After everyone had finished having their dinner and the usual dinner discussions, they all set off to do their respective assignments. Grace went to her room to study and complete her homework. Arthur was fixing a gas pipe that wasn't working, and Kukyo and Iris were cleaning up the kitchen.
"Thank you again, Mrs Elvon."
"Don't mention it, dear," Iris replied with a chuckle.
"So, how are you enjoying your stay?"
"Staying here has been lovely, but I'm worried that I'll be an inconvenience to everyone," Kukyo answered, feeling dispirited.
"Oh, dear, we enjoy your company, Grace especially, and Arthur is starting to warm up to you," Iris said, comforting Kukyo
Feeling that Iris was just saying that being kind, he still felt dejected, but didn't allow it to show on his face or through his actions, instead showing a warm smile and, in a low tone, saying, "Truly, thank you." Although Kukyo was hiding his feelings, he had completely meant what he said.
"I want to find my parents soon and get home, but I do want to enjoy Grace's company even after I find them, yours and Mr Elvon too. You all have been so kind to me, yet I can't do anything to fully repay that."
Hearing Kukyo's words, Iris felt both a sense of joy and sadness; she felt joy because she knew his words were genuine, and sadness because they were genuine.
***
The next day, Kukyo headed back to the library, studying as much as he could about where he currently was. What he understood so far from the encyclopedia, is that there are four main continents, Zol, where he was currently located, Therma, Furneira, and Drymus. Excluding Zol and Furneira, the rest of them were separated by the ocean.
From what he had read the day before about the first king of Larphinia, he suspected that whatever source of power kept the king alive for so long, could also be the thing that took him there, and possibly holding the key to his return home.
Normally hearing about prolonged life wasn't something completely unnatural, it could've been that this civilization had created technology and medicine that far surpassed his own world, but after reading about creatures that he could only think to be from fairytales, and also overhearing a conversation about the passing of a grandparent, he came to the realization that it was not normal at all. With the fact that the book described him to be an amazing person with not only superhuman, but supernatural feats, Kukyo thought that for right now he needs to find out what that source of power is.
'Finding the source of whatever the hell his power… powers and life is the key to bringing me home, well at least part of it, how long would it take to even find what thing is, it could even be a creature. Not including the time it would take, there are still so many variables that might lead to failures, like what if it brought me here to kill me, or to eat me, or it could even be a different type of entity/entities entirely, there are just too many variables…'
Pondering on the mysteries behind his kidnapping, that's what he thought of the situation, and the power of the old king, Kukyo finally made up a makeshift plan on what he would do:
'…Since I don't have anyway of verifying that both the source and my capturer are the same entity, and any obvious investigation might get me detained, the only thing I can do right now is to learn as much about this place as possible, which was my original plan, but I should mainly read on the old king though, and hopefully keep out of the knights way and off their radar. If I come across any that has to do with anything supernatural, especially about teleportation, wormholes, or anything that has to do with dimensional travel, I should get as much information on it as possible though.'
"Hmm", thinking about the situation also made Kukyo realize that the source could be scientific instead of magical, or even a combination of both.
'And again with the variables, I might have to consider that I might never get home, any plans I make for approaching the situation are very limited. It would be best to just go at it one step at a time, and try different methods over time. The only problem is how long would I… no, how long could I stay with the Elvons? They've already given me so much. How can I even think to repay them, and if I succeed in my plans and get back home, I'd feel like a parasite, who just took and left.'
"Sigh. For right now it's best not to think about it", feeling guilty about his predicament, Kukyo decided to try and stop thinking about it, but that only lasted a little while until the thought crossed his mind again and again,it was like throwing away a toy only to have a dog fetch it back each time.
'Well if I can't stop thinking about it, then I might as well find a solution for it,' After a while of thinking about the situation, Kukyo decided that he would get a job in the future and save up as much as he can to repay them.
"Be careful, before long you might turn into a library", a familiar yet unexpected voice resounded in Kulyo's ears.
Looking left of him in surprise and curiosity, he saw the Liberian, Ms Aden.
"Oh, it's you, hello, Ms Aden", Replied Kukyo, releasing a sigh of relief.
"Yes, what? Were you expecting someone else? Perhaps an imaginary friend, like the one you were looking for?"
"Ah… I'll have you know that my friend is very real"
Hearing Kukyo, Ms Aden chuckled, "You know that you're bad at lying right?"
'What?' Feeling a bit embarrassed, Kukyo quickly changed the subject, "So what did you mean before?"
"Oh, nothing, you seemed so lost in thought that I thought I would make a joke to bring you back"
"Oh, yes, I guess I do have a little bit more than usual on my mind, thank you", said Kukyo smiling.
"No problem, little heighten," replied the librarian, giving Kukyo a wink.
'Heighten? What's that supposed to mean and did… did she just wink,' thinking about what he just got from Ms Aden, Kukyo started to chuckle.
"What exactly does 'heighten' mean, Ms Aden?" asked Kukyo out of curiosity.
Ms Aden was delighted to answer him, knowing that the meaning might make him frown or even blush due to his earlier reaction.
"It's a nickname of sorts, it basically means someone who can only tell the truth. Even if it's because they're bad at lying…
'Ah… and for a moment I kinda liked the name… well I still do but…' Kukyo always had mixed feelings when it came to things he found embarrassing but still liked, thus he ended blushing like Ms Aden expected.
Seeing Kukyo expression, Ms Aden chuckled a lot more than the first time, almost turning into a laugh, and sounding like a villain you'd hear in a cartoon or an older sibling when they're teasing you.
"Well don't overthink too much, all the answers one might need are here, or at least something is here to help them find it", said Ms Aden walking back to her desk after checking on the other people at the library that seemed stressed out, which was something that Kukyo never thought he'd see from the 'very serious' librarian.
'Huh, I didn't know she was such a caring person, then again I didn't really have much to work with, when guessing the type of person she is.'
***
After a few more hours the sun was beginning to set, Kukyo had thought it fit to head back before it got too dark, since anything could happen in this unknown, new world.
Placing back the encyclopedia, then something that he knew might become habitual, said his goodbye to Ms Aden, who he had surprisingly just realized was the only one who worked at the library.
After retracing his steps back to the house, scared that if he just tried to remember where it was, liked he lived there for ages, he might get lost. After a few minutes, Kukyo arrived back at the Elvin residence.
Walking inside he saw that Grace was already home and had changed out of her uniform, sitting on the couch reading a book that seemed to be a novel of sorts. He also noticed that neither Iris nor Arthur were in the living room or kitchen.
"They're out, they'll be back soon," Grace said, looking at Kukyo's surprised expression.
"Oh"
Seeing Kukyo dumbfounded a little, Grace chuckled, holding her book in one hand. "How have your studies been? I hope you've found something useful."
'Something useful' huh?'
"Yeah, you can say that, how was school?" Hearing his response, Grace felt relieved.
"It was fine, today we had our regular classes, and did a test on Soulhearts today."
'Soulheart?!' Bewildered by the new word, Kukyo couldn't bother to think about anything else, he couldn't even remember what Grace said before she mentioned it.
"What's a Soulheart?"