Valley City (2)

What am I thinking? Of course, he is not Daniel. He's Daniel's doppelganger! How could I forget that I'm in another world?

But that face…. His appearances…. It looks exactly the same as Daniel's. A perfect example of a doppelganger.

He wears a brown shirt, dark grey pants, and a pair of black slip-on shoes. His fringe, brown hair has bangs combed to the right.

His sharp grey eyes look at me with confusion.

"Huh? Who are you?" He asks.

"A-ah, sorry. Um, you look exactly like my friend called Daniel, you see…."

I try my best to hide my embarrassment, but my face is already red.

"Welcome home Kaeri! This is, uh, what's your name again?" Says Rain.

"Krisan."

"Yes, Krisan! She will be our new sister here. Yay!"

Rain said that cheerfully, hoping to cure my embarrassment, but no, she made it more uncomfortable. I want to hide my face even more.

Why must she mention that "sister" thing in front of her brother?

Her brother, Kaeri, sighs and covers his face with his hand. The kind of expression he is making is like, "Oh no, not again".

"Krisan, is it? Welcome to our house. My name is Kaeri." He welcomes me coldly.

If I think about it, his name is somewhat strange.

"My sister gave me this name. I know, it's weird, but please bear with it."

Did he just read my mind? Can all people here read someone's mind?

"Kaeri, did you just read my mind?"

I wanted to ask him about it, but I decided not to.

"No…. Nevermind."

Maybe I showed a peculiar expression back then.

"If you want to say something, say it," he replies. He is so cold, not the bad boy-type but the "do whatever you want" type. Also, he seems direct and honest with everyone. Then, he goes upstairs, leaving Rain and me in the living room.

"By the way, what time is it?" I ask Rain to break the silence. I forgot to search or see any clock. I assume this is morning, but maybe that's not the case because Kaeri just came home.

"It's 12.30 pm." Rain answers with a smile.

Afternoon? Then why did she give me breakfast earlier?

Time passes, and now it's nighttime. The bedroom I used earlier this "morning" is a guest room, so Rain happily lent it to me. The night is a perfect time for me to start thinking about my plan for the future.

First, I need to digest everything that happened to me and any information regarding that.

This is the 6th world, named Oloras. Ava and her crew committed suicide while protecting me and all Earthians stranded here in different places. But before that, they asked us to replace them to fight the Skias.

There's a threat from Skias, but I lack any information about them. I'll need other Earthians to fight, but since we've been separated, I'll need to find them as soon as possible.

I'm in Lux, the capital city of the Aurendra Province, in the Elion Republic. This information may or may not be essential for me, but I'll keep it if I want to return here.

Second, I need to plan for my future.

I need power. Virya said that all Earthians have enormous potential derived from their abilities, but we haven't unlocked them yet.

And there's too much that we don't know about every situation.

I hope Rain knows something; I have a hunch that she keeps some secret about this.

Rain manages a tea house named Tirta's Tea House. She also has her tea plantation.

Meanwhile, Kaeri, her brother, works in a bakery.

Their life seems so ordinary, but the fact that they know about the earth is something I couldn't ignore.

"I want to go home…." I said that while staring at the ceiling.

Tomorrow Rain promised to take me for a walk in the city. I'll have to find as much information as possible.

….

Gracie wanted to go with the special unit she dispatched to Lux, but she couldn't. Instead, the Ministry of Psionic Technology (MPT) and other ministries called her to discuss recently's distortion.

And to make things worse, the Prime Minister will be there.

'Why me?' she thought.

She's just a headmaster of an academy. Is it because of her relationship with the minister of MPT? Or is it because of her relationship with the culprit?

If that's the case, she will ask for compensation from him. Maybe a date will do.

Yes, the minister of MPT, Shio Tempest, is her fiance.

Fortunately, the meeting was successful, and they concluded that Gracie must take responsibility for everything.

At first, it seemed that it was a bothersome task assigned to her. But if her assumption about the culprit is correct, then she can solve this without any problems.

While walking to her office, Gracie calls one of the scientists that went to Lux.

"Give me a report."

"Miss Gracie, we have searched every part of Lux, but we didn't detect anything."

"Are you sure? How about the citizens? Is there anything suspicious?"

"Not really, but there's something amiss in our investigation."

Gracie stops walking, facing the window to see the night view of the city she lived in. It was to distract her from any painful memories.

"What is it? Speak."

"We saw a woman who looked like that person."

A woman that looked like her? But they didn't say it directly that she is "her", it means that….

"Let me guess. Her identity is totally different from 'her'."

Several emotions came to the surface when she said it. It's the emotion she has bottled up in years. One of them is the emotion of longing for a friend she cared so much about.

"Yes, Miss Gracie. But her face is exactly the same! We are sure that—"

Gracie ends the call. As expected, she must go to Lux directly to see what's happening. All of the clues she gathered so far—all connected to that person.

"Avaire Kyrstiva…. What have you done?" Gracie said while wiping her tears.

….

I'm not Rain's "sister."

I'm her "doll".

Rain seems so enthusiastic when I agree to let her dress me up. She said that I have a perfect body, with the right amount of fat and muscle here and there.

A white blouse with black ribbon, a black long skirt, and a pair of flat shoes.

I always tie my hair in a simple ponytail, but she insisted that I must wear some hair accessories on it.

Well, a flower hairpin will do.

After all of the dress-up thingy I had, it's time to step out and see the world.

Indeed, Lux is so beautiful. So many people came here for relaxation.

I am, too, tempted to live here and relax.

However, I must focus on my plan here. If the Skias are indeed a threat to this world, there must be some kind of clue.

And don't forget about how to unlock my potential. It's crucial.

I can't go back to earth for now anyway, so I must survive here no matter what.

In Lux, there's one particular vehicle that must be used to go down the hill. At first, I thought it was a motorcycle, but Rain's reaction brushed off that possibility.

It looks like a scooter motorcycle but without wheels. The moment the vehicle turns on, it floats above the ground for about ten centimeters.

The appearance of this vehicle is slim and sturdy like it's designed for narrow roads.

I am curious about how this vehicle works. It's something unique.

"Hey Rain, do you, perhaps, know why this vehicle floats?" I ask her with puppy eyes.

My childhood friend, Francis, loves machinery and stuff, so he often babbles about machine this, machine that; Some of his knowledge and curiosity may have been transferred to me.

Although I don't know any details about it.

Rain put a smile before answering me.

"By vehicle, do you mean Ilval?" Rain touches the vehicle, named Ilval. "Uh, I don't really sure about that…. But this technology came from Saki, so maybe it's a gravity thing? I don't know. Hehe."

Well, it's a shame.

But at least I know that in Saki, there's a technology that can manipulate gravity. So I'll put that country in my search list.

Maybe Francis is there. He will rejoice when he sees this stuff.

Anyway, then we go down the hill using this Ilval. Our travel is surprisingly smooth, no bump can shake us, unlike a regular motorcycle. And Ilval is totally safe; Rain said that there's a component that prevents us from falling. How amazing is that? I want to bring this technology to earth.

We arrived at the marketplace. This marketplace is located on the bottom side of the hill, so the shophouses are lined up like stairs. The shophouse here looks similar to those on earth, except for some parts. The doors have holographic layers on them. From what I've seen, they scan the identity of people who come inside.

As the road becomes narrower, we park the Ilval in a nearby docking station and walk through the marketplace.

Fruits, flowers, vegetables, all vegetation I've seen on earth is present here too.

But the residents are different. I can see some elves and humans living together in harmony, without any discrimination.

We go to various shops to buy all kinds of necessities. Rain tells me everything about the city while shopping. The history, cultures, and other stuff.

But the one I am most interested in is the story about an orphan who becomes the world number one.

The number means a rank that someone earns in annual tournaments. Rain doesn't know much about the tournament itself, but it's a famous story because they disappeared five years after the orphan won.

I have a hunch that this story will have a meaningful impact in the future.

After shopping, Rain asked me to stay in Kaeri's bakery. She said that she has some problem that she must finish herself, so she can't bring me with her.

The bakery is located in the marketplace, so every day, it is full of customers. This place has several tables and chairs. I proceed to sit on one of them while ordering some pastries and refreshments.

I can sense the scent of bread filling the room, a sweet, vanilla scent with a hint of savory in it. I can't wait to taste it.

All I can think about is bread, pastries, and Kaeri's bread—wait, no that's not it.

An image of Kaeri baking with his apron and his wet t-shirt shows some muscle on it….

"AAAAAH!" I squeaked, my face turns red

Other customers glance at me with confusion.

What am I thinking?

Well, Rain said that he's too handsome to be her brother. I can't deny it.

I slap myself to get out of this situation. Yep, that works.

I must focus. The fate of the world is in my hand. I can't let myself get distracted.