Lyrica lies in Riko's bed inside his room. Esmeralda told her to get herself some rest, but the girl could not sleep as she's full of things to think about.
'Today, not only did I confirm all the things in this town, as well as the four heroes and the first four, are all connected, I also learned that I am now the next target of the person who's behind all this.'
After gathering all the information since she first arrived in Takkot, Lyrica has pinpointed the identity of the person who's behind everything.
The one who's behind the people showing a persona Lyrica cannot read, the person who's forcing not just the people of Takkot but everyone in the kingdom of Kruule to not speak their thoughts. The person who also knows the identity and the existence of the four heroes is none other than the Hari of Kruule itself. The man whom the high commander named Uruk.
Now, Lyrica cannot tell exactly what trick he used to pull it off to his people. She could not figure out how the Hari got his hands on the four heroes who obviously didn't get summoned by the Hari of Kruule himself either. The one thing Lyrica is certain about is that the Hari has his eyes on her now, perhaps thinking Lyrica was also summoned in Alteria as a hero.
'I'm not adding points to my senses because I'm afraid all my senses might get unnecessarily sensitive.' She said to herself. 'But even if I don't add any points to it now, the fact that my senses have 10 points should elevate all of it slightly.'
Lyrica closes her eyes and begins to picture the surroundings of Riko's residence.
'I should be able to sense anyone in a small radius around the house by focusing my mind on it, but I'm not picking up anything. It's safe to assume that I'm not being spied on right now.'
However, it also shows that they are confident to capture her even if she try to get away now.
'To think that they're not doing anything despite the answer I gave the high commander... c*cky b***ards.'
Lyrica has a wonderful option of sleeping the night and get out of town first thing in the morning. But if she does that, Lyrica is sure as all hell that the high commander will go after Riko's family and interrogate them even though they don't know anything. It's also the reason why they are so confident that they are not putting eyes on her every movement.
'I can see that high commander interrogating and torturing everyone, even Rona and lola Esmeralda.'
As she pictures the scene of Riko's family all covered in blood and bruises while the high commander is enjoying the torture, the veins in her forehead are beginning to pop up at the same time she's furiously gritting her teeth. However, she doesn't realize the face she's making because she's too fixated on what to do the moment the sun rises.
While questioning herself which one is safer between a dangerous yet unpredictable wilderness and a dangerous kingdom that now threatens her life, Lyrica suddenly remembered what Esmeralda told her back when they were in the kitchen.
"You know, not forgetting things doesn't necessarily mean we can't move on from our past, from our mistakes. Sometimes, those memories are what help us move on with our lives. To avoid doing the same mistakes we did in the past. To start over."
At that moment, Lyrica disregarded the question in her mind and gives herself the same question Riko asked him.
"What answer do I want to hear? The answer I want to hear is..."
Before she knew it, Lyrica finally fell asleep. However that night, the answer to the question she's been asking herself for a long while is now becoming clear.
Come morning, the sun as bright as it is beautiful permeates the land of Takkot with warm light. The sun rays peeking through the gap of the window causes Rona to flutter her sleepy eyes.
"It's morning already, huh?"
Her half-open eyes wandered around the room and see two messy empty beds. In that instant, her face changes into horror.
"This is bad! Ate Nela will get angry if she sees this!"
She proceeds to fix the two empty beds including her own all by herself. As soon as she's done, she let out a sigh of relief as the horror in her face disappeared as fast as she made it.
Rona exits the room before leaving the door open to let the air in. Right then, she noticed that the door to Riko's room and their parent's room are open but Nela's door is closed shut.
'Strange... ate Nela always leaves her door open as soon as she wakes up. Is she still asleep?'
Out of curiosity, Rona walks across the corridor to Nela's front door. Meanwhile, Esmeralda who just woke up exits from her room on the first floor of the house. After doing so, she immediately hears the sound of something being fried in the kitchen.
She goes over to the living room where she can see Robert and Nilo whose eyes are looking in the direction of the kitchen. From there, she sees the back of Lyrica wearing her school uniform while cooking something in the kitchen.
"What's she cooking?" Esmeralda asked her two grandsons.
"I don't know, but she's doing two things."
"She's almost done. Let's ready the table."
While the two young boys went ahead and prepare the dining table, Esmeralda goes over to the kitchen to investigate.
"Oh, good morning, lola Esmeralda." Said Lyrica towards the old lady as soon as she sees her standing from behind her.
Esmeralda looks around the kitchen and she immediately caught the sight of the cauldron emitting steam in between itself and the lid. She looks around once more and sees a half-emptied tray of eggs.
In that instant, Lyrica uttered: "It's done."
"What is?"
The girl turns around, facing the old lady while holding a large plate.
"Lola, I'm sorry but can you please bring this to the dining table?"
"Sure, why not?"
Esmeralda grabs a pair of gloves and takes the large plate from Lyrica's hands.
"I'll be there in a sec."
Lyrica turns around to get several bowls right next to the cauldron. The old lady uses the moment to get a glance at the large plate and sees all the well-fried egg tofu pieces.
'I see, so that cauldron right there has...'
Lyrica takes off the lid and revealed what's inside the cauldron.
'... A gruel.'
Lyrica proceeds to put one piece of hard-boiled egg in each bowl before adding the gruel.
'An egg contains high-quality protein and healthy fats, which keeps us satiated and offers sustained energy throughout the day.'
Not only that, the last night's meal Lyrica made was meant to help them warm up after they got soaked into the cold rain as well as help them sleep through eating corn.
'She did all this to help Nela who's been acting all strange since yesterday.'
Esmeralda turns to see Lyrica after putting the large plate in front of Nilo and Robert at the dining table.
'She really is a good girl.'
Esmeralda sits on one of the chairs along with her grandsons. Moments later, Lyrica arrives, carrying bowls of hot and delicious egg gruel.
"Eat up, everyone!"
Everyone stares in awe at the sight of the incredible breakfast Lyrica made.
Robert takes a bite of egg tofu, Nilo takes a spoonful of gruel. And before they knew it, Esmeralda and her grandsons are making priceless expression on their faces.
"Yummy!"
The three delightedly said in unison.
"Looks like everyone likes the breakfast," Lyrica uttered while taking a bite of egg tofu and a sip of gruel. "By the way, where are Rona and Nela?"
The three pauses, following Lyrica question.
"Are they still in their room?"
"That's unusual."
That moment, Lyrica felt an unsettling déjà vu.
"I'll wake them up."
Esmeralda stood from her seat to go wake up the two girls they thought were still sleeping. But before the old lady could go far from the dining area, Rona appears before them. Her face screaming with trouble, uneasiness, and fear.
"Ate Nela is..."