A diary

'Maybe I should've tried harder to keep this a secret...'

After the initial shock came the realization.

He'd blurted something he shouldn't have.

He'd so easily given himself out.

But was he really at fault? Alaric was so taken aback that he didn't know how to respond. Even now that he managed to compose himself to some extent, he couldn't quite discern the situation. What was this thing doing here? This language? In an ancient-looking notebook? 

'Does that mean there were others who came here before me?'

But how was that possible? He had no knowledge about this! 

'How can this be possible? This is literally the story I made up!!'

And someone from his hometown came here before he did? Into the world he created? And they weren't a character that he'd created since he had zero recollections of such an event.

'And it's not possible for others to know about this story since I never wrote it anywhere. I didn't even have anyone close enough for me to talk to them about this story... So how?'

This was simply not possible.

There were so many things he wasn't aware of that he was starting to doubt everything.

Was he really in the world of his story? Were these people his OCs? The characters he created? The world he built?

Then again, what was this notebook doing here?

And how come he had so little knowledge about so many things in this land? Wasn't he literally a god? Should he be all-knowing? He knew nothing about these elves since nothing was mentioned in the story. Well, he was the one who had to mention them in the story... But how could these things exist when he'd never ever thought about them? 

'Arrghhh I'm going to lose my mind!'

The whole situation was insanely ridiculous.

"...."

Apart from the storm that was going on in his head, on the outside, Alaric stared at the notebook, his face blank. 

'Maybe I really am a fool... Ian is right...'

Why else would he be so thoughtless?

"Well, what does it say?"

With his hand wrapped around Alaric's shoulder, Ian clung to him, both sitting down on the steps of the shrine. He kept staring at Alaric, with his same demanding and piercing gaze that gave chills to the target. He demanded that Alaric read the notebook's contents.

"Here. Let me flip the page for you, master."

"..."

Flip flip 

A page was carefully turned. Ian glanced at the writings and then back at Alaric's face, a smile vivid on his lips. 

Alaric swallowed his saliva.

"I guess... This diary belonged to a girl... A mage, I guess."

"Hmm?"

"Since... She keeps talking about this boy she loves. Almost everything is about him..."

"And who is he?"

"Um... Another mage, I assume? His name is Evan, I guess."

"Hmmmm." 

"There isn't much mention of the girl's name."

"Hmmmm."

"And she also talks about some other people, but not in full detail. I can't say much. They are like side characters, while this Evan guy is the male lead."

"Uh....."

Pat Pat Pat.

Ian tapped Alaric's shoulder multiple times. 

"Keep reading. Keep reading."

"....."

Alaric kept staring at the contents of the pages, but his mind wasn't calm enough for him to focus on the words. On one hand, his confusion was at its peak regarding how someone else could know this language or cross into this world. On the other hand, he couldn't wrap his head around Ian's strange behavior. 

He was too shocked at first that he couldn't hold back his honest reaction from slipping out of his mouth, but wasn't Ian accepting it so easily and casually? 

'Why isn't he asking me how I know this language? Does he believe it to be another language belonging to some country? Yeah, that can be the case, since no one can know all the languages in this world and realize that this one doesn't belong to this place, and also that I used to be a nobleman who received a high-quality education...'

Thinking like that, a part of Ian's reaction made sense, but Alaric still couldn't understand why he was giving him such a look. And what was with that sudden friendly behavior? It wasn't that he didn't enjoy being friends with him, but this one... This was kind of freaking him out. 

Flipping through the pages, Alaric read the contents of the notebook in silence. This did indeed seem like a normal diary belonging to a young girl who had a massive crush on some dude who didn't even give a shit about her.

Poor girl.

Looking at how she described this Evan dude, Alaric couldn't help but pity her. 

What a simp. 

'Was the boy that good? I doubt. Let me see, a mage from a good family... Hmm, I doubt he's that handsome... So what if his golden hair flourishes brightly as he giggles, akin to molten gold shaped in the hands of the god, adding to the beauty of his sunset-colored pupils, making him the most dazzling boy ever- Ewwwww! Urgh, girl!'

He was so close to puking his guts out. 

Noticing his reaction, Ian tilted his head, moving closer and staring deep into his eyes, demanding an explanation.

"This girl is helpless. Too fucking helpless. She's such a simp, ew, really."

"Such a what? Hm, never mind." Ian moved closer to the man and peeked at the notebook. "Tell me, what else does it say? Anything interesting?"

"Nah, nothing much. She sometimes speaks about a few magic spells, but that's it. Maybe I'll find more if I read it to the end."

Ian nodded his head in agreement. He kept looking at the notebook despite not understanding a thing from it as if trying to decipher what was written. After a while of silence, he tightened his grip over Alaric's shoulder, prompting that he wanted to say something. 

"Say, young master. Can you teach me this language?"

"....Uhh??"

As his head snapped to the side, he noticed Ian's gentle expression. With a delicate face and pupils twinkling like the night sky, he waited for an answer, his previous arrogant look completely gone.

".....I- this... You see it's kind of... hard to learn..."

No. He didn't want to. This... This couldn't be good. Why would he teach his mother tongue from another land to a person who... Probably hated him? Also, he couldn't do such a thing as he wasn't sure what kind of impact could it leave on the plot of this story. 

'Hm, wait a minute.'

Why did he even care about the plot?

'I'm so far away from anything happening on that side that there is no way I could possibly get close to the main storyline, not to mention changing it.'

The fact that he knew nothing about these parts of this world could show how insignificant his and Ian's rules were in the novel. Or maybe he would play a role in the future, but again, these events weren't ever slightly important in the main story plotline. 

'What can even change by me teaching this guy some alphabet, I mean?'

But this didn't align with the logic of transmigration novels he'd read. Didn't they all try to hide the fact that they didn't belong to that world? He should do the same, he thought. 

'But we aren't a part of the main story!' He wanted to yank out his hair. 'And Ian is just a slave... or maybe not? I don't know!'

He could've easily assumed that this was safe to even reveal the truth to the others if not for the notebook they found tonight. There was definitely someone who came here before him... or maybe that person too, was a part of his story that he never thought of? Just like Ian and the elves?

"Um, young master?"

Alaric's lips pressed on each other. What should he do?

'Please, please, think of a proper excuse. If I'm going to accept it, I need to justify myself first...'

Wasn't this a chance? 

Ian, who usually ignored him and treated him like a piece of shit was now asking him for a favor! 

Why not accept it? Why not?

What could possibly go wrong?

"Okay!"

'I'm not anything like an important character or anyone involved in the story, and I'll probably never be. Also, what if someone else was here before me? Or if this place has kind of a complicated history? I mean... Yeah, I know it's considered irresponsible, but I really don't care whatever happens in this world? My own happiness comes first! I got a chance to live a new life, I can't waste this one too with holding back my desires and being afraid of what's to come all the time! Yeah!

'First of all, my story wasn't a cool or proper one... And the whole plot wasn't even that intense. A lot of events are there but none are great enough to threaten the lives of many or ruin the chance of me living a peaceful life somewhere in this continent. As long as the main character is alive, everything will be fine, I guess...

'Plus, there isn't any way that Ian would know this language belongs to another world. Like, how can he even guess? I'll tell him it's from some faraway land! Would he find out I'm lying? No! Unless he goes off and learns all the languages out there!'

And that wasn't possible!

"Alright. When should we start?"

There was this feeling that he was forgetting about something. Like he was ignoring a huge fact...

"Now?"

"Yeah? Now? In the dead of night?"

But he pushed away all the negative feelings.

"Why, are you sleepy? Then nevermind. Forget about everything. Sigh."

Wait wait!

"No no no! Let's begin this now! Look here, you see this, it's pronounced as 'A'."

"A..."

As the moon moved in the sky and the stars twinkled, the two sat on the stairs of the shrine, having their first studying session. Alaric had to continuously cast spells for lighting and heating, but aside from that, there wasn't anything interrupting them.

"So, this means 'death'!"

Ian tapped on a word on one of the pages, beamed joyously, and shot a brimming smile at Alaric. 

"Yes..."

He then read the whole sentence at once. 

"It's evident that the day he was born marked the death of all beauty standards since his existence alone changed the world... Argh..."

"Eww..."

They both needed a moment to recover from what they just read. 

This girl was truly helpless.

"And this one is... 'Life'?"

Alaric checked the word once before a frown emerged on his face. 

"...Aren't you learning way too fast? We didn't even do a writing homework or any practice..."

"Practice? Heh! Nah! I'm not like you." Ian's eyes didn't leave the contents of the book, but Alaric could see his smug face. "I'm smart."

"...."

"And this one is 'Die'!" Ian narrowed his immensely puffed and weary eyes. "'I might really die at this rate.' Hm? Did she get heartbroken? I can't understand the next word."

"Say, you only understand anything revolving around these specific words, don't you?" Alaric pushed Ian's head aside and took a closer look at the notebook. "It's a name. 'Ashley said that as soon as he opened his eyes.' is what she says."

"Who's Ashley?"

"No Idea."

Tap. 

"And this one is 'Annihilation of all humans-'"

-MASSSTERRRR!!!!!!!

Just then, a loud and furious voice screamed in both of their heads, giving them an instant outburst of horror. As the two sat up string out of reflex, a tiny figure came into their sight, rushing at them at full speed. 

-WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?????? 

"Gasp!"

Seeing the approach of the wolf pup, Ian dragged his body backward. Without any hesitation, he grabbed Alaric's shirt and pulled him in between the wolf and himself. 

-I WOKE UP AND YOU WEREN'T BESIDE ME!

"Look, listen, Lior!"

-MASTER!

"Hey, Ian, let go of me!"

As he approached, Lior bore his teeth at the two humans. They both shivered.

-ALARIC, I TRUSTED YOU!

"Wha- I did nothing wrong!"

GRRRR

-WE AGREED THAT MASTER NEEDS TO REST!

"I-I... Listen-"

With that last scream, the child's body launched forward like thunder. With Ian's quick reactions, he completely hid himself behind the nobleman's back in a flash. 

POFFF

The enraged animal landed on Alaric's face. 

"Aarghhh!"