Chapter 33: Chapter 29 – The Conversation

I step out of the bathroom and stretch. Avilia’s already sitting at the table.

I’m not entirely sure what I expected, but I kind of thought we’d talk while in bed or something. This makes it feel a bit… Excessively “official,” doesn’t it? But if that’s how she wants it, it’s fine. And I guess no risk of either of us falling asleep during it.

No “teehee I fell asleep” jokes if things aren’t particularly fun to talk about, either.

“What a hectic day,” I mutter as I take my seat around the table, “And it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better any time soon.”

“Yes,” she says in response, “I did not expect Karine to do what she did. It was within the realm of possibility, but still unexpected. This means, in the coming days, this village will become increasingly active.”

I sigh. “And I bet it means I’ll have to take part in whatever they have in mind. It’s going to cut into my studies.” I glance at the ceiling. “At least they don’t expect me to do it for free.”

“Ah yes, she did promise to make you purely magical arms. Will that help with your power issues?”

“That’s one of the reasons why I agreed to it. I’d rather have my magic drained a little instead of my limited power.”

“And if she can do it, they are easier to replace than your current arms and legs. Is that right?”

“Exactly right. ”

“If I had access to my old resources,” Avilia says, idly tapping the table, “I could theoretically do the same. Sadly, I cannot go back.”

“Why not?”

“It is simple, really,” she responds and stops her tapping, “If I went back, I could not leave again. And we would never see each other again.”

“But why?”

She looks at me with a serious expression. “The artificial intelligence has already realized I have no plans to return. It keeps demanding that I do so regularly.”

She turns her gaze towards the table. “I would sacrifice my freedom if it meant I could save you.”

I lean closer to her over the table and put my hand on hers. “I’d never ask you do that.”

She looks at me and smiles a bitter smile. “I know. And that is what I am afraid of.”

Before it was just my pride and desire to stand on my own two feet that kept me from asking for help. I was brought up to be independent. Self-sufficient. Always try to solve your problems yourself first. Now? I know I’d lose her.

I’d rather keep risking my life over that.

“That look tells me everything I need,” she says and sighs. “You do not seem to understand.”

She places her free hand on top of mine. “I could not have ever become free like this without you.”

Eh?

“Your arrival allowed me to leave my prison. The artificial intelligence did not fight me because it deemed you an interesting anomaly, requiring closer inspection.”

Did she see me like that, too? Was I just a distraction for her?

“What was I to you?”

“Before we met? A way out. A savior. A ray of light. Things of that nature. I had been alone in that tomb for fifteen years, and no one was going to relieve me of my duty. I would live and die there, alone, for no reason. ”

“After we met,“ she continues with a smile, “You became so much more. I may not have a lot of experience with the outside world, but I know that much. Not only did I want to be your friend, I wanted…”

She blushes. I feel her heart rate rising. Just a bit, though!

“You wanted what?”

“You know what I wanted.” She giggles. “I wanted more.”

I nod. I mean, it explains her behavior throughout, doesn’t it? I just thought she was humoring me to be polite, but I guess we felt the same. At least to a point!

Dammit. This isn’t the most comfortable position.

“Oh, I am sorry!” She pulls her hand off of mine. “This must be uncomfortable for you.”

I sigh in relief and sit back down. “Just a little.”

But there’s something I’ve been intending to ask.

“Do you have any misgivings about me being, you know, a woman?“

Avilia looks surprised. “No, not really. Why do you ask?”

Because it doesn’t look like it’s super accepted here. Because there were people in my world who were against it, even though legally we had all the same rights. Because I want to know how you feel. There are too many reasons to list.

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I think I’m making it bigger than it needs to be. Slow down!

I try to shrug nonchalantly. “Just out of interest.”

“Ah. Well, I have not really thought of it like that. When observing people, I merely saw people as either attractive or not.”

I should’ve seen that coming! So very like her. I wonder if her society just didn’t have biases against same sex attraction, or if her long period of isolation just insulated her from them?

Doesn’t matter!

Avilia interrupts my train of thought. “There is something I have meant to ask you as well.”

“Oh, what do you want to know?”

“Did you leave a special someone behind when you were transported?”

“No.” I shake my head. “I didn’t. I was definitely single when I came here.”

She looks relieved. Was she really that worried about it? I mean, even if I did have someone, I’m probably never going to be able to go back. And everyone thinks I’m dead. Probably.

“But,” I say, cutting Avilia’s moment short, “What do you want to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know. Relationship-wise.“

“I do not know. This is all new to me.”

“We can take it as slowly or fast as you’d like.”

She nods. “Yes, slow and steady sounds nice. At least for now. We will probably not have all that much time in the coming weeks anyway.”

Ugh. I almost forgot already. That’s true, too!

I slump into my chair, resigned to my fate.

“I’m going to be swamped with work I didn’t ask for. And I might have to fight, too. I’ve never fought anything!”

“I do hope it will not come down to that. The summoned hero of this country is particularly heinous. I hope we will never meet him, on the battlefield or otherwise.”

“Um, what do you mean?”

“Ah, I never told you about him, did I? He is said to have immense reserves of mana and that he is able to do incredible feats of power. And I can attest to that. I had to watch over his achievements as well as his atrocities. During my duties as an observer, I saw him put entire villages, towns to the torch for having some residents take part in the insurrection. That is his mandate from the kingdom.”

Lots of mana and is extremely powerful on top of it? And has a penchant for wanton murder? I don’t think I like where this is going!

“But that is not all. He does not quite take this world seriously and sees himself as some sort of a main character. He is unpredictable and the kingdom has always found him extremely difficult to control directly. I have to wonder if they could stop him if he one day decided that he wanted to be king from now on. ”

“A main character of what, exactly?”

“I am not sure. I do know that he probably has access to the same ‘user interface’ Vaqelin mentioned. He would often press something in the air, and then suddenly cast spells or have items appear out of thin air. It seems to be something shared by most outworlders. He would also mutter about ‘experience points’ and ‘skill points’ and things of that sort.”

What? He thinks the world is a game because he can see a user interface? He never stopped to wonder why everything feels so real? Does he think he can go back home after “saving the kingdom” or something, too?

Or maybe we just don’t know enough about him. Maybe he just doesn’t take life very seriously in general.

… I don’t think I want to know too much about him.

“I’m a bit jealous. I haven’t seen anything like that!”

“It is probably an aspect of having been blessed by a god.”

“That’s what I assumed earlier, too. How in the world could I deal with someone like him?”

“Honestly? I will not sugarcoat it. You probably could not. Not without ample support. He has been fighting almost nonstop ever since he came to this world. Vaqelin might have the raw magical resources, but not the combat experience. A lot would depend on the specifics of their blessings as well.”

Wow. That bad?

“I sure wish I had a blessing right about now.”

Her expression becomes excessively serious again. “You should not wish for that. It is a good thing you have not been marked by their gods. Having your future bound...”

A sigh. “I know, I know. But if I have to play a summoned hero anyway, it sure would help.”

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