"Where were you?"
As Kez was about to enter his house, a petite girl with raven hair blocked his way at the door, donning an extremely unpleasant expression on her face. Kez stayed silent for a moment, then slowly smiled and responded.
"What do you think? I was studying at the library."
"Oh...you were studying huh? Is that why you were too busy to answer the phone?"
"My phone? Whic- I mean I must've run out of battery."
'Actually, I had used my main phone's battery for my burner phone. There really isn't any need for these types of precautions for now but I don't wanna get caught lacking. Opps are everywhere. You never know when you might get jumped.'
"YOU IRRESPONSIBLE BASTARD. How do you forget to charge your phone??? Stricoss showed up earlier to pick you up for TROP. He said you guys planned on departing today. Everyone called you at least couple hundred times but you were just enjoying your sunny day without any concern. Not only did you not tell us you were departing today but you also ghosted the scion of Kolzes family. I know that you are already a braindead moron, but for fuck's sake, how can you utterly forget that you are supposed to get close to that guy???"
'Okay that is completely not my fault. If I remember correctly, in the novel, Jack arrives at TROP on August 19th. Today is August 13th. I kind of figured that my parents would drop me off at TROP or I don't know...buy me a ticket or something but looks like that wasn't the right conclusion. I should probably head out tomorrow.'
"Hey! You shouldn't be talking like that. Especially to someone older than you. Also, Stricoss asked me to do him a favor, so I was busy with that. I didn't expect it would take this long. But no worries, I talked to him and explained all of it. I am sure he is happy that I took care of what he asked with extra caution and will forget all about this."
Kez kept a straight face as he lied though his teeth. The girl in front of him, however, didn't budge. But Kez could already see some specks of doubt, guilt and uncertainty finding its way in her eyes. After a while, she asked doubtfully,
"Really?"
"Of course. Why else would I not be here? I will be leaving tomorrow so I need to prepare now."
Kez walked past her and entered the living room. Sensing a lack of presence, he asked,
"Where is mom and dad?"
"They are at the guild. I don't think they would be coming back tonight."
'Oh thank God.'
"Did you buy tickets already?"
'Damn it.'
Giving her a vague confirmation, Kez rummaged through all the fridges. The Jolkevs kept a maid for cooking so food was always present in their fridges.
'Why do these people have so many fridges? It's almost like I have go through a maze to find what I want. Ah there we go.'
After searching for a bit, he pulled out a small food container of ground beef and some bread that almost resembled Focaccia.
Turning on the electric stove, he set a pan on the burner and let it heat up. As the pan warmed, he placed two slices of the bread on it, letting them toast.
While the bread toasted, he moved swiftly to prepare the other ingredients. He cracked a few eggs into a bowl, whisking them until they were light and frothy, and then poured the mixture into the pan containing the bread. The eggs began to cook quickly, forming a soft and golden layer around the bread.
Next, he took out the already cooked ground beef, tasted it a bit and seasoned it with some salt and light spices before carefully placing it on a piece of the toasting bread, along with some cheese on top. He also covered it from the top with the second piece. Applying some pressure on the sandwich, he allowed it to cook slowly and occasionally flipped it. Sometimes, he covered the pan with a lid and cooked it over medium heat to allow the cheese to melt. After a while, the kitchen was filled with a savory aroma. In the corner of his eyes, he could spot Kei occasionally glancing at the pan.
He then turned his attention to the vegetables. He rinsed and sliced crisp lettuce, juicy cucumbers, and a variety of other fresh veggies, arranging them neatly on a cutting board to prepare a salad.
Putting the sandwich on a plate and placing it on the table, along with the salad, he looked for the remote to turn on the TV. However, the damn thing was nowhere to be found. By now, his phone battery was close to dying.
"Damn it, how am I supposed to eat without any TV or phone???" he muttered, frustration growing. He glanced over at Kei, who was lounging on the couch with a book named 'Blade master X Alchemist can't get along'.
He decided to try a different approach. "Heh-heyyyy. Kei, how was your day?" he said, trying to sound amicable but a hint of desperation leaked from his voice.
"Why are you asking that out of nowhere?" Kei replied without looking away from her book.
"Because why not? Is it that hard to believe I am just trying to find out how my little sister's day was? It's a little hurtful you know..."
Kei looked up from her book and stared at him with distrust. Kez wondered what exactly the original Kez had done to earn this kind of distrust from his family. After staring at him for a while, she decided to answer, likely due to feeling guilty about cursing at her brother earlier.
"It wasn't bad. I helped mom with some of her work at the guild. She is worried about you, you know. You should at least see her before you leave tomorrow."
"Oh ya ya I definitely will. What else did you do? Oh also would you mind turning the TV on."
"Why do I have to turn it on?"
"Ah..well you know just because hahaha. Alright come on, turn on the TV and tell me all about your day...please." he said, desperation drowning his voice.
Kei looked at him with a deadpan expression.
"You don't know where the remote is, do you?"
"Damn it. Yes, I don't know where it is. Come on, can't you please find it? Think of it as my last request before I go away. You don't want your last memory with your dear brother to be him starving without a decent meal or a TV to watch, do you?"
"Why do you sound like you are going to die? Most people would be ecstatic to have the opportunity to get into TROP. Give me that sandwich and I will find it."
"Half" Kez spoke out adamantly, erasing any and all instance of the desperation he previously demonstrated.
After some further negotiation, she begrudgingly agreed and began to search around the room with a feigned lack of enthusiasm, but her eyes kept darting back to the plate of food. It wasn't long before, with a touch of reluctance, she emerged from behind the sofa, holding up the remote.
"Found it," she said, trying to sound aloof as she handed it over. But her gaze lingered on the sandwich, and she couldn't hide the hint of eagerness in her eyes.
Kez snatched the remote from her hand and held it in his hand as if it was some precious treasure. His smile grew more natural, and he turned on the TV, putting on some news. Taking his seat on the couch, he lazily munched on some vegetables.
"Give me my half."
"Oh right..."
Using both his hands, he unceremoniously tore the sandwich in half. With a dramatic sigh, he held out one half to Kei with a solemn expression. "Here you go," he said with a deep sigh, seeming to be deeply pained by the gesture.
Kei's eyes widened as she took the half sandwich from him, only to see that it was barely more than a third of the original. She frowned, looking up at him with a mixture of disbelief and irritation. "Seriously? This is what you call half? I get a tiny portion while you keep the bigger half?"
Kez shrugged. "Looks like a perfect half to me."
Kei shook her head, clearly annoyed "You've got some nerve, you know that?"
"WOAH NO WAY!!! Kei, did you hear what the news just said?" Kez exclaimed, trying to distract her.
Kei huffed, but despite her irritation, she took a bite of the sandwich. Despite her annoyed mood, she had to admit the sandwich was really good. Slowly her mood brightened up and she focused on the news.
" This is channel 12. Breaking news just came in, the 4th sector under control of the Alphadela country was lost the catagory 5 gate, Boshawn, that opened 5 years ago. On August 6th, the gate demonstrated unusual readings and two days later, an unimaginable horde of monsters erupted from the gate, overwhelming the small military outpost stationed at the 4th sector. Despite receiving reinforcements from Valoria, Ravenshade and Kaston, Alphadela's military was unable to fight off the horde and was forced to retreat. The World Alliance has temporarily declared the sector 4 as a death zone. The exact number casualties are still unknown with 40+ military personals confirmed to be decreased. The country's government has..."
"I hope they won't force our guild to send members." Kei muttered.
Kez tried to refer back to the novel, but he couldn't remember any mention of the sector 4. Category 5 gates were very rare. The gates would be categorized between 1-6. The category of the gates refers to the energy a gate contains or rather how many monsters of what rank can come out of it. Monsters generally followed a similar power-ranking as humans. A category 5 gate had the power to transport at least 3 SS rank monsters or 50 S ranked monsters. Gates could form randomly anywhere and anytime and after the gate exhausts all its energy by transporting the monsters, it turns off and goes into a hibernating state to start recovering energy slowly. Once the gate is fully charged, it erupts again, and hordes of monster come out of it. However, people have found many ways to suppress gates. The most popular one being siphoning the energy from the gates, so it never becomes fully charged. In that way, these gates can be called an energy generator. The energy from gates is pure by nature and can be converted into electricity. This world is heavily reliant on the power of gates, and it wouldn't be wrong to say most of this planet is powered by the gates. Although, it seemed like the gate, Boshawn, malfunctioned somehow and erupted even when it was not fully charged.
"Oh, is there a possibility our guild might get dragged into this?" Kez tried to inquire.
"Kaston already sent some people from ranker's association. There have been no talks of getting help from the guilds but who knows what World Alliance will decide. They might even ask for reinforcement from every country and try to seal the gate. In that case, we will definitely get involved no matter what."
'From what I remember about the social structure, the World Alliance is sort of like United Nations and they are led by the most powerful rankers in the world. They could give a command to any nation, and that nation had to obey. Kaston is the country I am living in, and TROP is located at its capital. There are about 5 other nations or was it 6? Wait what's the point of thinking about all this? I need to buy my ticket for tomorrow.'
I sighed and got up slowly. Putting the empty dishes in the dishwasher and I headed to my room.
'I hope the tickets won't cost too much.'