We slept well because of our exhaustion. When Aria came to wake us up, we didn't—couldn't, more precisely.
"Sir Kaito! Grey! Please open the door," she called from outside.
I tried my best to drag my body out of bed. Grey was still in his bed, dead to the world.
I opened the door. Aria seemed troubled—maybe thought something had happened. Her eyes showed genuine concern.
"If you both are too tired, we can skip training for the day. I'll bring food here," she said, worry evident in her voice.
"No, we're fine. I'll wake Grey." I rubbed my sore neck. "Let's check out the canteen you mentioned yesterday. Grey wanted to see it too."
Her worries softened. "Then… okay. If that's what you want, Sir Kaito. Please do wake him up."
I turned back inside. "Grey! Wake up…"
"No… five more minutes, Kaito," he mumbled into the pillow.
"Yo, Grey! We're not in our world anymore. Come back to reality," I said, teasing him with his own medicine.
His eyes snapped open. "Oh no! I forgot! The training—"
"No need to get worked up. Aria's here to guide us to the canteen. Let's go get something to eat."
"Oh… okay." He lazily sat up and stretched, joints popping. "Good morning!"
I glanced around the dim room. "Is it morning? Evening? I can't even tell anymore."
Aria answered from the doorway, "It's around 7:45 AM."
"Man! If we were back home, I'd be starting work by now." Grey's tone carried a hint of sadness—he was a manual carriage puller back in our world. "And bro… your food cart! The regular customers must be feeling sad too."
"No time to worry about that now. Let's go eat, buddy!" I said, matching his tone with forced cheer.
Aria's expression flickered with guilt. She'd only brought us here two days ago, after all.
"Give us a few minutes to get ready," I told her.
She nodded and stepped back into the hallway.
"Grey and I quickly threw on the spare clothes we'd been given and splashed water on our faces from the basin in our room."
When we joined Aria in the corridor, we started walking toward the canteen.
"Will any nuns or priests be there?" I asked, trying to sound casual.
"What, Sir Heeeero? Your determination to be brave went down the drain already?" Grey grinned, back to his teasing self.
"I can't get courage overnight, you know?" I muttered, embarrassed.
Aria's mood seemed to improve slightly. She added, "Only the nuns in charge of cooking. It's around 8:00 now, so most others will be attending to their duties."
We nodded and continued down the corridor, our footsteps echoing softly against the stone walls.
When we arrived at the simple canteen, it looked like a modest dining hall with wooden tables and chairs neatly arranged. The wood itself showed detailed craftsmanship—nothing extravagant, but careful work.
Grey's eyes widened as he took it in. "Not as fancy as I thought. No grand decorations whatsoever."
"But it's nice and comfortable to be in," I added, running my hand along a smooth table edge.
Aria seemed to relax a bit more after our initial tension. She headed toward the preparation area to inform them of our arrival.
She returned with a nun who looked to be in her early twenties. "Sir Kaito, Grey, this is Sister Maria. She's in charge of preparing food today."
"Thank you for accepting to help us, brave hero and friend of the brave hero!" Sister Maria's voice carried such warmth and genuine gratitude, her smile bright and welcoming—almost cheerful.
"Please, sit here and wait. We'll bring something to eat right away!"
Aria introduced us properly, then they both disappeared into the kitchen area, Sister Maria humming softly as she went.
I stared at the doorway, a bit confused. "She seemed really cheerful for a nun. I thought they'd be more… serious? Solemn, maybe?"
Grey leaned back in his chair with a knowing look. "Different world, different rules, bro. This place might share some things with ours, but plenty won't match up." He tapped the table. "Better to just roll with it than overthink every little thing."
He had a point. Grey always cut through confusion faster than my scattered thoughts could keep up.
A few minutes later, they returned carrying wooden trays. The food was simple but hearty—root vegetables, preserved meats, hard bread, dried fruits, and a warm soup.
Sister Maria gently set the tray down, gesturing for Aria to sit and eat with us, then leaned close to her and whispered something in her ear.
Aria barely reacted, but I noticed a faint flush spreading to the tips of her ears.
Sister Maria smiled warmly at us before leaving to attend her other duties.
We sat down together, the three of us, and began eating. The conversation naturally drifted to our first day's training—the basic stretches, fundamental movements, and how our bodies had screamed in protest afterward.
Then Grey's tone shifted, more serious. "Something's been bugging me, Ay. The last hero fled back to his own world, right? And since then, no other heroes entered this world." He paused, taking a bite. "But that Hero's complex—the castle built around the tower—it had signs of recent use. Fresh wear on the training equipment, dust patterns that didn't match years of abandonment."
I blinked, surprised I hadn't thought about it. He really was absurdly observant.
Grey continued, leaning forward. "And another thing—you can speak our language perfectly. Even Sister Maria could. We noticed it yesterday when reading those books you brought us. Everything was written in our language, like it was meant specifically for us."
Aria set down her spoon carefully. "I'm the one who's been training there regularly."
"You?" I couldn't help but exclaim. "How? But you're a priestess!"
Ay looked completely dumbfounded. Her mouth opened slightly, and for the first time since our meeting two days ago, she let out a genuine, surprised "Eh?"
Then she laughed hard—awkward and uncomfortable, but real. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes. She wiped them away, trying to compose herself. This was the first time she'd let her guard down completely.
Grey's eyes narrowed. We exchanged confused glances, both of us utterly clueless about what was so funny.
Aria caught her breath, still wiping her eyes, and began her explanation.
"First, I am not a priestess," Aria said, finally steadying her voice. "I think I am a defense and healer type mage. Like… support."
"But you said in this holy land only selected few can live here—only nuns, priests, and priestesses?" I added, almost confused.
Grey jumped in. "Then why the white robe? It looked exactly like a real priestess would wear."
"It was a gift," Aria explained. "It looks like a priestess robe because it's enchanted with holy magic. Like Sir Kaito's holy sword—blessed equipment that channels divine power."
"Then what about the language stuff?" Grey's curiosity hit its peak.
Aria took a breath. "The heroes who came before Sir Kaito—most of them used this language. So, to honor them and make communication easier, the people who respected the heroes and needed their support chose to learn it as a second language. It spread across all four continents naturally."
"That's a tough decision to make," Grey said thoughtfully. "An entire world choosing to learn a new language just for the heroes."
I couldn't keep up with his knowledge and quick thinking at all. Calculative yet thoughtful—that was Grey.
Everything made sense when she explained. This world had some crazy stuff going on, yet here I was—one of their hopes among the 559 heroes who came before me.
This question came to my mind for the second time: Was I really cut out for this?
Grey must have noticed my thoughts drifting. "Bro!" He snapped me back. "Let's work even harder, so we don't let those people down."
I startled slightly, suddenly pulled back down to earth. "Okay, Grey. Let's work harder."
Aria's expression softened with concern. "Please don't be too hard on yourselves. I don't want both of you pushing beyond your limits for us."
Then Grey tried to lighten the mood by shifting focus to Aria.
"Hey, Ay! You said you received that robe as a gift. Tell me the story behind it." He leaned forward with genuine interest. "And how did you end up here as an exception anyway?"
This question definitely needed an answer. I'd been curious about her as well. Our boy Grey! Always straight to the point without any hesitation at all.
She hesitated for a moment, deciding whether to answer this question or not, then made a forced smile. She started.
"I was an orphan. My orphanage was inside the main town called Lumindale, in the Holy Kingdom."
She paused, gathering her thoughts. "When I was around six years old, Priest Sebastian came looking for nun candidates. He also brought the excessive supplies that the Holy Kingdom provided to the Holy Land."
"There, he found me and saw potential in me. So he brought me here and trained me for a few months. Then he left me with permission to use the holy library and the training grounds. That's how I got access to the books and the training area."
Her voice grew quieter. "His role is mainly finding candidates, so he traveled through all the continents many times over the years. His last visit was two years ago. That's when he gifted me this robe and the staff. Then he gave me the role of aiding heroes." She looked down at her hands. "That's how I ended up here."
Her story was sad, yet the pain etched across her face hinted at something deeper she wasn't ready to share, even as she tried to steady her tone.
Grey seemed to think deeply for a moment, then grinned. "That's how we got a beautiful girl as our tour guide to travel around the world, eh?"
Tried to lighten up the mood, as always.
It seemed to be working too. She smiled a little, the sadness lifting from her face.
We finished our meals in more comfortable silence. As we stood to leave, Aria said, "I'll meet you both at the training ground. I need to change into my combat robe first."
Grey and I nodded and headed toward the training ground while Aria went to prepare.