TBATE-REDEMPTION

Chapter 4

Arthur-

I was sitting inside the tent, guarding Caera while Regis had gone to investigate a part of the zone. He felt an aetheric presence—most probably a relic.

I watched Caera sleep peacefully, her navy blue hair falling like a curtain over her face. Her beautiful horns resembled a black obsidian crown on her head. She was a true beauty in every sense.

Even after learning about my past, she was the only one who took it well. She told me she didn't care who I was before; she loved me for who I am now. That fact alone made me happy.

Right now, I needed to figure out how to take her back with me to Dicathen and introduce her. But I decided to push that thought aside; it was a problem for the future me to solve.

"Yo, princess! I found something really interesting that even you will be in awe of when you see it," Regis said, a hint of pride in his voice.

"Spit it out, Regis. What is it?" I asked my companion.

"Let's keep that a suspense for now. I'm heading toward the tent right now. I think it would be better for you to see it for yourself than to hear me talk about it. Let's wait for our horned goddess—or rather, your girlfriend—to wake up." He snickered.

I stayed silent, pondering what could make Regis so proud. A few minutes later, he transformed into his puppy form and rolled around me.

"Say, Arthur, didn't I tell you that the horned goddess wouldn't hate you or abandon you even after learning about your past?" he said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Regis. It didn't affect her feelings or trust in me," I replied.

A Few Hours Later

Caera

I slowly began to wake up. The first thing I noticed was a man with wheat-blond hair and golden eyes talking to a puppy. I recognized them instantly: the man I had confessed to and his pet.

When Arthur noticed that I had woken up, he said, "Morning, my lady—or rather, my drooling queen." His warm gaze and chuckle made me realize I had drooled while sleeping. Embarrassment washed over me; it was one of my worst habits. I nodded, packed my things, and cleaned my mouth to avoid making eye contact.

"Regis is boasting that he found something really interesting, saying it would be better for us to see it ourselves." I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What could that be?"

Arthur replied that Regis wouldn't tell him.

After packing up and dismantling the tent, we started following Regis. "Art, I know it's late, but I wanted to say that I'm really sorry for your loss. Because of the people here in Alacrya, you—" I was cut off by Arthur.

"Thank you, Caera, but please don't blame yourself for that. It wasn't your fault. Agrona is just manipulating the people here in Alacrya. If they don't obey him, they'll all be disposed of," he said.

I nodded, feeling the weight of his words. "So, Art, did your previous world have any tasty cuisines or desserts?" I asked, curious about the food available there.

"Yes, there are many cuisines and sweets. I was often confused about what to eat. Just remembering those foods makes my mouth water. I do remember some recipes and would be more than happy to cook them for you if you want," he replied.

"You would?! I would love that! Not only do I want you to cook for me, but I also want you to teach me so I can try cooking for you!" I exclaimed, excitement bubbling inside me.

"Sure, my lady. I would be blessed if you cooked for me," he said, a small smile curling on my lips.

"Oh, and I think you'd be interested in watching dramas and movies from my old world. They are just moving pictures in which some people play a role or act as characters, recorded and shown to the public through a screen," he told me, piquing my interest.

As Regis led the way, I asked Arthur more questions about his previous life and life in Dicathen. He happily replied, sharing interesting facts he remembered.

Suddenly, Regis interrupted us. "We're here!" he yelled.

When I turned my head forward, I was surprised to see a small cave with doors. It looked more like a house than a cave. I turned to Arthur to ask him what it was and saw him in disbelief and awe.

"I-Is it what I think it is?!?" he stammered.

Arthur

"I-Is it what I think it is?!?" I blurted out, staring at the sight before me. I could sense aether inside the structure, and it felt similar to relics, but I sensed multiple relics within. I deduced that it was a hideout of a djinn.

"You are right, princess; it is a djinn's hideout," Regis said.

"WHAT?!" Caera shouted in disbelief.

I laughed nervously. What a crazy day it was! My luck seemed to be on my side today, which was pretty rare.

"Let's go inside," I said to my companions, stepping toward the hideout. When I reached the door, I looked back at Caera and Regis, who nodded in confirmation.

As I opened the door, I saw many boxes of different sizes scattered around the room, each with a note attached. The room wasn't dark; some candles automatically reignited as we entered.

I instructed Caera and Regis to look around for anything that could be useful. I did the same, searching for something valuable. Then I noticed a small black box sitting in a corner of the room, gathering dust. It didn't have a note attached like the others, which intrigued me, so I picked it up.

I opened it and took out something that resembled a device. I thought to pour some aether into it, as it could be a relic used by djinns. When I did, the device activated with a beeping sound. Both of my companions rushed over to see what I was doing.

"Ahm, hello, 1-2-3, yup, it's working fine." We were taken aback by the sudden voice coming from the relic.

"You must be a descendant of us djinns, as you were able to open the door to this room. I would have loved to see that someone from our race had survived, but sadly, if you're hearing this recording, that means I must have died by now. I will keep it brief and tell you about this room and the relics present here. First, I created some relics here to help us hide. But as I assume we are dead in the future, I would like to entrust all the relics present in this room to you."

"Some of the relics are decent, but there is just one special book in one of the boxes. Why is it special? Because that book contains the research of a group of my friends and me. It holds the knowledge of time. There is a spell in the last pages of the book that, if performed correctly, can send people back to the past or reverse time. Yes, you heard that correctly—that's the spell our kind was trying to create, and we succeeded at one point.

You may wonder why we didn't use the spell to turn back time and save our race ourselves. We didn't do it because we djinns are a race of peace; most of us didn't know how to fight. Even if we turned time back, we couldn't change the outcome. We might have bought ourselves a little time, but we could not change our fate; we were going to be killed by those damned Asuras one way or the other."

"That's why we decided to leave this knowledge and that spell here, hoping that someone of our race had survived and would use this knowledge for the betterment of this world. We also prepared some relics, such as those that allow two people to communicate mentally and a relic that creates a temporary teleportation gate to wherever the user wants. I can only hope this message reaches the correct person, perhaps with companions. I— we, our whole group hope this spell and these relics can help someone in need."

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