Server Lost

『Lounge』

"Shouldn't he be back by now? It's been almost four hours!" Runa groaned as she was seated in the lounging area, her zoned in on the bookcase across from her as she had her legs up on the sofa.

Kokei was sifting through a book he had taken from the said bookshelf, patiently looking through the thick parchment pages. Delayed, his eyes lifted and took her upon his gaze. "Hm?"

"Can you even read that language?"

"I have deciphering magic... I am a mage, you know."

"Ah? Really?" She tsk'ed with her mouth before resting her head on the arm of the sofa. Her eyes staring at the wood tiled ceiling, shifting them with the light movement of the chandelier.

Kokei shook his head, looking at his sharp fingers before glancing over towards Vivian who peered into the room, only to walk away after not seeing Jack. "It seems she has the motivation to look for him now."

"He did save her. We would've been none the wiser if he wasn't there, and left her there incidentally. Now we have a key that will put an end to a war before it starts." Runa stretched her arms slightly, before turning onto her side as she laid on the sofa now. "It's weird that this couch is softer than the beds in this place."

The skeleton rolled his beady fiery eyes. "It's likely Jack won't use her to end the war, not right away."

"What do you mean?" Runa looked over to him with a curious pursing of her lips.

"Why do you think he helped people like us in the Sphere of the World?" Kokei pointed out that Jack was pretty much paid to do this, or at least tried to hint towards it. "It benefitted him. It paid for his lifestyle."

Runa nodded figuring that Jack didn't help others out of the kindness of his heart. He was one of those types of people who takes on a job and sees it as their responsibility to go through with it.

It was the same with helping beginners, starting quests, completing them. She let out a light sigh as she shook her head slightly. She was remembering how he was hugging onto her at the Inn.

He did feel warm when she was being hugged by him, even if it was practically against her will. He still wanted to just cling to her, even though it meant nothing. Perhaps he had been without human contact a long while? Did he want affection? Or did he want something else? Either way, he had fallen asleep with her in his arms. That was the most awkward part of what she remembered.

"What do you think he's doing on the wall now?" Runa verbally prodded the skeleton.

Kokei didn't even look at her when she was trying to get his attention. "Touring with the Lord's Daughter?" He didn't really have to guess.

Runa sucked on her cheek slightly, "What does he gain from that exactly?"

"He gets seen beside the girl who is the ultimate heiress of the Fortress City. Flaunting his influence to the people just as improvements are being made to their daily lives." Kokei glanced over at her finally as he closed the book with a light clap, dust rising from the item as he did so, showing how long the book had been sitting there unread.

"What were you reading anyways?" Runa changed the subject after hearing this little bit of information.

"It was a botanist's journal. There are quite a few academic journals in here..." His eyes shifted around the bookcases which surrounded them. It was similar to the Study that Jack had been in. "I feel like I'm gaining skills by just reading them... Seems like the Game World mechanics are still in place for us."

Blinking a few times, Runa nodded hearing him. "So, are you able to cast that deciphering spell on me?"

"It's not a support spell, its a passive one." Kokei sniggered at this before turning his head to gaze at the door. The two sisters had gone off to the Castle Gardens, and Vivian had only been seen once.