Chapter 44

"Nain, you've never seen a gate before, right?"

"Only in photos."

"Didn't what you just saw look similar?"

Was that so? The gates in photos had such poor resolution that they just looked like black circles.

"It looked like another space suddenly moved right in front of us, didn't it?"

Nain nodded enthusiastically. It had looked as if the corridor space had been transferred directly into this room. Thinking about it that way, he could somewhat understand what he meant about it being similar to gates.

"But gates are different from spatial transfer. There are no naturally connecting parts—they're just randomly disconnected. Like a whale in the desert. That was all I could figure out."

Ash muttered while resting his chin on Nain's shoulder.

"...After that, it's ordinary. That special training was both the first and last of its kind. They must have realized that even though it was similar, it wasn't what they wanted. After that, I learned things not much different from other Espers. Sometimes I learned to read and write, did combat training. Personal ability training... who would teach me? I'm the only one with space-manipulating abilities."

That's how I lived. Pretty ordinary, right? Ash asked with a deep smile on his face.

'Does he not know what ordinary means?'

Nain was a bit dazed hearing about a life he had never heard of before.

Well, thinking about what he had experienced since falling into this world, perhaps the standards were a bit different. Things that seemed nothing special to people here felt like treasures to him, and their way of thinking was also very different from Nain's thought process. Every day at the center was full of fascinating and unfamiliar things.

And Ash had said he grew up at the awakener center from a young age. He must have lived a life Nain couldn't even imagine, going in and out of 'gates' like eating meals. Nain's extraordinary experiences were ordinary daily life for the man. Conversely, the thought suddenly occurred to him that days that were natural, nothing special, and even boring to him might sound fascinating to Ash.

"So you do combat training and such."

"Of course."

"...But what exactly do you learn? Swordsmanship?"

Come to think of it, he had never seen anyone carrying swords here. It had been a very common sight where Nain came from. When monsters living in forests came down, you could get seriously hurt if you didn't protect yourself.

"You don't have magic scrolls here either. How do you deal with dangerous situations?"

"We don't use swords... but instead we have guns. We learn marksmanship. Close combat is essential."

"Ah, shooting?"

Right, there were guns.

"I've learned that too."

When Nain showed off unnecessarily, Ash looked surprised as if it was unexpected. Then he asked, "What would Nain need that for?" He too seemed to think Nain had grown up like some hothouse flower.

"You can do surprisingly many things. Nain, what else?"

"...Um, I can ride horses."

Nain realized that the 'interesting stories' Ash wanted didn't have to be particularly special. He listened with interest to whatever stories Nain told. The two people who had lived different lives found each other's stories unfamiliar and fascinating. His daily life sounded like something extraordinary from Ash's perspective.

Only when he had talked so much that his throat was getting sore did Nain realize that quite a bit of time had passed. He had been so enjoying his conversation with Ash that he hadn't noticed the time going by.

It seemed like he had no intention of letting him go unless he spoke up first. Nain fidgeted with the sleeve caught under his hand and muttered.

"But I'd like to go wash up now..."

"Ah, really? Should we get up now?"

At those words, Nain quickly stood up from his seat. He was free! He hadn't noticed while sitting still, but when he got up and stretched, his back seemed a bit stiff. His joy was short-lived—Ash, who had leisurely followed him up, bent down and picked up Nain's bag. He stuffed the clothes Nain had taken out back into the bag.

Just as he was wondering why Ash was suddenly organizing his belongings for him, his vision flipped over like turning a page.

"...!"

When a ringing sound echoed in his ears, Nain reflexively covered his mouth. How many times today... This time it didn't churn like he was going to throw up. But instead of nausea, a curse burst out.

"Ugh!"

Thud! Nain struck Ash's stomach hard with his elbow and escaped from his embrace. Ash made a gasping sound and clutched his stomach. Seeing him grumble that it hurt, he seemed to still be in decent shape.

'Where is this?'

Unlike the center residence that had been neatly organized and waiting for the two of them, this space was very messy. It overflowed with signs of life as if someone had been living here until just moments ago.

Looking around, Nain discovered quite familiar objects placed among the antique wooden furniture and was left speechless.

"...?"

They were the things Ash had extorted from him all this time. In the mug cup with a yellow smiley face imprint, a tea bag was left dried and twisted, and Nain's blanket was scattered messily on the bed. Even napkins with the center logo were strewn carelessly on the floor.

It was a complete mess, and all the objects making up that mess belonged to Nain. As he checked each item one by one, memories of the days when these things were taken from him came flooding back.

'No, if he wasn't even going to cherish them, why did he really take them...? What purpose?'

Nain blinked slowly in confusion.

"Where is this?"

"My house. Just a 30-minute drive from here to the center."

"...?"

"It's outside."

A house, not a dormitory? Even outside the center?

"Then what about the dormitory?"

"It's too noisy to sleep there."

"...?"

"At night there are moaning sounds... well, it's not different during the day either. It's no different from a zoo. It's not a place where a person can live sanely."

Ah, those sounds... Honestly, Nain could somewhat sympathize. Nain had briefly stayed in a dormitory used by general staff, not awakener lodging, and even in that building there were people who made bizarre moaning sounds at night without considering others.

The awakener lodging would be even worse. Just thinking about it was embarrassing.

"From now on, Nain will live here with me too."

"...Is that allowed?"

"Originally, no."

He stated that he was breaking the rules with complete confidence, without even a flicker of expression. His tone was so shameless that Nain almost nodded in understanding.

When Nain unconsciously looked up, the scenery outside the window came into view. Snow was piled up in the wide garden, creating a white and quiet landscape. Though there wasn't a single tree visible and it was utterly desolate from lack of proper care... he liked it just for being spacious.

And the surroundings were extremely quiet. The fact that no human noise could be heard nearby was a bigger advantage than expected.

"Let's clean up the room."

However, Nain thought he absolutely couldn't live in such a messy place. If left like this a little longer, bugs might start swarming.

"Nain will use the room next door."

"We're using separate rooms?"

"..."

Ash looked at him intently, and an awkward silence flowed between the two. Only then did Nain realize he had misspoken. A mischievous smile spread across Ash's lips.

"Why? Are you feeling disappointed now that we're using different rooms?"

"That's not it..."

"Should we sleep together? If Nain is fine with it, I don't mind."

"I don't want to. I don't like it."

The flustered Nain shook his head vigorously in denial.

That's when it happened. Ash's gaze, which had seemed about to tease him, moved past him toward the back.

"They're here..."

"...?"

"I'll show you around when we go out."

An invisible force pushed Nain right up to the door, driving him out. After clinging like a leech, it was a sudden order to leave.

What a selfish person. Nain turned the doorknob in bewilderment and looked back with displeasure.

"...?"

Even though he hadn't completely left yet, Ash was already undressing, taking off his shirt. Nain was shocked. Seeing his broad back exposed made him realize he was in the man's private space.

'Huh?'

Suddenly Nain's head tilted in puzzlement. A long scar mark on the man's back caught his attention. The scar running diagonally across his back from his waist to his shoulder blade had already faded as much as it could. Judging by its condition, it was more likely to be very old rather than recent.

'The position is the same.'

It was too exquisite to be a coincidence. Nain had a similar scar in the same position on his back too. He had been told it was a trace left from when he was young and had unknowingly been scratched by barbed wire while playing near a fig tree.

Though he didn't remember it at all, having similar-sized scars in the same position wasn't common. Had that man also left a scar by neglecting a wound that was accidentally scratched? Nain couldn't hide his amazed expression and stared at him in a daze.