Chapter 72: Hero meeting (IV).
Kein's POV
"Can I have more coffee please?" (Avery) asks me, holding her cup out again.
This time she takes Rose's warning and advice, once I poured the hot drink into her cup and poured a decent amount of grinded coffee powder before she stirred it with her spoon.
"I haven't tasted coffee in so long so sorry for the sudden outburst... especially the expensive kind I always get once I'm out of school." she tells us while blowing on the coffee waiting for it to cool down. I could see her casually fiddling with the rim of the cup with her fingers, looking nostalgic about the memories of her past.
"I'm actually still taking my studies in communication." (Avery) reveals that she was summoned in the middle of her studies.
"Y-You're still a student in your world?" (Rose) asks, a little shocked because seeing Avery William's figure you wouldn't think she was one.
At best you would think she's your local personal gym trainer with a cheery attitude helping you work out those muscles.
"Yes, I'm actually in my first year in college. I might look mature here but mentally my brain is blooping." She sticks out her tongue and laughs. "Haha! I just took on communication because I was really introverted back home." her voice became a little more uncertain and trembling.
"I couldn't leave my room because I've had this growing anxiety whenever I would talk with people. I had a certain fear of being well... ignored or being seen as irritating if I got too close." (Avery) smiles sadly looking at the reflection of herself in the drink she was holding.
"And I was actually very- very erm... chubby even when I came into this world. Too much gaming and unhealthy snacks can really put you on some weight." she scratches the back of her neck laughing awkwardly and I continued to listen.
Rose on the other hand seems like there were a few little versions of her running around the top of her head looking confused having no idea what we were talking about.
"Gaming... college... what are they if I may ask? Are you also familiar with these words, Kein?"
Rose looked at me not knowing these terms, she honestly looked a little cute when she asked.
"Well you see we actually came from the same world, but in just different times. She was living her life in the year 2020 while I lived my life in 2045." I explained carefully by taking my sketchbook and pencil for her to draw a timeline. "Twenty-five years of difference, in my case if Avery were still alive we'd most likely be at the same age by the time she lives in my zone."
"The terms she said were still existing."
I also drew for her some of the things that I still remember.
The vehicle that we used for transportation all improved, cellphones, virtual reality and gaming all in high details. I gave her my sketchbook as she looked through all the sketches with amazement in her eyes.
"You live in this kind of world, it's so different... your sketches are wonderful." (Rose) moves each page and her fingers wander through several sketches she wishes she could've seen. "Amazing, with these kind of materials and inventions the life you've had must have been rather a convenient one."
I nod. I couldn't lie that everything in my time made my life really convenient compared to the old years that I've lived here.
While magic mixed with adventure would be someone's dream, it wasn't mine. I wanted to live a normal life and die a normal life back then with my daughter.
I've never thought I would die getting hit by a truck and then getting in here.
"Oh! Oh! You should also introduce to her what guns are. Geez if those are in here plus being enchanted with magic imagine the chaos it will bring." (Avery) suggested that I draw the gun and I glared at her.
If I dare introduce this to anyone it'll be the death of me, literally guns are something that I don't want to see in this world.
If it's somehow replicated especially by the [Winshern] kingdom, oh how will it turn the tides of war and it's not like I can find a gunsmith around here, I wouldn't even know how to build one anyways. "Avery I know you see guns as mere toys now because you think you can be easily healed by magic here but those things hurt like a bitch-"
"I know how to make one though, I just need the parts and materials."
"Don't you dare make one you gun addict-" I almost grabbed her collar because she was sticking her tongue out at me again being a brat! Guns are not something to be taken easily!
"What are these guns you speak of?" (Rose) asks and Avery goes into full detail on what they are. Excitedly pouring every information on the girl's head, and I couldn't even save her at this point because Rose was getting invested learning what world we came from together.
"Guns are basically these things that go pew pew-" (Avery) holds out her hands to make gun fingers and begins making low quality budget gun shooting sounds. "But with metal bullets filled with gunpowder and some other stuff but it's not a toy! In my world these things were used to defend people now it's err... not in a good light much anymore."
I sigh, shaking my head not even wondering what I should have even expected from this girl.
"Even children can hold a gun in her country and I'm not joking." I took on to draw the gun, a simple one that I've seen and remembered to give to the princess.
"This is what it looks like- and it may not look much there's been bigger versions used for war but- this is already deadly." I tell Rose, taking the sketch in my hands, her head tilting slightly trying to imagine how such a thing exists that's able to kill many and one that can easily hold.
I could see Avery smiling while she takes her cup and coffee drinking it before fixing her sitting posture into the couch. "While I'm loving the gun talk- sorry we got sidetracked- I got too excited finally having people I can trust to tell me about stuff from my world!"
"I don't get why we even had the gun talk, that one was completely pointless on our matter." I cross my arms feeling a little irritated.
Avery ignores me chuckling a little before turning over to Rose. "Even you princess, I'm glad you're so curious about where we both came from."
Rose holds onto the sketchbook still observing and studying the things I drew from our world. The princess takes a loose strand of her hair and tucks it behind her ear, "Well I've known Kein for all my childhood and recently she only revealed she wasn't from this world. I wanted to know everything there is about her..."
She slightly hides her face by raising the sketchbook to cover herself and mutters in a soft voice. "I mean if that doesn't sound too- selfish. I just like learning more about her."
Oh for you, I will tell you everything you need just ask! You're too cute! I want to marry you but I can't say that one out loud yet! I wanna hold her hand too but this hero would tease the heck out of me if she sees me doing it.
"That's really nice! You two are so cute I ship it." she squeals a little giving a heart pose but oh well that was awkward. Rose stares at me a little confused, "Why is she saying she ships us. There is no boat near us to be able to board us."
"Oh it's just an expression for we look good together and she approves of it."
"Your world has some peculiar expressions."
"Tell me about it..."
Avery takes her hand balling it into a fist before coughing and crosses her legs.
"Well why don't we get into business? What's the job I need to get done? Anything I need to kill in a rush?" (Avery) says seriously as if she's turned into a completely different person.
The tone in her voice and the dark look in her eyes was different, "Tell me what you need and I'll get it done."
"You're not the only one. I was hoping to be on the expedition. The first princess needs her cure for her sickness, mana deficiency and it's eating her at a really fast pace. I intend to leave in a few days, after settling some of my businesses left in my home."
"Mana deficiency? Is she low on mana or something?" (Avery) asks and I didn't know what to say either all I know she was lacking in it.
"To be more exact, let's say she's been born with a natural curse of having something inside of her that's unhealable by any magic being inputted due to it being absorbed or eaten." It's such a complicated thing, a natural curse?
"Isn't like my magic?" If we talk about absorbing and as long as it's a curse I can handle it. "If that's the case I don't need to travel, we can just g back and let me absorb the curse." I suggested and Avery quickly gave me a look of disagreement.
"No- that's going to be such a stupid move bro. Haven't you seen anime with main characters trying to take a curse for themselves to save other people? When you absorb some curse doesn't it go through you?" (Avery) goes on to scold me for not watching anime more carefully and I could feel something tugging on my sleeve.
Rose holds my sleeve and shakes her head with a crying look. "Don't you dare..."
"S-Sorry... but I thought of absorbing it and just putting it in my sword- and then releasing it or something?" I explained the idea that ran through my head but after saying it rather out loud it seems so foolish.
"A natural curse... what we mean in [Puronia] is sickness not caused by magic. A natural sickness that's not easily healed, many would either perform risky surgeries and medicine but these kinds of people are rather rare." (Rose) bites her lip and rests her head on my shoulders trying not to cry.
Right, I've rarely seen a doctor or two since what we have in this world are called healers and mages that can use magic so the medicine knowledge is rather limited.
Due to the reason of [Puronia] not believing in medicine, and their time were put into faith that someday the light goddess would bless them, heal the sick and solve all of their problems.
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that your highness but actually in our world we had thousands of those kinds of people... Doctors is what we would call them and if you call these kind of sickness natural curse-"
Avery stops and gives us both a crazy theory.
"What if she's just- experiencing something else- like I'm not sure- cancer?"
"..."
Hold on- hold the hell on.