Life didn't get easier, even in another world

152 A conversation

“Everything would’ve gone better if team leader Dains just accepted the man’s request. That man was offering us his help... Wouldn’t it be beneficial to get on good terms with him? Why didn’t the team leader accept it?”

Kain looked at Kairen’s face, not answering him.

“Even if he wanted to capture him for the crimes he had committed, there might’ve been other ways. Why did he go on and piss off that man?”

Kairen kept stating what he had in his mind with his head lowered, not seeing the strange look on Kain’s face.

“Do you think he must’ve agreed to what his enemy wanted?”

Kain crossed his arms.

“What guarantees that the man wouldn’t attack you even after you did what he wanted?”

“He wouldn’t.”

“How are you so sure?”

.....

“....”

Kairen didn’t answer that. He just felt like he wouldn’t attack, but he couldn’t tell that to Kain.

Kain lowered his head and sighed.

“Kairen, do you know how did your unit become so... miserable?”

“....”

He didn’t wait for Kairen’s answer and continued to talk.

“You know, a few years ago, we too thought that we could somehow draw some Philomns members to our side and get their aid.”

Kain said, with a voice that sank down the more he talked.

“We did our best not to kill all of those criminals. We even offered lots of benefits for those Philomns members who surrendered and came to us. Thinking that those people were all our own citizens who had fallen to the hands of a devil, we treated them quite gently, nothing like how we react to them right now.”

Kain dazed out of the window as he was remembering a past memory.

“Back then, everything was better than now. It was when Philomns wasn’t as aggressive as now, and we weren’t as helpless as we currently are. We actually could handle things really well. We managed to prevent most of the terrorist attacks, could find and attack a bunch of hideouts, and capture a lot of Philomns members. We thought that we would be able to get rid of that whole organization in no time if we kept on working like that.”

“....”

Kairen silently listened to Kain as he seemed to be saying something important. Kain took a deep breath before resuming.

“In one of our missions, we attacked one of Philomns’ hideouts. But strangely, the head of the hideout surrendered before we could attack them. He said he didn’t want people’s blood to be shed for nothing and surrendered as soon as he saw us. After capturing him, we-”

Knock knock

Kain stopped talking upon hearing the knock on the door.

Creeeek

The door opened slowly and someone peeked inside.

“Ah! You’ve woken up!”

Asa strode over to Kairen’s side.

“Hello.”

Kain politely greeted Asa and stood up. Asa looked between Kairen and Kain and raised her eyebrows.

“Hmm? Were you talking? Did I come in a bad time?”

“No. Not at all!”

Kain stood back and instead Asa got closer to Kairen. She examined Kairen from head to toe first before moving her hands towards him.

“I wasn’t there when you first came back so the others had to treat you. Your condition is not bad, but I’ll heal you a little bit more just in case.”

She placed her hands on Kairen’s chest and closed her eyes.

The next second, Kairen was able to breathe a lot easier than before.

With a sigh, Asa pulled back her hands and stepped back.

“That’s all I can do for you. Using my power on you more will be dangerous for you. I guess you can go home now, but don’t back to work for a few days.”

Kairen looked at Asa with surprise.

“Am I allowed to take a leave like that?”

Asa smirked and folded her arms.

“Yeah. If I, the great healer of the unit, says you can leave, then even the team leader can’t stop you!”

“... I... See...”

Ignoring Kairen’s blank face, Asa turned around and walked towards the door.

“Thank you, Asa!”

Asa waved her hand to Kairen.

“See you later.”

Click

The door closed behind her as she left the room.

“Ah! What were you saying, Kain?”

“....”

Kain looked down at Kairen’s pale face.

“Nothing. Nevermind.”

“But your story-”

“That’s not important. Let’s go back home. You need to rest.”

“No. Tell me what happened after that!”

“The car is parked in the hospital’s parking lot. It’s not far away. Here, take my hand.”

“Kain!”

. . . . . .

Tap

Kairen closed the book he was reading and put it down on his lap. Leaning back, he placed his throbbing head on the bed’s headboard.

“Haa!”

He put the thick book on the table beside the bed, careful that he wouldn’t wake up the kid that was asleep on the bed beside him.

‘I never thought I would get to study what captain Neal told me in a situation like this.’

He was currently in his room, resting. Kain and Alessia had forced him to stay home until he felt better. It had already been two days, but they still didn’t allow him to go back to work even though he was completely fine. The two of them stayed home all day and kept watching him so that he wouldn’t run away.

‘Not that I want to.’

Who would run away from resting? Definitely not him.

Having nothing to do, he kept reading the book that captain Neal had given him. The book that seemed impossible to finish now was half-read.

Still leaning back, Kairen thought about the things that had happened in the past week.

‘Those cracks...’

The thing that made him curious the most was those crack-like things that appeared when The Fifth attacked the city.

They looked really similar to the ones that Kairen had seen when he was coming to this world. They seemed to be the exact same thing.

Philomns surely knew something about those cracks. Maybe, they also knew something about the way he ended up in this place.

‘Man, maybe I ended up working for the wrong side...’

Wouldn’t it be easier for him to find out a way to go back if he worked for Philomns instead of SMF?

“Huuu... Huuu...”

Looking down on the kid who was peacefully sleeping on his side, Kairen felt bad for having such thoughts.

How could he possibly work for some terrorists?

Maybe, if when he came to this world, he opened his eyes to find himself in the body of a Philomns member, he wouldn’t mind working for them that much. After all, this place wasn’t his world. But now that he had experienced life on this side, with these people, and with doing these activities, he felt guilty for even thinking about working for Philomns.

“Mmmnn...”

.....

Kairen flinched after hearing Ariyan’s groan and hurriedly covered his body with the blanket.

Only God knew how much suffering he had to go through for this kid to finally fall asleep.

‘Should I take him to his room? Or should I leave him to sleep here?’

Kairen looked between the kid and the clock.

‘But I want to play some games...’

It was still 11 PM. There was no way that he would sleep at this hour. And the kid would wake up if left beside Kairen while he was playing games...

‘Please don’t wake up...’

Kairen carefully embraced Ariyand and picked him up.

‘Oww, my back!’

The kid was too heavy for Kairen to move. Already regretting his decision, Kairen slowly walked out of the room with Ariyan in his arms.

“Are you sure about it?”

While walking towards Ariyan’s room, Kairen heard the low voice of Alessia. Turning his head, he could see Kain and Alessia talking in the yard.

‘Ah!’

Kairen turned around and hurried to walk away. He didn’t want them to think that he was eavesdropping or something. Not that he had any interest in secretly listening to a couple’s conversation.

“Do you really not want to tell Kairen about this?”

But then, he stopped after hearing their next words.

Kairen slightly turned his head to look at the window. He could see Kain shake his head.

“I don’t. Him knowing nothing would be the best for everyone.”

“But...”

Alessia paused for a moment before lowering her voice.

“How do you think he would feel if he finds out one day?”

“....”

Kain didn’t answer.

“Do you really think that what they say is true?”

“....”

Kain still didn’t answer.

“If you do, how can you leave him alone with your son? If you really think that he has something to do with those guys, how can you leave your son in his care?”

“....”

“Or, how can you even let him live with your family? Even if we are both agents, do you think that it is too reckless? Hmm? Answer me.”

“....”

Kain didn’t answer Alessia and just stared at the ground.

While listening to their conversation, Kairen lowered his head to look at Ariyan in his arms.

‘What are they talking about...’