Chapter 48: Naive Friend
Jaden wore the clothes and collapsed in his chair. He took out the food from the bag and began munching on it in big bites.
Navin stared at him dumbfoundedly as Jaden ate all the food like a starving wolf, which he was because of his rank advancement, and he hadn’t eaten for the time he was in the forest.
Jaden’s body had undergone enhancement, but he was too tired to test his strength. He just wanted to eat and sleep, but Navin was there, and he wanted answers.
’How annoying,’ he thought as he glanced at Navin.
A few minutes passed, and Jaden let out a short burp as he finished eating. He threw the bag away and sprawled in his chair. He looked at Navin with a tired look and spoke.
"Go ahead. Ask me anything."
Navin nodded at him and thought of what to ask before turning his head back to Jaden.
"How long do you think you were there?"
Jaden looked at him with his half-closed eyes as he answered doubtfully.
"A day?"
Navin shook his head and answered solemnly.
"You’ve been reported missing for two days... did you get in danger or something that you don’t even know how long you were there?"
Jaden’s expressions also turned dark at his words as he closed his eyes and thought.
’A day must’ve passed when I fell into the body of that snake bastard.’
"Answer me, Jaden," Navin demanded worriedly as he clenched his fists.
He hated the fact that Jaden had to put himself in danger to save them. Yes, he didn’t even have to think about why or what he did, because he knew him enough from their time within the arcane academy.
All of them fell in this city over a year ago; however, they only began to get some productive information after Jaden woke up, which alone hinted at how dependent they had been on him, and he didn’t like that because Jaden wouldn’t deny that dependence; instead, he would do his best to do everything for them.
That’s simply how he was.
Navin stared at Jaden with a worried look as he waited for him to answer his question.
"No, I didn’t." Jaden lied through his teeth and calmly stared at him. He also didn’t feel like telling Navin the truth after seeing that worried look. He felt the same strange feeling he did whenever he conversed with any of them.
After coming to this city, strangeness had already become almost normal for him... too many strange things had occurred in a short time, and he had no choice but to change his way of doing things because of that.
He also knew that the city was having a bad impact on his mental health; he had a constant sense of loss, even though he hadn’t lost anything yet... but he couldn’t save the civilians, his mother or anyone who was originally from the city because if that’s possible they would have been constantly helping them by using loop holes within the rules just as the curator did.
’Children of knowledge...’
Perhaps it was his hunger for knowledge that forced him to do so? Jaden didn’t know; the only thing he knew was that he needed someone to stay sane, and now he had decided to follow the strange feeling he always got from the others instead of running away like before.
Navin gave him a dark look and questioned, his voice was lower than intended.
"Why are you lying to me?"
Upon hearing his voice, Jaden came out of his thoughts and replied while furrowing his brows.
"I am not lying to you."
Navin’s expression darkened, and a hint of anger appeared on his face as he asked louder than before.
"If nothing happened, why were you covered in blood then? Do you think I’m stupid, Jaden?"
Jaden heaved a sigh and leaned forward as he responded with a serious look on his face.
"No, I don’t think you are stupid, Navin."
Navin gritted his teeth and glared at him before shouting.
"Answer the damn question then! Don’t treat me like a kid."
Jaden clicked his tongue, fell back in his chair, and added nonchalantly.
’That didn’t work, but I am sure this will.’
"First of all, it wasn’t my blood; I simply fell into the body of a snake-like nightmare who had just fought a big ass wolf and died to it. The wolf then burst into black sparks and left the place... Secondly, I wasn’t in any danger during all of this; I was simply witnessing all that from a tree as tall as a two-storey building... So yeah, no danger at all."
He didn’t forget to give him a bright smile after saying so; he was sure that no one would trust his words; they were that unbelievable after all. He was just waiting for Navin to laugh at him and just drop this matter altogether... It was a foolproof plan.
’Phew, I have both brains and looks... what would happen to all those ladies?’
He finally looked at Navin, expecting him to have a ridiculous expression on his face... but he had assumed too much.
Navin had a grave look on his face as he stared at Jaden. He also frowned after looking at his face and questioned.
"What’s wrong?"
Navin lowered his head and spoke apologetically.
"I am sorry..."
"Huh?"
"If only I weren’t this weak, you wouldn’t have to go through such danger."
"HUH?"
"I am sorry for my weakness."
"HUH?!"
Navin suddenly lifted his head and looked at Jaden with a determined look as he spoke loudly.
"I won’t use my weakness as an excuse; instead, I would use it as a fuel to become stronger, so you don’t have to do anything like this again."
Jaden stared at him with a dumbfounded look and gave him an absent-minded nod as he thought.
’What the fuck is he talking about? Don’t tell me he believes all that...’