Chapter 373 Oh
"T-that's..."
It had been a few minutes since Reynold was done talking by Kairen was still in a daze.
"...Unexpected..."
He barely uttered a few words before going silent again. The things that Reynold said made sense and didn't make sense at the same time.
"Why would I... why would you want to... I mean..."
He didn't know how to ask the question and kept changing his sentence. Before he could make a proper statement, Reynold started talking again.
"I've told you about it before. About meeting you in another life."
"...What the hell did I exactly do in that previous life of mine that I need to be under Fate's gaze all the time?"
Reynold didn't answer him right away. Instead, he changed his sitting position a little bit while avoiding Kairen's gaze.
"The contract was made so that you could enter the cycle of life once again." Reynold pointed at himself. "You already know, the lives that end with an unnatural cause can not be reborn again."
"Ah!"
Kairen nodded his head at the realization and asked something else.
"But isn't Fate a mighty and god-like existence? How did he agree to do such a thing? Isn't it too troublesome?"
"Mhm... I and Fate had reached some agreements prior to that. It was easy to... to convince him to help. I just needed to change some of the contract's contents..."
Even Kairen, who wasn't really good at guessing people's emotions, could clearly understand that Reynold was extremely uncomfortable at the moment. Seeing his curled-up posture and slightly trembling fingertips was enough to arrive at that conclusion.
"I guess I'd be residing in The Void if it wasn't for you."
Kairen said half-jokingly with a light-hearted tone in an attempt to soften the mood, but it worked the opposite way.
"I'm... I'm not sure."
Now even his lips were quivering.
'Hey, bro, calm down!'
Reynold became cooperative all of a sudden and was finally giving Kairen proper answers. Kairen was greedy to ask and to know more. He had tons of questions in his mind that needed to be answered. However, seeing the man in such a state made him feel guilty. It looked as if Reynold would burst into tears if Kairen asked any more sensitive questions.
Still, he couldn't miss this opportunity. He didn't know when would Reynold become so honest again. Even though he was constantly taking mental notes that he shouldn't completely trust this man, knowing some false information was still better than knowing nothing.
Pushing all the guilt to one corner of his heart, Kairen asked the most important question to him right now.
"So, is me hearing strange voices also related to that contract with Fate?"
"Ah?"
Reynold flinched and jolted up a little bit. He stole a glance at Kairen for a brief second before looking back down at his hands.
"I-I'm not sure about that... but it's unlikely."
Reynold weakly shook his head.
"Then are the voices related to that previous life of mine?"
Kairen had made some guesses while talking to Reynold, but he wasn't sure about any of them. He knew that he'd met Reynold in his previous life and was probably close to him. Reynold also talked about a contract with Fate that allowed him to keep an eye on Kairen. It made Kairen conclude that he, in his previous life or whatever it was, was pretty close to Reynold for him to attempt such a contract with Fate. Putting everything together, it was not hard to guess that the voices that kept heating him were also related to his previous life.
'Man, that's not fair! Whatever shit I'd done in that life of mine shouldn't affect me now! I'm innocent in my current life!'
Reynold was now fidgeting with his fingers.
"Yeah... Yeah, they are from that time... probably... probably because your soul got damaged again. One's memories are sealed inside the soul after death. They cannot be surfaced again... ever again... in normal cases..." Reynold paused for a second. When he resumed his speech, his voice was hoarse and dull. "I-I must've thought about that... I must've considered the possibility beforehand. If- I-If I'd known that something like this is possible, I... would've prevented it."
Now, even his lips were quivering visibly. His already pale face has lost even more color.
"Hey hey!"
Kairen waved his hands in front of Reynold, however, the man didn't notice him at all.
"I must've guessed it. N-no, even if not, I must've stopped anything from harming your soul again!"
"Hold on! Hold on a second!"
Kairen dragged himself towards the man. Grabbing the man's shoulders, he shook the redhead's body back and forth. The guilt he had pushed to the back of his heart surfaced again, making him feel like a really cruel person, like a bully.
"Snap out of it! Snap out of it! It's alright! It's not like I'm going to die or anything!"
Reynold's head snapped up, his eyes widened slightly. His reaction made Kairen shut his mouth.
"...."
"...."
"I-" Kairen blinked a few times. "I-I'm going to die?"
"...."
Tap
He released his grip around the man's shoulders and this time, grabbed his collar.
"Hey! Am I going to die?"
The guilt was utterly gone.
"That... I don't think so."
"You are not sure? Hey! Is there a possibility that I might die then? Why? Why would someone die because of hearing some voices?"
Instead of answering, Reynold reached out his hands toward the young boy. His trembling fingers clutched Kairen's shirt. Kairen only now realized how rugged the man's breathing was. He was sweating but his body felt cold to the touch.
"Hey-"
"Listen!"
"Bro you need to calm down!"
"LISTEN!"
At Reynold's shout, Kairen obediently closed his mouth.
"That's a previous life. D-Do you understand it? It's not now. It's past. It's gone! Do you get it? You must keep that in mind! Even if you remember your memories, you must ignore them. You can't do anything strange just because of those memories. Do you understand me? You won't die. You won't die if you don't pay any heed to those memories. Ignore the contents, okay? O-okay?"
"Ah? Ah!"
Before he could answer, Kairen's body was pulled forward without him being able to resist. A bundle of red entered his sight the next second. Two arms were weakly wrapped around him the moment the man's head rested on Kairen's shoulder.
"Hold on a little bit, alright? I'll find a way to deal with those memories. I'll solve it. I'll solve it, okay? Don't do anything stupid. Please..."
"...."
"Please."
Kairen could sense the man's breathing slowly getting more relaxed. His sight was obstructed by red strands of hair, and his body was being firmly hugged. He didn't fully understand Reynold, but he knew that this man was now not in a good state.
He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about this. Reynold clearly mistook him for the Kairen of his previous life. He was clearly still shaken by the events of that time. He cared about him, or maybe the 'him' of the past, dearly.
However, Kairen didn't know this man much. It hasn't been long since their first meeting. There was no time for them to become close or get to know each other. As a result, Kairen didn't know how he should feel right now.
Right now, he had a lot of mixed emotions. Confusion, guilt, sorrow, and warmth.
"Alright."
Hesitantly, Kairen hugged the man back.
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