The Deal
Goal!
The ball is in!
Inter Milan leads AC Milan 2-1!
The great Grosso continues the glorious tradition of Italian football! Facchetti, Maldini, at this moment their spirits have possessed him… He's not alone! He's not alone!
"What a mess…" Freyr frowned at the television. "Why is the Serie A broadcast commentating like it's the World Cup?"
He walked over and smacked the TV, then grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the coffee table and lit one up for himself. Taking a deep drag, he felt a sense of relief.
Comfortable… It had been so long since he last smoked. There were no cigarettes in the Wallace Empire…
Hmm? What am I saying? What Wallace Empire?
Freyr suddenly felt his mind spinning… Then, snippets of memories rapidly flooded into his brain!
The scene before him—his living room, the sofa, the coffee table, the TV, the cabinet—everything began to twist! Finally, everything around him started spinning rapidly, forming a massive vortex, with Freyr standing in the center, being sucked in…
Damn it! My Milan derby… let me finish watching the game…
Boom!
It was as if a thunderclap exploded in his head, followed by what felt like someone banging a drum right next to his ear…
Freyr's headache grew more intense… The pain! It was excruciating! His head felt like it was splitting apart!
"Ah…" Freyr couldn't help but groan, clutching his head, only to find his hair soaked through.
What's going on?
Freyr opened his eyes…
He was finally awake.
No living room, no sofa, no TV, no Milan derby… It was all a dream.
Now, Freyr was lying on a raft, drenched, hair disheveled, and feeling cold.
Rubbing his head vigorously, the pain was still severe, far worse than the migraines he had in his previous life. Freyr started massaging his scalp to relieve the pain… but soon found the source of his headache!
Right in the center of his scalp!
Yes, right in the middle! Gently parting his hair, he could distinctly feel a small protrusion on his scalp!
It was a horn!
The aftereffects of his coma had finally disappeared, and Freyr remembered his deal with Samael!
Sure enough… a horn… Ha, I have a horn on my head now.
The horn felt hard and cool to the touch, seamlessly integrated with the skin and bones of his scalp… it didn't feel at all like it was surgically "grafted" on.
Fortunately, it wasn't too long, only about a third of a finger in length, and as thick as a thumb.
Freyr kept touching the horn on his head. "Sigh, I wonder what material Samael used… It doesn't feel like bone…"
The sea was calm, with nothing but endless ocean in every direction, clearly far from that dreadful island now!
The raft beneath him was exactly the one he had made on the island! Identical in every way! Even the rough seams connected by strips of cloth were the same! (Those were sewn with sharp twigs used as needles and fine strips of bark as thread.)
Hadn't this raft been smashed and sunk? Samael had even managed to restore it; his powers were indeed formidable!
And… the two women.
Naya and Lilith, the two witches, lay on the raft, clinging to each other with their eyes closed, breathing evenly… obviously fast asleep.
Seeing their eyelids flutter, Freyr quickly adjusted his hair to make it look more natural, then tore off a piece of cloth to wrap around his head like a sailor's hat.
Lilith woke up first. She opened her eyes and stared at Freyr groggily. "How… how long was I asleep…?"
Freyr smiled, "Not long."
Naya suddenly screamed, "Ah!! The waves! The storm! Where are they?"
Freyr blinked at her, stifling a laugh, "What storm? What waves?"
Naya looked confused, "I remember we encountered huge waves and a storm… and our raft was sunk…"
Freyr looked at Naya's face, then sighed and touched her forehead, "Are you running a fever?" He pointed around, "Look, we're perfectly fine on the raft. Oh heavens… you must have been too exhausted and had a nightmare."
Lilith chimed in, "Hmm… I… I also dreamed of a storm… our raft, it sank…"
The two girls exchanged confused, bewildered glances.
Freyr sighed inwardly. It seemed Samael was right. When they woke up, they wouldn't remember anything.
Who knows what magic that demon's servant used to erase their memories!!
Naya jumped up, her brow furrowed tightly, "There really wasn't a storm… but that dream felt so real… too vivid!"
Her pretty face was somber, her brow furrowed as she struggled to think but couldn't remember. Lilith, meanwhile, just stared at Freyr with wide, bewildered eyes.
"Alright…" Freyr, feeling guilty, smiled, "I think you were just too tired… Speaking of dreams, you both had the same one… Actually, I had a dream too, and it involved both of you."
"What?" the two girls said in unison.
Freyr smiled, "I dreamed of the comfortable big bed in my castle, with me lying between you two, holding Lilith with one arm and Naya with the other…"
As he spoke, he walked over and put an arm around each of their shoulders.
Lilith immediately blushed deeply, lowering her head. Naya, however, looked more angry than shy!
Whack! She slapped Freyr's hand away and kicked at him.
Freyr nearly fell into the sea from her kick, smiling wryly, "It was just a dream, why so angry."
"Shut up! Don't mention the dream again!" Naya's face was still a bit red.
Then she looked around and suddenly exclaimed, "We… we escaped? We left that island!!"
Seeing the vast ocean around them, the three of them cheered loudly… though Freyr's cheer was feigned.