Ganersam Volume 2

“You arrived just in time.”

I let out a sigh of relief as I lumped myself down into Amber’s chair.

“That’s pretty impressive, though. It’s the most powerful Lightning Cut I’ve seen so far.”

Nia gave me a compliment from the co-pilot seat.

“Main character powers.”

I said with a chuckle.

“You ended up getting no training at all.”

Emma muttered silently, a small frown on her face.

“Haha... yeah... Don’t worry, I’m slightly more confident in magic, now.”

“Just slightly?”

“Yeah.”

Truth be told, I still have no confidence in my magic. I only felt like I have slightly more control over it, but not enough to be a major game-changer.

The flight back to Omega took shorter than expected, probably because we were exhausted. Upon arriving, we immediately headed back to the inn.

Both Emma and I collapsed onto the bed almost immediately after we entered, and we slept for the remainder of the day. I dozed off for a while, and by the time I woke up, the skies had gone dark.

Emma was still asleep soundly. The clock showed me that it was already 10 pm. It had been a long day, so she would probably be hungry once she woke up, so I decided to go out. I took my jacket and left the room, taking the key with me. After making sure the door was locked, I went down to the first floor, heading for the entrance.

“Oh hey.”

Nia stood beside the inn’s entrance when I called out.

“You’re looking for dinner?”

“No, me and Senpai had eaten dinner before.”

“Is Amber asleep?”

“Yes.”

“So... you want to come?”

Nia looked at me and nodded.

We headed down the street, passing through the crowd. There was still a considerable amount of people who were awake, enjoying their night with other people. Some drank in cafes, others had a date with their loved ones. Walking through the street this late side-by-side with Nia admittedly made us look like we were partners.

“So, what did you want to do?”

I asked Nia, who silently walked beside me.

“What did you go out for?”

“I want to buy dinner for me and Emma. Unless she woke up when I was asleep, we shouldn’t have had dinner yet.”

“Alright...”

“So... what did you go out for?”

Nia looked up to the starry skies.

“I don’t know. I just feel like getting some fresh air.”

“Ahh, I see... are you concerned with the research lab?”

“Kinda...”

“Are they too powerful for us?”

“Quite the contrary, actually. The army didn’t place many soldiers in the lab, mainly because in the years of fighting, humans never really went that deep, so they don’t see a need to.”

Just what are my fellow humans doing? How come no one attacked them yet?

“Then, what are you worried about?”

“My mentor... my ex-master, N1.”

“You’re afraid of her?”

“... Yeah... She was the one that took the life of my friend, I really don’t want to see her again.”

“I see... Are you sure you want to come with us?”

“I must. I feel like as much as I don’t want to see her, I can’t completely leave the past without seeing her one last time.”

“Well, we’ll just have to make it quick then.”

“Yeah...”

We collectively decided to not walk too far from the inn. This was Omega, after all, we could easily get lost.

“I wonder what I should have for dinner...”

“Hot soups are great for cold nights like this.”

“How does chicken soup sound?”

“Well... it’s you and Emma who would be eating.”

“Ah, you’re right... You want some too?”

“No thanks.”

“Alright.”

Not far from us, a small restaurant sold Chinese-style food, although it was unclear whether they simply look like Chinese food, or they were actually related to them.

We approached the place and ordered two soups for take-away.

I placed down the order and we went to a table to sit.

“So... why were you awake in the first place?”

“I had a dream.”

“What dream?”

“It’s related to my mentor.”

“I understand...”

“You do?”

“Yeah... Sometimes, some things haunt me to the point I can’t sleep. Their trivial compared to yours, though.”

“I see...”

“What is she like, anyway?”

Nia looked down at the table.

“How do I describe her...well, she loves her research. She spends most of her time on it. She rarely socializes... I mean, she was the one who ordered against socializing. Even when training me, she’ll just give me a rundown of the material and sent me on a mission.”

“So she didn’t teach you much?”

“Kinda? I mean, I’m a fast learner, she didn’t need to teach me much anyway.”

“Ah, right...”

“She always has this soft and calm aura around her. She’s like a caring mother... until that day when she killed my friend.”

“You mean... the one who rescued a human mother?”

“Yes. She was chosen as the executioner. She changed after that. She shrunk herself even more into her research. The way she acts... how do I say this... became a bit more... crazy?”

I guess killing one of their own must have taken a toll on that cademon. Unlike the demons, when a cademon died, they stay dead. Taking a cademon’s life meant sending them off this world forever.

“Are you worried about taking her on?”

Nia nodded.

“Yes, I am.”

“I know I said this before, but you don’t have to force yourself. I’m pretty sure the five of us could handle them just fine.”

“No...”

Nia looked at me, her glare piercing into my skull.

“I had been running for 8 months. It’s time for me to face my past.”

“Well... if you’re fine with it, then I won’t stop you.”

Not long after, the chef brought my food to the table. After paying, we left the restaurant and headed back.

“That was quick.”

The whole process only took around 7 minutes.

“It’s 10 pm, so it’s fairly empty.”

“It usually still took more than 10 minutes, though. Sometimes 15 even.”

“You’ve eaten here before?”

Ah, I forgot about that.

“N... no, but...”

“William, could I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“What’s it like on the other side?”

“The other side...?”

At first, I thought she was asking about how Emma was sleeping, considering she had just fallen off the bed earlier. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized what she was actually asking about.

Seeing my conflicted face, she silently said,

“But you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“Well, I would need to tell you, eventually. It’s just whether you believe me or not.”

“Why do you need to tell me? I’m just curious, that’s all.”

“You’re my party member, and my friend.”

I felt my face redden at my own words, and I immediately looked up to hide it.

“My old world, huh...”

My mind flew around, imagining various things that are probably happening now. What my ‘friends’ are doing, what my ‘family’ are doing.

Did they miss me? What did they think about me? Are they happy I’m gone? Or is it the opposite? Things had been going so fast here that I didn’t have much time to reflect, and I, without realizing it, moved on from ‘that’ world.

Nia giggled at my sight.

“Well... let’s keep that story for another day. It wouldn’t be fair for only me to listen to it.”

“I guess...”

“Well anyway...”

Nia took two steps in front of me. She swung her body around. She then looked at me, the yellow street lamp’s glow reflected off her pretty face.

“Thank you for accompanying me.”