Chapter 12: Under the Sun

Basking under the sunlight, I peered my eyes open. The curtained windows limned with sunlight expressed into my empty head that it was already morning. Unlike my usual daily routine, I felt no overwhelming need to leap out of the bed. Since when have I encountered such a peaceful sleep? Its as if everything else that occurred was an imitation, fabricated by my brain in its loneliest.

Rolling to my side, my hands encountered empty space. Where's Erin?

I levered myself to the side of the bed and held my head. "Damn, my head hurts."

My eyes darted around the room, searching for my clothes that were scattered about in this tiny space of ours last night. For some odd reason too, the dilated part of my stomach is ringing unpleasantly, vouching for me to get this sluggish body of mine up and locate something to eat. Now that I have time and leisure to think about things, my heart was filled with nothing but fear and distress the past few days I had totally forgotten to ingest anything. That and I was too afraid to eat any other than kind of vegetation because of that wicked herb incident.

As I shook my head in an attempt to break free from the monster called 'overthinking', a soul had already appeared in the doorway, as if she was waiting for the right time to break in. Noticeably, both of her hands were occupied with a wooden cup.

"Good morning." She smiled.

She was dressed in the same villager clothes that I remembered from last night, her chestnut brown hair was tied up in a classic ponytail, and the smile that she used to greet me was the very same smile that had kept me going.

"You slept so deeply," Erin said softly. "But its fine. They don't really mind."

"That so?"

Erin went past the chair, where my clothes had been set into a folded pile, and placed the cups on the table on the right. After taking a swift glance at my messy appearance, she grinned and went to the windows, and parted the curtains. Vigorous sunlight pushed into the room and instinctively, I covered my eyes.

"Ahhh... Too bright."

My still dreaded eyes absorbing such a light drew me into a facade of dreams. Under the sheer might of the heavy sunlight, my senses reacted to the soft sensation that bounced on my lap. The flowery scent of a lavender whiffed my nose, followed by the arousing smell of female skin. Seconds later and my vision clears.

"Sleepyhead." She brought her face so close, so close that I just inhaled a direct shot of her breath and our noses were already somewhat touching each other. Because of that, my little brother was getting excited too.

"What did you bring?" I looked past her shoulder, where she placed the wooden cups.

"Oh, I brewed the medicinal herbs that I found near the riverbank just now."

"Are they safe?"

Herbs again. When will I find a day without them?

"Weirdo, why wouldn't they be?" She replied while showing a smile full of ridicule.

If only she knew how dangerous these damn herbs could be, she would no doubt be scared to the bone like I do. The terror of those herbs were etched deep into my very being. Just reminiscing about that horrid experience was enough to make me jump in fright. But since Erin made this tea for me, I have no choice but to comply. Even if it means risking my life.

But I'm no fool. While thinking about the consequences, my hands went to her waist, as if I was holding a leverage.

"Before that, can I?"

"M-Mhmm.." She meekly nodded, saying she understood what I meant.

So without further ado, I lowered my mouth down to hers, she yielded easily, her lips parting, and our kiss deepened. That delicious creamy taste lasted for a few seconds. When our lips parted, the sight of her flush cheeks battered my hungry eyes. I wanted more. More and more kisses.

I reached to her cheeks and pressed her lower lip with my thumb. "One more?"

She presses my palm on her cheek. "You'll kiss me anyways even if I say no, right?"

It would seem that I'm already classified as a first class pervert. Nevertheless, I consider myself a gentleman, hence me asking for permission despite the intense arousal surging through my entire body.

"Will you dispute it?" I asked.

"I won't." She closed her eyes the moment she boldly declared such words. Cute~

Lowering my hand to the slender curve her neck, I softly bumped her patiently prepared lips with mine. It was hot, and deeply hungering. I could feel her shoulder's narrowing as our kiss entered a state of kindling excitement. Eventually, I lifted my mouth and slipped my tongue inside, searching for its lustrous partner. An obscene sticky sound resounded as she moaned against my mouth in pleasure.

Falling back slowly, I ended our second kiss. I watched as she regained her composure-- her eyes looked straight into my own, moist with my tender warmth and affection.

"Was it... good?"

"Sa-Satisfactory."

Such disheartening words. However, I just merely shrugged and accepted it. Needless to say, its nigh time for me to get up and do something. Its not good for me to rely on other people's kindness too much.

"Anyways, will you hand me that drink so I can wake up?"

Erin stood up after hearing my request and went straight to the table. She grabbed the cups and stretched out her hand to offer me one.

"--Here."

"Thanks." I grabbed my cup of tea from her outstretched hand.

She came to my side and sat beside me, and we both enjoyed the golden view outside the window. The tea wasn't half bad, contrast to how exotically poisonous that I've thought it was. Damn, I'm thinking too much. Maybe I should loosen up a bit. For now at least. The moment I've thought of that, I had already finished drinking the cup of tea she gave me.

"You didn't add poison on this one, right?" I said after staring at my empty cup.

The moment she hears that, a feeling of doom showed on her face.

"Keisuke doesn't trust me? That's to be expected. I meant to apologize but never really had the liberty until..."

"Its fine." I stopped her from finishing. "I was merely playing around. I wanted to see your reaction."

". . . Jerk."

"Hahaha."

She nearly sagged with relief after hearing my words. Like her heart had leaped into her eyes. So many things occurred that every little bit of action is fighting for attention in my brain. I am becoming too paranoid!

* * * * * *

I tidied myself and neatly folded the bed sheets afterwards. We left the room and before I go out to be a nuisance, I headed straight to the kitchen. I haven't eaten anything after all.

Well, what could I say. The old man's house only has the basic furnishings and all of them were made of wood. Their dining room consist of a small rectangular wooden table with matching chairs that accommodates to at least four people. Besides that, I remember this room being illuminated by a warm looking lamp that doesn't require oil or electricity last night. Perhaps magic. There's also their kitchen with wooden buckets of water on the side. They must not have a direct water supply.  Quite a medieval look--troublesome and tiny but it has its own charm. Makes me wonder how the city would look like.

I reached to the one of the buckets and used that water to wash my face. After cleansing myself, I pulled one of the wooden chairs beside the table and sat patiently.

"What are we having?"

"I boiled some eggs a while ago."

Erin pulled a chair beside me and began to peel the eggs she brought on the table, even though I'm big enough to do something so trivial on my own. Still, it feels good to be service like this. It makes me feel special~

After I had consumed the entire plate full of eggs and drank a few more cups of her freshly brewed tea, the two of us went out for a walk. The air was crisp and somewhat sweet, spiced heavily with flowers that I could not recognize.

Going across the old man's fields, a brown haired lady greeted us as we walk.

"Oh Erin... and Keisuke was it?"

She was neither beautiful but neither was she plain. Her features were unremarkable yet she had a compelling presence. Her skin was dyed brown, evidence of her working under the strong rays of the sun every single day.

"Yes, thank you for your kind hospitality."

"Haha," she giggled. "You're one lucky guy to have a caring wife, eh?"

Sending Erin a sideway glance, I murmured, "Lucky indeed."

With all that said, Erin started to look a little upset. She quickly reached to my ear and pinched them, wiping that smug look off my face.

"What are you getting excited for?"

"Hahaha... Nothing nothing."

I get it now. She's so adorable when its just the two of us but she does not want other people to know how sweet she is~

It was difficult for me to describe our current relationship but maybe we do look like a couple. Sleeping together and waking me up with a kiss, such intimate actions wouldn't come from a strangers perspective, wouldn't it?

Well, we've gone through hell together in a span of a single night, everything to which I would deem abnormal and impossible occurred. My death, her death, killing, traveling back in time so many things happened. I guess Erin was just relieved that she passed that gigantic hurdle with me. Although I keep thinking if it was really worth it despite our sacrifices. She lost the spirit weapons she treasured dearly, and was left with a near useless guy like me-- who had no knowledge about this world and the mysteries surrounding it.

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Still, if I really am trapped in this loop of death, then I must use every bit of this cursed ability to keep us alive. Whoever put such a curse on me, they picked the wrong guy to messed with.

"Well, Ms. Shara, right? Where's the old man?" I asked.

"Just Shara is fine. Pops is waiting for you right behind our house." Stealing a glance at Erin, she beamed and continued. "But since Erin pretty much did all the work already, I think its fine even if you didn't go."

I sighed softly to conceal the useless emotion that had risen inside of me. What did she actually do? But at this sort of moment, I might as well use this chance presented to me to study and learn about my weird ability.

"Well, I'll take the free time then and if the old man needs us, we'll be at the riverbank."

"Alright, do be back before nightfall though."

"We will, thank you."

Muttering with a smile, I left the golden fields and went straight to the riverbank with Erin. Of course, we talked along the way. Conveniently, it would seem that her magic was able to help the villagers here. It was along the lines of filling up their farm trenches with water. Something that took the villagers here to do forever.

Mentioning that in my mind, I noticed she's pretty adept at casting multitude of spells too, even more so her Healing magic was pretty broken. Now, I'm curious enough to learn about how magic works, but I have more important things to discuss in my mind.

* * * * * *

It was a place abundant of life, where tree leaves were scattered about, plants growing on plants, and the calm sound of rustling water was the perfect placid atmosphere that I needed.

Here I am, enjoying the gentle feeling at the back of my head. Relishing my soul and loving the majestic scene ahead of me. What a bliss indeed. I never knew a lap pillow could be this awesome~

"Erin... what do you think about the people here?"

". . . Their kind and fun to be with."

"Do you miss your hometown? Or you know..."

". . . I would be lying if I said I don't."

"I see."

Erin's palm glided at my forehead, gently stroking my head with her soft fingertips. She smiled mysteriously and stare into my eyes.

"What about you, Kei?"

". . . Me?"

"Yes, you. You never clarified what was bothering you last night."

". . . I don't know. Maybe I'm just scared. I was suddenly thrown into this unknown world. Gained a weird ability. Involve in a gigantic mess.. Still, I'm glad that all of these happened. Because I met you, and even though you could be considered one of the most violent girl I've ever met in my short life, I'm still thankful."

"Idiot."

Erin did nothing to hide her chagrin, and the adorable face she pulled made me want to kiss her again. The warmth coming from her hands, and the way she stroke my hair was enough to erase the doubts that I have about myself.

I took a few deep breaths and made an effort to asked the question that's been bothering me so far.

"So, do you have any clue as to why your kind wanted to... kill you?"

I knew it was a delicate subject to ponder. Nevertheless, I needed to know or else the growing questions in my head would never reach a conclusion. There are various theories surrounding my brain, yet none of them makes any sense. After all, Erin is the only one who could shed light in these mysterious attempts at her life.

". . . Well, at first I thought it was because of our longevity. Many of my kind wanted to experience something new, but because of I, the chief's daughter, was there, my father, Darius, disagreed on taking down the barriers surrounding our village. I thought my father did what he did because he wanted to protect me." Erin cleared her throat and continued. "But after traversing through the Sea of Trees, especially meeting my friend, Castanea, deep inside the forest, I began to think."

"Think about what?"

". . . Leave and never return. Soon, it will descend, and it will not stop until..."

"Until?" I lifted my hand and stroke her cheek.

". . . Those were the last proper words that she left me..."

"Is she... dead?"

". . . She was gravely injured, but I made sure to heal her wounds properly before I left."

Yet another mystery was added in my booklet. But because of that, I think I'm nearing closer and closer to the truth. If only I could see this person myself and ask her a few questions, there could be a chance of me solving this riddle of death.

---On the first iteration, I woke up stranded by myself in this forest. I've fallen into a state of hunger where I have to ingest those wicked herbs. Because of my stupidity and foolishness, I underwent hell. For the first time that I met Erin, I could not understand a single word that left her mouth. And that continued until we died on the hands of that monster.

---On the second iteration, I did not ingest those wicked herbs but I did grabbed a few and continued on to the forest clearing. Weirdly, I could understand Erin this time. Was it because I did not foolishly ate those herbs? No, even If I didn't, it still could not justify the reason on how I could understand their language even though I'm speaking an entirely different one on my own. This is also the time where I met that chick named Elena and unfortunately, she died in my hands. Soon after that, we met our bloody end at the hands of that monster once again.

---On the third iteration, my respawn point surprisingly changed. Just enough in time where I was done killing that girl. The sensation, the fear, the taste of blood, everything else was there. I did not return after killing her, I returned while I was killing her. This was also the time where I properly met Volius. This time, we were able to kill the monster finally, but another mysteriously entity caused my brutal death afterwards.

---On the fourth iteration, I died again. That small guy was just too broken. However, my respawn point once more, changed. Changed just right after I defeated my arch nemesis.

---On the fifth iteration, which is the current timeline, Galvin mentioned about me killing Elena. Then does that mean that he was watching all the time? If so, why did he not just kill us immediately? Why prolong our lives if he's strong enough to kill us in an instant? He did say that Spirit Weapons could only transfer ownership after the current master dies or they somehow relinquish ownership to another person, yet he still took the time to introduce himself.

No, he could be lying about that part. He did say that he was there to kill Erin, yet he didn't. He let us go, under the sheer pretense that he's having fun--which I don't believe. Galvin, it could be that this guy is playing his own game. Different from the other two that chased Erin with the intent to kill. The only question is, is he an ally in disguised? Or is he another enemy?

Another puzzle to solve, is my current save points. It somehow changes when I kill, but killing could be done in a wide variety of ways. What concept of killing were actually involve? Would killing bugs and animals change my save point as well? What about the use of poison? Indirect killing? There's so many ways to mess with other people's lives. Just simply saying 'I need to kill' would not answer anything.

There must be something that connects these deaths to one another...

For now, those connections, I still do not know.

No matter what fate has in store for me, I've decided....

"--Erin, no matter what happens, I would never forget our time together."

I sat beside her and reached to her hand, lightly pressing my palm at the back of her hand. We continued to stare at the river reflecting the golden light of the setting sun. This time for sure, my resolve is completed.

"Don't be silly." Without warning, she turned and threw her arms around my neck. "You better be prepared for the greatest lashing of your life for making me feel like this..."

An unfamiliar feeling welled up inside me. I couldn't help but kissing her again, adoration and arousal pumping through my entire body. It caused me to realize how little I really knew about Erin. She was clumsy, a little bit soft spoken, violent at times, and very trusting, but beyond those qualities, she's just another regular girl. Caught into a whirlpool of problems that she did not deserve to be involve. It is up to the person themselves to decide what they must do and that's exactly the reason why I must do my part.

Time ran on a quiet and peaceful vein. The day finished in a whirl, and Erin, in a near state of exhaustion, quickly fell into the bed that night. I was tired as well, but we had a drowsy conversation before sleep came.