincarnation.

Isn’t this all just hypothetical guessing though? Maybe this isn’t even a reincarnation in the first place. Maybe people like myself shall always carry my own memories to the next world. Trying to make sense of things that just happen because they do, then try to predict, is a futile endeavor. “So great! Regina is truly the best student of our entire grade!” I hear the voices from her (or my) class. She sure does have a lot of fond classmates who adore her. Although that would also include my own parents, who surely are not even students. Sigh. Let’s go, me. It’s unreal how normal the path is, as always. “You are home, where’s Regina?” “She’s still with her friends.” I respond to mom. “Maybe you should hang around with your friends sometimes, she’s so sociable while I have never seen you bringing a single friend home.” “Isn’t that the same for Regina?” “Oh, you are right.” She reacts with a silly noise, then continues, “Do you think she has favorite male friends in school? Say, some guys that seem cute or are studious…” “I don’t know, I haven’t really paid a lot of attention to her friend's clique.” “Are you sure you are not being jealous here?” “I’m sure of it.” I’m not being completely candid to her to be honest. I say I didn’t pay much attention, but the reason is more like if I try to bother the male classmates, they may be prone to have some issues with me. Although their attitudes today seem to have gotten much less hostile. Maybe something related to growing up, or just simply that it’s graduation and nobody hates each other when it’s already graduation.

Having passed the graduation exam, Regina and I shall have to go to the capital to study at the Advanced school. That’s where we will ‘determine your destiny’, to borrow the words of some teacher. Well, many students may already have known who they will end up as: a Magician, a Swordsman, or an Academician – unless they never manage to pass the Basic school’s graduation exam, or they never manage to pass the Advanced school’s graduation exam. Is there somebody who has passed the Advanced school’s graduation exam but still can’t determine who they are? …maybe there have been some, but the most information I have come across about this are just some footnotes which don’t even bother to go into the details - obviously. Usually such people are just aimless, or have no reason to go to school in the first place.

You can pass these graduation exams by being proficient in only one of the three areas of subjects. Although it’s always preferable if you managed to learn to use your sword somewhat (surprisingly Regina can also handle a sword pretty well, as I have seen during the exam), and some magic too. I had a bare pass for both of those subjects. I however can’t imagine what it’s like if I already can’t do well in those two subjects.

“I’m home!” Regina makes a sudden voice right behind my back. “What are we having for dinner, mom?” My mom does let Regina call her like that huh? “I’m making a lot of dishes to celebrate graduation for you two.” “I can’t wait~~” Her manners still seem really childlike, or she loves to feign so. At this point we are what people in my past world call ‘middle school students’.

“Thank you for the dinner,” Regina gives mom a bright smile. Even her way of eating is adorable, or so my parents always love to say. Right, once I graduate from Advanced school I shall go on to… what should I even do? “Hmm? Not having the appetite?” I shake my head to Regina, “No, I’m just…” “Say ‘Ah’.” “Huh?” “Say ‘Ah’” I open my mouth, and devour what she feeds me. “Say, Regina, what are you gonna do once you graduate from Advanced school.” “Hmm? Why do you ask? Isn’t this way too soon to talk about?” “Just feel like asking.” “Secret.” Her mouth forms a grin as she’s digesting the meal. Must be a merry sight for my parents to giggle over.

I can’t decide on what I ultimately want to do. It’s hard to sleep at this rate. Perhaps the best criteria are always wage, how well you can do it, and job security. In this world, however, I’ve never seen these raised as issues at all, or at least not something that would compel you to pick one over other disciplines. The dormmate once asked me, “Say, what if we get to choose our own major without having to fret about money or something like that, what would you choose?” “Even the entrance test?” “Well, yeah. What would you choose?” “Still my current major.” “Really? This guy is truly so boring, hey. I for one however shall become a soccer player.” “Is that even a university major?” “Oh right… Maybe I shall study something, whatever the name of that major is called, to become a coach, maybe a school coach. ...not having to worry about money sure is great. Although life just sucks I’m not sure people with money want to work any job at all.” “…say, if the criteria is about a major to choose if you can do it well, I think the options would be broader.” “Oh yeah, what would you do then? Major you would choose.” “…an electrical engineer.”

I woke up. Regina just sleeps so calmly on the other bed, her front facing me. “Ryle…” she mumbles. Would love to know what she is dreaming about. I go outside with the wooden sword in hand. Now, I can’t just practice the same thing over and over. Now that I’m gonna go to Advanced school soon, this is the time to train myself how to use magic during combat.

The thing is, if people have figured out everything about magic, there would be no need for Advanced school at all. People however, still have yet to exhaust every single kind of magic – which is just impossible to do.

The elements Water – Fire – Wind – Earth – Dark – Light just happen to be convenient labels for whatever that could be named. That’s one classification.

There’s another classification, of relevance to Swordsmen: Enhancer and Defender magic.

That makes a difference whether you are bringing your sword together with you, or you may well leave it home and use a bow instead (which is a way to say you might well fight with an empty hand).

I channel the Enhancer magic into the sword, and slash it through some makeshift scarecrow.

By the time the sword hits, the Enhancer is already gone.

“I might well be a piece of lying dead meat, if this was a battlefield.”

I sigh.

I make my first solo trip to the capital, where I will go to study in the future. The capital is just way too huge. I spotted a store of exotic magic books that you don’t typically see in the Southern region. A single magician can’t in any way master every single kind of magic. And when they do, people might already have discovered some new combination of magic flow. There’s a reason why magicians happen to be the most diverse bunch in this world, and are held in higher regard than anybody else.

Some lines of troops advance toward the West. Usually they wouldn’t pass through this street, so I guess this is more like the royal court wants to showcase their might. I follow them to the Western region. The further you move toward the border, the sight of houses being destroyed, acid and fire traces here and there. The smell is unbearably hard to handle. The scale of the troops and the enemies makes it seem like they are having small battles. Very slowly. Their movements are very tactical, and make sure they can lure and exterminate the monsters before they attack. At least speaking for these gorilla-like entities.

“Doesn’t seem hard to conquer the Demon realm.”

“Maybe, but the issue isn’t the Demon realm,” an old local hears what I say and speaks to me, “the issue is the East. The kingdom of Mist, or the kingdom of Darkness if that’s the name you have heard from those chest-thumping royal people. Anyway if the royal court pours way too many human resources over here, there’s a chance the East shall invade.”

“Is that so?”

“Maybe, maybe not. On the diplomatic front, both seem to be at peace temporarily. Well, if life was that easy, this old man would never have to groan over the constant destruction of his own house.”

“Can’t you just move to the Capital?”

“There’s a program that moves people to safer areas. Yes, I can, but no, I won’t. People remain here because of what their ancestors left behind after all.”

“Sounds like something very precious.”

“Very valuable. Plus, moving inward makes it harder for more vulnerable people to survive here.”

The old man slowly moves toward a house with a soldier inside, “Oh well, oh well it’s nice having you here, may this old man offer some warm greetings on the behalf of this community.” “What’s your business?” “Well, let’s have some talks first. Oh my, it’s not a usual encounter for this old man. Say, I have been living here for such a long while. What about you? May I ask how did you get this house?” “During the war, the military does reserve the rights to make use of… erm… vacant houses to stay for a rest.” “Oh my, you say that but hasn’t the war gone on over here for… 47 years? You would love to even wonder if the royal court deliberately- oh, I apologize. Anyway, are you sure this is a vacant house because I think I may have seen the owner of this house days ago. She’s a very beautiful young woman and perhaps you may have seen her.” “Whatever the status of the war, you can’t just tell us to sleep right in the middle of the road.” “Are you sure this wouldn’t be permanent?” “Just leave. Shoo. Shoo.”

The old local man returns.

“My history textbook taught me that troops used to be able to handle hardships and all that kind of stuff.”

“Maybe fifty to a hundred years ago. Although you are right, I may need to consider moving inward.”

“Anything precious in that house?”

“You have to ask the owner of it, not the current soldier I mean, a woman. Although if there wasn’t anything precious, it’s hard to see why anybody would keep living there, right in the center of the field where dragons can easily blast it with some fireballs.”

It does look like an unusual sight, all other houses if not turned to ashes and powder, just don’t seem to stand around it.

As I make my way back home, I notice a familiar figure from afar, going northward to the center of the capital. Would it be rude to just follow Regina like this? …although, I also do want to explore this luxurious part of the capital. Plenty of statues built here, some of the names I may have read about them in some books. Regina turns to a small but elegant looking house. A person in the maid uniform comes out and kneels down, bows at her. Regina tries to raise her up. The (assumed) maid hands over some box. Regina takes it and proceeds to whisper something to that maid, both giggle. She’s ready to leave, then sees me and her mouth gasps.

“Ryle? Why are you here?”

“Well, I just wanted to explore this area a bit.”

“…had you been following right from the start?”

“If by ‘from the start’, you mean when I saw you entering the center of this capital.”

“…”

“Well, if this is rude or uncomfortable, then I wouldn’t pry furthermore.” I turn my back to leave, but she pulls me on the back of my shirt.”

“…say, Ryle.” Her voice sounds very soft. “Do you hate it, if I have been hiding a lot of things from you?”

“…”

“Say, I have been hiding who I truly am from you. Would you find that a betrayal? To know, I am not who you think… you know…”

“Well…”

How do I even know how to answer this question?

“I wouldn’t mind. It’s normal for a girl to have secrets, right?”

That’s a saying I have heard a lot, even back in the past world. No, not just females, but males too. To say if somebody is hiding secrets is to be able to define ‘a secret’ in the first place. People who never want to talk about themselves just don’t have secrets even if they do. What does it even mean to have secrets then? Things you never talk about, or can’t find ways to put into words? If that’s so, then I do have a lot of secrets I have yet to tell anybody. Secrets nobody could care about. Secrets that wouldn’t make good stories. Secrets people would prefer to cut off midway. And come to think of it, in the previous life, people who came directly to me to talk always have secrets they want to spill out, and want me to understand, more than having anything they want to hide.

Is that a bad answer though? I guess I shouldn’t have given a hollow answer.

Regina holds the box tighter, mouth flashes a smile, “You are right, it’s normal to have some secrets, sometimes,” a melancholic but slightly joyous smile. “Besides, this is not like the previous time.”

“…”

“Anyway, let’s go home now, shall we? …although, that person there,” she looks back at the elegant house, ”is a familiar acquaintance of mine.” Regina sticks out tongue a bit.

“Good to know,” I look around the area. “Before you go home, can you tell me any interesting places I can visit in the center of the capital?”

“Hah?”

“I’m not coming home yet. I said I was exploring this area didn’t I? Well, asking you seems to defeat the point,” I wryly laugh, “but the capital is just way too huge. Maybe you could give some hints on how to navigate this area.”

I mean, Regina does seem to be familiar with this place doesn’t she?

“…well, I’m not really sure. I only know some specific places anyway. Sorry.”

“Alright.”

I wander around the area as Regina leaves, who still reluctantly looks back for a bit before her figure is completely gone.

Months passed. Our first day of Advanced school has finally come. Regina and I are assigned into different classes next to each other. The building of the Advanced school looks magnificent, like a fancy traditional architecture design, or so people call it in the past world. Students look merrier than those I have seen in the Basic school, and even in the past world. I remember the first change in middle school back then was the lack of bullying, due to how harsh punishment was, as an exchange that school was also harsh itself, it was a daily occurrence for the entire class to be silent even before class period and to have full of anxious faces. Coming to the Advanced school is to see everything here being an improvement without a trade-off.

“Mom, dad! Does my uniform look nice?” I don’t need to guess to know their responses to Regina would be “Of course, of course!” Well… not that I want to stay under the blanket, even though I should prepare myself to go to school, the distance from home to school is gonna take longer from now on. But the weather today is really cold, and full of mist. “Ryle. Don’t be a sleepyhead.” Ouch. She sits on my stomach, and pulls the blanket down below my head. “Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up.” My face may look like some distorted wave functions now, but no, this is too cold to wake up yet. “Well… if you already don’t want to wake up.” The suspicious silence prompts me to try to open my eyes as best as I can. Her eyes closed and her face looked a bit red there, cold? Hey, why are you leaning your face so near to mine? It’s almost there. To my face. Puff. She blew right into my ear. The unbearable sensation prompts me to stand up immediately. “Finally woke up?” She grins ear to ear. Oh, her uniform. “That’s a cute uniform.” She smiles, turns around.

“So, gonna spend your entire life studying?”

“Well, it’s not like we are coming to the Advanced school for anything other than to study though.”

“That’s a lame answer which would get you no point from Teacher Regina. You know what kind of guys do I hate the most? Ryle, and people who act like Ryle.” She makes a cheeky grin.

“Sounds like I’m the guy you should steer away from then.”

“Yup. Yup. Not just steering away from you, I will bring all of my stuff to another room, lock the door to your room and nail the planks all across it. Then I will run to hide behind mom and dad. And maybe we will call the security… no, military troops to station around your room, say you move a single millimeter out of the room and the magic detector shall make sure all the worst magic is cast upon you.”

“Sounds like a scenario. But at least that means I got some attention.”

“So that’s what you are going after? Maybe the best move should be to ignore you indefinitely then.

“Speaking of which, there seems to be a cafeteria in the Advanced school.”

“Nawww… I am not hearing anything at all, especially any voice coming from a person whose name is Ryle.”

“Regina. Miss Regina. I’m talking to you now.”

“Hearing nooothing. I do not care about Ryle or his existence or his thoughts or his face or his uniform or his hair or his shoes…”

“We reached the capital now.”

Well, not a new sight. Although the mist is a new sight.

Students around the entrance to the school building never fail to be attracted to Regina’s appearance. Pretty awkward acting like a bunch of deers. Embarrassed deers. No matter where I live the sight is just so banal. In the past world, people didn’t act all shy and like greenhorns when they approached people, even though few people felt anything for others. “You know, my boyfriend dumped me. Which is not the worst part, the worst part is that he…” being the only guy sitting in the class makes me feel horrible, and the clique of girls must find it uncomfortable to have me listening to their conversation. “Sounds like a horrible guy, I just can’t understand why people always have to pick those guys out of everybody to date.” “There are not many good guys anyway.” I leave the classroom and go outside. None of the students feels comfortable with another. Everybody here seems insecure. As I go to the bathroom, some guys are smoking cigarettes, that’s a violation of the school’s rules by the way, although it’s hard to know why they are doing that here (actually I do) given how horrible the stench. “You know how easy those girls are? Literally just invite them and they agree to go with you to…” I finished my business, not with ease, but still prompt enough given my aversion toward those guys. “Oh, so we were bothering you, sorry sorry.” They sound authentic, which is also ironic. I go to the library of the school to borrow some books. “Sorry, those are for teachers to read.” It’s okay, I would just borrow some random books and try to extract their values.

Regina gives me some waves before she goes into her class. I have been standing before my own class like a deer for a while. “Hey, you know that absolutely gorgeous girl?” A guy asks. I shake my head since if I affirmed I would get bombarded with more questions that I don’t even want to answer. Why not just approach her directly? I step into the classroom to hear a clique of guys exchanging some conversation, “It’s not so much the size of the sword, agility is always contextual. During the 30 days war the East’s troops were using…” I sit on my seat, “…and our kingdom’s troops were using…” They seem to be talking about the short period of war between us and the East, which started and ended for reasons that seem to be very obfuscated – which is why that period didn’t feature in any textbook. Actually barely any history between us and the East is featured in official textbooks. “…given our weapons’ advantages, you would have expected the band of Eastern troops to get exterminated. But what happened was the defeat of the royal troops. It wasn’t our loss, since those troops were our fodder anyway, but how our enemies fought it was really special.” “You sure love praising our enemies too much, boss. You are gonna get reported as a traitor!” “I’m no traitor, traitors are those who were sent to the battlefields, but ended up serving the enemies. I prefer getting killed by the enemies, not out of bravery but out of disdain, you know I would definitely much prefer to be killed by some of the top commanders of the East. A hero should be killed by a hero, if I happen to be killed by anybody in this kingdom, who doesn’t belong to the top class, I would kill them first.” I stare toward the windows. “Speaking of which, Paul, you know that guy?” The crowd seems to be paying attention to me now. “Seems like a wimp.” “You know what he is like just by a look?” “Men with gall don’t tend to be a lone wolf, well in real life that is, unlike in those Regald Aronson novels.” “Say, maybe we should come and give him some friendly greetings?” A guy giggles, he doesn’t seem to mean it literally. “Oh, it’s time for the first class period.” and so they look away.

Lunch break. Needless to say, my house is way too far from school, coming back and forth would get you coming to the afternoon class late. Students seem to be heading to the small restaurants outside a lot. Although those in the cafeteria aren’t few. “Hey,” I feel a pair of hands on both shoulders of mine. “How was the class?” I ask. “It was okay. This morning you said something about the cafeteria right? Let’s go there.” “I wonder what the food would taste like.” “We have to try.” She giggles with her closed eyes. “What is it?” “Nothing, just found how funny you seemed when we first had a meal together,” Regina tries to suppress her giggle. We found a table. It’s not really funny, I can’t explain myself but I have always had anxiety when I have a meal with unknown people. Even sitting here right now feels uneasy for me. “…although, that was atypical of you…” “Hmm?” “Nevermind. I guess that’s just…”

“Say, after graduation, how about we form an adventure team?” Not just the change of topic, what she suggests seems weird to me. “Adventure team?” Oh right, this world has this too. “What shall be our missions though?” I ask. “To search for the Artifacts. Sounds exciting, no?” “…” “Hey, stop making boring faces, I’m not gonna tolerate your dumbfounded face from now on.” Regina pulls her classic move of cheek pinching, other than how she’s squishing my cheeks, I’m not sure what to make of this. “…but why?” “To make the most out of life, perhaps. Same reason why other people do that.” “But what about the war in the West? The unresolved issues with the East.” “…” A silence. Her face still wears a smile, but hard to know what she’s thinking. “Well… I don’t think even if… say, you join the army, I don’t think it would change the tide of the war. Not saying that you don’t have what it takes to… No, even if you can conquer the West single-handedly, that wouldn’t resolve our kingdom’s issues. And even if you unexpectedly managed to… say… conquer the East…” She sighs, doesn’t seem to be sure what to even say. “You seem to know a lot of this stuff,” I say. “Erm- uh- I just happen to read a lot, and know through hearsays. Besides, you yourself know a great deal of this stuff as well. Which is atypical… I mean to me, at least.”

She’s right… It's none of my business to concern myself with the larger picture. I just happen to come across this stuff here and there.

“Hey, our food is done.” Regina notifies me, we bring the trays back to our table. “Say…” her voice has a reluctant tone as she asks, “does anybody in class today… erm… make you feel uncomfortable at the very least? Or… you know?” “Hm? Nobody.” “Really? You don’t need to hide.” “Well, you are asking a weird question in the first place though.” “Ah- yeah- I guess, I just… say, if you are having some troubles yourself, you may ask your… family member… you know.” Regina flashes a smile. “I can also be reliable at times.”

First evening period. “This material is incomprehensible,” some students next to my table whisper, so that the teacher wouldn’t hear, “how does he suppose us to get all these magical circuits, then magical formulas, like just for granted though.” That seems to be a common sentiment among at least several students, I share some of their concerns myself. But well… “You should really try to study these materials hard, they shall definitely come up during the graduation exam. And besides, they are the fundamentals you need to understand almost everything in later grades. If you don’t understand any of these, how can you even get through Advanced school?” As if our teacher actually heard what the students were whispering among themselves.

“Finally, that was a tough class wasn’t it?” A guy casually speaks behind me. “…you are talking to me?” “Yup.” He chuckles. “This is the end of our first day.” He seems laid back and has yet to pack things up even as other students have gotten out of the classroom. Well, same can be said about me though. “You know people tend to complain about how students never understand anything. But perhaps if they bothered to explain to us what these things mean in elementary terms, or through the usage of analogies, it would be much clearer.” “…you are right. Not sure if I can agree completely, but you are right. Although you can’t just expect every single thing to be broken down into simpler explanations.” “Yup, but regardless, they should really just spend all that hours in class trying to break down whatever they can, repeating textbook materials is just a waste of people’s time anyway.” His face looks cheerful and lively just as Regina’s. No, Regina does have at times moments when she doesn’t seem like she’s being candid about what she truly feels (but I can’t really pry her), this guy however doesn’t seem to have a single sorrowful moment in his entire life. Easier to approach than any student I have seen in my entire life even in the past world. “Your name is?” he points at me. “I’m Ryle…” “I’m Ackie… I guess you are thinking how weird my name must sound like, no?” “Not really,” I mean, you just said that right before my mind came to that idea. “Well, we can’t just keep staying here, let’s go.” I follow suit and get out of the class. “Hey, Ryle,” says Regina coming out of the other class. “Your acquaintance?” Ackie asks. “Kind of, yeah.” “Hello, acquantaince of Ryle, my name is Ackie… I’m sure you are thinking my name sounds weird, but it is not really weird.” “My name is Regina. Nice to meet you. I was not thinking your name is any weird when I heard you said it. Although you two seem to know each other.” Regina looks at me. “Classmate,” I answer. “Yup, I have just met Ryle today. I’m sure he’s an interesting person,” what a… compliment, “and so should you be, Regina, right?” “Yup, you got my name right. So, what are you two gonna do now?” “Well, I for one have to go home now. Goodbye Regina, see you tomorrow Ryle.” Just like that, he leaves. “Wow, that was your new friend in class huh?” Even though Regina doesn’t seem to have any negative impression on my previous… friend, I’m not sure if I want to know what she’s thinking about him right now. “Yeah. He’s an easygoing guy.” “Well, seems like I had been a worrywart then.” She mumbles to herself. “Anyway, are we going home now? Or do you still have some business left here?” She asks. “Well, I’m thinking of coming to the library of this school.” As I said that, she makes a face like something just crossed her mind. “Oh wait, why did I forget about the library.” “Let’s go?” “Let’s go.”

Do all libraries have to be like this? So empty you don’t see a single soul inside, and when you wander around you still see nobody behind the shelves either. Well, except for a female librarian. Regina looks up and down the shelves with immense interests. As she does that, I approach the librarian and ask, “Excuse me? Can you give me a menu or index of the categories of the books in this library?” “Huh?” She lets out a small squeaky noise. “Is that not feasible?” “No, no, it’s just, your request is a rare one I have never heard from people who are not the staff of the library or the school.” She smiles gently, with a tinge of meekness. “Please wait a minute,” she makes another small voice, then sits down and looks for something in those cabinets of the table. “Here you are, it’s on this page of this index book,” she shows me the open book and I check through it. Her face wears an amused smile as I keep reading. “You know,” she meekly says, “it’s been the first time for a long while I have had somebody interested in such an… obscure area, what you are trying to do, I mean.” “Well, I just happen to be the type of book reader who can never be sure of what they want to read at all.” “You don’t have a specific genre or preference?” She looks perplexed. “Kind of. I definitely have things I want to read and things I just don’t, but I don’t even know if there’s a name for it.” “Sounds like a dilemma, hehe. I’m not sure if I’m like you, but sometimes I do have some troubles finding books that I like. My preferences are… cute fictional books. I don’t think most authors care about what I happen to like though, it’s very rare to encounter such books.” She wryly speaks.

“Here.” Regina places a stack of books on the table. “I want to borrow them. My name is Regina.”

“Oh, Miss Regina. Please fill in the information in this form. …thank you. Oh, I’m an upper year above you.”

“You seem like a diligent librarian. What have you two been talking about?” Regina looks at me then the librarian.”

“Oh, you two are friends? I have just given him what he requested. Ended up talking about my own book preferences.” The librarian makes some silly giggles.

“You still have any business here?” Regina asks me.

“Not really.” Although it sure is interesting having a conversation with the librarian. Not sure if it’s because she reminds me of a certain somebody, although this librarian and her would be an asymmetrical contrast. The librarian in the past world I knew tends to have a cold face, loves to make sardonic remarks. Not that we saw each other a lot, but I still remember her.

Except for her name.

“What’s your name though?” I uttered the question right before I knew what I was doing, it’s really out of nowhere asking for the name of somebody that just happens to serve you during your library visiting session. But she gently responds, “My name is Alina.”

“I’m Ryle. Glad to see you here.”

“And I’m Regina. Thank you for your support.”

“Nice to see you two, Ryle and Regina.”

We leave the library. “Let me hold some of the books for you.” “If you say so,” Regina hands me the entire stack and flashes me a cheeky grin.