I slowly opened my eyes and saw the gentle light of the morning passing through the broken ceiling.
Compared to last night. The room is more lively now and I can clearly see all the debris and ruins of this familiar shelter.
I turned to the spot where there was supposed to be a mattress and a person but surprisingly, the spot was already tidy and there was no one there.
Hmmm.
I guess my younger self is already awake huh.
…
Such an early riser as expected of myself hmmu hmmu.
…
I then gently stood up and stretched my arms upwards and bent my body slightly backward. I moved my head around and after feeling that I am finally awake, I then walked to the door to look for my other self.
Since this is me that we are talking about. She would be already cooking breakfast.
Also…
I think I should go add my own food. I don't think my younger self would be that willing to share food just yet haha.
I continued walking and reached outside the shelter. I then saw an ignited campfire made with sticks and stone. There was my younger self sitting beside it looking at the pan being heated on top of it. There were fish on it and it looked delicious.
Fufufu.
Such a reliable me.
I chuckled to myself and walked towards her.
I should go greet her.
"Morning."
"Hmmm?"
She then looked at me and went back to the food.
"Took you a while to wake up… Was I really that comfortable sleeping in the future?"
I then walked over and sat down on the seat on the opposite side of her.
"I surely am. I had a pretty nice house with a good bed. Made possible with my own money from hard work."
As I spoke I could see her serious glance once I said about an own house with a comfy bed. It's one of the things we wished for afterall during this time.
"Hmm… What job did we have?"
"The same one you are currently thinking of in this timeline."
"Mercenary?"
She tilted her head.
"That one and also being part of the adventurers guild."
"Ohhh."
She then became quiet again. I guess that's enough attention from her.
I then casted a spell which was a dark storage magic spell. A black hole coming from thin air appeared in front of me.
"!!?"
When I casted the spell, my younger self had a surprised look on her face. Her mouth slightly opened and eyes completely staring at the black hole.
"Storage magic? You already learned it?"
"Indeed it is."
I then took out an already procured large meat and then some spices and oil.
…
She looked at my food and her eyes were showing a hint of jealousy. I can clearly feel her feeling of wanting to eat the same tasty looking food.
It's meat after all.
Although she won't admit it. I still find it cute.
I will share some of it with her later fufu.
And now maybe seeing that I can sense her feelings. My younger self then suddenly shakes her head and changes the topic.
"Anyways… How did you learn it?"
"This spell?"
"Unnn… We lost our grimoire right? We still didn't reach that page. Did you buy a grimoire? Isn't it rare?"
Ughh so many questions…
But well it's understandable.
Back then, when we were attacked, the grimoire was left in the house alongside the other books and things that we had. When we returned, everything was already destroyed.
Also, at the time of the attack, I was still not done studying everything in the book. I was only half the progress of completing it.
Dark magic is hard to master. It needs time and focus.
Many spells like this storage magic were among the pages that I didn't manage to reach to study before.
Now… I was able to learn it because I acquired a grimoire. It was rare, yes. But surprisingly, When I acquired it, I was surprised.
It was a welcome lucky coincidence,
I then smiled, making the younger me confused and curious.
"Why are you smiling like that?"
"Fufufu."
I will show her to make things easier to understand.
I then took out a grimoire and handed it to her.
She accepted and opened it. She then flipped through the first page.
"Huh? Wait…How- how can this be?"
Her hands were trembling and her eyes moving quickly as she moved through every page. Her mouth still opened and shook a little as she tried to form words but couldn't.
"This- ehh- how- it really is - but- I can't… believe it…"
She then rubbed her eyes which were tearing up and looked at me and then back to the book.
"These sloppy drawings and doodles, these encircled words, these notes, there is no doubt… this is mine… But how, I thought everything was gone."
She then gently closed the book and brought it to her chest and embraced it before looking back at me. Her expression is full of questions and also the look of wanting answers.
I can understand her reaction. Even I asked the same question before. It was really unbelievable.
"I had a mission where I needed to retrieve something in an auction. Well long story short. I discovered it there and took it, completed my initial task and sneaked my way out."
"But how did it survive?"
"Apparently, some of the items were not burned but rather stolen and sold because of their value."
Which also means. Someone there knew the things that the witch had.
I mean, someone must have analyzed and knew which was sellable. People who don't know that would just burn everything.
So maybe… The one who stole the Grimoire must have a lead to whoever was the mastermind that framed us.
Well that's just a guess. I never knew who gave the Grimoire to the auction since I was busy with my mission and didn't investigate further.
Maybe this is another regret?
Well enough about that, my main goal for now is to make my younger self happier.
The me who always did everything alone. The me who survived through harsh conditions. The me who worked hard.
As I kept thinking. I then noticed a burnt smell. I followed the smell and saw the fish getting overcook.
"The fish!"
"Wha? Huh!?"
My younger self quickly turned to look at the fish and when she realized she made a mistake, she then was about to stand and quickly grab the utensil but then she felt the book on her other hand that was about to fall from her panicking movement.
"Whaaa!?"
She sat back down and secured the book tightly in her arms. She then sighed and closed her eyes.
…
…
Pfft.
Hahahahaha.
I couldn't help but laugh from the silliness of myself.
"Don't laugh… "
Pfft
I mean it's just too stupid hahaha.
I laughed as I held my stomach and tears formed from my eyes.
My younger self cheeks and ear were bright red, I could clearly see and feel the embarrassment she is currently holding.
Ahh…
I then rubbed my eyes and sniffed.
I am really enjoying this, am I? I wonder, would I've laughed like this in my past life?
No…
I think I would just be working… still forcing myself to live for another day without any expectation.
…
But now…
I think I am enjoying this more.
Would I be thankful that I died? That I moved to this new life of mine?
Well, I guess I should.
I then smiled and decided to handle the burning fish. I grabbed the pan with a pan holder and put it on the side.
My younger self looked at the failed dish and frowned. She really looked disappointed. I mean she cooked it for herself and clearly, she wouldn't want to eat something that taste like burnt food or coal.
I chuckled again.
Yeah, I really need to give her some of my food since she wasted this fish.
"Don't worry, I will share mine with you."
She then looked at me with an adorable, upturned expression.
"Is it okay?"
I then nodded and began preparing the things that I needed.
"Yeah, just sit back and calm yourself down kay?~"
"Unnn."
I then began cooking. I took out a reserved pan from my inventory, put it in the fire and heated it up, applied oil, put in the meat and continued working on the spices.
My younger self just watched on the side. Her eyes expressed hunger and excitement seeing the food being cooked.
"Hey."
"Hmmm?"
I then heard her calling to me. So I replied with a humm while continuing to work on the side dishes.
"What was our life like in your time?"
…
…
Our life huh.
Although I would say it's far better than our current situation today.
I think it is still pretty bland and dull.
"To sum it up… it was all work."
"???"
She moved her head a little and probed me to continue.
"We managed to buy a house, we had a job, we were free to do whatever we please. But it all felt dull for some reason. Not really exciting. Wait , I guess it's because I focused more on earning rather than enjoying."
"How is it bad? I mean, that life seems better, isn't it? compared to now?"
She questioned and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Well yes it's better but you just feel dissatisfied. Longing for something you can't explain. A very empty feeling."
"Can't understand."
"Fufufu, I guess it is."
After a while, I finally finished the dish.
I took two plates out and equally divided the food that I cooked to the both of us.
We each have our utensils and now all we need to do is eat.
"I will taste it…"
My younger self took a piece and blew on it before taking the first bite. Once she bit on it, her eyes instantly shone up.
She didn't say anything but she ate faster and faster.
I handed her water and she drank from it and continued eating.
I guess she really likes it. That makes me happy.
I then started eating while enjoying watching my younger self.
—---------------------------
After eating, we cleaned and took the plates away and just rested on the nearest shade of a tree.
We sat there and relaxed, just listening to the chirps of the birds and the swaying of the leaves from the wind.
After a short bit of relaxing silence. My younger self turned to me and spoke.
"I am really curious… What should I do from now on? "
She looks clearly serious. And since she expects an answer from me that should be something that would help her, I could not just answer half heartedly.
Hmmm…
Honestly I just want to tell her to just do whatever. But I guess that's too vague.
…
Kay.
"Well…I would like you to go with me. Let's go to the nearest city and settle down there for a while- let's take things slow and start there."
"What would we do there?"
I then smiled.
"Anything! Let's find things we might find enjoyable and new."