With both eyes closed, there was nothing but darkness. Sure the floor creak sometimes, but it had to be known that there was nothing but darkness.

Again, he saw nothing, but only the temporary darkness that his eyelids provided. However, he kept looping that thought, but something else occurred beside his sights when he closed his eyes after a short while; a whimpering noise as if an animal was in deep pain, it ringed in his eardrums causing an old pain to resurface seemingly out of nowhere around his shoulder. A pain that he knew well and has been haunting him since he was exiled from his home.

“Victor?”

“Hm?” He opened his eyes and turned to Keiko, she sat on the tatami mat across from him; eyeing him with a raised eyebrow.

“You should eat,” said the woman.

Victor brought his sight down to the meal that laid on the table in front of him. They were sitting on the floor with their legs crossed. It’s not abnormal for the people of Yakawa to sit on the floor in such a manner. In fact, it is part of their culture, chairs become uncommon here except in eatery or public areas. Even the table was built shorter to accommodate their tradition. After a quick glance around the room, Victor shook his thoughts away and enjoyed the food in front of him.

“It doesn’t taste as good as your cooking, though,” said Victor jokingly.

“I have something for you.”

Keiko took out a set of clothes and laid it on the table, “Something to wear other than your current heartbreaking outfit.”

Victor stared at the clothes with widened eyes, and was stunned; truly stunned, “Ah, thank you.”

“But, how much did it cost?” Victor looked back at Keiko.

“There’s a river close to the town, we should go there to clean ourselves.” Keiko ignored his question.

“Please tell me, how much was it? Because I’ll make sure to pay you back, every single coin.”

“With what money?”

With a blunt question from Keiko, Victor lowered his gaze while gripping his ragged pants because he couldn’t answer her question.

“Take it or leave it. I don’t care.” Keiko waved her hand.

Victor let out a grateful smile while his eyes were teary for some reason, “Thank you.”

They finished their food and left the housing for the river. Upon arriving at the river, Victor was finally able to pull down his hood and started to undress. A toothy smile presented toward the beautiful wide river along with a scream of excitement on the top of his lungs. Without further ado, he climbed a boulder and cannonballed into the river; a big splash erupted from the water and soaked everything else near it. When he swam up, Victor looked at Keiko and he was about to gesture the woman to come in, but quickly panicked out of his mind when he saw the woman.

“What are you doing?!’

“I’m cleaning myself,” said Keiko nonchalantly as she slowly undressed at the riverbank; displaying her full luscious body to the young man.

“Here?” squeaked Victor as he quickly covered his eyes with hands in an effort to prevent himself from seeing any more than he did.

“Where else am I going to do it?” Keiko asked sarcastically as she slowly made her way into the river. A short moan escaped her lips as half of her body was drowned into the lukewarm water. When she made it even further out, most of her upper torso was covered with a large amount of liquid. Victor turned away, his cheeks blushed red and his lips were trembling; his heart thumped loudly like the drums of wars.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...” Despite her erotic body, there was something else in Victor’s mind, he kept staring at the missing arm. When he noticed Keiko was staring at him, he turned his gaze away and down. Out of nowhere, two soft and large melons were pressed against the back of his head.

Those soft melons had short circuits Victor's mind“, W-What?”

“Let me help you clean your back,” said Keiko as it was a casual thing to say at Victor. However, there’s no denying that she was very close to him, to the point where her warm exhalations were caressing against the young man’s head.

“Nope! I’m fine!” squealed Victor as he broke away and rushed to the riverbank to grab his clothes and then rushed off again. That woman has no sense of shame or boundary, or maybe she didn’t see Victor as a man, anyhow, Victor doesn’t want to think about it anymore or remember the sensation of her...nope, not going to think about it. He quickly dried himself and got dressed.

After he got dressed, he turned to his reflection imitating on the puddle near him. He never thought he got to wear this country’s traditional clothing, and yet, here he is, a robe around his body, and a pair of wooden sandals under his feet, and a thick sash wrapped around his waist.

Upon admiring himself, Keiko appeared from behind a large boulder, fully dressed, and proceeded to take a seat on a smaller boulder near the young man. She gestured at Victor to come closer, and confused by what she wanted, he carefully made his way to the woman.

“Are you ready to learn?”

“Oh. Yeah! Woop, Woop!”

“Huh?”

“Just something I invented. Is it okay?”

The woman stood up again with a frown worn on her face, “Focus please, and listen closely: a small pebble, a small splash, a big pebble, a big splash, and yet I asked you: what is the constant?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m going to punch you now.”

“Wait, what?”Her fist slammed against Victor’s stomach causing him to fall on one knee, coughing out the breath he had in his lungs.

“What is the answer?”

“Um? small pebble, big pebble...”

“Slow. I’m going to punch you again.” Victor raised his hands to protect his head, but instead of a fist, a leg slammed against his shoulder.

“You said it was a punch.”

“I lied. Again. You need to be quicker. Again, what is the answer?”

“A pebble!”

“Wrong.” Victor had already prepared himself for any attack, but even if he did, the next punch was as painful or more painful as the others. With a loud ground, Victor dropped to his knees and raised his gaze at the woman before him.

“Again.”

“Stop, you’re hurting him!” The same fair-skinned girl from last night appeared out of the foliage, her eyes glared at Keiko with intense rage but worried at Victor. Yet the boy glanced between Keiko and the new girl; seeking an answer.

“Lady Mirai, you’re not supposed to show yourself.” Now, another girl had appeared out of the foliage; a dark-skinned girl. She ran up to the other girl with both hands raised in concern.

“Lady?” said Victor to no one in particular, his left eyes closed and his right hand pressed against his left arm that was in pain; sure, he was in pain a moment ago, but this disorientating situation managed to subside it as his mind worked overtime.

“I think so. Huh-uh, she might be a daughter to a noble. Do you know both of them?” asked Keiko at Victor as she examined every bit of her lavish dress, and then moved her gaze to the dark-skinned girl.

“Nothing comes to mind.” Victor shrugged his shoulders.

“I will not let you hurt this boy any longer!” exclaimed the fair-skinned girl.

“I think you may have mistaken, Keiko isn’t--” Victor was about to explain, but he was interrupted.

“Oh ho? You! Dare? To tell me what to do? What if I don’t want to stop?” Keiko stepped forward while an air of intimidation poured out, and Mirai: the fair-skinned girl, took a step back. However, the dark-skinned girl stood in front of the fair-skinned girl with both her hands clenched together while she replied the woman’s air of intimidation with her own.

“Julia…You don't--” The faired skinned girl called out to the dark-skinned girl.

“As my sworn duty, I shall protect you from any danger, my lady.” Julia that was her name; she was determined to fight Keiko if she posed a threat to her lady,

“I like this one already. She got a good stance. Victor, you could learn one or two from her.”

“Woah! Stop! Please don’t fight each other. She’s not hurting me out of pleasure, I think so... Anyway, you may have got it wrong, it was all a part of my training, nothing more.”

“Are you sure?” Mirai asked the boy, now doubts were clear as glass on her expression, she may have made a few hasty conclusions.

“I’m leaving, Victor, I can't teach you like this. Do what you want, just don't get yourself into too much trouble,” said Keiko as she walked away and disappeared around the boulder. She did that without giving Victor a chance to stop her, and now it was too late.

“Teacher, wait! Oh, damn it.” Victor called out to her, but she already left the vicinity.

With furrowed eyebrows, Victor turned his glare at the girls, “See what you’ve done?” He took a short sigh and took a seat on a rock.

“Watch your tongue, Outsider! Be polite when you’re speaking to Lady Mirai, and be thankful for her help.” Julia scolded the boy, but none of the words went through Victor’s ears.

He rolled his eyes, “I don't need your help. Do you even understand that?”

“I said watch your tongue!” She jabbed a finger against Victor’s chest.

“Wait, Julia… Don’t be mad at him. He’s right,” Mirai lowered her head, a pleading gaze reflected from the puddle below, “I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”

Victor’s body froze, he did not expect for the high-class girl to apologize, and now he kinda felt bad about it. He knew well that she meant well, she was trying to help him, and that’s not wrong. He shouldn't be harsh to her, but the other girl should stand down. Both of the girls were at fault, but they are not the victim here; Victor was. With his hand, he scratched his head and then crossed his arms before letting out another sigh.

“Forget what I said. Next time just read the room before you start accusing people, okay?”

“Thank you for forgiving us. I will take your advice to the heart,” curtsied Mirai at the boy, and somehow, that triggered Victor’s annoyance.

“Stop that, I don't like that. I hate it when people do that. Kinda remind me of--” He stopped himself and continued with, “Anyway, it’s nice to meet you both. My name Victor, just Victor.” He had seemingly turned his emotion around by wearing a smile on his face.

“Oh yes, a proper introduction is needed. I shall start first, my name is Mirai Kinimo, you may address me whatever you desire.” curtsied again the fair-skinned girl.

“My name is Julia Shinagami, and do not address my lady so casually, only address her as Miss Mirai or Lady Mirai.” The dark-skinned girl crossed her arms and looked away.

“Julia!” Mirai chided the other girl.

“But, my lady. He needs to show you respect. You’re not just some commoner’s daughter, you’re the daughter of the town mayor, you deserve respect and a lot more.” said Julia with a firm voice while Mirai was seen troubled by her servant’s inclination.

“Ah, no. Please don't fight each. You both are giving a headache just from talking to you. If you wouldn't mind, I’m going to leave and find my teacher. Woop Woop! See yah.” Victor left his seating and waved his hand goodbye,

“Wait!” Mirai stopped the boy in his tracks.

Victor glanced behind him, “What is it?”

“Uhm, ahh, Uhm... I want t-to repay you back for the trouble I’ve caused. If you don't mind, I would like to show you around,” Mirai invited the boy with an eager smile on her face.

That invitation would be fine to the old Victor, but now, he did have a bad experience with a particular girl back home, so a doubt appeared in his mind, “Thank you for the invite, but I don’t know…”

“Just go with them, I got some other business to attend. Don't forget to cover your face when you’re heading back to town.” Keiko walked out from behind the boulder with two bags in towed, she disappeared again after she entered the path back to town.

“I wish she showed a little concern. Haaa... fine, lead the way.” Victor waved at the hopeful girl.

Mirai along with Julia strode the same path Keiko took, while Victor followed them from behind. As they got closer to the town, Victor pulled up his hood to hide his face. Mirai started to show Victor around the town by stopping at each of the buildings, and weirdly explained every detail of that building history, from the blacksmith to the local bathhouse. There was a thing that Victor was surprised, there was a killing that happened in the bathhouse a long time ago, but did he had to know though? Anyhow, Victor couldn’t look at the bathhouse in the same way he did before; feeling a bit creep out by the bathhouse, Victor moved along to the next building.

They stopped in front of a fruit stall, the boy looked around and spotted a stall with a single thick book inside a glass pane showcase. He got closer to the stall and examined the book very carefully to find that; it’s a rare book with Archaic writing on it.

“Woah! Oh man, I really want to read that book.”

“Mr. Victor, please have this.” Mirai handed him a piece of grape for him to taste.

“Oh, thank you, and please don't call me mister.” He went back to take a look at the book.

“May I ask, what is it that piqued your interest all of sudden?”

“That book or any book, I supposed. It has been a while since I read one. I used to read stuff a lot...I miss it. I truly do.”

“Here.” Julia settled a fruit on Victor's palm.

“Oh, thank you again. I’m sorry if I can't pay for any of it. Truth to be told, I don't really have any money right now.” Victor placed the fruit into his mouth, stopped, then took it out. He looked at it, and tilted his head, it wasn't a fruit, it was a rock, huh, it’s a rock.

“Julia….I think you accidentally gave me a rock.”

“Tch.” Julia clicked her tongue. “I’m sorry, here.”

Victor looked down in his palm, and quickly tossed it to the ground, “It’s just another rock!”

“Tch.”

“Don’t ‘Tch’ me! ‘Tch’ you!”

Mirai giggled with a hand ignorant of her lips, “I’m so jealous of you two. You both got along so quickly.”

“Lady Mirai, I think you have mistaken. I will not or care to get along with this rude man. To put it simply, I rather die than get along with him.”

“Well, why don't you?” Victor grabbed Julia by the collar and so did her to the boy while glaring at each other faces.

“Now, now, don't fight. Victor, why don't you come to my house. I would love to have you over. Also, we have a bunch of snacks there,” Mirai managed to stop Victor and Julia from fighting each other, but they still glared dagger at each other.

“Lady Mirai, an Outsider to your house? Won’t your father be mad if he found out about it?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not like daddy ever set foot inside my room.”

“I agree with Julia with this one, I don't want to cause any trouble here.”

“It won’t. Believe me. Besides, I have a good collection of books there, if you want to read.”

Bound by leather, cracked and dry with age, from thin to thick that stitched together perfectly, and smell faintly of pipe tobacco and dust. They contained the knowledge of the world or sometimes contained a whole new world of their own. That is what a book is, and from his hair to toe, Victor loved them so much, so that offer was one that he couldn't resist, so he agreed to it, and away they go.

However, the invitation is without a doubt has its own drawback, one of the main conditions was Victor cannot be seen by anyone in that house, and so that’s why he had to climb a tree to get over the wall. Upon reaching the top, he was flooded with unexpected awe, the house was an understatement, it was large in terms of width, not height, it had no second floor, but the land it had occupied was massive, and the rooms were large in terms of numbers.

“Not bad at all…”

Crack, crack, Victor's eyes widened as the branch broke and he fell into the bushes below. Pain bursts throughout his body, but he had to contain his own painful scream to avoid drawing attention to himself. After the pain had subsided, Victor lay there with his arms and legs spread apart as he watched the sky above.

“The things I do for knowledge…”

“Victor…” Someone faintly called out to him.

Victor raised his upper body and peeked through the bushes, he saw Mirai waved at him to come into the room. He waved back and sneaked quickly lacrosse the lawn and into the room. After Victor stepped inside, Mirai closed the sliding door behind him. Victor looked over the table and he was relieved, all of his hard work to get into the mansion was rewarded. There were about a dozen books on that table, and most of them in Yakawa’ language, but one of them was especially rare. It is another one of the Archaic books, but this was different in terms of writing and cover design.

Victor quickly rushed to pick the Archaic book, “Where did you even get this?”

“Daddy bought it for me, but I never was able to read it, maybe perhaps you could?”

“This kid?” Julia stared at Victor with skepticism.

“I could.”

“Wait, you can?”

“I knew a few words, but I couldn't translate it fully, and even if I did it partially, it became nonsense. Like for this part ‘Exposure--body--’ you see? it doesn't make sense.”

“Exposure and body? It’s obvious that it got to do with the human body,” Julia shrugged.

“Well that is one of the possibilities, it could also refer to the body of water, but nothing is concrete unless I interpret it fully.”

“Wow, now I am more curious about this book. What knowledge does it contain? The possibilities are endless, it could even contain the knowledge of Magic.” Mirai pressed her hands together with glee.

“Magic doesn't--ah,” Muffin crossed Victor’s mind, her power was magical, no, her entire existence was magical.

“Victor, would you please translate as much as you could? I wanted to know more.” Those curiosities in her eyes reminded him of himself.

“Lady Mirai, I shall guard the door in case anyone comes.” With a pouted lips, Julia was about to stand up when Mirai stopped her.

“What are you saying, Julia? Join us. It is way more fun together, am I right?” Her smile was so bright that it caused the dark-skinned girl to lose her train of thoughts and sat back down.

“I couldn’t agree more, more people, the merrier it became.” Victor continued to translate the page.

“If only you wanted me here, Lady Mirai.” Julia presented a small smile at the fair-skinned girl.

“Oh wow, you are totally ignoring me.” Victor rolled his eyes.

“I didn't mean to, Victor. Here, have this apple.”

“Oh? Thank you, I didn't expect you to be this nic--” He looked down at his palm, “Another rock!” Victor threw it out of the opened window with rage.

Both Julia and Mirai couldn't hold their giggles as they watched Victor pouted while huffing and puffing. “Laugh all you want because I ain’t translate any more of this book.”

“It was just a joke, Victor,” Julia shrugged.

“We’re sorry, Victor. Please translate it, I’m curious, please,” Mirai pleaded.

It was more fun than Victor had expected to be. It seemed that it had been a while since Victor had this much fun, and judging by the girls’ face, maybe that wasn't just true to him, it was true for them too. Thinking too much would ruin it anyway, so Victor just kept his fussy thought behind and enjoyed the moment for now.