Smiley woke up staring at an unfamiliar ceiling but still wrapped in a warm bed. He sat up and recalled he was sitting by the fire and just then his eye got attention of his shirt draped on the chair across him.
'Oh right… I feel asleep.'
Meanwhile the older woman told Reina to go wake Smiley up. Reina paced back and forth in front of the door like a soldier before a siege. Finally she paused, summoning up her courage, taking in a deep breath and closed her eyes as she began knocking.
Tuk
Instead of her hitting a hard wood, she felt like hitting something softer.
"Tuk? Wood is not that soft" she questioned which was followed by an 'Owch'.
She opened her eyes to find the door was already opened as she was knocking on Smiley's forehead.
"Ah…"
Smiley rubbed his forehead, 'So, did you have anything to say?'
Reina walked up to Smiley acting all stuffy and awkward, "A-about y-y-yesterday. I am sorry I did not knew man and woman had… that"
'That?'
"You know… That we are d-different and all that."
Smiley placed his back palm against her head, checking her temperature.
"W-what are you doing??!?!"
'You do not have a fever so why are you all red and shuttering?'
Her mind overloaded as she dashed away pushing Smiley away, "SHUT UP AND DONT FOLLOW ME YOU IDIOT."
The older woman overheard it all and told Smiley, 'Don't mind her. We just had The Talk last night.'
'The Talk?'
Smiley was oblivious of the fact what it even was as she giggled, 'How cute, both of them are adorable.'
She turned, asking Smiley, 'So how is Rhina doing?'
'You know Miss Rhina?'
'She used to work with me some time ago before she started her own Tavern in the middle of nowhere. She complained how boring it was and planned to move back into town— but one day she happily came back saying she was going to stay in the village instead.'
She looked at Smiley, 'And now I think I finally figured out what that reason might have been.'
'What is it?'
'You Smiley. The dead tired look on her face disappeared into a cheerful one around a few years ago and I could wager that is when she must have met you.'
Smiley felt a sense of warmth in his heart, 'I see. Thank you for telling him this. Miss—'
'Selena, I am Selena.'
'Oh, like the pretty moon?'
'Oh my, I am flattered. You even know what this word means. You can stay here a bit longer if you want to.'
'Sorry but Ananke and Miss Ayla would be worried about me so I better head back now. I will come back to pay you later.'
'No need. You are welcome here anytime.'
'No, I must repay you or else Miss Rhina would— I do not want to think about that'
'Haha, alright. When you are a fine young man, come back again by then.'
'Alright Miss.'
'You know I am quite old. I don't think Miss works out that well'
Smiley said it without hesitation:
'But you still look so young and glowing like the pretty moonlight.'
Smiley's eyes reflected a different world from others. In his eyes, Miss Selena was really glowing white.
Smiley stood up and waved her good bye, 'I will see you later than.'
Selena narrated to herself, 'Rhina, you do not need to worry. Smiley is growing up just fine.'
Smiley walked up to Reina, offering his help to carry the weight but Reina became flustered and stuffy as she yelled at him to stay away.
'He even got a ladykilling tongue on him so if I was you, I would be worried about that more than his health.'
Selena was writing on the paper at her desk.
'You always loved the moon for how it watches over all, protecting everyone when the darkness falls with its glimmering ray of light. I will be your moon and look over Smiley if he ever needs help so rest assured.'
Selena put down the pen and closed off the paper and put it into an envelope which was addressed to Rhina. She walked up to the window as he looked at Smiley walking out of the tavern.
'So stop worrying, there are no wolves here who will eat him alive.'
Meanwhile somewhere unknown, a wolf launched only to meet his end by the blades. A man with blonde hair and bandages wrapped around his eyes wiped the blood off his face. He was surrounded by thick fog and corpses of wolf-like creatures whose bodies were extraordinarily large.
He calmly said, 'The timeline… Something is wrong with this one.'
Behind her was a woman in black clothing and cloak. Her composure was calm and elegant as she asked, 'Do you think another Reincarnator has invaded the world?'
'No. This one is nothing like others. It's something inhuman. It seems like someone peeked into my Hero's Status memories.'
'What do you mean by that? Was it a celestial?'
'No… it 's unfamiliar… But also nostalgic. The only other person who was able to do something like that was The Great Sage.'
He thought to himself, 'I must find someone with soul bound soon or else we will fail to stop the world's end once again.'
Smiley was happily walking out of the tavern not knowing the disaster that awaited him as the blonde man spoke, 'Who are you? A companion or a threat needing to be removed? I guess I will pay you a visit.'
As Smiley walked out of the tavern thinking Reina was quite a character as he recalled the older woman explaining to Smiley how she acts boyishly and asking to forgive her.
But he paused in his steps, unable to believe himself of what stood in front of him.
'No– How? It can't be… Why— Why is he here?'