Chapter 209: A Little Misunderstanding

The inner world remained unchanged.

Above, the heat of the four suns bathed everything in a refreshing warmth, neither scorching nor mild, just enough to soothe the skin.

The rhythmic crashing of waves against the shore rang with such clarity, it felt indistinguishable from reality.

Where the sky kissed the ocean at the horizon, a boundless stretch of blue met another, a breathtaking union of sea and sky.

A gentle breeze carried the salty tang of the sea, tickling the nose with its briny fragrance and stirring memories of open waters.

The white sand beneath glistened like powdered crystal beneath the sunlight, fine enough to slip between one’s fingers like silk.

As the beach stretched inland, the sand gave way to rich, dark soil, marking a quiet transition.

At the heart of the island, a lush field of green gently swayed in the wind, before giving way to the dense canopy of an ancient forest that loomed further in, mysterious and deep.

In one area of the green expanse, a group of children gathered around an unconscious girl with black hair.

They were confused, worried, and increasingly panicked as they tried to help her—yet no matter what they did, they could not touch her.

"Hey, is that Regis?"

One of the children spoke, leading the others to also notice his arrival.

Upon seeing his figure, hope lit up in their faces.

"Regis!"

A familiar voice resounded as two figures exited the crowd, hurrying to where he was.

Regis, who froze as he saw Vanessa lying unconscious on the ground, came back to his senses.

"Greg! Lea!"

He called out upon recognizing the two figures that were running towards him.

Although he and Lea had a somewhat awkward phase between them because of him rejecting her in the past, they had gone through so much together that it did not bother them for too long.

Regis gave the two of them a hug before asking, "Is that Vanessa?"

"Yes!" Lea answered as the two of them pulled Regis towards where the crowd was.

The children greeted him with smiles on their faces as they made way for him.

Regis’s expression turned serious as he arrived in front of the unconscious Vanessa.

She was still the same as before; her lightly tanned skin was typical for a village girl like her.

Her shoulder-length black hair had a glossy sheen, catching some of the sunlight.

She still wore the same clothes she had on when she was alive: a cotton long-sleeve shirt and pants, layered with leather bracers, elbow guards, shoulder guards, and sturdy leather combat boots with knee guards.

This was the standard gear worn by her and the other children who had been chosen by the demonic human leader at the time.

In Regis’s eyes, she seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Thus, she turned to Greg and asked, "What’s the problem with her? She seems fine to me."

"Well..." Greg scratched the side of his face, "...sleeping at times is normal since being conscious makes us feel drained. But because of what happened a month ago, our need for sleep slowly disappears."

Lea chimed in, "She’s been sleeping for days— maybe weeks already... Besides that, we can’t touch her."

Greg demonstrated as she spoke, attempting to touch Vanessa’s hand.

Regis’s eyes widened as he saw Greg’s hand passing through hers without as much as a resistance.

"Strange..." He then crouched down and reached for her hand.

However, it was everyone’s turn to be surprised as they saw his hand touching hers successfully.

Regis then looked at Greg, "About what you said earlier, the one that happened a month ago, what exactly do you mean by that?"

"I don’t really know how to explain it... but the world became enshrouded with purple energy."

Greg then looked at Lea, who continued his words, "It’s different from demonic power... Anyways, the purple energy made us feel something in our souls, and since then, we didn’t need to sleep except for Vanessa, who remained unconscious since then."

’Purple energy? And if it’s a month ago, then it means that...’

Regis’s mind instantly worked upon hearing their words, ’...it’s the time when I forcefully connected my mana and aura stars to gain access to aether.’

’Did the aether have some kind of effect on souls?’

He asked inwardly before he looked at the others, "Remember when my friends were sucked into this world? Were you able to touch them back then?"

"Oh, you mean your two girlfriends?" Lea tilted her head.

"They’re not—"

"I’m just kidding." Lea smiled before thinking seriously, "I don’t remember touching them... How about you, Greg?"

"I didn’t even stand near them." Greg responded.

They then asked the other children, only to be met with the same answer.

"This makes things complicated..."

Regis scratched the back of his head, "Well, first of all..."

"You have an idea already?" Lea asked with an expectant face.

"No... I wanna ask you to help me transplant the pink flower back there..."

"..."

Seeing them remain silent, Regis let out an awkward laugh, "I’m sorry..."

***

Thirty minutes later...

"Finished!" Greg wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

Clap— Clap— Clap—

Regis and Lea applauded him while the others played with each other, and some stood beside the sleeping Vanessa.

"I didn’t expect you to be capable of transplanting the flower that quickly!"

"I would have been faster if the two of you hadn’t repeatedly argued over where to put the flower! Didn’t you see how many holes of soil we made before you two came to a decision!?"

Regis and Lea glanced at each other, sparks forming in between them.

The former was the first to speak, "Well, it would have been fine if we just chose a random location..."

"No! This flower represents something more, don’t you know that? It should be the landmark of the community that will live in this world from now on!" Argued the latter.

"You two can shut up now." Greg had a tired expression as he began walking towards the ocean, looking to wash his hands that was covered in earth.

As the three of them walked together, Regis noticed the two boys who had been watching over Vanessa the longest.

"Those two... what are their names again?"

Greg answered, "They’re Perto and Brutt, Vanessa’s lackeys. They were also chosen by the demonic human leader back then, so they had somewhat decent clothes, unlike us..."

Regis’s eyes unwittingly wandered over Lea and Greg, as well as the other children’s outfits.

Compared to Vanessa and the other two’s decent clothes, theirs could simply be described as a little better than rags.

"Isn’t Brutt the one who liked licking blood back then? Does he still do that? And isn’t Perto the first one to kill the hostage on our first day back at the camp?"

Hearing his words, Lea giggled, "Brutt was like that because of the demonic power awakening his Gold-grade gift called Blood Craze while Brutt was really desperate and mentally unstable back then."

"But they’re all good kids that were being taken advantage of by the demonic humans— In fact, all of us are, aren’t we?" Greg added as he crouched down and washed his hands with the ocean water.

Seeing them speak, Regis smiled, "It seems like you were able to get to know each other, huh?"

"Of course! After all, it’s just the hundred or so of us here."

"Besides, it’s easy since we can let out the anger we’ve felt back then. I also want to thank you for giving us a chance to be like this."

Seeing both of their expressions, Regis smiled, "No, I should be the one to thank the two of you. Without you, I wouldn’t even know what will be of m—"

But before he could finish, a shout interrupted their conversation.

"Vanessa’s awake!"

It was Perto who shouted, causing everyone to run towards them.

"Let’s go too." Regis suggested, prompting a nod from Lea and Greg.

Since they were not really that far, they were able to reach them after running for a minute or so.

"W-What’s happening? Why are you all so near me? Don’t you have better things to do?" Vanessa spoke with a groggy voice as she felt as if she was about to suffocate.

Brutt then stood up and told the others to open up some space for her.

Vanessa held her head with an uncomfortable expression on her face, "Why is my head aching so mu..."

However, she was not able to finish her words as she realized what it meant soon after.

"Why is my head aching?"

"Took you long enough to wake up."

"Regis!? You’re here!" Vanessa rushed towards him and hugged him excitedly.

However, Regis’s eyes widened as he felt something in her chest.

"Vanessa... your chest..."

"Huh?"

At his words, not only Vanessa, even the others looked at him weirdly.

"I didn’t expect you to be such a pervert, Regis. I remember back then when your cute little one still looked so innocent..." Lea said with a smirk.

Regis looked around, a blush arising on his face, "N-No, it’s not like that— And what do you mean by cute little one!? Why do you still remember that!?"

His words and embarrassed expression caused Vanessa and Lea to giggle, followed by the laughter of Greg and the other children.