Before we start. I just wanted to explain a few changes in chapters heading forward.
First, the quality is a bit lower because I have had no free time recently.
Secondly, I was experimenting with different fonts so I decided to change a few things.
I don't know if you guys can see this but, the third person narrator is now written in ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ
Italic words are for thought and non-italic are just normal dialogue. Also maybe I can use (โ อโ ยฐโ อโ สอกโ ยฐโ )โ แค emotes to describe the expressions.
That's all, everyone. Enjoy reading. (โโขแดโขโ)
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"Hmmm... Are we just gonna sit there and keep staring at him?"
"... Do you have any ideas then? Who know if he will try to escape just as he wakes up."
" But can we even do stop that? It's not like we are can even defeat him if he gets serious?...I mean he beat that guy who attacked my tribe. One slap is all it would take to beat us up."
๐๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐. ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐, ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐, ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ, ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ค๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ข๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐๐ญ๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ค๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐.
๐๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ง๐จ ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฉ.
Mimosa sat on one side, her hands slowly wiping the dust of the black horns on Asta's head while being amazed by their smoothness.
There was a smile on her face, a aura of blooming flowers surrounding her that anybody bearing bad news to not want to disturb.
Lats and Klaus saw the scene from the sides, conversing with each other in whispers while keeping the voice enough to not reach Mimosa's ears.
" It's weird. Something doesn't fit right with this." Lats said doubtfully. "The story Asta told me was different."
Klaus raises his eye in curiosity.
"Different? What exactly do you mean by different?"
" It's like a inferior version. Everything you told me has matched except after the death of Asta... *looks Klaus in the eye* it seems few characters is missing and he never died in the story he told me."
๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ "๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐", ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐๐ซ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ. ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐จ๐ญ ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ.
๐๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐จ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐. ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ "๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐" '๐ฌ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง. ๐๐๐๐ง๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ข๐ง ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐.
"A war with spade and diamond kingdom ruled by Devil contractors? Dark triad? The paladin wars?... Honestly this is unbelievable."
The story felt unreal and unimaginable to most, Klaus included. However, the source of it was none other than Asta himself.
There was rising cloud of suspicions in the air. A cloud of doubts only one person could clear away with the answers.
"AwrGhhhheee."
A subtle groan comes out of Asta's mouth, startling the trio into straightening their backs. Klaus turns back, finding Asta slowly turn to the side before his eye opened wide in a instant.
His pupil was dancing around, flickering from one corner of his vision to another.
Soon he found where he was, the trees with sword marks gave away the location so that was a relief. However when his eyes meet with Mimosa's, all hell broke loose in his mind.
"W-w-whโMimosa!?" Asta shutters like a a broken wheel, immediately losing his sense of logic. He noticed he was in Mimosa's lap and suddenly his face grew so red and hot that one could grill a steak on it.
The same was also happening to Mimosa, just on a slightly less showy and interal level compared to Asta's. Inside her head, she was screaming around like a mad goose, her cheeks blushing so hard they became pink.
BAAMM!
With a swing of hand, Asta bashes the floor. The knockback from his hit immediately launched him away back to a tree far while also leaving cloud of dust in his wake.
"How Did You Find me...?! It shouldn't be posโ"
As the dust cloud settles down, a small figure could be seen coughing on dust. The sight of Lats immediately tells Asta the whole story, shutting his question and mouth before he suddenly leaps upwards only to not move from his place.
He looks at his feet confusingly, witnessing dozens of vines gathered around his ankle and holding him down as the sprouts and grass beside him shot up like rope and held him down.
"Why..? " A voice questions.
"ANSWER ME ASTA! WHY ARE YOU RUNNING FROM US!?"
It was Mimosa, using all her strength to hold onto a root. Her eyes were filled with sadness and the same was happening to Lats and Klaus who also prepared to stop him.
From the corner of his eye, Asta witnessed a wire coming at him from the side. He dodges, his body reflexively going into defensive and activating the nullification attribute at full throttle.
The vines disintegrated from the anti-magic, the metal wire vanished into manabits as the spell and mana were broken into bits before being devoured into the anti-magic anf absorbed by it. While he was at it, Asta also sidestepped a pathetic one feet lunge from Lats.
Thud!
The little monk greeted the mud with his face, receiving a full face mud mask as result before he looked back at Asta in silence.
"Ha... HahahaHahHAHAHA! Y-You! Your face! "
The stupefied expression that was on verge of tears felt comedic to look at, causing Asta to burst into laughter the next second.
Mimosa and Klaus however didn't laugh at all. Their faces as serious as they could be as they rushed forward at their highest speed and jumped onto Asta.
Another "impact" from Mimosa's cleavage happens, stunning Asta in her tracks as he fell with Klaus and Mimosa each holding off one of his hands.
"Close! Too Close!! " Asta thougt as he found two giants right in his faces. He blushed strongly, unable to keep a straight gaze and muster any strength, he gave up on resisting since he wanted no incidents.
Lats also jumped on top. Just because he can.
"Say something, Asta! Answer us! Why are you running away from your friends!?"
"- also you didn't even visit the villagers yet! Are you hiding something from us? From everyone? "
Bombarded with questions he couldn't answer without a straight face. Asta kept staring to the side, his gaze as unwavering as a statue as he raised his finger at Mimosa.
"Your chest..." He said subtly. "I can't answer while looking at that."
... With a blush appearing on her face. Mimosa jumps away out of embarrassment and covers her chest with her hand.
Complex and jumbled up thoughts flashed before Mimosa's eyes as she turned her back at the others in shame. Meanwhile Asta also finally looked upward, tossing Klaus and Lats to side with a flick of his hand while also sitting on his own back.
The situation had just got worse than he expected. However he was also thankful it was Mimosa and Klaus that found him and not Yuno or others in the blackbulls.
๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐จ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ. ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐, ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ข๐, ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ. ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐.
"Since none of you wanna start, I will go first... " Klaus said and turned to Asta, "You are not gonna run away, are you?"
"I am not a kid... I wanted to hide but that is already out of the question."
It was indeed out of the question to hide anything. No matter how much he tried, Asta couldn't bring himself to hurt his friends. This left negotiations as his only chance to hide his survival.
The first question was Klaus's and he struck right where he meant toโ The truth.
"Are you really Asta?"
"I... I am. But not yours."
The answer baffled everyone.
"What sort of answer is that!? How can you be Asta but notโ"
"I am from a different future. I am not gonna lie but even I didn't expect such a chaotic background when I came here. "
Mimosa interrupts, " You are not Asta then? Doesn't that mean heโ *a sudden thought* When did you arrive here!?"
Without any warning, Mimosa immediately grabs Asta's collar. Her face was just a inch from his but she could only see pity in his eyes.
"About ten days ago."
" He isn't lying. " Lats affirmed, "He fell through my house's roof."
Klaus immediately took note of the statement, formulating a theory in his head and spoke:
"How did you arrive here then...?"
...
"I told you I came frโ"
" I didn't ask where... I asked how did you arrive. Did you use a portal? A summoning circle? Maybe even teleportation magic?"
The question nudged Asta in a way he hasn't bothered to before. He ponderer for a moment, repeating the question in his head.
" How did I arrive...? How will I know!? Only that big eyeโ... SYSTEM! "
The realisation brought his focus to the panel. He immediately summoned it in his mind, screaming the same question at it and watched a new screen pop up as a disturbing thought appeared in his head.
[ message from creator: it is exactly what you think... I have no excuse for the gamble. Be thankful it was even a successful resurrection.]
The doubts vanished, replaced by a crippling worry.
Asta slow turns to Klaus, disbelief filling his eyes as he stated his thoughts.
"Did you watch it get buried? The corpse of Your Asta, I mean. "
.... Klaus and Mimosa had no answer.
Soon Klaus finally opens his mouth, delivering the truth to Asta.
" Your body vanished into dust mid transport. No fancy magic or anything, it just vanished out of existence just before it reached the village."
Mimosa peans forward, "That's why we believed in him *looks at Lats* we had to check it out ourselves just to be sure and..."
"And that's how you found me? Just because you had hope?" Asta had no idea or visualisation of how tough it has been on others. He chuckles, unable to hold his voice down. "Honestly, I think I need a moment. Can you two leโ you know what? Forget it."
Silently with a smile on his face, Asta extends his arms and hugs both Klaus and Mimosa at once. The realisation felt like a weight being lift from his heart. He was an idiot to fight alone. He didn't want to destroy the hopes of others, however in reality he just wanted to keep the burden to himself.