Chapter 37: He's Staying!?

Zeldryn stared at the invitation Kera had just thrown toward him. He caught it somewhat awkwardly before examining the envelope again, still finding it difficult to believe that the man had actually been telling the truth.

“Huh...!?”

'So that really wasn't bullshit?'

From the beginning, Zeldryn had never fully believed Kera's claim that he had come from the main residence. That suspicion had only grown stronger after the man suddenly started punching, kicking, and insulting him for no clear reason.

'I thought that was just his excuse so he could beat me up.'

Zeldryn looked down at the letter in his hand before shifting his gaze toward Kera's face.

“So who exactly are you?”

Kera looked back at him with a relaxed smile. “Didn't I already tell you?” He pointed at himself. “I'm Kera, a Level 3 Manholer from the main residence.”

“Yeah, I know that, bastard.” Zeldryn frowned immediately. “I mean, who are you really? Why did you pretend to be some lunatic trying to kill me, then beat me, kick me, and insult me when all you really wanted was to make me use mana?”

Kera fell silent as the smile on his face slowly widened.

“Hmm...”

He seemed to consider the question for a moment before giving the most useless answer possible.

“Who knows?”

Zeldryn's irritation immediately returned. “Bastard.”

Kera paid no attention to the insult and turned toward the bedroom door. Before walking away, however, he raised one hand again, causing mana to gather in front of him. The same dark void Zeldryn had seen earlier appeared in the air, and Kera casually inserted his hand into the opening.

Still sitting on the floor, Zeldryn watched him rummage around inside the strange space.

'What now?'

A few seconds later, Kera pulled his hand back out. This time, instead of an envelope, he was holding several sheets of paper.

At first, Zeldryn only glanced at them. A moment later, however, his eyes widened slightly.

'Wait.'

Kera looked down at the papers in his hand and clicked his tongue.

“Tch. What the hell were you scribbling all over these papers?”

Zeldryn immediately stared at him.

Kera raised one of the sheets and examined it with obvious disappointment. “I thought you were writing something useful. Turns out it's just a child's scribbles.”

Zeldryn froze.

'Don't tell me...'

Kera began walking toward the door. As he moved, he casually turned one hand over and glanced back at Zeldryn.

“Well, I suppose you are still a child.”

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Zeldryn didn't even have the chance to become irritated by the insult. His mind was too busy trying to understand what Kera had just revealed.

Without warning, Kera tossed the sheets behind him. The papers scattered through the air and slowly drifted toward the floor, with one of them floating directly toward Zeldryn before landing against his face with a soft plap.

Zeldryn silently pulled the sheet away.

The moment he saw what was written on it, his eyes widened.

'This is...'

He recognized the paper immediately.

These were his notes.

They were the same notes he had written the previous night, containing various things he had already considered regarding his new life. There were plans for the future, tasks he needed to complete, information he could still remember from Life Really Is Happy, Right?, and several other reminders he had deliberately written down so he wouldn't forget them.

Zeldryn looked at the writing on the page before remembering what Kera had called it.

Scribbles.

He fell silent.

'He called this scribbling?'

The contents weren't what surprised him. Quite the opposite.

Kera seemingly couldn't read the writing at all.

Zeldryn stared at his own handwriting as one of his earlier suspicions suddenly became much more convincing.

'So my guess was right?'

This world really did appear to have its own writing system. The alphabet Reka had brought from his previous world looked like nothing more than meaningless scribbles to someone born here.

That realization immediately led to another question.

'Wait. Then what about the language?'

Zeldryn could understand everything Hera said, along with the guards, servants, and now Kera. He could also speak to all of them without experiencing the slightest difficulty, yet Kera couldn't understand the words Zeldryn had written.

'Does this world actually have its own spoken language too?'

Questions began filling his mind again. Perhaps he was speaking the language of this world without realizing it, or maybe there was something about Zeldryn's body that automatically allowed him to understand and speak it.

But if that were true, why didn't the same thing apply to writing?

Zeldryn sank deeper into thought without even bothering to get up from the floor. Too much new information had entered his head within only a few minutes, and he needed time to process it.

Meanwhile, Kera continued walking toward the door as though he couldn't care less that Zeldryn was experiencing a small crisis inside his own head. Just before reaching the doorway, however, he stopped.

“We'll be seeing each other often from now on, Young Lord.”

Zeldryn immediately snapped out of his thoughts.

“Huh?”

Kera looked back at him with that same strange smile. “Oh, right. I'll bring you a gift later too.”

His smile widened.

“A gift for successfully becoming a candidate for Level 1 Manholer.”

Zeldryn immediately looked at him with suspicion.

'Gift?'

For some reason, hearing that word come from Kera didn't make him excited in the slightest.

'What kind of gift is this psychopath planning to bring me, damn it?'

A moment later, however, Zeldryn realized there was something far more disturbing in what Kera had said.

'Wait.'

He raised his head.

“Seeing each other often?”

Kera stopped.

Zeldryn frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, that?” Kera turned his head slightly toward him and answered so casually that it sounded completely unimportant. “I'm staying here, idiot.”

Zeldryn fell silent.

Kera continued before he could respond. “I already have permission from the main residence.”

For several seconds, Zeldryn simply blinked at him.

Then the meaning finally sank in.

“HAH!? SERIOUSLY?!”

Zeldryn stared at Kera in disbelief.

'You've got to be kidding me. I have to live with this bastard?'

He had known Kera for only a short time, yet the man had already spent almost twenty minutes beating him. Zeldryn had been insulted, kicked, punched, and turned into the target of endless mockery, and now that same man was casually informing him that he would be staying in the mansion.

Reka's mental health felt slightly damaged just imagining what that might mean for the future.

Once his irritation subsided a little, however, Zeldryn forced himself to think about the situation more rationally. He still didn't know who Kera truly was, didn't understand the man's real personality, and had yet to learn the exact reason he had been sent from the main residence.

At least one thing, however, was becoming increasingly obvious.

Kera had no intention of killing him.

If murder had truly been his goal, the man had already been given far too many opportunities. More importantly, judging from everything that had happened earlier, even if Kera's methods were completely psychotic, he really had been trying to teach Zeldryn something.

Zeldryn remained silent as he considered that possibility.

Kera, now standing in front of the door, finally raised one hand.

“Well, that's that.”

Zeldryn immediately looked toward him. “Huh? Wait, I still have a lot of questi...”

The door slammed shut before he could finish.

SLAM!