As the night continues to grow darker than ever, engulfing the land surrounding the town of Takkot, concrete houses begin to turn on their lights. Like fireflies enjoying the fresh breeze of the night, the lights brighten the streets, scaring the darkness away.
After a short while, Lyrica and Riko's siblings reached their destination—Riko's residence.
Soon after Nela gestured at her siblings to enter the house, she looks at Lyrica and begins to speak.
"Please come in."
"...Thank you."
With the permission given by Riko's sister, Lyrica enters the premises, albeit cautiously. She knows that this is not her household. As such, she needs to act in a way as to not be disrespectful and break their house rules.
'And this is why I hate participating in group projects. I hate doing this sort of fake act.'
"Here."
Nela invited Lyrica to sit on one of the wooden chairs in the small living room to which she gladly accepted.
"Grandma's about to finish cooking the ulam. Until then, feel free to relax and make yourself at home."
"Thank you very much."
One of the rules in visiting someone's house: Always accept what the house owners offer wholeheartedly. Even if it's something you don't like.
'Hopefully, I'm not being a bother to them.'
Lyrica muttered as she makes herself comfortable on the wooden chair.
'In any case, this sure is a cozy place.'
Her eyes wandered from the spacious living room to Riko's younger sibling's heads peeking out from the kitchen corner as they gather around the elder woman who's busy cooking the ulam.
Right on the other side of the kitchen is Nela who's busy tending on a pot of rice over what seems to be a Kalan de Uling or a traditional stove. But while it appears quite similar to a traditional stove, there's something about it that makes Lyrica confused.
'I shouldn't bother asking her about it. I should just ask her later.'
For now, Lyrica averted her gaze from Nela, shifting her attention towards the bright light sticking out from the ceiling. Again, there is something about it that boggles Lyrica's mind.
'The light's hanging underneath the ceiling, but it doesn't seem to be connected in electrical wires or some other kind of power source.' She thought. 'The Kalan, too. Those kinds of traditional stove use charcoal to cook dishes with it.'
But unlike the traditional stoves on Earth, the one Nela's using doesn't have a basin in which the charcoals are placed to be burned and create fire.
'Hmm...' Lyrica tilts her head as she starts using her head. 'If I recall correctly, Mousai has a name for these objects.'
Right then, Lyrica's left-hand touches her bulging side pocket.
"Hm?"
Lyrica tries to take out the thing that makes her side pocket bulge.
The thing in her hand is none other than the Mana Crystal she picked up back in the Forest of No Return. In that instant, she begins to remember the conversation she had with Mousai—when they were talking about Mana Crystals as a power source used in Alteria.
In that same conversation, Mousai mentioned the name of the objects being operated using mana.
'Now I remember.' Said Lyrica to herself. 'They're called Magic Tools.'
Right as she was gaping at the light, Nela puts the rice pot in the middle of the dining table.
"Magic Tools, this must be the first time you see one," Nela spoke, stealing Lyrica's attention from the light. "Lyrica, was it? I heard back from the gate entrance that you came from another world, and Riko and the others believed you to be one of the four heroes."
"Yeah, but I did not come here as a hero," Lyrica replied. "I mean, it's just a rumor, right?"
"Well, it is a rumor. A real outrageous rumor." Said Nela as she went to grab a few sets of bowls and plates. "It all started circulating from the capital city of Kruule Kingdom—our country."
'Kruule, huh.'
Continuing Nela's story, it is said that the rumor came from a woman who's got a loose screw in her head—always uttering nonsense about the four heroes who came from another world.
"The rumors somehow spread throughout the entire kingdom. But seeing how it came from a crazy woman who's speaking nothing but nonsense, the Hari himself made a decree that forbids people from further discussing it."
"Then maybe you shouldn't have told me about it."
"It's all right." Nela approaches Lyrica soon after putting the set of bowls and plates on the table. "Our little conversation stays here."
"Huh."
While making a fake smile, Lyrica thought, 'Do these people have mood swings or something?' She then stood up and took a glance at Nela's three younger siblings.
'Not long ago they are crying about their father, but now they're acting as if nothing happened. Humans truly are weird, no matter what planet we are on. That aside...'
The one thing that continues to boggle her mind the most is the four heroes. Lyrica believes that the four heroes and the first four are connected. But after hearing the origin of the rumor, and the order that the Hari made to stop the rumor from spreading further, it got her thinking.
What if the crazy woman is not crazy at all? What if she's telling the truth? Or is she even crazy at all? No one knows for sure, not even Lyrica.
'Either my theory is right about the first four being the four heroes, or it being the complete opposite. Only that so-called crazy woman could answer it all.'
Soon after escaping her thoughts, Lyrica watches Robert, Nilo, and Rona take each of their seats.
"So, why do you think that crazy woman would spread something outrageous, apart from her being crazy?"
"That..." Nela paused for a moment as she tends to her siblings, putting rice on their respective plates. "... Perhaps she wanted the four heroes to save her? From her craziness, I suppose."
"So it comes back to being "Crazy", huh?"
"Correct."
Right then, Nela's siblings started clamoring about as the old lady walks in and puts a sealed pot right beside the rice pot.
"We have pork adobo for tonight."
'Adobo? Really?!'
Lyrica tries to keep herself from salivating as soon as she heard the word "Adobo."
"Come, take a seat." The old lady beckoned at Lyrica.
"T-Thank you very much."
She proceeds to take one of the empty seats alongside the little Rona.
"Lola's cooking is the best."
Lyrica looks at Rona soon after hearing her statement.
"Is that so? I can't wait to taste your Grandma's cooking."
At that moment, the old lady takes the lid off the pot. And in that instant, the savory smell with a hint of acidity fills the entire room, invading Lyrica's nostrils.
Growwwl~~
Amidst the moment Lyrica is losing herself from the mouthwatering smell of adobo, the loud growl from her stomach left everyone speechless.
"You must have been really hungry." Said Nela's Lola as she proceeds to hand over a bowl full of adobo at Lyrica. "Here."
"Ah, thank you very much."
The girl takes the bowl of adobo from the old lady's grasp. Right then, Nela gave her a plate with overflowing rice.
"Thank you." Said Lyrica towards the girl.
"We have plenty of food for tonight, so go fill your stomach full."
"Thank you very much."
Following Nela and the other's lead, Lyrica begins to chow down on her food. The first proper meal she had after a long while.