Mira and James

If Aster solved the puzzle, he would leave the Holy Land. 

Else, he would be stuck there forever. 

That was an example of a simple if-else statement that any programmer would be familiar with.

If-else statements were the building blocks of almost all modern programs.

And the magic circle in front of Aster was also built by those very same statements.

The only difference was that those statements were really complicated, and Aster couldn't catch heads or tails of it.

"Agh, dammit!" He gave up, distancing himself from the circle and staring at the wall.

"C'mon, Aster. We finally made some progress, and now you are giving up?" Beside Aster were two people and two kids.

Namely, Rois, Ash, Mira Tyke, and James Tyke.

The one who complained was James Tyke.

He had dark blue hair that resembled the night sky above their heads. Blue eyes that complimented his hair, and a height not taller than 150cm. His brows were a little thicker than usual.

"So, you wanna be the one who does the job?" Aster asked back curtly.

"Aww. C'mon, big brother Aster." Mira playfully pouted.

She had short crimson hair and blue eyes, just like James. She was shorter than James by half a head as well.

"No can do. I fried my brain. Let me rest for twenty minutes at least." Aster shook his head. He really didn't want to even think of programming, magic, and anything similar anymore.

It was way too complicated!

It took him a whole day just to understand where the conditions for the if statements were. Even then, it was hard to guess what the exact conditions were.

For example, he guessed that a condition for a particular part was: 

'If mana of a certain density enters, split it into two paths. 

If it's mana of a higher density, let it pass through the left path. 

If none of the above (else), ignore the mana.'

The magic circle was way too complicated for someone of Aster's level.

If he had a teacher, maybe he would have been able to understand it somewhat, but now, it'd take him years to study it properly.

Luckily, he didn't need to recreate the circle or understand it fully, for that matter.

All he needed was to guess what the part that lacked magic dust was supposed to be and fill it with dust again.

Yes, they had magic dust. It was found inside one of the temples. Aster didn't know any details on when it was found, and he honestly didn't even care.

All he wanted was to activate the circle and leave.

"Aster, how long will it take until you can fix the circle?" Rois asked Aster. Usually, she was always cheerful and easygoing. However, when she was beside the Tyke twins, Rois became the serious leader of the Rose faction.

"I can't say." Aster shook his head. 'No, I can, but it's just a preliminary estimate. About two weeks minimum.'

"I see." Rois nodded. "I'll stand guard here so that nothing happens to you."

"Are you implying that we will attack him?" Mira asked Rois.

"I am not." Rois curtly answered.

"Then why did you say it like that?" Mira narrowed her eyes.

"Sis, it's okay. She was probably just guarding him from monsters. We are in a temple, after all. Who knows what monster can suddenly appear here." James shook Nyra's shoulder.

"Hmph. I hope so." Mira said before turning around and leaving.

"Sorry, guys." James closed one eye and bowed slightly, asking for forgiveness.

"No problem," Aster answered.

"Don't sweat it." Ash grinned.

"Hmph." Rois turned her head sideways.

When the siblings left, Aster asked Rois. "Hey, why are the two factions opposing each other?"

"Because people are stupid," Rois answered Aster. "They assume things on their own so that they can justify their own agendas. In truth, Mira and James and I don't hate each other."

"You certainly did look like you couldn't see them eye to eye, though," Aster replied.

"Because she is taller, duh." Ash chukled.

Rois chuckled as well, appreciating Ash's joke, before answering. "Mira just has an attitude. Leave it."

"Alright." Aster nodded. In truth, although he wasn't an outsider, he wasn't far off from being one. Therefore, he really didn't care about the conflict between leaders.

"What did you learn about the magic circle?" Rois asked, not wishing for an awkward silence.

"It really is made in a manner similar to programming, hahaha." Aster wrily chuckled.

"So it's possible to decipher it?" Rois's eyes lit up.

"No. It's impossible. It'll take years, minimum." Aster quickly shut her down.

Just as he saw her eyes dimming, he continued. "But don't lose hope. I never needed to decipher the whole circle. Just fix it, right?"

"So it's possible?!" She asked cheerfully.

'She really does change temperaments fast.' Aster thought while nodding. "It's possible. I don't need to know the exact solution. I can always just try and change after failure."

"But what if the circle explodes or something?" She asked.

"It won't... probably... I hope." Aster's answers sounded bleaker with every passing second, but he didn't wish to give up.

It had been almost a month since he had arrived in Cursed World, and he still hadn't even seen anything except temples and grass.

And stupid survivors.

"Alright. I believe in you." Rois said before leaving as well.

"So it's just the two of us here, huh?" Ash said while leaning on the wall. He observed the magic circle with curious eyes.

"I won't let you touch it. I don't believe in you." Aster firmly said once he noticed Ash's gaze.

"Can't we just use Gold Pile?" Ash asked.

"And to teleport to a volcano or something? Forget about it." Aster sighed.

He really wished to use the coin and solve the circle in a matter of minutes, but it was way too risky.

However, it wasn't as if the coin couldn't be used.

Aster could always flip the coin once, and if he got lucky, he'd be closer to the ideal solution.

That's also why he estimated the process to take two weeks and not two months.

"Oh yeah." Ash looked as if he remembered something. "The sacrificial ceremony. I found out all about it. You were right. Do you want to commence the plan tonight?"

"I see." Aster nodded. "It was easy to guess. Also, isn't it night already? Hell, isn't it night all the time in this cursed land?"

"Yes, so, wanna deal with some pests?" Ash grinned.

"You got a deal right there, my friend." Aster grinned as well. He needed a break from all the thinking.