Chapter 57: Cat and Mouse_Re:World

Enrel was holding a stack of plates in her hand as she walked to the sink and saw Reiki had some black smoke coming out the top of his head while he was doing the dishes. Moranor who was next to him was drying them with a dried cloth to wipe the excess water off. Enrel placed the plates next to Reiki by the side of the sink and said. "Thank you for the meal, it was favorable." He gave her a nod and said. "Thank you for the compliment. I'll be sure to make the next one as good." His eyes widened when he heard the sound of lightning crackling behind him, it came from Moranor from between her hands.

He quickly took all the dishes Enrel placed down and started cleaning. Enrel let out a small chuckle and said. "I'll be staying in the guest room, call me if Moranor's mother is here." Moranor took a plate off Reiki's hands and was wiping some water off, she turned her head to look at Enrel and said. "Wait, he currently occupies the guest room."

Enrel stopped mid-step as she turned around to face Moranor with her hands crossed. She said. "Hmm… Now, this is a problem. How about-." While Reiki placed a plate in front of Moranor, he said. "She can stay in the guest room. During her stay, I can just sleep on the couch surrounded by… All that... Literature…" Enrel did a single clap and said. "I appreciate your generosity." As she started making her way out of the room and closed the door behind her.

When the sound of footsteps became fainter, Moranor elbowed Reiki in the ribs, she glared at him using the corner of her eyes. She said. "Look at you, deciding things by yourself." Reiki passed her another plate, Moranor placed the dried plate on her right and took the wet one from his hands. Turning off the faucet and adding more liquid soap to the sponge, he said. "It's fine, I don't mind sleeping on a couch for a night. It's not like I'll do anything weird… Though I am curious to know what happens in my slutty maid: just desserts."

Moranor almost dropped the plate that was in her hands. She quickly turned her head to face him, she almost screamed at his ears and said. "You read that?!" Reiki covered his right ear, he said. "Not so loud, I'm right next to you. And to answer your question I only read the first book, my slutty maid. I just saw the sequel on our way here." Moranor's hand was slowly being covered in lightning and was producing a loud crackling sound, with a sweet smile on her face, she slowly reached out her hand to him.

Melanor suddenly appeared behind them and said. "That meal was delicious, Reiki." The lightning around Moranor's hand quickly vanished as she hid both her hands behind her back. Melanor placed the used plates on his left. She said. "Though I am curious, why not make a meal with rice?" Reiki passed the last bowl to Moranor and moved the dishes to the sink. He twisted the faucet to soak them in water and added more soap to the sponge.

He turned the faucet off and started washing the dishes and said. "I didn't know where to empty the bag. I do miss eating curry and beef stew." He turned the faucet on to remove all the suds on the plates and wrung the sponge to make sure it was as dry as it could be. Reiki turned around as he leaned on the counter, he looked at Melanor and said. "Where are you going to empty the bag of rice? I don't see any rice dispensers, let alone a rice cooker."

He let out a yawn and used his hand to cover his mouth. Melanor blinked her eyes twice and was about to say something but stopped herself. She said. "I did not think about that…" Moranor was drying the last plate, she carefully placed it on a plate stack. She turned around and stood on Reiki's left while looking at the floor softly whistling a tune.

Melanor kept her gaze on him but saw her daughter's actions from the corner of her eye. She said. "I'll place an order for one of those… Rice dispenser and rice cookers, it should be delivered at sunrise." Reiki dried his hand by using his tunic, he said. "Sunrise? I thought it would be faster? Any reason why it'll take so long?"

As he crossed his arms and raised his head to look up to her. Melanor let out a chuckle and said. "To be fair, said item would be shipped from human territory. Even daily items like this would be impossible for a normal household, and since you've already seen how wealthy this house is I don't need to explain any further." He shrugged his shoulders and said. "Fair point…" Reiki placed his arms to his side and pushed himself from leaning on the counter. Moranor was about to take a step but stop when she saw him stop.

Reiki said. "I almost forgot, Enrel-san is in the guest room. I'll be sleeping on the couch in the living room. We didn't ask her why she suddenly dropped by, other than asking for your whereabouts." He let out a small yawn and started making his way to the living room with Moranor beside him. Melanor kept her gaze on both of them until they were out of the room as she suddenly vanished.

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The Guest Room

Enrel was sitting on the chair at the workbench with an orb of light above her head, better lighting. Melanor appeared by the door and walked towards the bed and sat on the left side behind her. Melanor placed her elbow on her thigh and placed her head on top of her hand. She said. "Let me guess… One of your experiments exploded again?" Enrel flipped to the next page and said. "Nope." Melanor thought for a bit and said. "Did you poison someone with one of your 'concoctions' again?" Enrel kept reading and said. "... No…"

Melanor laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, she said. "Did you send someone to their deaths by selling them information that they shouldn't know-." Enrel closed the book and slammed it onto the workbench. She stood up and turned around to face her and shouted. "Is that all you remember me doing!?" Melanor who was still laying on the bed let out a chuckle and said. "I do remember the good things you've done... But over the years the first thing on the top of my head, are all the treach-." She faked a cough and continued. "How you say, unfortunate events."

Enrel pulled the chair behind her as she sat back down. She let out a long sigh and said. "Not my fault those elves were inadequate for their ventures. They promised a few things in exchange for information… I got what I wanted, can't say what they got in return from our dealings…" Melanor propped herself up the bed and stared at her. She said. "What did you come here for?"

Enrel closed her eyes and used her hand to gently rub them. She let out a small sigh and said. "How much do you know about him?" Melanor replied. "Reiki? Everything." Enrel stared right into Melanor's eyes. She said. "Everything, Everything?" Melanor had a clueless look on her face that was slowly growing. She said. "Did we miss anything? Or did you discover something about him?" Enrel had a smirk on her face as her eyes slowly glowed blue, she looked around the room with an intrigued look. Her eyes were still glowing blue while she made eye contact with Melanor and said. "You'll kill him tomorrow, right?"

Melanor narrowed her eyes as a small frown appeared on her lips. She said. "Where did you hear that?" Enrel waved her hands making a dismissing gesture as her glowing eyes slowly turned back to normal. She said. "Don't worry about the minor details. If both of you do have plans to kill him tomorrow, make sure to tell me. I'll provide something in exchange for his life, so you can just send him my way." Enrel looked around the room again as a smile on her face slowly grew. She placed a hand over her mouth to hide her smile from Melanor. She said. "Did you notice the bizarre behavior of the monsters around here?"

Melanor stared at her for a few seconds and said. "That I did notice. They've been going out of their way to avoid my house." Enrel look turned serious all of a sudden, she said. "Tell me more in detail." She pulled out a small notebook, a white quill, and a small ink bottle. She dipped the quill in ink and was ready to write.

Melanor stared at Enrel suspiciously, Melanor narrowed her eyes, she said. "Why all the questions?" Using her quill she tapped on her notebook and said. "Don't worry about it." Melanor looked around the room as her pupils slowly glowed a light blue color, she looked around the room to find what Enrel saw but found nothing out of place. A small frown grew on her face as she stared at Enrel, she thought. What does she stand to gain…

Melanor placed a hand on her chin as she looked at Enrel who was patiently waiting for her to talk. She let out a small sigh as the quill in Enrel's hand was enveloped in a thin layer of mana for a split second as she was ready to write. Melanor said. "I don't know when it started but the monsters are making sure to stay clear of my house. At first, I thought it was because I was hunting them too frequently, but then I noticed there wasn't even a single footprint around."

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Enrel was quickly writing as her eyes were glued onto Melanor, not even glancing at her handwriting. Melanor continued. "I went around for a quick look and discovered that their population was still the same, so neither of us or the 'adventurers' are overhunting. And I found a peculiar thing on a branch of a tree…"

While talking Melanor kept her gaze on Enrel, she looked at her trying to see something off about her expression but found nothing. Enrel tapped on her notebook twice again, she said. "An egg from an elemental bird." Melanor glared at Enrel. Melanor said. "Which element is it?" Enrel wrote something in her notebook while saying. "Hard to say… Most species' prowess are hereditary, but due to how scarce some resources are… Some species evolved… Uniquely… The elemental bird acquired its name because of their family tree, their grandparents could have an affinity for earth while their parents that laid the egg could have an affinity to lightning."

Enrel glanced at Melanor for a second as she changed her gaze back to the notebook in her hands and continued writing. Enrel continued. "Depending on the environment and the abundance of certain types of elements around the egg, it could go either way…" Melanor rolled her eyes at her and said. "Thanks for the unnecessary knowledge." She let out a sigh of annoyance. Enrel let out a chuckle and said. "Old habits die hard."

Melanor thought for a moment, she said. "Wouldn't that mean magic would dissipate one day?" Enrel calmly answered. "Nope, the only real reason why some areas lack mana in the air is because of a certain species. There's more than plenty to go around, they're just greedy… Now back to the main topic."

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Living Room

Reiki was looking at one of the bookshelves with Moranor behind him who was holding erotica behind her back with a black cover. He was reading the titles of the erotica on the shelves, he was lazily stretching in place as he let out a small yawn. He said. "So when will you lend me that book behind your back?" His eyes were wandering around the different layers of the shelves. Moranor flinched as her smile turned rigid, she said. "W-What do you mean?"

Reiki turned around to face her and saw that both Moranor's hands were behind her back. He placed his left hand towards her with his palm facing upwards and said. "Can I please find out what happens in the sequel to slutty maid?" The corner of Moranor's eye twitched as her grip on the erotica behind her back became tighter, speaking through gritted teeth, she said. "Are you making fun of me?"

She tried to intimidate him by crackling the air around her with lightning. Reiki took a step back as a stray bolt of lightning almost reached him. He said. "No, I'm simply following the guidelines of what you set for me." Moranor took a deep breath to calm herself as the lightning around slowly dissolved. She said. "Guidelines?..." Reiki nodded, he said. "Yes, you said you didn't like me doing anything that you don't approve of. So here I am, asking for permission first before I do something that will get me electrocuted."

Moranor let out a chuckle and started giggling which sent a shiver down his spine. With her eyes closed and a sweet smile on her face, she said. "If you wanted to experience what it's like to be in cardiac arrest you could have just said so." The air around her started making a loud crackling noise with a streak of lightning that was going around her like a living snake. It was letting out a bright light as it traveled around her without shocking herself. He thought. Fuck…

He turned his head to look at the stairway leading upstairs. The sound of crackling became louder as the white light became more prominent as it was starting to become a light source. He slowly turned his head to see the streak of lightning was protecting her body as she was playing with its head. The lightning snake was rubbing its head against the palm of her hand, she said. "When you're in cardiac arrest, tell me if gods do exist."

She moved her left hand that was still behind her back and looked at the front of the book and flipped through all the pages. She said. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Reiki took a deep breath, he said. "I do, and it's… You have to catch me first." He casted. Flash max distance.

『Flash Has Been Activated. Mana Cost: 6,250.』

Moranor was confused to see that he suddenly vanished without even affecting the mana around him. The snake that was curled around her body grew bigger as she placed the erotica on the couch and clenched her hands into fists. She slowly walked towards the staircase as the sound of lightning crackling became louder.

…

Reiki appeared on the second floor near the bathroom door, he slowly exhaled and started walking towards the guest room where Melanor and Enrel were. Reiki froze mid-step as he heard the sound of lightning crackling coming from the stairway, he ran but was only able to take three steps before Moranor appeared right in front of him while bathed in lightning along with her sweet smile. He took a step back and let out a forced chuckle, he said. "You know I-." He immediately casted. Flash.