Marem walked through the familiar hallways with Leo following behind. Bubbles of anger kept popping up in her mind, demanding to be let out. She just couldn’t stand the way her dad made her feel, dismissive of everything she does.
He sent her out to find a strong husband, and he’s now upset that it’s Leo. Obviously, she wasn’t going to actually marry Leo, but it’s infuriating that even her fake choice isn’t good enough for him. It wasn’t like he had any legs to stand on, he had more wives than she could remember and they weren’t all great, to say the least.
Eventually she found herself back at her childhood bedroom. The door creaked loudly with the lightest touch, a sound she had nearly forgotten. Leo followed her in, able to see in the pitch black room before her. Her hand reached towards the switch on the wall and powered the lights, filling them with mana.
The strawberry themed wallpaper was, thankfully, the most embarrassing thing about her room. It was still as much of a mess as she’d left it before leaving, a good sign that no one had gone through her stuff. She placed her bag onto her desk and fell into her bed.
Leo had been so silent that she nearly went to sleep without noticing him. It was only after she got into bed that he spoke up.
“Hey, so is there another room I should go to?” he asked.
“Dude, I don’t care. Just stay here, I guess. There’s some books on my shelf if you want to read,” she mumbled.
“Alright then,” he replied
Something was definitely off with Leo, likely the scolding from her dad, but that would wait until the morning. Fights are exhausting, and even if healing can cure a wound, it doesn’t remove the toll it has on you. It only took a few moments for her to pass out, leaving Leo to turn off the lights.
Leo didn’t mind just staying in her room, but he didn’t want to stay in this house for long. He couldn’t explain it, but there was something off about her dad. Not just in the way he acted, it was something far deeper than that. The air around the man was oppressive, like the world changed when he was near.
It made even trying to speak a struggle, like he was just a nobody. He didn’t know what type of magic or class ability caused it, but he had no intentions to stay around long enough to find out. Even if Marem was right about this being the safest place, he couldn’t imagine dealing with that presence for long.
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After spending time destressing from everything that had happened in the past day, Leo decided to take up Marem’s offer to read. He couldn’t just spend the entire night with his thoughts, and he didn’t want to do something loud while Marem was sleeping.
He checked out the wide collection of books that she had on her shelf. Most of these titles seemed ridiculous, but he wasn’t in a position to be picky. Primal Hunger, Fairly Supportive, She Who Relaxes With Monsters, Dragon Ball Z, Father of Educating.
Leo suddenly paused. He looked back at the book titled Dragon Ball Z. With a cautious grasp, he pulled it out. There wasn’t any arguing, that was Goku on the front. Slowly, he started to read through the manga.
This was just a straight up copy of the first arc. Leo wasn’t the biggest fan of the series, yet even he could recognize that this was an ordinary book of Dragon Ball Z. His head began to race with possibilities over what this could mean.
It was possible that the exact same story had somehow been designed in this world. It would require a lot of leaps of faith for that to be true, but it was technically possible. Yet, Leo knew that the most likely answer was that an otherworlder supplied this book.
Marem’s dad was obviously loaded, so he must have found an otherworlder selling these books. This was exactly what he needed to find someone else from Earth. Leo felt relieved, there was someone like him out there, and he now had a way to find them.
He spent the rest of the night reading through as much of the Dragon Ball series as possible. Even if the story wasn’t anything close to the real world, it was comfortingly reminiscent of home. When the sun began to shine through the blinds, activity began to stir in the house. The sound of chatter and walking filled the halls outside.
Marem slept until long after sunrise, eventually rising after the rest of the house had begun to be filled with life. She was grateful to have slept in a real bed after relying on cots for far too long.
“Good morning, I hope you slept well,” greeted Leo with a smile.
“Morning. Slept good,” she yawned.
Marem wandered out into the hall, and Leo decided to follow along. Moving through a few hallways, Marem eventually led them to a bathroom. This was definitely no normal bathroom, it was far closer to something you’d see in a public building. It held two doors, one marked for men and one marked for women.
The two of them went into their respective bathrooms. Leo was surprised to see that the interior was something you’d see in a college dorm. There was a stool next to the door that glowed a bright white, and magical energy began to swirl over the top.
All of a sudden, there was a basket that held all manner of bathroom supplies. Leo decided that he might as well take advantage and get himself prepared for whatever mess was soon to come. After he finished bathing and cleaning, there was an outfit left in front of the shower. It seemed to just be a set of blue jeans with a black t-shirt. While the outfits he got from Koram could be worn on Earth, this was practically an outfit stolen from a mall.