Chapter 68 — Careful with the Door Handles

Chapter 68 — Careful with the Door Handles

I sat alone in the room for a while.

Well… it looks like staying here any longer is pointless.

I quietly got up, about to leave, but then stopped and glanced back at the table.

Two pouches of Origin Mushrooms were lying there.

Leave them here? What if someone steals them?

Though… no. This is an expensive hotel. It’s unlikely anyone would dare.

Besides, Rem and Sherial should be back soon. I hope everything will be fine.

I really didn’t want the team I had just joined to fall apart.

Even if… No. Damn it, what am I even thinking? Stop being so pessimistic.

Rem and Sherial are close friends. They wouldn’t break up the team over something so small.

Alright.

I quietly opened the door and stepped into the hallway. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear Sherial’s voice—she was explaining something quickly and excitedly to Rem, but I couldn’t make out the words.

The main thing was not to make noise.

I headed for the stairs and quickly went up to my room.

Now I was lying on the soft bed.

On the small table beside it stood twenty-nine rank 3 healing potions. Yeah—I decided not to waste time and to spend the mana that kept regenerating.

Looks like I have a plan for the near future: develop Ascensio, earn money by selling healing potions, and buy as many mana potions as possible to speed up both potion-making and skill leveling.

Yeah… lots of plans.

And time… I have time too, especially if you count the Training Room.

But right now… for some reason, I didn’t feel like doing anything at all.

I was curious how Sherial and Rem’s conversation would end.

Though… why am I even thinking about it?

What exactly would Sherial have to say to convince Rem?

She just confessed that she likes women…

Which means… damn it. This topic is too complicated for me.

Yeah, I didn’t see anything wrong with Sherial liking women instead of men. That’s her choice.

But if I try to look at it from the other side…

If my best friend, the one I share a room with, suddenly confessed he was gay…

Damn. Just imagining it would make my skin crawl.

I probably wouldn’t stop being friends with him.

But living in the same room after that… I wouldn’t risk it.

Though I understand Sherial.

She likes girls—beautiful girls.

I like girls too. That’s… biology and all that.

Objectively, women are beautiful.

But imagining that I could like a man…

No. Even the thought of it gives me a strange, unpleasant feeling.

And then another image flashed through my mind—Rem and Sherial together.

Damn! I can’t think about that…

And yet… for some reason, that thought felt… far too appealing.

Stop. Enough.

Why the hell is it like this? The more I try not to think about it, the more stubbornly those thoughts crawl into my head. The image of Sherial and Rem together… damn it.

“Stop thinking about it,” I muttered under my breath.

Knock-knock-knock.

The knock at the door cut my thoughts off instantly. I got up at once and went to the door. When I opened it, I saw Sherial.

“Sorry… can we continue discussing our plans in the same place? In our room—with Rem,” Sherial said. “I’ve never seen her this… embarrassed.”

“Yeah, of course,” I answered and immediately stepped out of my room.

I was terribly curious: did Rem rent a separate room, or would they still keep living together? Ask? No… asking directly would probably be awkward. Though… fine.

“Sherial… did Rem actually rent a separate room?” I asked carefully.

Sherial stopped and let out a heavy breath.

“I… Alisar, I need to explain this once and for all. The same way I explained it to Rem. Just don’t misunderstand me. Rem is my best friend. We’ve been together for more than ten years. She’s like a sister to me—closer than a real sister. And I’ve never looked at her… that way. Sexually—never. Well… almost,” she added awkwardly and looked away. “So don’t think anything weird. Or… do you have some problem with the fact that I like women?” Her voice suddenly became more serious.

“No, I don’t have any problem with it. You’re a free person—you can love whoever you want,” I replied calmly.

“Really? You truly don’t care?” she asked again.

“Yeah. I have no right to interfere in your personal life or your preferences.”

“Then… good,” Sherial said and started walking again. “Looks like I confessed at a really bad moment…”

I wanted to say something supportive, but the words wouldn’t come. Damn it, I’m terrible at conversations like this. What are you even supposed to say in situations like this?

Probably better to stay silent than say something stupid and look like an idiot.

We returned to Rem and Sherial’s room, and Rem explained our near-future plans. She spoke as if nothing had happened, but if you looked closely, she was sitting a little farther from Sherial than before.

“So, Alisar—do you have any objections to this plan?” Rem asked.

“No, none,” I replied. “I completely agree.”

The plan was pretty simple. We would rest at the hotel for four more days. During that time, we’d buy supplies and consumables—mana potions and everything we needed. Then we’d go to a rank 5 dungeon to hunt monsters, improve our combat experience, skills, and teamwork.

After that, we’d return to the city and take several different guild quests. Basically, those quests were mostly meant to train me—to show me what kind of work adventurers usually do.

I didn’t see any reason to argue. Rem and Sherial were clearly doing all this to help me settle in faster.

“Oh, and one more thing, Alisar,” Rem said. “You really should learn to control your strength better.”

“What? I already control it,” I replied. And it was true—until now, I hadn’t had any problems with that.

“If you think so…” Rem said calmly and pointed at the door. “Look at the handle.”

I looked toward the door—at its handle. From where I was sitting, I didn’t see anything wrong, so at first I didn’t even get up. But then I walked closer anyway.

An ordinary metal handle. Nothing special. Though… a strange design. There was a dent on it shaped like human fingers.

What weird taste these hotel designers have… Strange, sure, but whatever.

I turned back to Rem.

What was she even trying to say by pointing at the handle? I couldn’t understand how that stupid design was connected to me supposedly not controlling my strength well.

“You don’t get it?” Rem asked.

I just stared at her in silence. I really didn’t.

“See the fingerprints? Like someone crushed a metal handle with sheer force.”

“Yeah… weird design for such a luxurious hotel,” I said.

Sherial suddenly giggled quietly, covering her mouth with her palm as if trying to hold back laughter. Looks like her mood had finally returned to normal.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“It’s not a design,” Rem said calmly. “Those are your fingerprints.”

She said it louder—almost like a strict teacher scolding a child.

“What?.. Mine?..”

I grabbed the handle. Damn… the dents really matched my fingers.

No… maybe it’s just a coincidence?

“I don’t think I did this. Maybe the owner just has weird taste?” I said uncertainly. I didn’t remember squeezing the handle that hard.

“No. This is your doing,” Rem cut in. “You unconsciously crush almost every door handle you open. If you don’t believe me—look at the other rooms. And your own too. When you check out, you’ll probably have to pay for a new handle. You nearly destroyed it.”

Is she joking?

Did I really do that?

It sounded ridiculous… but I should still check.

“Sorry, I need to… check something,” I said and quickly left the room.

“In a couple of hours, come down to the first floor for dinner!” Sherial called after me loudly.

“Yeah, I will,” I replied, heading toward my room.

On the way, I examined the handles of other rooms. Not a single dent. No “designs.”

Finally I reached my door… and froze.

Damn it. Rem was right.

The handle wasn’t just dented—it had practically lost its shape.

How is it even still attached? Is this solid metal?..

Looks like I can’t avoid a fine.

I stepped inside, still thinking about it, and then my gaze fell on the table by the bed—twenty-nine bottles of healing potion were lying there.

If I truly controlled my strength that badly… I would have crushed at least one bottle by now. But none of them were broken.

So I do control my strength normally.

Or… not?

Why do the problems only happen with hard objects, then?

Ah, enough thinking.

I’ll pay the fine and that’s it. I’ll just be more careful.

Why does the problem happen only with door handles? And if things were really that bad, I probably would have broken the handles in those cheap inns on the way here… maybe even the doors themselves.

But… fine. Whatever. I’ll pay the fine and that’s it. From now on, I’ll be careful when I open doors.

Wait—hold on… I still don’t understand. Did Rem and Sherial end up staying together in one room, or did Rem actually rent a separate one?