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The dinner that night for Klaus Weber was quite simple.
Udon with miso soup.
While this dish was a staple for a lot of Japanese people, Klaus felt indifferent about it in every way. It was a type of menu that even he could prepare without thinking much since there were a lot of popular brands of instant udon available at any supermarket.
"Thanks for the meal, Grandma."
Klaus gulped down a glass of water and stood up from his seat. He wanted to finish his homework quickly so that he could go to sleep.
"Klaus," Grandma called with her gaze still on her bowl of udon. "Can I ask you a favor?"
"Hm? Of course, Grandma. Anything."
There was never a time when he refused to help his grandmother. He owed her everything. Due to this, he was willing to stop his routine to tend to her needs.
Klaus smiled at Grandma, but the woman's gaze was on her udon still.
"...I want you to always be with Aoi. Help her in times of need, be by her side at all times," Grandma muttered as she finally met Klaus's gaze.
"...Always be with her?"
Klaus floundered for a few moments after hearing Grandma's request. It was too sudden that he didn't know how to react to it. Always be with her? As an adolescent who was fairly engrossed in fiction, he had quite an imagination.
He had thought that Grandma was asking him to propose to Aoi! What? This couldn't be it, right?
"Just to confirm, are you asking me to..."
"You might have noticed it, but she's not that capable in socializing. Aoi has no one to depend on other than you who she'd known for a decade now." Grandma had a sad expression on her face. "I know this is quite sudden."
"I'm always with her at school. You have nothing to worry about, Grandma. And I know she has no one but me to count on, so that's why I try to be with her every chance I can get."
Grandma smiled a warm smile. "That's good of you. Take what I said as a reminder, Klaus. Until now, I know she needs you more than you need her."
"...I understand, Grandma."
An uncomfortable sensation swirled in Klaus's chest. His memories of Aoi flashed in his mind, and he couldn't help but agree wholeheartedly with what Grandma had said to him.
She needs him.
He was well aware of this.
"Don't stop being her friend," Grandma added after a long pause.
"Yeah." So she meant it this way after all. He was overthinking things. Klaus wanted to ask as to why Grandma suddenly thought of such a request, but she answered his question quickly afterward.
"I'm worried about her future, Klaus. I've been thinking about her these past few days, and it pains me that I can't do much to make her more open to others."
"No, no! That's not true, Grandma. She always said that she likes you. She thinks of you as her grandmother."
Grandma smiled at what Klaus said.
"I'll try to get her to talk to others too. She needs to be acquainted with someone other than me sooner or later," Klaus muttered.
Akeno Aoi needs a female friend as quickly as possible. Her joining a club in high school would help tremendously to achieve this result.
Determined to get this objective achieved tomorrow, Klaus went to his room and pulled out a few exercise books related to various subjects. As he'd intended, Klaus did his homework diligently, trying not to get distracted while doing it. He put away one exercise book after another and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It was time to sleep and meet that entity again. Klaus needed help to force Freda to spill out the truth, and while doing so, he would make Aoi believe him. As long as he knew Freda was hiding the fact from him, he wouldn't be at ease. Everything else concerning the outcome would come afterward.
The lights turned off, Klaus dived into his blanket and closed his eyes.
"Ah, you're here as expected, Klaus Weber."
A floating robed young woman greeted Klaus when he stood up from his green couch. Numerous bookshelves filled the space on the ground floor, a slight difference to the first floor. Klaus sniffed the air, and the sweet floral scent wafting in his direction soothed him. He felt very calm because of it. Quickly, he tried to get his thoughts organized as he faced the young woman.
"I want Freda to tell me the truth about what she knows," said Klaus to Brynhildr.
"Oh my. How are you planning to do that?" Brynhildr had a puzzling look on her face.
"Don't act dumb. You said you're an entity that mediates the reincarnated people and their Dimensions, right?"
"That's correct. I did say that."
"Based on your claim, I suppose it's not wrong for me to assume that Freda also has her exclusive Personal Dimension, and she's been going there every time she sleeps."
Klaus's assumption was not far-fetched in the slightest. Hearing this, Brynhildr couldn't help but nod with a smile on her face. "That's true."
"Okay, bring me to her."
Klaus proposed that if he could enter Freda's Personal Dimension, then perhaps he could meet her there. She should be in her Personal Dimension right now. Frankly, there was no better chance than this to go directly to Freda's side uninterrupted and get her to tell him whether she was indeed his sister.
Brynhildr noticed Klaus's determination and narrowed her eyes at him.
"You can go to that girl's Personal Dimension. However, there is a catch. Firstly, you need to claim your Dimension's Crown first before you can travel to other people's Dimensions. Secondly, your bond with that specific individual must be strong for the gate to her Dimension to appear here."
Klaus nodded at Brynhildr's explanation. He needed to find the "Crown" in his Dimension and take it. When that is said and done, he could go to Freda's Dimension.
"...Wait, I've known Freda for a long time. Our bond as siblings is strong."
"That was in your previous life, Klaus Weber. In this world, you two are born in different families. You don't have that special connection with her anymore."
"...Ah, I see."
Klaus had new goals in mind after thinking about what Brynhildr had said.
At day, he needed to get close to Tsujihara J. Freda to the point where she wouldn't reject his presence anymore for the gate to appear. At night, all he had to do was find the Crown hiding somewhere in his Dimension.
Simple enough, the boy thought.
"Your Personal Dimension's Crown is inside this place. Find it, and you will claim your right as its rightful owner. Only by doing so will you gain the authority to travel to other Dimensions."
"Simple enough," was the last word Klaus said before a bone-chilling roar reverberated throughout the entire library.
"What is that creature!?"
A ten-meter-tall ape-like monster blasted its way through a few bookshelves as Klaus ran for his life. He jumped over a chair, flitted between two bookshelves, and ducked under a winding staircase.
Despite his efforts to run away from the impending danger that was a Rank-C Draugr, it caught up to him with little difficulty. The Draugr appeared alone for some reason and was rampaging with no clear objective. The green aura characteristic to every Rank-C Draugr swirled around it.
"Brynhildr!" Klaus called multiple times between bated breaths.
The robed young woman appeared by his side. "I can't interact with a Draugr, so I can't help you physically. However, I can offer you some advice on how to fight that creature."
The Rank-C Draugr had Klaus within its sight minutes ago but chose to wreck the library while keeping an eye on him. It knew that Klaus was not a threat whatsoever.
In a sense, Klaus was too small to do any damage to the Draugr.
"First things first, what is the limitation of my authority here?" Klaus asked desperately.
"Since you haven't claimed the Crown, you can only create objects and manipulate them. Aside from that, you have no exclusive power while you're in here."
"Create objects..." Klaus thought for a few moments. "Any object will do?"
"That 's correct. I suggest you recreate the same sword you used before. You should get accustomed to one weapon, is my advice for you."
"I can see where you're coming from, but a sword can't defeat that Draugr instantly."
Brynhildr raised an eyebrow. "I merely give you a piece of common advice I gave others like you."
"Then, you should start giving them this new piece of common advice."
Klaus rolled away from under the winding staircase and focused on the Rank-C Draugr. A few seconds later, a loader truck commonly operated at construction sites appeared in the air meters above the Draugr's head.