Coincidences ?

"Wait … who discovered the crypt?" asked Alvis.

"Some hunter who claimed to have been chasing a deer in the forest. He was rewarded handsomely for his discovery. However, almost everyone who went to the crypt died. The only person who managed to come back went mad, so no one could verify what had happened."

Alvis appeared to be thinking about something. "Is the crypt still there?"

"Yes. It was sealed by a passing mage who had realized that something was off about it. Apparently, the governor had been given warnings about it after its discovery, but he chose to ignore them", as Riza replied, she was looking at Soren, somewhat.

"I don't know anything about that. My father never said anything about this matter", as Soren replied, he yawned.

"You don't look so well. Did you get some sleep last night?" asked Alvis.

"None of us managed to get proper sleep thanks to a certain someone", replied Riza, with a chuckle, as she looked at Eskaria.

"Hey, it's not my fault! You're the one who chose a room full of bugs!" Eskaria snapped.

"So? You had to scream and wake everyone up because of a little cockroach?"

"Hmpf! You!" Eskaria had no retort.

Reeve sighed. "Why didn't anyone tell me this story before, in Sky City?"

"My father was hurt deeply when it happened. He decided to forbid anyone from speaking about it in the house. Even all the portraits of Emeth were removed from the house."

"Oh? That explains a lot …" Reeve paused. While looking at Alvis, he then continued, "By the way, you were explaining something about the seven gods. Can you tell me a bit more?"

Before Alvis could respond, Miranda's voice reached the room, "Honey, can you come and help me set up the dishes?"

"I'll be right there", Alvis responded, standing up. "I'll explain some other time, if that's okay with you?"

"It's fine", Reeve replied.

After Alvis had left, Riza pinched Reeve's ear and then asked, "Was that really necessary? The gods??"

"Owwww … Hey! That hurt … eh … somewhat. Why can't I ask? You never gave me a history 101!"

"A what?" everyone turned to look at Reeve.

"You know, a crash course in history!"

"Huh?"

"Actually, never mind! I know there's probably no need … but I want to know more about what happened in the world. I want to know the past events. Someone once said that those who don't know the past are destined to repeat it. So, is it so bad for me to ask?"

"Eh …" everyone turned to look at Reeve, who had preached some complex philosophy, which no one understood obviously.

"I mean, I need to know more about the country … no … the world's history!" he declared, sounding somewhat fired up.

"Umm, I'm sure there's a library in the city. Just go and read", answered Soren.

"Eh? There are libraries here?" asked Reeve, even more curious. He was surprised to find out that libraries existed in this world too. Then again, lots of things existed so …

"Of course! What do you mean 'here'?" asked Soren. Unlike Riza, he was unaware that Reeve was an undead monster reanimated from the soul of some guy, who was unlucky enough to be isekai'd into their world. And no, Reeve couldn't just blurt it out to him either.

"Here as in the capital? How was I supposed to know there's a library here? I've never been here before!" Reeve shrugged his shoulders in response. This didn't seem to convincing to Soren, who only shook his head.

"If you go to the library, I wonder how you're going to pay for the entry fee", Riza grinned as she uttered these words.

"…" Reeve was startled. It took him a full minute to regain his composure, and when he did, he said, "Eh… well … how much money do we have left by the way?"

"What do you mean we? I'm the one who was 'robbing' the dead, remember?" she shrugged her shoulders, with what counts as a smirk.

"Now you choose to be stubborn?" asked Reeve, seeing this whole talk pointless.

Before Riza replied with something worse, Alvis and Miranda returned from the kitchen, and started setting up the dishes. Within a few minutes, they were all having supper. The meal consisted of bread, potatoes, and soup. At the end of the meal, everyone was fulfilled.

"So, where are you staying in Harazade?" asked Alvis, looking at Riza.

"We arrived not long ago, and have been living in inns. Unfortunately, we're running out of money, so we might--"

"Would you like to live with us? You know, for the time being", asked Miranda, which caused everyone to turn and look at her. This was too sudden.

"Eh? Are you sure about this?" asked Riza.

"Of course, we discussed about this. You and your friends can stay here until you find a place to live. Since we don't have any kids, the spare rooms will be free", answered Alvis.

Reeve was stunned. Wasn't this too convenient? Then again, a lot of things have been coincident lately. From the time they met Wynn by the road, to meeting the principal, and now this guy too. Either the god of coincidences liked him so much, or he was drunk and wasn't seeing clearly. Well … that was assuming there was such a thing as the god of coincidences …

"Thank you very much", replied Riza with a bashful smile.

The night passed by without drama. While everyone slept and snored like big babies, something was happening on the horizon. On a floating island far away from the continent, an old man was standing in what was once a forest. The evidence that it was once a forest, was the withered tree trunks.

The old man looked at the now destroyed forest gloomily. After observing for some minutes, he moved on to a portal which was covered in a glowing, blue barrier. The barrier had various cracks, and sand was trickling from the cracks.

"It looks like someone is getting impatient. I wonder how Varkas is doing. Well, he just left, so I doubt he'd have found anything. I guess we're running out of time …" he mumbled, as he looked at the trickling sand.