Samuel just can't relax...

After the little chat with Eve, I was feeling both a bit sad and relaxed at the same time. I still wanted to return back home, and there is no telling if I will ever be able to meet Eve again if that does happen.

By telling her to be happy by finding something she likes doing, I essentially gave her a goal. A purpose to fulfil. Something that will keep her occupied even after I leave.

What happened last night was a very big blunder on my part. I am older than her... I should've judged the situation better... I have no excuses for it... The best I can do now is damage control...

I got dressed and had breakfast inside the room.

"What are you waiting for? the food will get cold. Hurry up and dress up.", I told the dazed Eve.

Hearing this, she finally noticed her naked self and quickly covered herself up with the blanket.

"Don't look!"

"I won't."

I turned around and heard her change into her clothes. They were the clothes she wore yesterday. They were a bit dirty, but that was the best she had at the moment.

"Let's eat."

We ate in silence. I have no idea what she was feeling, but all I was feeling was regret and guilt. I had done something horrible. I had tainted the innocent soul of Eve...

'Fuck me... I'm such trash...'

"...Samuel... Is everything alright? You're making a scary face...", Eve interrupted my thoughts yet again.

I stared at her blankly for a few seconds and realised that she wasn't feeling sad at all about what happened the night before...

I smiled and replied, "It's nothing. Just lost in thought."

...

After breakfast was over, I bid my farewell to Eve and got ready to spend the day just relaxing. The original plan was to practice with Eve, but both she and I agreed on taking a day off. She wanted to spend the day with me, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I wanted her to be as self-dependent as possible.

I put on a brown T-shirt, and a pair of blue full pants and left my hotel room.

'It's been so long since I had any free time... Ever since coming to this world, all I've been doing is constantly planning, fighting and collecting materials... I feel like my life has become so very mechanical... It's like I've become some game character...', I was getting lost in thought as I made my way to the beach.

The hotel was within a kilometre of the beach, so it only took about 5 minutes of power-walking to reach.

The fresh and salty air hit my face, forcing me to squint my eyes.

'The last time I was here, it was night time and I was being chased by sharkmen...', I recalled the ridiculous method I used to activate the Trail of Requiem.

I could see some students on the beach. There were people playing volleyball, some people were just laying down on chairs, resting. The others were probably couples, having fun.

'The school is going to take all of us to the Monster Garden today... There are still around 3 hours left before that, though.', I recalled the timetable sent to us by the teachers on our phones.

'... Now that I think about it, I haven't really been interacting with any of my classmates at all... and for good reason. I don't want anything to do with any of these guys. I'm not gonna be staying here permanently anyways. I have to return home, after all.'

I bent down, pulled up my pants and got ready to go into the sand.

As I put my feet into it, I felt the itch of a million sand particles all over my feet. My toes sunk into it and the whole experience was extremely entertaining.

This, of course, wasn't my first time on a beach. I had gone to beaches with my family and later with friends. Not girlfriend though. I never really had one. I knew that if I tried, I could, but I just didn't feel like it.

'I guess I was too lazy to search for a person to commit to...', I thought as I walked along the beach.

Slowly, my thoughts stopped and I just kept walking and walking, until-

"Hey!! Samuel Francis!!!", a masculine and loud voice interrupted my trance.

I turned around and was quite surprised to see the protagonist of the novel I was currently residing in, Julian Asher.

He was wearing a blue T-shirt and a pair of half pants with a checker pattern on them.

"... Hello, there. Can I help with something?"

"Umm... Uhh... y-yeah... kinda...", Julian was suddenly stuttering.

'Hmm? In the novel, Julian only stutters when he is extremely excited about something. And either way, he isn't really the kind of guy who you would expect to have good social skills...'

"... Kinda? What do you need? I'm free right now.", I asked Julian.

"Umm... This is gonna take a while... Let's go and sit down... There! In that shed!", he pointed at a small cafe that was quite empty, slightly far from our position.

"...Okay.", I complied as I too was curious about what he was so excited about and what he wants to ask from me.

We power-walked towards the cafe silently.

As we neared the cafe, I sensed some stares at us.

"The written exam no.1 and the practical exam no.1 are together..."

"Maybe they're friends?"

"Nah, no way. No one has seen them together before..."

"Oh, my god... is it... romance?"

"Shut the fuck up."

Some questionable whispers could be heard.

Julain couldn't hear any of it, though, since he was too busy getting excited over whatever it was he was getting excited about...

We reached the cafe and sat down at an empty table.

"What would you like to order, gentlemen?", the waitress asked.

"Black Coffee.", I ordered.

"Chilled Americano.", Julian ordered.

The waitress almost seemed to blush at Julian's presence, which made me mad.

'Fuckin' protagonist... It isn't fair!'

Julian didn't notice it and stared directly at me.

"Now that we're here, tell me what you need.", I asked.

"... I want to know something..."

"What?"

"How are you so calm during the fighting?"

"..."

"Uhh, let me rephrase that question, How do you maintain your composure during an intense fight? And how do you have such a high pain tolerance?"

"... I worked real hard?"

"Answer me truthfully. A lot depends on your answers."

"Then, what answer do you expect from me?"

"... Come closer, I'll whisper it to you."

"NO! I don't swing that way!"

"No! Not like that! It's just an important thing! I can't risk anyone else hearing it!"

"No! I won't do it! Just write it down on your phone and show it to me or something."

"*Sigh... Okay.", he complied and took out his phone, typing rapidly.

"Here.", he passed the phone and I read the words written on it.

'Have you ever heard about other worlds?'

"!!!!!!!!"

"Judging from that reaction, I'm guessing you have."

'What the hell... why did he tell me that...? He's supposed to tell that to Sophia much later in the storyli- Ah Shit! I forgot I fucked up the storyline beyond repair!', I face-palmed myself in my mind.

"I want to know more information about that. If you don't mind, of course."