Chapter 49: Teatime

Trying my best to repress the emotions that were erupting inside of me, I got out of my bed and went to answer the door, knowing full well how taxing the upcoming encounter would be. Even if I couldn't say that I slept well, I did at least sleep, meaning my mind felt at least a bit fresher than before.

*Click*

"Welcome in. Tea?"

Trying my best to uphold a friendly façade, as even though I had told her it would be fine, I worked hard to avoid getting beat up by the big woman. Of course, she hadn't hurt me to the point where I would actually get injured when we played hide and seek, but it had still been quite painful.

So before she even got the chance to make a move, I had already made my way to make some tea. After all, no one could attack a person that was making tea, that would be preposterous. Noticing what I was doing, my visitor just sighed and made herself comfortable at my tiny table.

It was pretty funny, me standing and staring at the electrical kettle as the pink-haired amazon was staring at me. Sadly, it didn't take too long until it was done, forcing me to accept that I had to confront my fears as I handed Sophie a cup.

Then, the most frightening thing I had ever seen happened. *Gulp!* The girl just took a huge mouthful of the scalding hot tea as soon as handed I her the drink, and swallowed it.

"Thank you. It smells pretty great, what kind of tea is it?"

"...what?"

She didn't scream, no, her face didn't react at all as she poured the almost boiling liquid down her throat like it was a glass of water. With my words as the trigger though, she just realized what a monstrous feat she had done.

"Oh shit! What the fuck?! Did I just drink that?!"

"That seems to be the case, ma'am."

It appeared that Sophie was just as shocked as I was, her eyes opening wide at the sudden realization. After spending a few seconds being astonished, the girl calmed down, her cheeks red with shame.

"Please don't tease me about this..."

"Pfft! Ha...hahaha!"

This was all too chaotic for me to control myself. Sophie had somehow managed to put me on a ridiculous rollercoaster of emotions that my tired brain just couldn't handle. "Shut up! You... you... you... stupid goblin!"

"Aahaa... hehe.. hi..."

Somehow, I managed to reel myself in, slowly closing the gate of laughter that was my mouth. Finally, I could feel my mind gaining some kind of relief, the dark thoughts ending their stay in my brain and moving on. On the other hand, Sophie was just giving me a death stare as she pouted.

Feeling a bit guilty that the woman who had come to show me my place was currently pouting like a child, which was pretty cute, I tried to deflate the situation, "Haaa. I'm sorry, okay? It was just so sudden and, you know, absurd?"

Crossing her arms, she didn't seem to find my apology especially meaningful, "Hmpf! I don't care anymore!" Then the corners of her mouth suddenly rose a bit, "Anyway, it seems that you did get some rest at least. I'm glad."

Seeing her subtly admit that she cared about me, I couldn't help but tease her a bit, "Oh! Is this like the shows I watched where the violent girl finally admits she cared about me all along? Did you already move on from the golden boy?"

"Shut up! Why can't you just let us have a nice friendly moment for once, you stupid dungeon crawler!"

Almost as if forgetting why she had come here in the first place, we just continued our session of banter until she left, exiting my apartment without me getting a single bruise on my body.

As soon as she had closed the door I looked up at the ceiling and let my fake outer appearance go away, once again letting my dark thoughts consume me for a moment.

"She cares about me, huh? Would she still care for me if she knew what I did? Even in this world of blood and death, isn't my sin still heavy enough for me to get shunned just like on earth?"

Of course, my questions never received an answer. After all, I was alone.

****

"What do you mean you want to take the rest of the week off? Do you think that just because you got promoted to my class that you would suddenly be able to do whatever you want?"

Sitting in Mr. Brown's office before the first class started, I tried to make a case as to why I needed to get some time off. "I do not, Mr. Brown. However, this is something I want to do. No, this is something I have to do! As a man, how could I allow myself to not follow my convictions?"

It was obvious that the man behind his desk reacted to my words as they resonated with the very core of his being, making his round shoulder slump a little. Sadly, even though he seemed to personally agree with me on a deep emotional level, things weren't quite so simple.

"Kid, I don't know what it is you have to do, and I don't want to know either, but I still can't just accept such a sudden request. I'm sorry but..."

"Let the young man go."

Rotating my vision, there was now another man standing in the room with us, able to somehow emerge without a sound. When my teacher saw the man, he quickly stood up and bowed.

"My greetings to the principal!"

'Oh? So this elderly man is the principal?'

I had actually never seen the principal during my time at Ainu, and scanning his body clad in a white uniform, there was not a single thing I could determine about him. His old face and body were both completely neutral, almost as if there was no soul inhabiting the earthly vessel. And I didn't like it.

All humans had their own set of rules on which they acted, mostly based on personalities that were birthed by circumstances and environmental causes. And these almost always shone through to at least a small degree through one's body and face. Yet, I had already found two outliers that did not do so, although one of them had already faltered, beginning to show who he was to a lesser degree.

The first one was, of course, Sebastian, but he his porcelain outer self had started to show cracks during his fight with Sophie, showing some of the values he found important. The man I was watching right now was the second. Even as he spoke the inherent neutrality didn't falter at all.

"No need to be so formal, Oliver. Just let young James get this week off, you have my permission to do so. Now, I will be going."

*Clack, Don*

When he exited the room, I could clearly hear the sounds of him opening and closing the door, something that caused my mind to rapidly spin. 'When he entered the room, he didn't make those sounds. That means that he either didn't use the door at all, or he has some kind of Skill that eliminates sound. But why would he feel the need to do so when he just barged in anyway?'

Two different hypotheses, with one making a lot more sense than the other. 'So what kind of Manual lets you move through walls? It might be some kind of application that wasn't possible in the game, that would mean that all of the...'

"I guess that settles it then. You are free to leave. But do know, if I don't see you on Monday in class, I will make you spar with me every night for the whole week."

Oliver didn't let me conclude my thoughts before he concluded our discussion, clearly motioning for me to leave his office and get on my way.

Getting permission to skip class felt both great and awful, creating a vortex of conflicting emotions churning in my soul. The reason behind my desire to leave the academy was both something I had to do, and at the same time desperately wanted to escape from.

'Let's get used to killing then...'

****

[3rd person Pov]

"LOKI! GET OUT HERE, RIGHT NOW, OR I WILL DRAG YOU OUT!"

In a very strange godly domain, Theia was currently searching for the man who owned the building of the office she was currently standing in. The building in question was a huge skyscraper, with Loki having his office on the highest floor, making him able to look out at... Nothing. There was nothing else in this domain, just a single modern office building.

The office itself was also incredibly modern, with Theia standing right in front of a huge desk where a computer was planted, illuminated by the LED lamps installed in the ceiling. The walls, the floor, and the ceiling were all completely white. The god had even brought in several showcases standing on the floor showing off exclusive items that he had through less than fair means gotten hold of.

Then, a blur appeared sitting in the chair behind the desk, as the masked god made his entrance, one leg crossed over the other, still wearing his gray suit.

"Oh, I did not expect guests at this time. Do excuse my tardiness. Now, what is so important that the little miss Theia broke her own desire of not seeing me for a millennium?"

Golden light started to shine around the extremely curvy god as her white robe started to flutter as if catching the wind.

"First of all, just because you are older than me does not mean you get to call me 'miss'. Secondly, you broke your promise of leaving James alone. Therefore, I am here as the ruling god to judge the god of mischief!"

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