369 Explanation
It took a few minutes for Kairen's fuzzy mind to clear and for the dizziness to subside. Even though, he was still tired and wanted to take a rest. If possible, he would fall asleep right there.
However, he couldn't do so. He was in a ruined city whose people were surrounding him, making a fuss over the disappearance of the sinister gate from the sky, while eyeing and being on guard against the one who has made the gate vanish.
Kairen tried his best to ignore the voices of the people and the curious, and yet scared questions that were thrown at him. He also tried to forget the fact that he had promised to talk to Daniel after he was done walking with Reynold. He just wanted to sleep, was that too much to ask?
However, after about fifteen minutes, Kairen saw through his half-open eyes a pair of black leather boots approaching him slowly and carefully. He was in an intense battle with his sleepiness and when he saw Danial walk towards him, he felt a little bit disappointed.
"...."
The middle-aged man stood right in front of Kairen and stared at him and the other red-haired stranger in silence. The crowd had long ceased their conversations and had placed their attention on watching and listening to the three men's conversation.
"Uhhh..."
Nervous under the gaze, Kairen sat straight and scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"The gate is gone...", He mumbled while pointing at the sky. "No monsters can come out of it again!"
"...I can see that." Despite saying that, Daniel stole a glance at the distant sky as if to make sure the gate really was gone.
No one talked for a brief moment, both sides waiting for the other to start the conversation. The one who finally broke the silence was neither Kairen nor Daniel, but Reynold.
"The fact that the gate was taken care of doesn't mean this place is safe again. Other monsters will still emerge from all over the world, just like before the gate appeared. However, the stronger types of monsters and the waves of attacks will not happen. At least not for a while."
"Not for a while?" Daniel's brows frowned.
"Yes. Only one gate is gone, the rest still remain. The monsters that emerge from them might find their way to this city if they're not stopped on time. The same goes for the monster waves. Plus, there is a possibility of another gate appearing here, or somewhere near here in the future. As I said before, only one gate is gone, the source of the problem still remains."
"...."
The middle-aged blonde man stared at Reynold with his eyes slightly narrowed, studying every inch of the man. It was unknown if he could understand anything by observing the redhead or could find a reason to trust the man. What was clear was that Daniel was doing his best to make the best decision and judge these two strangers using his rich experiences.
Reynold didn't try to defend himself or show any reasons as to why these people had to trust him. He looked carefree and relaxed as if he didn't care what happened to the people of this world, but if these people asked for it, he would help them as much as he could.
Kairen on the other hand, could somewhat trust this man and thus, didn't consider the validity of these words and instead, asked a question.
"Another gate might appear here in the future? How long would it take?"
"Maybe one day and maybe one century."
"...." Kairen couldn't help but frown. 'What kind of answer is this?'
"Then, what should be done to prevent that?"
It was Daniel who asked this time.
"The chain must be saved. For that, the Irregularity needs to be removed from it completely, or to an extent that is not threatening to the world anymore. The first step to do that is to remove all of the gates. The world needs to be stabilized after that, which isn't a hard task."
Daniel was left speechless because he didn't understand anything while Kairen was silent as he was thinking about another question.
"Won't the chain fall apart if you extract all the Irregularity from it?"
As much as he knew, the destroyed chain couldn't be remade. Even if they took away the dangerous part from it, the chain would still be incomplete.
"That's why we won't take it all. As I said, the world needs stabilizing after everything is done. That's the time that the chain needs to create harmony between itself and the remaining harmful universal powers. In the end, even if the gates are gone, the monsters will keep appearing from time to time, because they are born from the outer universal powers and the chain will fall apart if all of those powers are removed."
"Oh..."
Kairen nodded his head in understanding. He had a clear mindset of how this place would look after the 'stabilizing' process. It'd be more or less like the world he used to live in. The place where humans had managed to create a proper system to deal with monsters and even gain benefits from them. The monsters kept appearing in random locations and times, but the humans were also prepared to deal with them.
'So those monsters are in fact, keeping the world in harmony?'
Kairen could understand another new thing from Reynold's words and that was the fact that the monsters he fought with, in the other world, were in fact, a sign that the world's chain had been long 'Stabilized' into a state of harmony. This new insight was both surprising and interesting, however, Kairen didn't think about it too much and went back to considering the problem at hand.
"Can't you deal with the other gates?"
It was only after taking down one gate that Kiaren understood how tiring it was to deal with them. It was also a risky act that could endanger his soul. He didn't want to do that anymore!
"If it was in the past, I could handle them without any problems but not now."
"Why not?", Kairen asked almost instantly.
"...I too need stabilizing in order to not fall apart. I need to reserve my power and energy for more important matters that will happen in the future."
"...Oh!" Kairen glanced at Daniel who was as silent and still as a statue. "Then, can't you at least help me?"
"You don't need to ask that. I've been helping you since the start."
"..."
Kairen shut his mouth upon receiving that answer. Reynold was right, he'd always been helping Kairen without asking for much in return. Kairen wondered if he had any hidden motives behind his kind actions, but he couldn't make any guess. Kairen was literally a nobody! How could someone take advantage of a nobody?
"...Will it be dangerous for me?"
"Not if you listen to me. In the end, you'll get a lot stronger."
"I don't want to get stronger though..."
"You need to get stronger."
"..."
Without himself noticing, Kairen had slightly pursed his lips. He really didn't want to do anything that might hurt his soul again. He didn't want to be locked inside The Void again!
"Will it take long to remove them all?"
"Not if you listen to me."
"..."
Kairen also didn't want to waste too much time in this place. He wanted to go back 'Home' as soon as possible.
"Won't it endanger the others?"
"Not if you listen no me."
However, he still wanted to help this world as much as he could.
"Then let's do it."
"Sure."
Reynold's lips curled to a slight smile.
"Ummm..."
A deep male voice interrupted their conversation.
"I still need a lot of explanations."
Daniel was still there, looking at them with a composed yet confused expression.
"And I also need to know who you are..."
The man's gaze wavered between the two strangers who were, for some baffling reasons, talking about saving the world in front of him.
"Uh, I...", Kairen straightened his back once again.
"I'm Kairen Steyton."
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