Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

Chapter 397  Teach

The place where Mister Roy resided was right in the middle of nowhere, quite literally, he stayed in a small underground area while building something on top of the said underground structure. The building had a unique form and strange design, one that Reyn couldn't understand.

Weren't all houses built with four walls? Why did Mister's house have more than four, then? Also, isn't a house supposed to have a ceiling? Plus, what is the strange platform in the middle of the house? Maybe it wasn't a house at all? If not a house, then what was it? Reyn couldn't understand it and had no way to know. Actually, he could ask Mister Roy, but he was scared that questioning him too much would piss him off, and thus he'd get mad at Reyn or try to throw him away again, so Reyn kept all his questions to himself. "Uhhhhh...."

Crouching behind the platform in the middle of the structure, Reyn watched his kind mister going around and doing things he couldn't understand. As this place was in the middle of a dry plain, it was too hot during the day, so they didn't leave the underground rooms often while the sun was up and instead came out when the weather had cooled down.

As it was dark, Mister Roy held a torch in his hand to help him see the area. He was wearing his usual robe and cloak, but the hood wasn't covering his face. The child watched him for a few seconds before picking up a broken branch and hiding behind the platform. It hasn't been long since the platform was created and thus, it was still a little bit soft and muddy on its sides. "Hmm..."

Scribe Scribe

The child peeked at his kind mister while scratching the body of the platform. After a few minutes of careful work, the picture of a man in a cloak while holding a torch was inscribed on the wall. "Reyn? What are you doing?"

"Eek!"

At the man's shot, the child flinched and dropped the branch. "N-nothing, mister!"

The man strolled over and held the torch near the platform. A childish drawing was revealed clearly under the light of the torch. "...."

"I-" Reyn crawled back a little in fear. "I-I'm sorry, mister! I'll erase it! I'll erase it!" Saying that the kid got up to do something, but fell down again after staggering a little bit. "Haaa!"

The kind mister sighed once before picking up the kid with two hands and raising him. The child whined and pouted with an ashamed face while dangling from the man's arms. He swung his feet a little bit in an attempt to jump down, but his Mister didn't let him down. Instead, he hugged and held the child with a hand, picked up the torch he'd put down, and walked to the entrance of the underground residence. They went down a few steps before entering a narrow path. After walking for a while, a few small rooms could be found on the sides of the road. "Mister... I'm sorry..."

"I've told you not to wander around until you're fully healed."

"Sowyy..."

"Just don't do it again."

"Yeeesss..."

The child whined and pouted with an ashamed face while dangling from the man's arms. He swung his feet a little bit in an attempt to jump down, but his Mister didn't let him down. Instead, he hugged and held the child with a hand, picked up the torch he'd put down, and walked to the entrance of the underground residence. They went down a few steps before entering a narrow path. After walking for a while, a few small rooms could be found on the sides of the road. "Are you illiterate?"

"Iintran...te?"

"Then you are."

"Uh?"

Reyn tilted his head from side to side. "If you're going to live with me, you should at least be helpful."

"Uh?"

Roy looked down at the kid who was staring at him with round, widened eyes, apparently a little bit taken aback. "I'll teach you only once, so you must learn them at that one time. Laziness isn't allowed."

"...." Reynold, once again, tilted his head to the side. "Alright, mister!", he said with a broad smile.

He wasn't sure what this man was going to teach him, but whatever it was, he would gladly learn it. After entering their room, Mister Roy handed the child a bunch of papers and a pen, then started to teach him something that was called the 'alphabet'. Apparently, Reyn had to memorize them all. "Hmmm~ Hmmm~ Hmmm~"

Thinking back at the things he'd learned, Reyn lay down with his blanket pulled over him. "...Are you going to sleep with them?"

Roy pointed at the papers that the kid was still hugging. "Yeah! I'll sleep with the alphabet and wake up with the alphabet! I'll learn them all real fast!"

"...Do whatever you want."

"Hehehe!"

Reyn watched his mister's back as he left the room for a while. It didn't take long for the excited kid to fall asleep after that.

"Mmm..." @@novelbin@@

When he opened his eyes, he had to close them once again due to the sunlight that shone on his face. He raised a hand to cover his face from the light. 'Sunlight? But sunlight can't reach their room under the ground...'

"Ren."

He heard a man's voice at that moment, a voice that didn't belong to Roy. Kairen shot his eyes open and sat up. The figure of his brother on his side flinched before rushing to his side. 'Ah... This...'

He was no longer in the underground residence but in a hospital room. It took his mind a few seconds to process things and reach the conclusion that everything he'd seen up until now was nothing but a dream, nothing but a past memory. "Haaaaaa!"

Kairen heaved a deep sigh as he covered his face with his hands. 'A memory a memory... a memory of the past that has nothing to do with me. It has nothing to do with me. These feelings aren't mine, they don't belong to Kairen but to Reynold. They're not real.' Despite repeating that again and again, the heaviness in his chest didn't ease at all. Various thoughts kept forming in his already confused mind, making him feel suffocated. Tap

"...Should I call the doctor?" A hand tapped his shoulder and a voice whispered to his ear. "...." Kairen's wandering thoughts came to a halt for a brief second. "No... There is no need."

Shaking his head, Kairen lowered his hands. His brother was sitting at the edge of the bed, looking at him with a complicated expression. Kairen could say that Aaron was mad, worried, and sad at the same time. "Brother..." Kairen moved a little bit closer to Aaron as he said in a low, fleeting voice, "Give me a hug..."

"Huh?"

"A hug. Need a hug..." Mumbling, Kairen didn't wait for a response or permission as he threw himself on his brother.