Life didn't get easier, even in another world

"By the way... What happened to that guy?"

Kairen asked in a passing tone while rubbing his temples. Reyan was the one who answered him. "Which guy?"

"That dude, the head of the terrorists."

"Ah, you mean Philomns' master?"

"Yeah, that bastard."

"He's having his time in the prison, what else did you expect?"

"In the prison? Why? I thought he'd get executed right away."

Kairen thought he'd either get killed in the explosion or after that or get executed as soon as being captured. He was a dangerous criminal, after all, it wouldn't be easy to hold them in jail.

"Well, he holds a lot of information. Although we'd already interrogated him multiple times, It'd still be a waste to kill him so soon. Plus, death is too simple of punishment for such a person."

Kairen nodded his head. Reyan's answer sounded reasonable.

"But how did you manage to imprison him? I mean, with his power he could run away easily."

"Well," it was Serria who answered him this time, "It was easy as he lost all his power after that day."

Kairen paused his actions out of shock.

"Lost all his power? How?"

Reyan and Serria both shrugged their shoulders.

"How would we know?"

"..."

Kairen lowered his head, deep in thought. After rubbing his temples for a few seconds, he asked another question.

"Do you think they'll let me have a conversation with him?"

. . . . . .

It was surprising how fast his request to meet with the former head of a terrorist organization was agreed with. It seemed like the commander really paid attention to Kairen's actions. Kairen was sure that the man who did his best to support him would ask Kairen to directly work under him, just like he'd done before, but this time with a more sensitive job. Kairen hoped the commander wouldn't ask anything too hard or dangerous.

Sitting behind a table, Kairen examined his opposite man's face. He looked haggard and pale as if he would pass away from a cold breeze's hit. His snow-white hair and eyes added to the unhealthy expression, making him look like the most fragile person in the world.

"Hahaha! Hehehehe!"

After staring at Kairen for a few minutes in silence, the man suddenly burst into loud laughter. Kairen watched him without saying anything, waiting for his giggles to end. "Hehehe! To think that you really were alive! Pffftt hahaha!"

After just one sentence, he began laughing again. Kairen watched him in silence for a long time.

"Tell me your story."

This time, Kairen didn't wait for the man's laughter to end. The former head of Philomns paused and raised a brow. "I've already been interrogated multiple times. You only needed to ask them to hand you the papers. Or maybe they don't trust you that much? Heh! In that case, you only need to ask your beloved brother! He could answer you better than anyone as he was the interrogator himself! Heheheh!"

"...."

Kairen didn't react to the man's teasing. He already knew about the fact that Aaron was the one in charge of interrogating this man and had read through the information, but that wasn't enough. He wanted to hear them fresh out of the man's mouth. Kairen rubbed his throbbing temple and said in a calm voice.

"I'm the only one with the same power as you, and I'm the only one who'd properly understand you. Tell me how you obtained that power."

The white-haired man, who seemed to have gone half-crazy, stared at Kairen in silence for a while before opening his mouth with a smile.

"Alright."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Why did you have to talk to that man?"

Kairen was walking around the archive room and organizing the papers while his brother walked right behind him and talked without giving him a break. "You could've asked me and I'd tell you everything I knew in full detail! You didn't even tell me about your visit. Why were you trying to hide it?"

"I wasn't trying to hide anything."

Kairen shook his head slightly and put the files in his hand on their spot. "Then why didn't you tell me about it?"

"...I simply forgot."

It wasn't a lie. After conversing with the former head of Philomns and learning about how he'd gained his power, Kairen was struck with a spitting headache, which accused a lot these days, and thus forgot to tell his brother about the details of his visit. "Alright, alright, but you should've at least talked to me first!"

"Sigh."

Kairen grabbed a shelf and leaned his head against its cold metal. The headache wasn't gone yet and it was making him feel slightly dizzy. -Grab my hand! Grab my hand Reyn! We've got to go!

-Run, please, run faster. They'll reach us at this rate!

"Ugh...Let's talk about it later..." Kairen waved his hand at Aaron. "Later, please...", the tips of his fingers were shaking.

"...Ren?"

-Reyn!

A little kid's face brushed past Kairen's eyes. His vision blurred slightly as he felt his body weekly leaning toward the shelf.

"Mnng..."

Just when Kairen thought he'd fall to his knees or probably pass out due to the pain at any second, the pain went away like a woosh, as if he never had a headache in the first place. "Huuuuu..."

"...Ren? What's the matter? Hey?"

His brother has, of course, noticed that something was wrong with Kairen.

"Nothing... It's alright." Kairen wiped his cold sweat with the back of his hand. "Let's get out of here. We'll talk later at home, okay? I have a lot of documents to organize."

Kairen pushed his brother out of the archives.

. . . . . . . .

Talking at home wasn't possible either. Sitting behind the kitchen table, Kairen stared at his food with zero appetite. "Is it a headache again?"

"Mmn." Kairen nodded his head. He feared that he'd throw up if he opened his mouth, although he hadn't eaten much since the morning.

"You should really visit a doctor."

Kaiten didn't respond to Captain Neal. He lowered his head and wrapped his face with his palms. His whole body was slightly trembling. The voices of the people around him were blending in with the sounds inside his head.

-That is... The path...

"Get up Ren, I'm taking you to a hospital."

-...Take that path and you'll... Find... A city...

"Kairen!"

-This is... Mother's... M-mother's...

"Ren, can't you hear me?"

"Urgh..."

Kairen could hear his own groan. That made him snap back to his senses for a second. Grabbing the edge of the table with a trembling hand, Kairen barely managed to stand on his feet and stumble toward his room. Someone grabbed his shoulders and stopped him.

"Where... You... Not fine..."

Aaron's voice was faint and distant. Kairen couldn't hear it completely.

"I just need to sleep..."

He mumbled, unsure if the others could hear his voice. He had to sleep before he was pulled inside those memories. He didn't want to experience those flashbacks while switching between consciousness and unconsciousness.

His brother's calls were too unclear for him to recognize after that. Kaiten didn't even know how he managed to drag his body to his bed. His mind was soon dragged inside the pool of memories.