Opening his eyes, Jay felt a wind blowing against his body and a warm hand running through his hair. Looking up, he realized he was under a tree.
Looking again, he saw Saint Clarice.
She was older now, appearing to be between fifteen or sixteen years old.
Jay, in the appearance of his past life, was flushed because he was lying on her lap.
Saint Clarice let out a carefree laugh.
"You're quite flushed, Jay!"
"Ah, no… it's just that—" He couldn't explain or utter a single word; it was caught in his throat.
Saint Clarice's laughter intensified. Even so, Jay smiled, delighted to see someone he liked laughing because of him.
Still lying on her lap, he looked to the side and saw a kind of school or academy, as he watched Kyrai with her friends and Noa training.
'Is this all just a dream?' Jay thought.
Saint Clarice stopped laughing, then leaned her face down toward Jay's.
Her white hair fell, blocking anyone's view of their kiss.
"That's why I love you. You're funny, entertaining, and easy to talk to," the Saint said, her face red. "And what do you love about me?" she asked, her eyes revealing a desire for something more.
Jay was at a dead end, but upon seeing those eyes, his flushed expression and shame disappeared. After all, he was a young adult of twenty-seven trapped in a child's body when they first met. And she loved him—that hurt Jay's heart.
He couldn't lie and say he didn't love her; that would be lying to himself.
Directing his gaze downward, he saw the body of a young man who appeared to be her age.
Suddenly, his mouth began to move on its own. Words started to come out against his will, as if he had lost control of his own body.
"I love everything about yo—" Jay was awakened by a leg slamming into his stomach.
Water sputtered from his mouth, and a sense of emptiness—the strong realization that he would likely never have such a wonderful dream again—overtook him.
'Wait, why am I thinking that?'
His master, Beijamim, stared at him with a sharp gaze, as if he had committed a crime or stolen something.
"You…" Beijamim examined his disciple's entire face, taking in every detail. "Don't tell me you…"
"Yes… I dreamed about a girl," he interrupted his master, who looked at him in surprise.
"I thought you liked… men," Beijamim said, tears welling up in his eyes.
At that exact moment, Jay felt a knife stab through his chest. That hurt his pride because, after all, his master...
'My… my master thought I, I was gay! Why did he think that? What did I do to seem suspicious?'
The master opened his arms and went toward his disciple, embracing him affectionately—a sweet and warm hug.
He had never done that before.
"I'm so happy that your master misinterpreted things," he said emotionally, tears streaming from his eyes.
"But… why did you think I liked men?" Jay asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Your mannerisms, your gaze, and the most suspicious thing…" Beijamim pulled away from Jay, looked him in the eyes, and said, "You just look the part."
These words entered his ear, traveled to his heart, pulled out a knife, and started stabbing him.
Tears began to pour down his face; he shut down in that moment.
Beijamim caught his body when it suddenly went limp.
"Hey!" he said desperately. "Hang in there. Hey!… Hold on!" the master pleaded.
After a while, Jay awoke. He was on a bench made of a tree trunk, surrounded by bushes, and beneath him lay a sea of dry, fallen leaves.
Looking to the side, he saw his master eating from a wooden plate.
"Hello, you finally woke up, fallen soldier," he said enthusiastically.
Jay sat up while placing a hand on his head.
"How long did I… sleep, Master?" he asked worriedly.
"Ah, only for an hour," Beijamim said nonchalantly.
Jay sighed in relief that it had only been an hour. After all, he wasn't like his master, who had made such a drama simply because he wasn't "gay."
"Well…" Jay said with some expectation.
The master tilted his head to the side while chewing his food.
Jay pointed to the plate Beijamim was savoring.
Beijamim raised his eyebrows, indicating he understood, and handed him the plate.
Upon receiving it, Jay saw that it was empty.
With a look of disappointment, he slowly raised his head.
"I meant with food, Master!"
"Ah, ya didn't explaim," Beijamim said with his mouth full.
'How is this guy a master? He doesn't even have basic manners!' Jay thought, irritated.
Jay took the spoon and started serving his own food.
The appearance was not the best; it looked like green mashed potatoes. The base was rice, but the green color and texture came from herbs.
Every time before eating this meal, which he had been consuming for over a year, he made a face, and the taste matched the appearance.
'A real slop. It always tastes awful! Prepare yourself, palate, here comes a bomb.'
Taking a spoonful of the food and throwing it into his mouth, a shiver went down his spine.
'It's horrible!' Jay wanted to vomit, but he couldn't, or else...
'I'll get beaten.' While thinking, he swallowed the food, which slid down as if he had eaten charcoal.
After eating all the food, Jay lay on the trunk while watching his master stuffing himself with the slop.
'Seriously, how can he eat that when it tastes horrible?' Jay couldn't understand.
But suddenly, Beijamim stopped, stared at him with a cold look, and said:
"Jay!"
"Yes, Master?" Jay asked, raising his eyebrow.
A gust of wind carried part of the sea of dead leaves, rustling the branches of the trees and the clothes of the two men.
Beijamim's hair swayed as his mouth pronounced: "I know about your secret, and that this is not your first life!"
"What?!" Jay couldn't believe what he was hearing.
After all, how had he found out? Was it because of his abnormal behavior? Or was it some other way?
So many questions flooded his head and eyes.
"How I know, you must be asking, and the answer is simple…" Beijamim said while smiling at his disciple.
"…Your aura and… your thirst for blood showed me that you didn't just kill two people, as you told me, but many more." With a gaze as sharp as an eagle, he continued.
"In other words, only this alternative remained: you, Hyou Jay, were reincarnated."
"H-how…"
"Who were you? An assassin? No, tell me who you were in your past life, Hyou Jay!" the master said with a thick, heavy voice.
Jay immediately lowered his head. He couldn't look into his master's eyes. After all, everything he said was true.
"I-I, I was a… a monster!"