There was a girl sitting at the water tank where Riel used to eat his lunch. Why didn’t Riel notice her earlier? Perhaps the overwhelming feeling of nostalgia did not allow him to see anything but the things that he wanted to. It was a girl with a similar hairstyle to Riel’s big sister. She was tall enough to be at around his neck if they were to stand side by side, but she wore the face of a young girl befitting her age. She was clearly a student of the school as she wore the school uniform.

“Why are you crying?”

She asked the flustered Riel as she went down the tank in order to get closer.

“I-I’m not crying..! I’m really not!”

Riel covered his eyes using his left arm. He was feeling a combination of nervousness, embarrassment, and confusion.

“Jeez, you can’t lie to me.”

She said as she searched for something in the pocket of her skirt.

“Here. You can use this.”

She gave Riel a warm smile as she offered him her handkerchief.

“I said I’m not crying..!”

Or so Riel said, but he ended up taking the handkerchief anyway.

“T-thanks… Sorry that you had to see me like that. Must have been really weird.”

“Not really. My favorite author once said that being able to cry is a great ability. It allows you to express your feelings in a way that isn’t violent, and afterwards, you feel really light and calm.”

Riel had a sense of deja vu as he heard the girl say those words. His eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t want to just assume. There are countless authors who could’ve said the same thing.

“Hmm.. Sounds like a great author.”

“Yep! He really is a great author! I love Kazetachi. That’s why I became his editor.”

Riel tried his hardest not to make any unnecessary reaction to the girl’s words, but he couldn’t prevent his jaw from dropping.

“O-okay? S-sadly, I don’t know him. But now I’m interested. Will you recommend me some stories that he had written?”

Riel decided to test the girl. His hands were shaking and sweating from nervousness and the residual embarrassment, but he couldn’t believe what the girl just said. He simply could not believe that his editor would be someone so close to him. Most of all, he was under the assumption that she was a he.

[W-what’s with this development? I’m not a light novel protagonist!]

He was right. He was not a light novel protagonist and everything that had happened was for a reason and not just out of pure coincidence. That said, a sudden development would remain to be a sudden development no matter what. The girl held her chin as she arranged her thoughts.

“I love all of his works, but if I were to pick my favorites, I’d say I really reaaallly love The Wish of an Eternity, Regal Wings, and the Essence of Truth.”

The girl went ahead back to the water tank. She also gestured to Riel as if she wanted him to join her.

[Is there even enough space for two?]

Riel thought to himself, he can’t remember it that much, and the fact that he never experienced having someone sit with him at the tank makes him unable to figure out whether there was enough space, but when he took a sit...

“There’s just enough space for two people…”

He blurted out

“I-is this okay..? I feel like I’m invading your personal space.”

The girl nodded. Riel felt really awkward and was not able to keep the conversation going. He was never that good at talking to strangers, and the fact that the girl saw him in an embarrassing moment of his life really made things worse for him, but the girl began telling him her story.

“I once lived in America. It was not a bad country, but I felt like I really had no place there. I couldn’t relate to their culture even though my own country’s culture already has some American vibe to it. After all, The Philippines has a really close relationship to America, and Filipinos would often go with the trend. Maybe it wasn’t the culture that I couldn’t stand. Maybe it’s the fact that I had to live far from my friends and relatives.”

She stopped speaking for a moment in order to get a feel of the air because it was quite windy and it felt relaxing and calming. Riel used that time to say something.

“Were you having a hard time speaking their language?”

And her answer was,

“No. My command of the language has always been good, but it just felt like something was missing. Food, as well as mostly everything, was different. I missed my home, my friends and my cousins. There came a time when my frustrations were beginning to affect my studies and I would always be in conflict with my parents, teachers, and classmates. I had no idea what to do anymore. That was when I stumbled upon a story. It was around 3 years ago. He was still a fairly new writer. Despite being an amateur writer who would just post his stories online for people to read free of charge, he was so active that you’d think he didn’t do anything in his life but write. Some people probably felt his enthusiasm and began financially supporting him. Of course, his earnings back then are nowhere near what he’s getting these days. He’s come a long way. Anyways, back then he only had three novels in total, and one of those three caught my attention. It was the title that resonated with me. Even though his works didn’t have any covers in them, the title alone was everything I needed to start reading. It was He who had no Place in the World. I felt like someone understands my feelings. It felt like I was not alone. Having someone somewhere in the world who knows the feeling of not having a place for themselves made me feel better. I thought that I have finally found a comrade. I began reading. Devouring his written work in ten hours straight without a care in the world. I didn’t realize how long I have been reading to the point that I even skipped my food and bath. At the end of the main character’s journey, I found myself drowning in my own tears. How can a story so badly written be so beautiful? How can a story filled with grammatical errors and tense-mixups be this immersive? Why does the story feel so real to the point that it felt like I was reading the author’s heart himself? I became addicted to his stories. I began cheering him every time he feels down and exhausted. I started spreading his work using any way I could find. Not long after, I found myself helping him make his work more readable and enjoyable.”

She stopped momentarily to gauge Riel’s interest. Having figured that Riel was intently listening, she decided to not waste a single second and spoke once more.

“I’ve gotten close to Kazetachi by wearing a male persona online. He was not hiding the fact that he was an introvert, and that he wasn’t really good at talking to strangers especially with girls. That’s why I decided to be manly whenever I’m chatting with him. Just a little more than a year ago, I finally decided about what I would do. I voiced what my heart was telling me to my parents. I told them I want to go back to my home country even if it meant taking care of everything by myself. Kazetachi is sharing some of his income with me anyway. I certainly can live off on my own for as long as Kazetachi will continue to work with me. The living costs in the Philippines isn’t that expensive, too. My biggest worry was the tuition fee, but I got my parents to shoulder that responsibility. I did my best to extract some information out of Kazetachi because I wanted to live close to him. I found out where he used to study on his high school years and got myself admitted here. Fast forward to the present time, I am now living by myself, and quite comfortably, too. I’m able to do what I love without needing to give up on my studies or social life. I feel sooooo alive! It’s all thanks to him.”

Riel didn’t know what kind of expression he was supposed to make after hearing that heartfelt story from the girl, but he wanted to know.

“Do you have any idea as to where he lives?”

The girl nodded as to confirm, but

“Then why haven’t you visited him yet?”

“Because I’m afraid that I’ll destroy the relationship that we have.”

“Doesn’t that mean you don’t trust him enough?”

But the girl shook her head.

“I don’t want him thinking I’m some kind of an unwanted stalker. I don’t want to destroy his image of me as his editor. It’s my fault for not being mentally strong, but that’s the reason I’m here today. I usually stay here whenever there’s something I want to think about and I don’t want anyone to disturb me. Today, I’ve decided to lay it all bare.”

Riel wore a soft smile as he looked straight in the eyes of the girl.

“Well, aren’t you lucky? Because I’M here.”

The girl nodded. For a moment, she kept her vision downwards, and soon she herself would be drowning in tears the same way Riel did not long ago.

“C-can I hug you? *sniff* *sniff*”

“W-what?!”

“Jeez. The man I dedicated my life to since 3 years ago is sitting beside me… At least *sniff* allow me *sniff* to be rewarded for all of my efforts.”

Riel knew that he’s paying his editor enough compensation for all the help he’s getting, so he couldn’t understand at first what the girl meant by *allow her to be rewarded*, but he soon understood that what she wanted was an emotional reward.

“I-if it’s okay, I’d like to hug you.”

He said while thinking something along the lines of

[This is just a reward. This is just a reward. This is just a reward.]

[I’m not doing anything against the law I SWEAAARRR]

“Did you already know that I recently began teaching here?”

“Yep. No wonder you’ve been slacking a lot lately…”

“Sorry. I plan to up my game soon enough. But to think that we would meet here for the first time, fate can be really surprising sometimes.”

“I was surprised too when I saw you entering and walking here in the rooftop. I thought you’d scold me for breaking the rules, but you cried like a baby instead.”

“F-forget about it. A-also, don’t stick your snot on my clothes.”

“Ehehe. This is the seal that will bind your soul to me for all of eternity.”

“S-seal my ass! I still have to go back to…”

Riel then realized that he had to come back and check on his students. He even forgot about Runa, but

[It’s just Runa. I guess it’s fine.]

But before he could forget,

“What’s your real name, Kazlov?”

The girl who turned out to be Riel’s editor who’s online persona was named Kazlov whispered to Riel’s ear her real name.

“Lydia Lumara”

Riel got a bit shocked which resulted in him almost falling from the tank, but Lydia managed to get him to regain his balance.

“D-don’t joke around like that! You could’ve told me your name the normal way!”

With a wide smile, Lydia told him

“Sorry, I just couldn’t contain my happiness.”

Afterwards, Lydia asked for his phone number as well as if she could visit him one of these days. Riel, on the other hand, invited her to go right after club activities which she was happy to accept.