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

Chapter 370 Whispers

Daniel's eyes narrowed slightly. He was staring at Kairen with a piercing, complicated gaze, confusion visible on his face. It seemed as if tens of questions were whirling in his mind, ready to jump out of his throat, yet he held them back. His gaze kept shifting between Kairen and Reynold.

'He said he was Ron's friend. If he was a close friend, he might know about his brother's name and fate...'

"And you?"

Reynold didn't answer him immediately. He watched the crowd quietly for a few seconds before gesturing at them with his chin.

"Calm them down first. Tell them that the danger has passed. After you're done, come to where we are."

He got up to his feet and pulled Kairen's arm with himself.

"Where are you going?"

Reynold pointed at the building where I used to stay at for the past few days.

"There."

"...."

Daniel watched as Reynold dragged the tired younger boy toward the main building without saying or doing anything. He had a baffling feeling that they would wait for him there and won't run away. And also even if they wanted to run away, there was no way he could stop them. He didn't have the strength to go against them.

"Kairen Steyton..."

The middle-aged man mumbled on his lips as he turned around and walked back to the crowd.

. . . . . . .

Standing beside the broken window, Kairen looked down at the city that seemed lively. Reynold was cleaning a small space off of debris and shattered glass for the two of them to sit somewhere behind Kairen.

"It'll take Daniel quite a time to sort out things."

Kairen started to talk without turning back to look at Reynold.

"I guess we can talk about other matters until he comes."

"What matters?"

As he was facing Kairen's back, Reynold couldn't see how the boy closed his eyes and his brows frowned for a brief second. Kairen tilted his head a little bit after opening his eyes back and touched his forehead with a hand.

"Your voice...", Kairen gently shook his head. "No, rather, these voices..."

"...What are you trying to say?"

Kairen gently shook his head. The whispers that had rand inside his head for a second were gone, but he was still confused over them. They left Kairen with a minor headache and sudden waves of exhaustion each time. The whispers appeared once a few minutes and disappeared as fast as they came. They were quiet and it was hard to understand their contest, however, they annoyed Kairen quite a bit.

After another round of whispers run through his ears, Kairen took a deep breath and pondered about how he'd open up the subject to discuss it with Reynold. In the end, he decided to go straight to the point.

"You keep screaming 'Reyn' 'Reyn' in my head."

THUD

The sound of something dropping to the ground came from behind his back. When he turned around out of reflex, Kairen saw Reynold standing in a strange position with a middle-sized stone rolling under his feet, as if he'd frozen on his spot and lost the hold of the stone in his hands.

"...Where did you... Hear that name from?"

Kairen examined the man's rare stiff face and answered immediately.

"As I said, inside my head." He pointed at his ears. "And not just that, other strange voices. They keep ringing- Uh-"

With a gasp, he half-closed his eyes. There were countless voices screaming in his ears. The whispers faded after two seconds as if nothing had happened right now. Kairen took another deep breath and rubbed his temples.

"L-like this... Hah!"

A chuckle-like gasp escaped his lips. He was getting more and more tired after each wave and he was still exhausted after swallowing up a gate. Even though he'd rested a bit, it was still too much for his body to take. Kairen forcefully kept his eyes open and raised his head to glance at Reynold.

The red-haired man moved towards him for some time, but he was still stiff and shocked. His eyes kept examining Kairen, whose back was a little bit crouched, and he looked hesitant with his hands raised towards the young boy but frozen mid-way.

"I- I don't clearly understand what you mean..."

"Reyn! Who is Reyn? Isn't it similar to Reynold? You keep telling Reyn to run away. Do you call out your own name? Why can I hear your voice inside my head?"

"Ah..."

Reynold drew in a gasp. His pupils shook while he frowned, causing deep wrinkles to form on his forehead. He reached out, grabbing Kairen by the shoulders and examining his body.

"You- that... How?"

Despite Reynold's exaggerated reaction, Kairen was still calm. The fact that he was too tired to be worked up also had an effect on his calmness.

"I don't know either. And I'm asking you."

Reynold didn't respond to him. He was still busy testing Kairen's body and soul.

"Do you... Hear anything else? Something besides the screams?"

"Some whispers. I can't recognize the contents."

"A-are there any visions as well?"

"Visions? No."

"What about something like... a surge of lost memories? Something that feels familiar to you?"

"...The voices feel familiar."

"Uh... Dear..."

The redhead took a step back. His breathing was somehow rough for a reason that Kairen didn't bother to think about, and his face was pale. His lips were pressing on each other, a little bit trembling. His overall expression and the air around him had changed so much in the span of a few seconds.

"This is..." Reynold cut his sentences short as if he wasn't sure how he was supposed to form a proper explanation, or he himself didn't fully understand the situation. "This is going to be fine... I-I guess!"

Kairen rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn.

"You look so panicked. Am I going to die or something?"

"What? No. No! Why would you die?"

"Then what?"

Reynold, clearly stressed out and tense, clasped his hands tight.

"It might be a little bit... hard... I mean, hard to take. No t-that's not the best way to say it. Uh... Why should this happen to you? And now of all times! I'll find a way to help you, okay? It'll be alright!"

As it seemed, Reynold didn't even know what he was saying. To make this man this flustered, the anomaly happening to Kairen must not be something to be taken lightly. That's what Kairen thought.

"Are they memories?"

"Y-yes?" nOVe.Lb/In

"Memories. You said if I felt something like remembering lost memories."

"...That..." The man bit his lips. "That's a little bit hard to explain..."

Hard to explain. Kairen had heard this answer a lot from Reynold. He never told Kairen the most important things, always postponing them to sometime later. At first, Kairen thought it might be him trying to be all mysterious, but after some time, he thought that Reynold might really be unable to talk about some things. Not because he wanted to keep them a secret, but because they were harmful to him or Kairen, both in a physical way and also for their mentality.

"It's not harmful to me, is it?"

"For now, no."

"Then later?"

"I-It might be. I'll try to find a way to help you, okay? As soon as we finish dealing with these gates, uh, no, absorbing that much power might make it worse... Then... Then..."

"Hey!"

Kairen grabbed Reynold's arm and shook him a little bit. There wasn't much strength to his act but it made the man stop talking and look into his eyes.

"Calm down for a minute!"

It was rare to see this man so tense and worked up like this. He was clearly unable to proceed with his thoughts properly, so Kairen decided to interfere with his stressed-out words.

"Ah?"

"There is no immediate danger so calm down for now and think about it rationally!"

"...B-but..." Reynold muttered for a second before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Yes. You are right."

"Hmm!"

Kairen wanted to say something like 'Of course, I'm always right!', but since the atmosphere was heavy and not suitable for a joke, he swallowed back his words.

"I'll take a nap. Wake me up when Daniel returns."

He walked past Reynold and sat down in the area that was cleared by him. Leaning against the wall, Kairen closed his eyes.

"...Alright..."

Reynold's reply came a little bit late, just before Kairen fully fell asleep.