[The next morning]
Arthur aptly chose to remain home that morning, He was certain that Bulat wouldn't do anything so early however he felt it was better to stay home, his gut told him not to leave Esme's side for today.
It's been four days since he met Bulat face to face, and he was certain the man would make his move any day now.
Of course, he took that opportunity to simply lie in bed and unfortunately stare at the ceiling. With no phone to scroll through social media, he was left with nothing but his own thoughts.
The worst thing that happened to him was the fact that he couldn't have vivid daydreams like he used to. He couldn't say if that started when he began his job as an Explorer or if his brain chemistry had shifted due to being in a new body because he was reborn.
He also couldn't tell if he was the same as he was before, He felt the same, but that didn't necessarily mean he was the same. He wasn't really a fully grown adult when he got reborn.
Age-wise, he's spent more time in this world than he has on earth, although the difference is only three years but still.
Realising his thoughts were going in a direction he did not want he quickly shifted his focus and turned his head to look at the sleeping face of his wife.
Her curled black hair was strewn all over her pillow, clusters of strands clung to her face with a few somehow having been forced into her closed mouth.
She wasn't much of a snoring person, something he appreciated although he didn't know if he was a snorer, funnily enough even in his past life, he'd never known that as he never really had people who'd know something like that.
Despite the hair on her face, Arthur couldn't help but find her to have a rather cute sleeping face looking at her cheeks, he couldn't help but feel the need to squish and squeeze them, a feeling that brought a small smile to his face.
She looked so peaceful as she slept, almost as if she had not a single worry in the world.
Sleeping in general was something extremely vulnerable, as An Explorer, he didn't sleep in a comfortable bed very often, and most of the time he had to sleep outside.
This meant sleeping only for a few hours, even when the spot he found was relatively safe he couldn't really be comfortable.
'Some Explorers will probably never experience this'
He mused while still staring at his wife, his thoughts wandering further.
If he were to be honest, he doubted he would be enjoying this moment if he weren't someone from another world and didn't have the experience of living in a society that valued human connection.
Arthur continued to stare at Esme's face for a long time before realizing he was tired of being in bed and he got up, making sure not to disturb her.
He paused momentarily and realized that he had something to do, and that it was sending a letter to the guild for the monster encyclopedia volumes Esme had asked for.
Ever since he showed her some magic, her curiosity had piqued and she wanted to know everything, although she had the sense to be reasonable.
'Maybe one day, I could….'
He quickly tossed that thought into the trash, nothing would be more dangerous than bringing a civilian to a Quest. There are too many unpredictable variants and putting his wife through danger like that would be stupid.
'She'll have to settle for books and stories'
With that in mind, he quickly put on some trousers and made his way to the study.
Once in the study, he hurriedly rummaged through one of the other chests filled with magic items.
Explorers had very limited ways to communicate with each other and the Guild, mostly because they tend to travel far and because most never see a reason to communicate unless necessary.
In the event it is necessary, like for instance a new type of monster is discovered or a Mana zone is discovered, there are two ways to communicate with the guild.
The first is the beacon method, which uses a magic item called the [Glowing stone] This method uses multiple magic crystals handed to each Explorer at the start of their career.
When an Explorer is near death they can simply have their Glowing stone begin to light up, and that will light up the Central crystal in the guild.
It's not a call for help but simply telling the guild of the location where an Explorer died, which in turn allows the guild to know there's a powerful monster there that needs to be eliminated.
The Glowing stone method is simply used as a death beacon, informing the Guild that an Explorer is dead, it also doubles as a dangerous monster alert.
After rummaging through the chest Arthur pulled out a deep red hardcover of a booklet, there was a ruby colored mana crystal embedded in the center of the cover.
The booklet was about the size of his hands if the hands were placed side by side and it was close to three centimeters in thickness.
"Hopefully they won't take this as me, asking for a quest"
Letting out a sigh he flipped through the book, briefly looking through its content, feeling a little bit nostalgic as he did. The booklet was a Quest log.
A magic item, where whatever you write is copied into another booklet linked together with the first one.
It was similar to how a person would send a text, the only difference being that there's no send button, everything is instantly copied the moment you start writing.
The Quest Log was mainly used to give quests to Explorers and for Explorers to send details regarding their quest, whether the quest is complete or not and they can also relay information regarding new discoveries, like Mana zones and new types of monsters.
In fact, Arthur had to write a whole report about the Ice wall, once he returned from it. Which was a bit tedious because he hadn't ventured far enough to discover anything new about it.
While the popular belief about Explorers was that they kill monsters, that wasn't all they did. After all, the Explorer's Guild and Explorers themselves are the descendants of mages.
Arthur plopped himself on the chair and began to write what he needed, which was all the available volumes of the Monster encyclopedia barring the one he already had in his possession.
Of course when he wrote in the booklet he did not use the common human language but instead in an entirely different one, it was the same language used to enchant items.
Ancient language once used by the now extinct race of Elves. Only their way of speaking was compatible with magic, or rather only their way of speaking could command mana.
Once he finished penning the letter, he let out a sigh, the sigh itself had nothing to do with the letter but it was more about the fact that he had nothing to do for the moment.
The past week had been really strange, sure he took this vacation for a chance to enjoy something peaceful and slow.
However despite that desire, actually doing nothing felt wrong, like he was neglecting something really important, making him feel anxious.
However, at the same time, he dreaded the fact that this vacation would end eventually and he would have to return to the empty Job of being an Explorer.
Always traveling, never staying in a single place, and never really enjoying life the way a human is supposed to.
Most Explorers from what he gathered were fine with this and saw no problem, they made a ton of money, even if they only ever got to spend it once in a blue moon.
However has had enough of it of course that doesn't mean he didn't enjoy the thrill of battle, it was something he's enjoyed since the beginning but maybe it's his past life memories that make him seek something like this.
Maybe because unlike most Explorers he is an individual who needs a connection rather than a constant battle with monsters.
It was a little contradictory to enjoy battle yet still seek peace, but he was certain he could learn to balance it out.
Regardless of any of that though, it was a fact that spending some time with Esme was something he liked, it was exactly the kind of peace he was looking for. So he had no plans to stop.
He had almost forgotten how nice it was to talk to someone after ten years on a job that seemed to encourage being a loner.
Although he will have to find a way to see her as frequently as possible once this whole vacation is over.
Without much to do, and having finished what he had to do, he decided to go to bed, and maybe watch her sleep. It was certainly creepy but it was better than nothing.
However before he could step out of the study he took note of something on the bookshelf, it was Esme's books.
"Oh! Might as well read these then"
He figured she might appreciate him reading the books she likes. Plus taking an interest in your wife's interests was never a bad thing.
Although in terms of genre, even in his past life he preferred high octane action but he can survive branching out.