Chapter 15: Chapter 5: Dreams Delayed Part 1

There was no turning back now for Zavier. He couldn’t just drive off and be done with it. He’d spend the rest of his life worrying about more visitors drawn to his alleged aura if he did. He had to see this through. That was the real reason he had gone with Yafu on this journey at every turn if he was being honest. But killing a man he had never met? What if Yafu was the real enemy and this Shen guy was innocent? What if Yafu was crazy and they were about to kill the first random guy they saw? Despite the incredible, paradigm shifting things Zavier had seen this afternoon, the thought of killing someone made his old reality start to crash in. He was a high school kid, three months away from college. What about his future? It wasn’t a golden one but he could certainly lose it all tonight. These could be the twelve hours he regretted the rest of his life.

Yafu had been watching Zavier’s reaction to his response. It was clear to him that Zavier was having second thoughts. Yafu had his own reservation about involving Zaiver. Ultimately, he was taking an all or nothing approach to killing Shen. The weasel did deserve his best shot. Zavier was untrained and repressed but there was a deep well of energy within him. Even though it was unlikely, there was a chance it awakened in this fight. Yafu would never tell Zavier for obvious reasons but he had brought him along as a human lottery ticket. But now Zavier opened the door for him to be a liability with this cloud of doubt within him. This was unacceptable to Yafu.

“You should stay back if you can’t do what needs to be done.” Yafu said coldly, avoiding eye contact with Zavier. He really did value all life, especially ones no one else did, and was privately embarrassed he had pushed this kid so far for his own ends.

“Why do you want him dead?” asked Zavier. He surprised himself as he opened his mouth. He was going to help Yafu as long as he felt he could trust him. But to do that, he had to know the cause he was signing up for.

“What do you mean?” Yafu's reply was meant to give himself a few more seconds to formulate his answer. He had no plans to lie outright but proper framing was critical at this precarious juncture.

“You’ve spent all this time convincing me why I should help you, why I should care, but never on why you're doing this? Why are you here? Why follow this guy to a world you didn’t even believe existed and why are you immediately resorting to killing the person who may be the one other person in this world who can get you home?” Zavier tried to give an aura of genuine curiosity instead of coming off accusing. He needed the real answers before he went through with this and Yafu had to see him as worthy of his trust.

Yafu kept his head toward the door, clearly keeping lookout for Shen if he appeared in the main lobby. Without turning to face Zavier he replied in a quiet and precise manner as if he had rehearsed this to himself many times over, “He’s the reason my life back home is terrible. He took so much away from me when I was young. I spent so long making the most of what I had but not having more weighed on me every step of the way. No matter what I do, I cannot relieve that weight because my weight is coming from the past. I got to an age where I accepted I can’t change my past no matter how hard I try. The only thing I can do is get justice for it. Shen is the opposite of me. He only cares about his dream and reaching it in the future. He is so close to that future now. The only way I can get equal retribution for my past is to take it away.”

Yafu didn’t really answer the question fully. Zavier still did not know what Shen had done to Yafu. He got the sense the details were something Yafu would not share. It didn’t matter. He spoke with an intensity that explained his path here and his actions enough for Zavier. Zavier felt his initial guess was all but confirmed. He could not stop Yafu from doing this and it was probably in his best interest to help considering his own unwitting role in helping Shen reach his future. A role he wanted no part of and was upset this Shen had thrust him into. Yafu had been correct from the start: they were natural allies. 

“What’s our plan for this guy?” Zavier knew that he had just given tacit confirmation that he would help with this question.

“I can’t beat him in a straight up fight. He’s too strong. You’re also not ready to help in a fight. You’ve got no developed uses for soul energy. The one thing you do have,” Yafu paused to look away from the lobby and meet Zavier’s gaze, “is the appearance of a threat. Shen will see what I saw initially when I had to restrain you.” Zavier winced at this mention, he still was recovering emotionally from losing the ability to move in such an unfamiliar way. Yafu continued “He’s a cautious fighter, especially now when he’s vulnerable and alone. If you go in and call him out to get him talking, he’ll probably hesitate to attack seeing your energy. That will mesh well with the one thing I happen to do really well.”

You are reading story The Dream Carrier: An American Isekai at novel35.com

“What would that be?” Zavier asked, genuinely interested.

“This.” Yafu said before disappearing seemingly into thin air. Zavier stared in disbelief for a full second or two before glancing around at his surroundings. Zavier was certain he had just watched Yafu teleport.

“I’m still right here.” Yafu said as he appeared in the exact same spot he had been in before. Zavier did the beginning of a double take but recovered quickly to try to downplay how startled he was. “Shen would be able to see me at this range normally. I can hide very, very well but at some point if you get close enough you give off detectable amounts of energy. But only if he’s not distracted.”

“That’s my role.” Zavier responded with a bit of trepidation. He did not like being bait.

“Basically. You have to give the appearance that you are some great threat. There is a lot of circumstantial evidence that you are, so you just have to play a role.”

“Like act?”

“Yeah, Shen’s in a new world where it appears like no one has any usable soul energy. You come in with an ocean of this stuff, plus you know his name unexpectedly. If you act very confident and in control, I think he’ll focus on assessing your threat level for a good minute or so. That will give me a window.”

“What if he knows I’m powerless?” Zavier was very willing to play devil’s advocate for this plan. “You said he used me to get here, what if he knows a lot more about me then you did.”

“I’m reasonably certain he doesn’t. Getting here is crazy but it does fall within what is possible to my knowledge. Knowing anything about you before being within physical proximity to you… I don’t have the time to give you a lesson about this stuff, but it shouldn’t be possible.” Zavier raised an eyebrow at Yafu’s last comment. He wanted something a little more concrete. Seeing this, Yafu chose harshness over reassurement. “It's going to be a difficult fight against a legitimate opponent, you don’t get a lot of sure things in these conditions. This is our best shot. If we try anything other than deception, we will not be able to close the skill gap and we will get slaughtered.”

You can find story with these keywords: The Dream Carrier: An American Isekai, Read The Dream Carrier: An American Isekai, The Dream Carrier: An American Isekai novel, The Dream Carrier: An American Isekai book, The Dream Carrier: An American Isekai story, The Dream Carrier: An American Isekai full, The Dream Carrier: An American Isekai Latest Chapter