Austin's Sixth Sense

"You… you, how?" Austin stammered, his finger trembling as he pointed at the old man. 

'How does he know what I was thinking?' 

Austin then turned his gaze to the stifled laughter, his eyebrows knitting together.

'Why is she laughing? … Did she hear what I said too?'

Austin pondered before coming to the only plausible conclusion, '…Then that means, I accidentally said it out loud…'

Austin felt like facepalming at his accidental mistake. A moment later, he frowned in worry.

'They wouldn't kill me, would they? The woman probably won't but… that old man, he seems quite angered… Though I would be too if someone told me my wife had potentially cheated on me... and the daughter I thought was mine was someone else's…'

'...Hypothetically speaking' He sighed bitterly.

Although Austin had been acting lackadaisical ever since waking up, in fact, he was using that time to better understand the beautiful woman and the old man.

Back when he was still on Earth, despite not having any redeeming qualities, his judgment of a person's character had been always sharp, honed through his twelve years.

A person's mannerisms, their clothes, and even their appearance could provide accurate information regarding someone's personality.

Therefore, Austin knew the beautiful woman was genuinely worried about him. Her eyes had previously been filled with genuine concern.

However, her genuine concern for his well-being still mystified him, leaving him perplexed.

There was no reason for her to be worried about his well-being.

'Does she want something from me?' Austin wondered, confused.

But then again, what did Austin have that he could give her? Absolutely nothing… He possessed nothing of value.

*Sigh*

He silently sighed and then remembered that was not entirely true; he had two valuable possessions, about 6 dollars, and 53 cents … and his most valuable possession…

'My virg-'

*Cough*

He shook his head vigorously. No… absolutely not, that was impossible.

'Get your head out of the gutter Austin. How can you allow your well-protected virginity to be taken away by a drop-dead gorg… stranger?…absolutely not.'

From her clothes to the light makeup on her face… the room's furnishings, everything screamed opulence, easily surpassing the Smith's, who were millionaires.

Then there was the old man who had previously remained reclined in the chair with his eyes closed. Despite the old man's eyes being closed, Austin had previously felt he was being watched. It was a weird feeling to describe, but after being subjected to everyone's disdainful and mocking gazes as well as their equally disdainful, mocking words - a sixth sense of sorts was developed. His ears, which had always been sharp, allowed him to pick up on the smallest bit of noise, and despite having two normal eyes, that sixth sense of his allowed him to practically 'feel' when he was being looked at, even with his back turned to them.

Nevertheless, in spite of Austin's sixth sense, nothing could have prepared him for what was about to happen.

Ulric smiled in amusement, he wasn't angered by the boy's comment and normally he would have liked to tease him… but sadly, time was of the essence. The boy could not stay here any longer, he wasn't part of their world - the Universal Laws wouldn't permit his existence to remain any longer. The boy was oblivious, but upon his death on Earth, only his Soul had been taken into Qliphoth's Realm. His physical body had remained on Earth. Had the boy been stronger, thus having a stronger Soul, he could have remained on his island for a bit longer. However, his weak Soul was on the verge of destruction, and had it not been for Qliphoth his Soul would have been extinguished long ago.

…After a second thought, a bit of teasing wouldn't hurt.

Internally, he smiled evilly, however outwardly, his face remained expressionless, with a quick step, he vanished from his sitting posture and appeared in front of the young man instantly. For him and the countless Beings in the multiverse, what he did was normal. When a person's Movement Speed reached a level above their opponents, they would think their enemy teleported. But that was not the case, his Movement Speed simply outclassed the young man's pitiful Stats. Unless he had an overpowered eye-related ability, he would never be able to keep up with his speed.

Since he had controlled his Movement Speed, Luna saw what truly occurred: her father stood up from his chair, then lifted his cane from the ground and while using his cane as support he calmly walked to the bed.

She smiled helplessly, understanding what was about to occur, but didn't stop her father, since he held no hostility toward Austin. Instead, her thoughts drifted.

'...F-Father's bad habit is showing itself again. How many years has it been since my father was in the mood to tease someone?' She pondered, while her eyes began to moisten. This was already the second time her father teased the young man. The first time, she had been momentarily shocked but felt it might have been due to his agitated mood. But now she was sure.

Ulric sighed, noticing his daughter's depressed mood and her now reddened, teary eyes, but he didn't say any words of comfort, since he had no words to say when he too felt burned by sadness.

'Soon what was taken shall return.' For a brief moment, his eyes displayed a spark of killing intent that was so potent and powerful it engulfed the island and extended for hundreds of thousands of miles out. However, it went unnoticed even by his daughter. 

He shook his head and took a deep breath to remove the depressing thoughts. After regaining his composure, he lifted his right index finger and with a controlled amount of strength, flicked the boy's forehead.

*Thwack*

"Ouch!" Austin exclaimed, clutching his forehead in pain in an attempt to soothe the sudden ache.

"Brat, what nonsense are you talking about? Can't you know how to speak coherently?" 

Austin's hands froze at the sudden voice which seemed particularly too close, slowly he lowered his hands and what he saw caused him to jump in fright.

"You… you, how?' Austin felt like he was having deja vu, hadn't he stammered and said the same words earlier? 

"..." Ulric blinked and then blinked once more.

'This brat, he was lost in his thoughts…' Ulric mused bitterly. His act of using his speed to tease the brat had been useless. 'Then again, if I had read his mind, I would have known' But of course, he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't go against his principles. When he read the young man's mind earlier that had been a rare instance in which his curiosity got the better of him. 

Austin stared at the hunchbacked old man in surprise.

'Was I so lost in my thoughts that I didn't see the old man getting up and approaching?'

Before Austin could respond, Ulric remarked, "Has anyone ever told you that you have a propensity for losing yourself in thought?" Although he knew the answer.

Austin bitterly smiled.

"Yes, many times. More so, than I'm proud to admit"

Ulric didn't comment, he pivoted on his heel, turned around and then walked towards the room's exit. Just before leaving through the door, he glanced back over his shoulder.

"Follow me." Ulric said in a serious tone of voice.

Without waiting for an answer, Ulric left.

"Errr." Austin hesitated, unsure of what to say or do. His eyes shifted from the door where the old man disappeared to the beautiful woman beside the bed, then settled on the wooden cane adorned with a lizard-like dragon head.

'Why does he need a cane if he can walk without it?'

Luna helplessly smiled, understanding what was going through the young man's mind. In a gentle voice, she said,

"Don't worry, you should follow my father. Nothing will happen."

Austin nodded and then reluctantly rose from the divine comfort of the bed and headed toward the exit with uncertainty.

Despite their brief encounter, the old man had never once shown such a serious demeanor until now.

*Gulp*

Austin gulped nervously.

'I'm not being kicked out of Heaven, am I?" Austin mused, worriedly.