The return of the calamity (1)

After confirming that Levinte had regained most of his energy, he was permitted to leave without any payments. As they walked out the door, they saw a shimmering white-silver hue barrier that guarded the building. They crossed over the barrier with ease, feeling a warm, welcoming sensation.

It was still early in the morning before the sun rises. The air was cool and crisp, and there was often a soft breeze blowing. The sky was still dark, but there was a faint glow on the horizon indicating that the sun is about to rise.

Glancing at Acre, Levinte felt guilty for him. From his perspective, he thought that Acre did not get enough sleep last night because of him. He spoke up, "Mister, we should go back and you should get some sleep. You've been awake for the whole night."

"It's okay, I already took a quick nap." Acre lied, his face showing no signs of sleepiness. Concerned, Levinte suggested, "If you say so... But we should return to the hotel, it's too early for shops to be open now."

"You're right," Acre said, smiling. Sleep was not a main priority for him but after a long night of battling the unknown creature, it would be better to take some rest when the creature is still down.

Returning to his room, the first thing Levinte did was strip naked and enter the bathroom. A good shower was all he needed at the moment. Submerging in the water, his muscles relaxed, calming his tense body.

His toes curled at the thought of Acre having a twin sister. His guts told him that something was odd about it yet unconfirmed. That's right, he was relating it to the twin in the World Clash— but they were twin boys, so out.

However, if he rules out the gender, then things do make sense. What if Acre was the brother of the atypical twin during the World Clash? It would explain his identity more or less.

Squeezing his brain juice out, he concluded his theory to be impossible. The mere idea of Acre having a sister in outer space was already too much for him to handle.

Right now, he wanted to solve two mysteries: The mystery of the World Clash and the mystery of Acre. Answers could be obtained if he is consistent to do it— follow and ask Acre. A simple thing but most difficult.

"Life's so hard..." Levinte muttered, pouting.

Drying his hair with a towel, he sat down on a chair and began reading a book titled 'I Reincarnated as the Villainess!' to pass the time.

Looking at the clock, he figured he could finish reading in about two hours by the thickness of the book.

An hour later, his eyes were glued to the page.

How frustrating! Basically, someone from the future died after being hit by a truck and reincarnated into the mistress of an emperor. Avoiding the original mistakes, many loved her. She had a harem, including the emperor, and some other fictional dudes. Tormented by jealousy, the empress was the mastermind behind all mischief that happened to the protagonist.

Sounds quite familiar... Anyway, the reincarnated mistress was a good person.

Then Levinte reached the suspense part, where the original soul was coming back.

"Levi, let's go out to buy some things." Acre's voice interrupted his concentration. Clicking his tongue, Levinte answered the door, unintentionally displaying an annoyed look.

"Why the sullen face?" Acre asked. "I was reading a book and I'm pissed off about it," Levinte answered, softening his features.

Acre chuckled, "We're leaving after we buy some things, wanna pack up beforehand?"

"Sure, I need to tidy up my things." Levinte nodded.

"Let me help you with it," Acre said. Hearing that, Levinte panicked, "No need, It should be me who should help you..."

In his life, he had been taught the 'younger must help the older' principle. The age gap between them was so distant which made it more unreasonable.

"It's okay, I'll help you." Giggling, Acre patted his shoulder and entered the room. He looked at the pile of books on the table. "Aren't those the books you borrowed from the library? Have you finished reading all of them?"

Levinte closed the door and approached him, "I haven't finished the one I like and the others are kinda boring. I'll finish it later and return it to the library." He said while sorting his belongings.

Humming, Acre glanced at the balcony and saw the clothes hung on a drying rack. He walked toward the balcony, touching the clothes to find them dried up. Naturally, he gathered the clothes, piling them on his arm.

He proceeded to place them on the bed, casually folding them neatly and separating them based on the category.

When Levinte saw Acre on the bed, he was horrified and rushed toward him. "Y-you don't have to do this..." He could almost faint seeing his ancestor folding clothes for him.

"No worries. You can put the folded clothes in your bag." Acre reassured, waving his hand. Levinte worked restlessly as Acre assisted him.

Tilting his head, Acre watched at the side as Levinte struggled to stuff all of his belongings into his swollen bag.

"Hmm..." Acre contemplated, his hand under his chin. Pressured by the intent stare, Levinte looked at Acre with a furrowed brow. "Stop staring at me."

"You're bag is unfit for your travels. We should get you a new bag." Acre said, receiving a confused face from the boy. "This is the biggest bag I could find and carry at maximum capacity, I don't think a bigger bag would be any help." Levinte shook his head.

"Who said you needed a bigger bag? Have you seen my bag before?" Acre grinned.

Acre shortly returned, carrying the rectangle object wrapped in a cloth. "This is my bag." He introduced, nonchalantly placing it on the bed.

Levinte stared, bewildered, as Acre unwrapped the rectangle object. It... It looked like a door!

"Huh..." Levinte waited in anticipation. It couldn't possibly be what he was thinking.

It was exactly what he thought. The rectangle object was truly a door! "What the hell..." Levinte muttered, his eyes wide. Acre glanced at him before turning the doorknob, revealing a glowing interior.

Unbelievable! Levinte staggered forward, peeking into the glowing interior. It was all white and nothing could be seen. His jaw dropped to the floor, his eyes shifting between Acre and the door.

"If you want I can store some of your things inside here." Acre smiled, acting as if nothing was extraordinary.

"W-where did you get this?" Levinte asked, staring owl-eyed at him.

"At a place where you'll get your new bag."

-

The scars left by the incident last night remained. Guards are seen patrolling the streets and lesser people are seen outside. Nevertheless, the barrier gave them a sense of security, relying on the empress to maintain stability.

"Give me your wallet." Acre said, reaching out his hand. "For what?" Levinte asked and handed him his wallet. Subsequently, Acre gave Levinte a pouch, giving him a sign to open it.

As told, he stretched the upper part. His eyes bulged seeing the money inside. Just how rich is this man?!

"Pour in how much you want, it won't run out." Acre said, holding the wallet close to him. Levinte wore a blank flabbergasted expression, frozen in his spot.

Sugar daddy?

Levinte slowly filled his wallet, his speed increasing until his wallet was swollen. He wanted to stop in the middle but Acre kept pestering him to add more. Just as he said, the money in the pouch was infinite, a never-ending source.

He figured that this infinite pouch originated from the same place as the cryptic door.

After the terrifying wallet-filling moment, Levinte entered a bookstore to find more fantasy novels. His interest in the reincarnation genre was boosted after reading the 'I Reincarnated as the Villainess!' book. Thinking about it, he was thrilled to read the climax.

The clerk's eyes stared widely at the mountain of books approaching. Smiling ear-to-ear, Levinte put down the pile of books on the counter. The clerk jolted at the loud thump.

Since he didn't need to think about his budget, he picked every interesting title and synopsis. Even so, due to his frugal style, his eyebrows twitched seeing the total amount.

Acre told him to wait in a nearby restaurant if he did not see him outside. He picked a table for two below a fan and sat down, settling the heavy paper bag on the floor. After ordering his meal, he resumed his reading.

Many pages later, his fingers clenched the book. The amount of angst was too much! The beginning seemed to side with the protagonist, but it was calm before the storm!

The reincarnated soul would be dissociated and the original soul took control. The original soul was ruthless! She destroyed everything the reincarnated soul had arranged carefully.

Then the body went into a coma and both souls battled each other inside. In the end, both had a touching moment, sharing their pained memories and consoling one another. The path for a happy ending cleared. But no!

The damage was already done, causing her reputation to decline. Both souls worked together to eliminate every individual that wanted her gone. They altered depending on the situation.

"So a happy ending?" Acre asked when he saw the boy grinning.

"She managed to defeat the enemies, but I haven't reached the part where she decided the male lead. There are still a few pages left." He said without looking at him.

Then he paused and glanced at Acre. "When did you get here? Sorry, I didn't notice."

"I got here when your face looked like you wanted to kill someone." Acre chuckled.

The book did not leave his hand while he ate. As he reached the last page, his hand holding the spoon and his chewing mouth stopped. The moment of truth!

Levinte facepalmed in great despair.

"How was it?" Acre asked, surprised by his rollercoaster of emotions.

"S-she died. She hid her illness until the very end..." Levinte sounded like he wanted to cry. The unexpected ending made Acre shocked as well. "Wow, so she didn't pick anyone?"

Levinte shook his head, "No, the original villainess didn't have anyone. She made sure to follow the storyline so everything went back to normal. There are many plot twist."

"What a... well-written book," Acre remarked and nodded, understanding his sadness.

As they returned to the hotel, Levinte was dispirited along the way. He kept sighing nonstop, his back bent.

Before going out, Levinte was told to wear sumptuously. His mind was clouded by the sad ending, thus he did not think much.

Then they checked out of the hotel and went to the library to return the books.

"We're finally leaving right?" Levinte asked, still low in energy. "Yep, but we have to meet the empress first." Acre said.

Levinte sighed sadly. You've got to be kidding me."