After reaching the kitchen in the dining hall, Jesse kicked open the fridge’s door and picked up anything edible, then arranged it on the counter.
At first, he ate the sausages that didn’t necessarily need to be cooked and then tossed a few leftovers from yesterday into the microwave.
While the microwave hummed, he spread butter across the bread and then began eating it.
The door of the kitchen then opened, and Anna, wearing a businesswoman’s outfit, walked in.
She looked very professional, beautiful, and confident.
“Oh!” Anna’s round eyes widened in surprise, and she burst out into a delighted laugh. “Jesse, I didn’t expect to see you here, and what’s with this mess?”
“I am hungry,” Jesse replied while stuffing bread into his mouth before taking a big bite.
“I can see that.” Anna’s eyes curled like a crescent moon as she let out a giggle. “By the way, have you seen Emma anywhere? Sebastian told me that she hadn’t left for school yet.”
Jesse shook his head while crumbs fell off his lips. “I haven’t.”
“Mm.” Anna tapped her cheek thoughtfully.
She then remembered something.
“Jack bought you a new phone; I heard that you had broken yours.”
“Oh.” Jesse finished the bread and said. “I didn’t necessarily need one.”
“It’s good to have one, though!” Anna smiled. “I’ll tell a servant to bring it to your room.”
Jesse nodded and watched as his stepmother left to look for Emma, wherever she was.
Ding—the microwave let out a ding, signaling that the food was now heated.
After taking out the food, he put it down on a counter, took out a fork from the cupboard, and began eating, filling his empty belly. 𝑶𝑣xt.𝑶𝑀
Creak—the door opened slowly, revealing a head that was sneakily looking around.
When the curious eyes noticed Jesse eating alone, they brightened up.
“Brother!”
“Hmm?” Jesse looked away from the food and saw Emma rushing into the kitchen. “Uh, Anna was looking for you. You have to go to school, I guess.”
“I know, but there is something more important!” Emma grabbed a stool, dragged it beside Jesse and then sat on it. “I’ll need your help!”
“Hmm, what is it?” Jesse asked with curiosity.
“I think something bad happened with Bella!”
“Huh?” Jesse stopped eating and frowned. “What makes you think that?”
“Yatagarasu got destroyed, and I haven’t heard anything from her!”
“Oh.” Jesse sadly smiled, realizing the importance of the bookstore to his little sister, but he doubted it was as serious as she made it seem.
“I am sure she is fine. She has probably some things she has to do in reality.”
“B-but…” Emma stammered, her eyes welling up with tears. “She has never been gone before!”
“Hey, hey.” Jesse comforted her, wiping her tears. “I am sure nothing is wrong. Do you have her phone number or something?”
“Nn.” She shook her head. “S-she said that she doesn’t have a phone.”
“Any way to contract her? Email or anything.”
“No…” Emma shook her head. “She said that whenever I had something to talk to her about, I could find her in Whispering Pages.”
‘It sounds like she is spending a lot of time inside the game. Is it addiction, perhaps?’ Jesse rubbed his chin.
“All refugees had been sent to this one town near Yatagarasu. and I tried finding Bella, but she is nowhere to be seen!”
“Did you check whether she was online?” Jesse asked.
“It shows that she isn’t.” Emma sighed. “But that is always the case. I think it is a bug. Even when she is standing right in front of me and I check the chat history, it shows her as offline.”
“A bug…” Jesse hummed. “So, you sent an in-game message to her?”
“Y-yes!” Emma nodded.
‘If she is in a combat state, she wouldn’t be able to send any messages.’ Jesse thought, while starting to suspect, that this explanation might be close to the truth.
‘I don’t think she would leave Emma unaware of her whereabouts, especially because she seems to care about her a lot.
‘It doesn’t take much to log in, send a message that she is alright, and then log off to do her stuff.’
“Please, can you visit Yatagarasu and go check out Whispering Pages?” Emma asked and then lowered her head in sadness. “I have to go to the stupid school!”
“Uff…” Jesse scratched the back of his head. ‘Fuck, the Wisdom King definitely won’t let me.’
“Y-you can’t?” Emma asked through muffled tears.
“I… can.” Jesse forced a smile and patted her on the head. “Go to school. When you return, Bella will be back.”
“Nn.” Emma smiled through tears. “I trust you!”
Smooch—she planted a kiss on his cheek and then ran out of the kitchen in excitement.
“I am such a fucking softie.” Jesse groaned. “I can’t stand seeing her tears. Now, I have to somehow get my master’s permission to go there…”
…
The Wisdom King looked at his disciple and sighed.
“No.”
“I know that you were going to say that, but think of it like this!” Ambrose expected that answer. “If I don’t go there, I may never have the opportunity to grow and learn on my own.”
“That is bullshit.” The Wisdom King said with a scoff. “Tell the real reason why you are going there.”
“Sigh.” Ambrose sighed. “A friend of mine might be in trouble.”
“You should drop the baggage that hinders you from growing stronger.” The Wisdom King said and half-closed his eyes. “That’s what I did, and I do not regret it. Without those sacrifices, I would have never grown this strong.”
“I manifested the door and closed it in almost record time. I did a near-impossible feat and got to level 45 before I passed out. I created a skill that managed to kill the T-Rex with a single blow.
“Have I not proven myself to be able to make my own decisions?”
The Wisdom King raised an eyebrow and lowered his head. “Hmph. Fine, you get to go on one condition.”
“What is it?” Ambrose straightened his back. “I’ll do anything.”
“If you manage to pass the test in the temple,” The Wisdom King smiled. “If you reach the end of that passage, I’ll let you go.”
‘Shit.’ Ambrose remembered the thirty-meter-long passage.
Last time, he didn’t even survive three meters!
“If you don’t want to do the test…” The Wisdom King pointed at the forest. “We’ll continue the training.”
“I’ll… do it.” Ambrose stood up. “I will pass it.”
“Heh, I doubt it.” The Wisdom King stood and tossed a bag to Ambrose, who caught it. “Then, let’s return to the village for the time being to do your test. However, this test will be different.”
“Huh?” Ambrose frowned.
“This time, you will do the test in front of the entire village.” The Wisdom King grabbed his bag and hung it over his shoulder.
“That is the tradition of the village.
“Last time when you did it alone, it was an “unofficial” test, but now it will be official.”
‘Huh, what does he mean by that? Does that test have other reasons than just to prove my worth?’
Ambrose frowned but left his questions in the back of his mind and followed his master as they left the campsite to start their return trip.