Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

"Have you heard guys? About what happened yesterday!"

"I've heard! The Heartz family was attacked!"

"Really? Who did it?"

"No one knows! I heard both the family and the heir were attacked at the same time!"

After yesterday's incident, the news about the house of the Heartz family being attacked came out. The situation was taken care of easily and there were no losses, but it was still a great shock to the people of the capital.

As a big, rich, and powerful family, they were bound to have a lot of enemies but still the fact that things progressed this fast made people panic. The 6 families weren't enemies with each other, but they weren't all on good terms either. There were some who were hostile to the others due to old grudges and some who only lived their peaceful lives. That said, it was not easy to find out who was behind yesterday's attack.

The eyes of the students turned to one person at the same time.

"Him?"

"He looks fine though!"

"There is that little scar on his cheek!"

"Just that? Are you kidding me?"

"I heard another student was also attacked because of him!"

"Really? Who?"

"That boy! Look! His face is swollen!"

"Why him? I've never seen him get involved in anything?"

"I saw them leave the school together yesterday!"

"Are they friends?"

"No way! A weirdo and a rich boy getting friends! Pffft!"

Just like yesterday, the class was full of 'whispers'. Whispers so loud that everyone could hear easily.

"Here!"

Reyan placed a package on his desk.

"What is it?"

"A new backpack."

His brows frowned while looking at the package. He then stood up, picked up the package, and put it on Reyan's own desk.

"Don't need it!"

And returned back to his own seat.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you! I said I was sorry about the bag!"

"I don't need it!"

He pointed at his backpack.

"Mine is still fine!"

"...."

Reyan stared at the thing he was pointing at.

"You sew it?"

"I did!"

"It was tattered! A part of it was cut by a sword!"

"It is fine now!"

"Why do you insist on using that thing so much?"

"What's wrong about it!"

"I bought you a new one-"

"I. Don't. Need. It!"

"HAH!"

Reyan took a deep breath.

"Tsk! You are really annoying!"

He ignored Reyan's irritated face and took some books out of his backpack.

"Here! Your books!"

The books were crumpled at some spots and some of their pages were torn. There was a big cut in the center of a book that was probably done by the same sword that cut the bag. They were used as a weapon so it was no wonder.

"Tsk!"

Reyan clicked his tongue and picked up the books. The blondie sent a glare at him before walking back to his own seat.

"Hey, why does he still come to school?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, isn't he a target? My father said the other families won't let him go this easily and will try to kill him again!"

"Right! A lot of people will benefit if the family is destroyed."

"So?"

"What if he is attacked again? Here at school? We are all in danger only by being in the same class as him!"

"Yeah! That weird boy was also attacked because of him!"

"You are right! My mom said she won't let me come to school if he also comes!"

"Yeah! He is dangerous!"

"He should stop coming to school!"

He leaned back on his seat and looked up at the ceiling. Hearing the children's conversation, he couldn't help but be reminded of Kain. 

He had to go through hell after he was saved from the attackers. Kain nagged him for five whole hours starting from why he got close to Reyan to why he didn't run away and why he had to intervene. 

He even had a fight with him when Kain wanted to throw away his dear backpack, saying that it was his own gift and he could buy him a new one any time later! 

Just like the children's parents, Kain also insisted that he shouldn't go to school at least for a few days especially now that the attackers had seen his face. 

He had a hard time persuading him last night. A really hard time.

"Did you see him? He wanted to forcefully give something to that weirdo! Is he trying to silence him with money?!"

"Oh, my goddess!"

"Guys, can I seat here? Don't want to be beside him!"

"My seat was just beside him so I also changed it! I'm sitting here now!"

"Me too!"

"Me as well!"

Reyan stood up from his seat and walked to him once again while holding the package. He stood right in front of his desk and held the package in front of his face.

"I said I don't want it!"

"I'll throw it into the trash can if you don't take it!"

"Fine! Throw it away!"

Slam

Reyan slammed the package into his desk.

"Annoying bastard! You were the one who didn't run away and threw your bag, now you are acting like some kind of a victim!"

"I wasn't a victim, my backpack was!"

"Stop babbling about that backpack! I can buy you tons of them so shut up!"

"I don't need it. Take this and go back. The teacher will come soon!"

He pointed at Reyan's seat with his chin. Reyan glared at him once more before walking back to his seat while stomping his feet and clenching his fists.

He looked at him sit at the only seat in the center of the class.

The seats all around him were empty or moved as the students had taken as much distance from him as possible. It was really amazing how those people who used to cling to him just last month were now treating him like an outcast. 

Creak

"Good morning!"

As the teacher entered the class, the students all sat down in their seats. The teacher glanced at the empty space in the center of the class for a second then walked to his desk.

"Open your textbooks, everyone. Where were we last left off-"

The teacher paused when his eyes caught on something.

"...Reyan... What is with your book?"

The teacher pointed at the boy's book with wide eyes. 

Reyan's books were torn and crumbled and some of their pages were about to fall off. Moreover, there were some... red marks on the pages. As the backpack was used as a weapon and got torn, some blood had wet the books inside. 

"It's nothing, sir."

"...."

The teacher blinked a few times with a bewildered face. 

"I... I don't think you can study with that book? The text is... not seen very clearly?"

"I'll get a new book soon, sir."

"...."

The teacher glanced at the boy's book and gulped.

"You can't use that today. Isn't there anyone that can share their book with you..."

The teacher's voice trailed off. He looked at the class. Everyone who had been sitting around the boy had changed their seats.

"There is no need for that, sir-"

Tap

Someone stood from their seats.

"I can!"

He picked up his stuff and walked to the empty seat beside the boy. 

"Oh! Thank you Kairen!"

He smiled at the teacher. Seeing him open a not-blood-stained book and place it in a spot where both he and Reyan could see it, the teacher turned around and started to teach.

"...."

Reyan glared at the book and then at him.

"How come yours is clean and not torn?"

"I cleaned and repaired it. Also, your books were placed later so they shielded mine."

He gave Reyan a proud and happy smile.

"...."

"Don't look at me like that. There was no reason for me to repair the books of my backpack's murderer as well."

"Stop babbling about that backpack. It was you who didn't run away and threw it!"

"Hmph! I saved your life and that's how you thank me!"

"...."

Reyan glared at his grumpy face and turned away. The two of them wrote down the things that the teacher had scribed on the blackboard and no one said anything.

"Why did you do that?"

After a few minutes, Reyan started to talk again.

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you run away?"

He answered while still writing down his notes.

"I wanted to watch."

Reyan blinked once as if that was the most unexpected answer.

"Watch? Watch two people kill me?"

"Um... Yeah?!"

"....."

Reyan blinked again and took a deep breath.

"It was dangerous."

"Hmmm..."

He nodded his head.

"But nothing happened."

"You could've died if help arrived a little bit late."

"...."

His pen stopped moving. He stared at his notebook for a moment before looking at Reyan's face.

"I won't die this soon."

"Wha-"

He smiled at the boy's baffled face and looked down. Before resuming to write down the notes, he suddenly smiled again and turned back to him.

Pat Pat

He patted the boy's back and said in a whisper.

"You won't die this soon either."

"...."

He had seen it. 

Those dreams. Those pictures. 

He had seen the older version of this boy. 

Didn't that mean he and this boy will meet again in the future? 

Doesn't that mean they won't die just yet? 

Doesn't that mean nothing serious would happen in yesterday's incident?

"Hmm~"

With a hum, he looked down at his notebook, jotting down everything that the teacher said while ignoring the boy's gaze on him.

. . . . . .

"Mmmm..."

Kairen's brows twitched a little bit after sensing the bright light on his face. 

'Ah!'

Was he asleep?

'Mmm... I fell asleep after the soil dude left...'

All of that stuff was a dream?

That was a really long and detailed dream then.

Kairen struggled to fall asleep again. He still felt tired and his body was heavy. But that was futile, he couldn't sleep again. Giving up, he finally opened his eyes.

Just as he expected, he saw the white ceiling of the hospital once he opened his eyes. 

"....."

Kairen looked around the room. Kain was on a bed beside him and Reyan was sitting on a chair between the two beds, staring at the air.

"...Kain."

Kairen called his name, but there was no response. 

"Ah!"

Instead, Reyan jolted up.

"How are you feeling?"

He stood up and approached Kairen. 

"I'm fine but-"

"He is just sleeping."

"...What about the others?"

"Everyone is fine. They were treated and are either resting or are back to work."

"I... see!"

Kairen raised his body and sat down on the bed. He wanted to ask what had happened with that man, but he stopped. 

First, there was no need to ask such a question as the answer was obvious. They must've captured him and brought him to the headquarters. Also, he suddenly felt that he shouldn't talk about that issue in front of this boy.

'Why do I keep seeing his memories?'

Was that because he had used that power? He had been seeing some memories after the power activated.

Kairen tilted his head.

'I can sense it...'

Once he thought about the power he had, he could suddenly sense something different in his soul. It was like a small lump of energy that was whirling around in his soul. He was sure that was not mana and was much stronger. Kairen was sure that it was his power. 

'But how am I supposed to use it?'

Did he only need to think about using it as the last time or did he need to do something special for the power to be activated? Isn't the fact that he could now sense the power nice in itself?

'Argh, I don't want to think about it.'

He had a headache. 

Kairen leaned back and pulled up the blanket. He then turned to look at Reyan, who was unusually silent. He would glare at Kairen with that scary gaze of his and nag nonstop if it was a normal situation, but now he was just staring at one spot with a blank face.

"....."

Kairen slowly raised his hand, moving it towards Reyan. 

Pat 

Pat

And patted his shoulder.

"...."

The boy raised his head, looking at him with a dumbfounded face. 

In his response, Kairen only smiled.