“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Chronos screamed as the ground got bigger and closer.

Bang!

Was the sound of his collision with the ground. Luckily for him, there was no one around to witness his fall in the most literal sense of the word.

“Ughh… It hurts!”

He made a senseless complaint to nobody. It was more like a reflex than something he consciously said. Indeed, it was painful but

“I-its surprising how unscathed I am after that fall….”

He tried getting up right after he impacted to the ground when he noticed that he was unharmed. Not even a scratch. He even tried inspecting his forehead, but there was no blood or anything. He was completely fine. It was a miracle to fall from so high and be fine like nothing happened.

Just then, a shadow appeared from beneath him. It began small but got bigger second by second and it was only when it was too late that he understood what the shadow truly was.

Bang!

Another loud noise could be heard, but just like when Chronos first fell to the ground, there still was no one to witness what happened. Chronos was once more lying face down on the ground. This time, with a girl in a white cloak sitting on his back.

“Hea...vy…. You’re…. Hea.vy..”

He told the girl who was sitting on his back with an almost inaudible and incomprehensible voice. The girl heard him just right though she acted like there was no problem, and stood up with Chronos still beneath her.

“Ughh… Gwahh.. I’m… Dying… DYING….”

The unfortunate adventurer tried to make use of whatever remaining air in his lungs in order to speak. His words were barely audible. Still, the girl could clearly hear him. Seeing the adventurer near his limits, she decided to finally show him mercy.

“Ahh. You were there?”

Chronos’ brows twitched as he heard the girl’s words. As a meaning of getting revenge, he said

“This little girl…”

It was the girl’s ears that twitched next.

“Hmm? Did you say something?”

“N-no.. I didn’t say anything. I certainly didn’t say anything about you being a little girl.”

Finally, their banter ended and inspection of their surroundings began.

“Seems like we landed in a forest.”

Chronos stated the obvious. What could a land surrounded by a vast number of trees be if not a forest? Still, Chronos couldn’t help but say something. Who knew? Maybe Riel still hadn’t figured it out.

“(nod)(nod)... What do you usually do when you are lost in a forest?”

Asked Riel.

“Didn’t you have your own forest back in the floating island? What do you usually do when you are lost?”

Chronos being rude, answered a question with a question. Riel sighed first before answering his question with yet another question.

“Do you get lost in your own home?”

“Errmm… I guess not.”

“So, Why would I get lost in my own territory?”

True enough. Chronos just scratched his head that seemed to have a non-existent brain before finally answering Riel’s question properly.

“Hmm… Usually, I will set up camp somewhere. I take into account how many days it would take to find the exit and secure resources that will last me long enough. Unlike the others though, I try to set up a permanent camp rather than move my camp as I progress. There are many reasons for which I do this, but if I have to give one I’d say it is because I don’t want to burden myself bringing all my things with me every time.”

Riel understood everything Chronos had said so far, but she had to make something clear.

“But we are in an unfamiliar terrain. Won’t we get lost on the way back to the camp?”

Chronos went with a “hmm… good question” before answering.

“We can just leave our marks as we go. Those marks will serve not only as a guide back to the camp but also a sign that we already went a certain way.”

Riel frowned her brows as she touch her chin

“Do you leave different kinds of marks?”

Was her question. Chronos noticed Riel’s concern about possibly making too much of the same mark thus, making their guides confusing once they progress far enough. Chronos smiled before speaking

“Ha ha. They say that the more you ask, the smarter you become.”

Riel tilted her head unable to understand what Chronos was talking about. Seeing Riel in wait for an actual answer, he continued

“I leave different marks every day. Sometimes I try looking for an exit more than once a day. In that case, I leave different marks each time I set out to search. Heck, there are even times I mark the same tree with two different marks to indicate I went that way more than once.”

Riel nodded in satisfaction. Not seeing her make another question, Chronos then went and informed his guardian

“This area is where we will set our camp up.”

Riel didn’t raise any questions and quickly agreed to his decisions. They were lucky to have landed in an area of the forest not too crowded with trees. It wasn’t completely open as there was a tall tree at the center, but it is wide enough for them to set up camp and store their resources. Well, Riel could think of other problems they may face but she didn’t want to ask too many questions at once.

Based on Chronos’ answers earlier, Riel could infer that he truly knew what he was doing and that it was safe to trust his decisions. Rather than to ask, Riel decided to help instead.

“Hey, where are you going?”

Was Chronos calling out to Riel who decided to separate herself from him. He had no idea what she had in mind, but they couldn’t afford to lose each other. Not until they at least had somewhat memorized the terrain. And even then, who knew when a beast or monster would attack.

“You said we have to set up camp, right?”

Said Riel who kept walking here and there like she was searching for something. It seemed like she was planning where exactly to set up a tent. Then again, did they even have a tent?

“H-hey… We do not have a tent, do we?”

Chronos realized their current predicament. While there may be more than one alternative to tents, it doesn’t change the fact that a tent is the most preferred. Tents aren’t exactly easy to set up. Not only that, tents are also a pain in the neck to carry as one travels, but having a tent means Chronos wouldn’t need to improvise much. Less thinking and moving equals less energy spent. Unless one is fully prepared, it isn’t a good idea to waste energy when one is in an unfamiliar terrain.

“He he! You just wait and see, my Knight!”

Chronos was confused as to why Riel appeared to be happy and proud.

“Why the heck are you puffing your small chest acting so proud? My knight? More like my ass!”

Of course, that was just his internal monologue. He couldn’t let his proud guardian hear him say that. Meanwhile, Riel closed her eyes, and what happened next gave a shock to Chronos’ brain.

Torrents of white-colored liquid-like mana oozed out of Riel and began gathering north of their camp area. It was only a matter of seconds when the energy coming from Riel built and transformed itself into a small but fine wooden house similar to what she had in the floating island.

The house looked small. It was as basic as basic can get. In fact, it looked more like a single medium-sized room than a house but that must be because Riel knew they didn’t have the space to make something better. Meanwhile, Chronos couldn’t react. He continued staring at the wooden house astonished at the miracle that his guardian just performed.

While he was blankly staring at the house, Riel decided to find a suitable place to create a much needed toilet. She wanted to evenly distribute the structures on the area, and so, she decided to create a toilet to the west..

One might think that no one would be able to create a sophisticated toilet so easily, but actually, Riel’s toilet was pretty cleverly made. No one knew what she did, but the toilet she made had a sewer system, or at least something similar to that. It seemed to involve the use of magic, but whatever. Toilet problems solved.

Chronos on the other hand was still unmoving when Riel finished setting up the toilet. What she did next was create a small storage room to the east. Even after all that, Chronos didn’t budge. He was unmoving all that time. Having made all the necessary structures that they needed, Riel decided to poke Chronos.

“Guh!”

Was the sound Chronos made when he was poked by Riel on the nose. Together with the sound was a jolt to his body signaling that his mind was forcibly returned to its rightful place.

“What happened? Did your brain die? Or maybe you have none from the start.”

Riel waved her hands back and forth in front of Chronos’ face as she teased him. Chronos on the other hand,

“YOU CAN MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING?!”

Riel was just a little startled by Chronos’ sudden shouting. Though she quickly regained her ground and started explaining

“To be precise, I can make things using my mana.”

“What’s the difference?! That’s basically the same thing! AMAZING!”

He pressed his palms on Riel’s shoulders as he said that.

“That sure is convenient.”

“Yup! It sure is. Like I said, You only need to watch. Ehehe!”

She showed a proud expression as she told Chronos that.

“What’s next?”

Was Riel’s question.

“Hmm… I wonder if we should take this tree down…”

Was Chronos thinking if they should get rid of the big tree at the center of their camp area.

“I don’t think that’s necessary though.”

Riel disagreed. The extra space would be useful, but that isn’t absolutely necessary. It would only be a waste of effort to cut the tree down. Also, Riel didn’t want to hurt the forest too much. One could argue that one tree isn’t worth much, but there wouldn’t be a hundred trees if there wasn’t a single tree.

“Right… So, shall we proceed to stocking up on resources?”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Asked Chronos. Riel quickly agreed by raising her hand and letting out a “Yup!”. It made Chronos think how strange Riel was. There were times when she said things that were rather annoying and there were times when she acted a bit high and mighty, but there were also times when she acted childish and innocent.

“Maybe it’s her mood…”

Chronos thought to himself. It might also depend on the situation and on the person she’s talking to. Maybe her childish side was actually her “true self” and it kind of slipped out whenever she was having fun.

“So? What am I supposed to get?”

Riel asked which made Chronos look around their surroundings.

“Will you collect the twigs lying on the ground? And collect fallen leaves too.”

Riel quickly took note of Chronos’ instructions, but Chronos had to say something he forgot

“Ahh! Collect only dry leaves and twigs please. Otherwise they will be hard to burn due to their water content.”

Riel actually knew that and gave just an “Okay!” before going full focused on her job. Chronos on the other hand,

“Hmm… where should I get fuel?”

He asked himself. He wanted to go roam a bit in order to find a tree suitable for the job, but he couldn’t just leave Riel behind. On the other hand, he could just ask Riel to create something out of her energy, but that would spoil the fun of being in a survival situation. Riel already made their situation a lot easier. Making it any easier than this will defeat the purpose of venturing.

“I guess any nearby tree will do. I’ll probably just have her season the woods…. If she can.”

“...”

Chronos stopped for a moment before thinking another time

“I wonder how much mana reserves she has?”

Was what he thought. Maybe he was worried that Riel might be pushing herself too much, but she was a guardian. No way her body would give up that easily. Also, maybe it looked like Chronos knew a lot about Guardians, but his knowledge was still not quite that advanced. He wasn’t even sure what the “kiss” was for. It was supposed to be a ritual, but what did he gain? Sacred warriors were supposed to gain extraordinary powers upon being chosen by a guardian, but so far he felt nothing. Still, he assumed that he was given something,

“If I truly gained something, then she must have lost something too.”

He whispered as he began moving to find a proper tree to cut. Indeed, the rule of balance suggested that if one side were to get something, the other side would lose something of equal value. If that were the case, then maybe Riel wasn’t so invulnerable anymore. Still, he didn’t want to think too much about it. He was capable of protecting her. At least if he wasn’t going to fight another guardian.

A moment later, he arrived at a tree just a little outside of their camp area. He could still see Riel, so there wasn’t a need to worry. Why was he worrying anyway if Riel could even create things out of her own energy? Surely she had more cards up her sleeves.

“Here we go.”

He murmured as he reach out for his sheathed sword on his waist, but

“W-wait…. It’s gone?!”

He didn’t realize the fact that his sword was long gone by his side when Riel began treating his wounds back in the floating island. He forgot it because he was still wearing his leather armor which looked more like a leather jacket than armor when he woke up.

“R-Riel? Do you know where my sword went?”

The short guardian who was busy picking twigs and dead leaves to be used as tinder moved her gaze towards her panicky knight. She then opened her small bag and inserted her left hand on it in search of something. It took only a few seconds when she took her hands out. This time, with a sword on her hand.

“Ohh!! That’s it, that’s it!”

Said Chronos as he walked closer to Riel when Riel threw the still sheathed sword at him. The way she threw the sword at Chronos made it spin which had Chronos panicking than he was when the sword was missing.

“H-hey! That was dangerous!”

He shouted at the little girl who was giggling so much that it turned into full-blown laughing in just a few moments.

“Pfft… That was.. Pff.. Hilarious… He was so scared… pfft. Fufuf… heh… a ha ha ha ha!”

“Stop laughing! Tch.”

He told Riel off, but she didn’t listen and kept on laughing. Still, it wasn’t a completely bad experience. He saw Riel laughing like there was no tomorrow. It was also entertaining on his perspective to see and hear Riel’s childish laugh. Like seriously, was she really 4000 years old? At that age one shouldn’t be rolling on the ground laughing. Well, Riel didn’t exactly roll. But almost. ALMOST. She was just stomping and slapping the ground as she laughed. No rolling, definitely no rolling. Or maybe she rolled without Chronos knowing. After all, she was still laughing when Chronos decided to turn his back against her in order to face his current opponent. The tree.

It was not a big tree. The tree was only about 45-50 feet tall with a trunk diameter of a little less than 2 feet. Chronos wasn’t really all that interested in trees and plants, so he didn’t know much about them. All he knew was that they looked very similar to one another and that the only way to notice the difference was if they were bearing some kind of fruit or very obvious features which would separate them from the rest. Chronos chose the tree mainly because it was small, therefore processing would be easy. Still, he knew he would need to dry the wood one way or another.

“Heh… Sorry to say, but I’ll make you the outlet of my frustrations.”

He spoke to the tree while wearing a smirk. He then proceeded to unsheathe his sword. The type of sword that Chronos used wasn’t supposed to be wielded with both hands. It was a sword with thin and average-length blade. It was also single edged and just slightly curved. It looked ordinary except that the sword he was wielding is called a Rune Blade. It is the kind of sword with unreadable runes embedded and etched on the surface of the blade. Yes, the sword looked ordinary, but the runes glowed a bluish light. A faint bluish light that seemed to go on and off every few seconds.

“Regal Blade”

After reciting the name of the technique, the edge of the sword, just like the runes etched on the surface of the blade, showed a glint of sharp, bluish light. The bluish light was almost unnoticeable as it looked very thin and sharp. It almost seemed like the edge of the blade itself was naturally emitting the light.

“Here we go…”

He said as he positioned his right foot behind while both of his hands gripped the sword with the point of the blade towards the east. Yes, the sword was in a horizontal position.

“One…. Two… Three!”

He jumped forward as he swung his sword horizontally towards the direction of the tree and it was cut down just like that. After cutting down the tree, he made sure to divide the tree into smaller chunks so he could split it later. He then brought those parts back to the camp and placed it near the big tree. Meanwhile, Riel finished collecting enough twigs and leaves.

“Ohooh.. That’s a lot of tinder and kindling.”

He said. Riel silently nodded proud of her job. Chronos on the other hand scratched his head and his guardian noticed this.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmm… These woods are still unseasoned.”

Was what he said. It was apparent that Riel wasn’t unfamiliar with what Chronos was dealing with. Unseasoned woods meant that the woods still has too much water content to be used as fuel. Therefore, the woods needed to be seasoned first otherwise it would be very time and effort consuming.

“Might take us 3 to 6 months to season this.”

Chronos added. Meanwhile, Riel strolled towards the wood’s direction and picked up a chunk. She then laid it down on the ground for inspection.

“I think we’re going to be okay.”

She said.

“You mean you can somehow dry the woods?”

Chronos asked in order to verify what the girl meant by her words. Riel nodded silently as she tried getting a feel of the wood’s texture with her palm.

“I need to bring the water content down to 15%”

She said as she prepared herself. Chronos thought to himself “Ohh, she knows her stuff huh?” as he watch the girl prepare to season the woods.

Moments later…

Riel separated her palms from the wood that she was inspecting not long ago. Instead of directly pressing her palms on the woods, she laid her palms a few inches mid-air above the wood to make space for what she was planning.

The whole camp area was silent. Not even the wind blew. There was only Chronos who was silently watching and the girl that was quietly doing her job.

At first, it looked like nothing was happening. Chronos had begun to doubt whether Riel really knew what she was doing, but moments later, he saw it. He saw the liquid that was coming out of the wood. The liquid that was supposed to be inside the wood was floating in the space between the wood itself and Riel’s palm.

It started really small, but not long after, the water in the shape of a ball became noticeable. It wasn’t big. But it was noticeable enough unlike when Riel first began drying the wood. Still, who would have thought that it was actually possible to forcefully season woods that way.

Riel continued working on the woods while Chronos watched in silence, gaping at the sight of his awesomely convenient tool. No, wait. Something isn’t right. It was supposed to be “awesomely convenient guardian”. Apologies.

Time passed and Riel finished her work. It was Chronos’ turn to do his job, but just like earlier, he scratched his head thinking hard about something.

“Is something wrong?”

Riel asked Chronos. Maybe he wasn’t satisfied with Riel’s work. But no. That wasn’t it.

“I don’t have a maul...”

Was Chronos’ problem. Being familiar with a maul used for log splitting, the girl called Riel decided to offer her services once more.

“Do you want me to make one?”

But Chronos decided to spend a few moments in order to think. Only about half a minute later, he seemed to have stumbled on an idea.

“Hm.. Heh heh.. No worries. I got this!”

Was what he said. He wore a proud smile as he unsheathed his sword. No, he wasn’t going to use his sword to split the woods. If he were to use his sword, then it was going to be “log slicing” instead of “log splitting” and those are two different things. So, instead of the sword, he wielded his trusty scabbard instead.

Riel didn’t react. Maybe she knew what Chronos was planning. Maybe not. She simply watched as Chronos used the same “Regal Blade” technique on the scabbard. Though the technique he used for the scabbard was a little half-assed because he didn’t want to sharpen the scabbard too much otherwise it wouldn’t be any different than when he was using his sword.

After applying Regal Blade on his scabbard, he proceeded to split his first wood. At first, both guardian and knight was uncertain of what will happen. Riel stared intensely while Chronos kept his eyes wide opened as he hammer the scabbard down to the standing wood.

“This might be dangerous…”

Was what he was thinking. Of course that would be dangerous. It was dangerous enough that their world seemed to have stopped moving when the scabbard contacted the wood.

“Krrikk”

Was the sound of the wood being successfully split.

“Ohh… OooOOOoohhh!!. A SUCCESS!!”

As Chronos said, it was a success. Riel’s eyes glowed at the sight of the wood-splitting scabbard. She was fascinated by that idea. She was fascinated by the person standing in front of her. Even though he can be idiotic, nothing hides the fact that Chronos was a fine adventurer.

Riel nodded twice expressing her pride in her Knight. It was as if she was saying “That’s my Knight for ya.”

Chronos continued chopping woods for an hour while Riel didn’t have anything to do, so she just sat down watching her knight do his job.

After splitting the woods, Chronos went straight to determining what time it was. Depending on the answer, they may have to rush. Fortunately, time appeared to be still three hours away from darkness and so, Chronos decided to slow down a bit. No, he wasn’t trying to be lazy. He was simply slowing down or else he would run out of things to do. But, but… What if he was forgetting something? Oh well.

Chronos decided that it was time he clear an area for their campfire. Riel on the other hand, just like when her knight was chopping woods, simply watched as Chronos silently cleared the area which would be used as ground for the fire that they will build.

Time went by and he finished clearing the ground. This time he went to search for rocks to be used to restrain the fire from traveling where they don’t want it. Who wants the whole forest to be burned? Well, maybe there are some people with a few screws missing on their heads, but any normal person wouldn’t want to cause a forest fire.

Riel being bored, decided to help Chronos get some rocks.

“Strong… Definitely strong. Scary strong.”

Was him murmuring to himself. He saw just how easy it was for Riel to lift rocks that were supposed to be heavy. Riel made it look like she was carrying some pea-sized rock from Chronos’ perspective. Well, to be fair, the duo was never in need of super big rocks. Still, considering the delicate appearance of the girl, one would think that she will have at least a bit of a hard time carrying medium-sized rocks.

It took only a bit of time for them to collect enough rocks. Now they just need to set things up. First, the rocks and next, the fire itself. Chronos and Riel decided to go with a teepee fire because it was the simplest fire to make. It was about an hour and a half before the moon’s visit when they decided to set the fire up.

First, lay the tinder at the center of the fire site. The tinder was composed mostly of dead leaves and grass. Next, place kindling above the tinder. They should be standing leaning forwards. The duo decided to place twenty twigs surrounding the tinder while leaving an open space where air could get in so that the fire could get the air it needs. Finally, a few of the bigger logs and the fire was finally finished! All that remained to be done was to light it.

Of course, the duo couldn’t afford to light the fire too early or else, they will go through their resources quickly and meaninglessly. So, they waited until the sun was setting before igniting the fire.

It was time. Yes, the time to light the fire has come. Chronos was preparing himself for the hard work in front of him when Riel volunteered.

“I’ll light it.”

She said as she fixed her vision on the teepee fire in front while she was sitting on her feet with her hands on her knees.

Chronos was like “huh?” but Riel simply repeated her “I’ll light it.” Chronos couldn’t do anything but surrender to the fighting spirit that his Guardian showed.

As if the show of surprises still hadn’t ended, Chronos was behind Riel closely watching his Guardian while constantly having the thought “what is she going to do?”. Once again, it was silent. How many times did this already happen? So many surprises in just a single day. Anyways, it began. The final show of surprise had finally began.

Riel inhaled. No, not just any ordinary inhale. She inhaled till her lungs were full of air. And then she held her diaphragm. Finally, she exhaled through her mouth and guess what?

“What are you? A dragon?!”

Was Chronos’ inner monologue the moment he saw Riel breathing fire. She probably would be the cutest dragon ever. Going back on topic, Riel managed to easily light the campfire. The tinder composed of leaves and grass was set on fire very easily. The fire then traveled to the kindling and the twigs started burning. As the fire went its way to the top of the kindling, it traveled to the bigger logs next. Finally, their campfire became complete. It was a success.

Because of how Riel demonstrated her super convenient abilities, it Reminded Chronos of something. He was fond of reading books. He still is. He would read all kinds of books during his free time. It didn’t even matter whether he was reading a book talking about a topic he was interested in or not. He would read absolutely anything. Of course, all those times he tried reading something he wasn’t interested at, he would always end up forgetting the contents of the book.

So, what did he remember? Just as mentioned, Chronos is fond of reading books and that includes fictional stories. There was a time when overpowered, convenient protagonists became popular in fictional stories. Many authors would write countless stories featuring very, very convenient protagonists that seemed capable of doing absolutely everything as if they were God. To Chronos, Riel was like those protagonists.

“Are you some kind of a wish fulfillment, self-insert MC?”

Was what he thought. No, he planned not to blurt that one out. Still, Riel managed to momentarily tap on Chronos’ mind therefore figuring out what he was thinking at that exact moment.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Guh! Stop reading people’s thoughts! Thoughts are supposed to be private, you know.”

He responded in a shock. Still, Riel couldn’t help but feel curious. She went close to him. Too close in fact. Chronos could feel her breath as she tried talking him into speaking.

“Say it! Say it! What do you mean by ‘wish fulfillment, self-insert MC’?”

She forcefully asked like a child. Chronos could only give up and speak

“AAhh! Fine! It means you are too convenient. I bet people are all dreaming of becoming like you.”

Indeed. If Chronos were to write a book, he’d most definitely imagine himself being that oh-so-powerful and convenient main character whose sole purpose is to show the world just how great he was. How nice it would be if it was reality.

“Fufufu… Aren’t I impressive? Say it. I’m amazing. Right, right?!”

She smiled a really, really big smile showing her teeth to the point that her eyes weren’t visible any longer. She was cute. Cute enough to tempt Chronos into patting her. And that’s exactly what he did.

(pat)(pat)

His palm was caressing her head. Fortunately for him, Riel wasn’t as annoyed compared to when they were still on the floating island.

“What are you doing?”

“Patting you of course.”

“Why are you patting me?”

“Just because!”

“Don’t treat me like a child!”

And there we go. She finally decided it was time for Chronos to stop patting her.

(Grrooowwwwlll)

Wait, what was that sound? It appears Chronos was finally running out of nutrients and his body was explicitly asking for it. That was when he realized the fatal mistake that he made. Yes, he forgot to hunt food. No meat or anything. Not even fruits. At this rate, the two of them would have to pass the night with their protesting stomachs. Just then, he heard someone giggle.

“Fufufu… Want some food?”

“Huh? We don’t have food.”

“Whose fault is that?”

“Errmm..”

Riel mentally cornered Chronos, but Chronos didn’t want to admit the fact that he was the one responsible for their lack of food. Just then, Riel took out a large potato out of her Magic Bag.

“I might give this to you if you are honest.. He he…”

Chronos remembered just how heavenly and celestial the taste of Riel’s potato was. He managed to control his urge. Or not.

“I-its my fault… Hand over the potato, please?”

“Okay! Say aaahhh!!”

He agreed to the deal and Riel handed him the potato. Except that she did it in a different way. She was trying to feed Chronos the potato instead of give it. Chronos closed his eyes and went “aaahhh..” when he realized,

“Wait, no! That’s not right. Give it to me! You traitor!”

“A ha ha ha ha! He almost fell for it!”

Riel laughed it out first before finally giving the potato to Chronos for real.

The duo sat behind the big tree as they eat their fill. The sounds of nature including those belonging to nightly animals echoed along with the sound of the campfire. The orange light the fire was producing together with nature’s background noise had a relaxing effect on Chronos. That was one of the reasons he decided to travel. Because of that feeling. The kind of feeling one would never feel if they were to stuck themselves in their own little world.

Moments later, just right after eating, Chronos was blankly staring into the night sky when he heard something. Yes, Riel was humming a song. It was a song that sounded nostalgic and sad. It felt like there was a really tragic story behind the melody. It was as if there was a certain Ancient Wish that went unfulfilled and yet, at the end of it, one would see a faint light of hope. It was as if the ending of the song was like A New Beginning. Like the start of an adventure; Of a journey that will light the path forward.

If one is experienced enough, they would be able to infer that the song is in Key of G Major. The musical style used is similar to eastern music. It just so happened that Chronos also liked eastern music. He was interested not to mention Riel seemed to be good at singing.

“What song is that?”

Riel momentarily stopped upon being asked. She wore a smile. It wasn’t a happy smile. It was the smile of someone who was recalling a distant memory. Memory that will never be brought back again. It was the smile of someone basking in the feeling of nostalgia and longing.

“He called it ‘Moonlight Gaze’.”

“I see.”

“...”

There was a short silence before Riel continued

“He made the song just before he died. He told me to sing it whenever I miss him. He also told me I could sing it whenever there is a full moon. ‘Look up into the night sky and sing’ was what he said.”

Chronos didn’t know what to say. The mood was quite different. He also felt the sadness within Riel and it reminded him of something. He wasn’t sure what, but he felt like there was something important that he was supposed to do but he couldn’t really remember. Still, he took the trouble to say something.

“It’s a beautiful song.”

Chronos praised the song. He also secretly praised Riel’s singing skills. Riel was like a mother humming a beautiful lullaby to her child and the child would fall asleep listening to the mother’s gentle voice.

After that was basically them quietly passing the time. The fire would lose fuel every now and then and so, the duo decided to add logs alternately. After Chronos, Riel would add fuel next then back to Chronos. That cycle repeated until sleepiness finally arrived. The door to the world of dreams welcomed them and so, they decided to give in and slept inside the house that Riel made for the two of them. And thus, one beautiful day accompanied by peace and surprises ended.