“Haaaaaah.”

I was relaxing in bed, sorting through the random nonsense echoing in my head. With nothing in particular to do, I was left to sit in silence.

I had set the books on my desk for the time being. I could go ahead and begin reading one of them, but magic wouldn’t be my main source of power in the first place. Its purpose was to supplement the natural strength I built in my body and the techniques I had developed over the years. Without the ability to store mana in my body, all I could do was use it from my surroundings to create simple reactions..

That would be more than enough so long as I took my training seriously.

Knock, knock, knock

As I stared at the ceiling above, lost in thought, a knock came from my door. Standing up, I stretched my body a bit before opening the door.

On the other side was a man, looking to possibly be in his mid-twenties. His bright blue eyes, partially covered by the bangs of his dirty-blonde hair, were wide open. The grin plastered on his face revealed his neat, white teeth. His body, though hidden decently under a priest’s robe, appeared fairly lean. He was about my height, maybe only an inch taller. He threw his right hand out at me as soon as the door was fully opened.

“Goooood morning! Man, so you’re the guy the Saints summoned? I was expecting more of a looker, personally.” His voice was youthful, yet tinged with maturity. Clear. It was pleasant to my ears. He’d have a pretty successful streaming career back on Earth; he was the type that someone would tune in to watch just so they could hear him talk to them. The pretty face certainly wouldn’t be a deterrent to that end.

“Yes. I apologize for not being much. My name’s Rain, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” I quietly spoke, shaking his hand. I felt like I’d been hearing a lot of comments on my looks since my summoning, but maybe that was all in my head?

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Kereth, a priest of this humble Church. I generally aid with whatever needs to be done around the hjere that Father Korrinn can’t handle at the moment. Consider me his second-in-command! Which, by rights, also makes me the third-in-command of the entire Church.” His wide grin had lowered to a smile by now. I stepped out of my room and closed the door.

“Fascinating.” Uninterested, I half-heartedly replied.

I thought I could see a vein popping out from his forehead, but his expression didn’t change. “You’re not busy, right?”

“Not at all. What would you like me to do?”

“Father Korrinn was asking for your presence in the common room. As he’s currently tied up with an associated matter, he asked me to come and get you in his stead.”

A matter associated with me? No, I shouldn’t think that. It was more likely that I held an association with the matter. If that was the case, there was only one thing I could think of. It’d be a quick affair, but I felt a little bad for how it was going to turn out.

Well, I’m sure it’ll be fine. It’s all part of growing up, right?

“I’ll head down right away. Thank you for coming to find me.” I tried to smile, but my facial muscles were unwilling to budge. Maybe my face hated me for all the negative comments it was receiving. If only things were so simple.

“No problem! Let’s chat a bit when you’re done, if that’s cool with you. I’ll admit, I’m extremely curious about what another world is like!” His eyes were practically gleaming as he made his request.

“Well, I’m sure I’ll end up getting questioned by others for the same reason. I think it’s more likely that I’ll be forced into holding some sort of Q&A, so why not wait for that?” I offered an alternative, foreseeing the future that was surely to come today. After all, there’s no way there wouldn’t be more people curious about what a completely different world was like.

“Hell, that works too!” Were priests allowed to just curse like that? “I should start preparing some questions, then. I won’t keep you any long. See ya!” Before I could respond, he gave me a quick bow before running down the hallway. Listening to his footsteps get quieter, I scratched the back of my head.

Deciding to forget about the man with too much energy, I made my way to the common room. Along the way, I decided to think about what excuse I should give. I had a rough idea of how the conversation would go, but I wasn’t entirely certain what I should say to stave off any responsibility I hold in the matter. As I walked into the common room—

“You- traitor!! Traitor, how could you sell me out like that?!”

From the sofa came a screech. Standing up, Heira was pointing at me. Her cheeks were puffed out, reminding me of squirrels when their mouths were stuffed. Despite seeming angry, the cute look on her face made it a little difficult to feel particularly bad. I wanted to laugh more than apologize.

Ahem. Clearing his throat, Father Korrinn stood up and sat Heira back on the couch. He seemed to be trying to soothe her, but she was staring daggers at me the entire time.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting this.

“I tried to tell her that you held no relation to her punishment, but she insisted that I brought you down here to explain yourself. I—”

“How do you sleep at night, getting a good kid like me in trouble for nothing! No, you, you even said you wouldn’t say anything! You promised me!!” Her shrill voice was piercing my ears. Was it really that big of a deal? Father Korrinn wouldn’t give her much of a punishment anyways, so who cares?

“Good kid…? Well, leaving that aside, I’m not entirely sure what’s going on. Could you explain please, Father?” I looked to him, wanting an explanation for what had happened in the time since we parted ways.

“Not much, really… I was checking the Saints’ rooms to find the missing candlestick, and found it placed on the desk in Heira’s room. She told me everything that happened last night, and then… Well, you can see where it’s led, yes?”

“Traitor! Traitor, traitor, traitor! We had a pact, as brothers-in-arms! No tattling, right?!” Her face was growing redder by the minute as she yelled at me.. A woman shouldn’t be calling herself my brother-in-arms, either. Did she read that in a book somewhere? Hell, it was a miracle no one had come down to check what the commotion was about yet

“What in the Lord’s name is going on down here…?” Ah, scratch that. Looking behind me, I saw a young man coming down the hallway. While I wanted to greet him, Heira shouted again before I could say anything.

“Yhan, get him! Beat him up! Look, he’s making me cry!” Indeed, tears were slowly emerging from her eyes. The nature of them was something I wanted to call into question, seeing the glass of water sitting on the table beside her clearly-wet fingers, but the situation was continuously growing further out of my expectations. I stepped to the side a bit so the boy could enter the common room unimpeded.

“Uhh… Rain, right? Sorry, but could you tell me what happened? Why’s Heira crying, exactly? As her brother, I’m well aware of her” — he scratched at his chin — “her, uhh, attitude? Well, you know what I mean, I’m sure. Just, could you explain?” He was stuttering a bit, but it was no issue for understanding him. I could only assume how flustered he was, having suddenly been dragged into an argument first thing in the morning. Especially with one of the members being the man that had appeared only twenty-four hours ago.

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“It’s nothing too important, ju—”

“It’s super important! Just because you aren’t in trouble doesn’t mean it’s not important!!” I couldn’t help but cover my face at her continued interruptions. That I was feeling embarrassed right now would be an understatement. Despite her saying I wasn’t the one in trouble, I felt like I was in the hottest seat here. I really didn’t want to cause trouble, but how was I supposed to avoid it when a professional dragged you in against your will?

Unable to hold in a sigh, I shook my head and tried again. “Fine, it’s important. Heira is angry with me for, from her point of view, betraying her trust. She came downstairs in the middle of the night while I was grabbing a drink of water and played a little prank. When I took her back upstairs, I had given her the candlestick I was using for light so she could get back to her room,” I explained. I looked at everyone in the room to gauge their reactions.

Yhan seemed thoroughly uninterested in the matter, glancing between Heira and myself. His brown eyes spoke to my soul in that moment: ‘Why the hell am I being dragged into this then,’ they wept in exhaustion. I could only imagine how many times he had seen Heira cause trouble like this over something small.

“You’re not gonna get out of trouble for breaking curfew just by blaming someone else,” Yhan reproached. His eyes had glazed over with disinterest after understanding how pointless this whole argument was.

“I’m not! I just, I want him to know what he did wrong! Looking all dopey-eyed at me, it made me mad!” What the hell was she talking about? So even though she acknowledged that I hadn’t done anything wrong, she was still angry?

Plus, come on. Dopey-eyed? It wasn’t my fault I looked like this, you know? Having taken in enough of the microchaos caused by Heira’s tantrum, I decided it was best to try to placate her before things got even further out of hand.

“I’m sorry, Heira. I didn’t tell Father Korrinn anything, though. Did you really think he wouldn’t notice the missing candlestick on his own?” I tossed a question at her with as gentle a voice as I could.

“See?! He doesn’t understand at all!!” How many times can one man get confused in a single conversation? The limits of human consciousness could be discerned just by angering Heira. “If Father Korrinn was going to notice it was missing, it falls to reason that you should’ve come up with a countermeasure!”

“What…” I couldn’t even finish my sentence. I was thoroughly dumbfounded. Appalled, even. Was I supposed to act as her partner-in-crime last night and come up with a perfect crime? I guess I could see where she might come to that conclusion, seeing as I mentioned not wanting to get her in trouble or something, but really? I audibly sighted. Throwing aside my pride, I stepped further into the mire. “You’re right, I didn’t think about it. I apologize for not hiding your tracks better.”

“Huh?” What was it now? It was a perfect response, wasn’t it? Why are you just ‘huh’ing me? “I, uhh… Yeah! That’s right! As, as long as you understand, that’s what matters!” Her exclamation finished with her turning her head away from me.

I’ll admit, I have no fucking idea what’s going on anymore. What was she even mad about again? It was definitely because she thought I had ratted her out, right? It’s not like I had an obligation to help her with something like this though. And how the hell did she expect me to just know what she wanted me to do?

Was she a little touched in the head, maybe? Nothing to be done about it now. Thinking I had defused the situation, I opened my mouth again. I said, “Is that all you need of me? It feels a little anticlimactic to come all the way downstairs just for this. No offense.”

“Just for this?! Just?!”

. …

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”

… I thought I was going crazy. How much must I debase myself for her to be satisfied? Once again sighing, as if I had a physiological need to exhale before a stupid statement, I gave her a bow, bending my back ninety degrees until my head was parallel with the floor.

“I sincerely apologize, Heira. Next time, I’d appreciate it if you would give this fool more instruction on how to properly assist you. My skills when it comes to oblivious troublemaking still need a lot of work, as you can see.” I gave as somber an apology as I could manage.

“As long as you understand where you went wrong, that’s what matters! I’m glad we’ve got this all settled! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go prepare the materials for my apology letter to Father Korrinn,” she proclaimed in a cheery voice. As I raised my head, I saw her skipping off down the hall, heading upstairs.

As she passed the corner, I noticed that the door to the library was slightly ajar. Milet was sticking her head out, watching the entire ordeal in real time. She gave me a small wave with a shit-eating grin on her face before retreating inside, closing the door.

“Umm,” Father Korrinn seemed just as stumped as me at this point, “I’ll make sure to reprimand her properly for this. Thank you for keeping her out of trouble and taking her back to her room last night. Lord knows what sort of trouble she would have ended up causing were you not awake.” Walking over to me, he gave me a small pat on the back before heading upstairs as well. Along his way, I could hear him clearing his throat.

Yhan and I were the only ones left in the common room now. I turned my gaze to him, curious how he felt about the hell that transpired. I saw him scratching the back of his head, an exasperated expression left on his face. I figured I should help him forget about what just happened, seeing as I was, like it or not, partially responsible.

“Well, despite how embarrassing the circumstance, it’s nice to properly make your acquaintance. Thank you for your help in calming her down.” I wasn’t even going to bother trying to smile at this point. He’ll just think that I’m in pain or something.

“Oh. Uhh, it’s no problem. You did well, though I’ll admit I still have no clue what’s going on. As long as it’s resolved, I guess it doesn’t really matter?” I agreed wholeheartedly. His closing statement on the Rain vs. Heira debacle could not be closer to accurate if he tried. He looked me over before asking, “Are you okay though? You look exhausted. Didn’t get much sleep last night?”

“Nah,” I replied. “I’m fine. I look like this all the time. You don’t need to mind it too much.” He laughed before looking to the hallway as well.

“Jeez, that’s rough. Sorry to hear that.” Oh. Okay.

“It’s about time for Father Korrinn’s lessons. He was talking earlier about bringing you in to speak a bit about your old world. DId he bring it up yet?”

“Not yet, no. I assume he’ll come grab me whenever he wants. Assuming he wants to, of course.”

“Oh, I don’t see why he wouldn’t! How often do you get to speak to someone from a completely different world, after all!” Seeing his muscled body move in glee made me feel just a bit creeped out. It didn’t seem fitting for a guy as buff as him.

Waving, he walked back down the hall, going up the stairs he had just come down. At least he seemed excited to hear about what my world was like.

Not that it would be anything interesting. My memories of Earth had already dulled by now. I could barely remember the faces of my family and friends now. I had a distinct lack of hobbies, and my personal knowledge was fairly lacking as well. Despite having been two years out of school, I had no direction in life.

Thinking about these things didn’t really bring back any particular memories either. I didn’t feel anything, thinking of the days before I came to Priel Don. While I had lived for twenty years on Earth, every day there was filled with nothingness and disinterest.

I didn’t feel so different about Priel An. All that had changed between then and now was that I finally had a goal. My life here was nothing but pain. Physically, mentally, and emotionally, I had been beaten down time after time to reach where I was now.

I can’t say I really cared anymore though. None of that matters now. Though my emotions had dulled, I still wanted to do right in the world in some way. I wasn’t a hero, but I could still save a world if I tried, right?

At least, that’s what I want to believe.

Walking down the hall, I opened the door to the library. I stuck my head through the gap, looking at Milet, sitting behind the receptionist’s counter. She looked up from her book, covering her mouth as she saw my face.

“Pffft… What’s up, Droopy? Looking for someone to comfort you after you got completely played by a kid?” Her head listed downwards as she started to laugh with her covered mouth.

I observed the glee on her face. “Do my eyes really look droopy,” I quietly inquired?

“Oh my god!” She burst into laughter at my question. Watching as she laid her head against the counter, covering the top of her head with her hands, I slowly closed the door and walked away. Peering into one of the windows, I started to scrutinize my face in the reflection. I couldn’t help but fixate a bit more than normal on my eyes as I heard the manic giggling coming from the library.