The Change of the World

Chapter 14: Preparation

            I don't know how long I had been asleep, but all of a sudden, I felt myself standing in a dark room. I tried to speak but couldn't hear my voice, so I thought Albert wanted to talk to me. However, I couldn't feel Albert around me.

            "You seem lost."

            I tried again to speak, but my voice still wouldn't come out. Finally, a short old man with a very long beard appeared in front of me. His voice a raspy, and I couldn't even see his eyes because of his wrinkles.

            "Ah. The new one. Welcome."

            The old man raised his hand towards me and lowered it. When he did this, I felt myself sit down.

            "Use your mind to speak. This is our conscience, so you can't use your voice." Now that he mentioned it, his mouth wasn't moving. So, I thought about the words I wanted to say.

            "Who are you, and where am I?"

            The old man moved to sit down on nothing and answered my questions.

            "Hm... that's difficult to answer. You are currently in the god plain. As for who you are, I believe that you are Gojuugo or the 55th retainer."

            "How did I get here?"

            "Ah, you are just full of questions, aren't you? Well, that's fine. You remind me of myself back when I was alive. This place is accessible for gods and demi-gods, and we enter this place when we are either extremely relaxed or dead."

            I panicked and quickly asked the old man, "Am I dead?"

            The old man laughed heartily and answered my question, "No, no. You have no power in this realm. You can come here, but you cannot move without the help of someone who has died and come here."

            I let out a sigh or tried to and calmed myself down. Now that I was calmer and sort of understood where I was, I asked the old man another question, "So, who are you?"

            The old man smiled, "I am Ichi, the first retainer. I lived a long, long time ago and served under the god of death."

            I was surprised to hear that this old man was the first retainer, and my curiosity was peaked, "So, you were the first guy who served Albert. I honestly have so many questions for you."

            The old man laughed again, "I've never heard the god of death called such an unusual name. However, we do not have much time together. You can only spend so much time here before being forced to leave."

            I interpreted this as meaning I only had one or two questions left, so I quickly thought about the best question for me to ask, "How can I get back into this place? And how can I see you again?"

            The man raised an eyebrow at my questions, "How inquisitive. Most people would ask other questions, yet you want to know how to return here and find me. You can return by relaxing your mind and body. The best way to do that is by meditation. However, fate will determine if we see each other again. I roam this world but cannot always find a specific individual. However, since you seem interesting, I will inform the other retainers of your existence and have them keep an eye out for you."

            I tried to speak again but couldn't. My lack of response prompted Ichi to talk again, "Ah, looks like time is up. Well, hopefully, we will see each other again."

            My sight began to blur and go dark. I finally opened my eyes to a majestic view. I was still in Hino's arms and looking up at her sleeping face. Doing my best to ignore the two pillows I slept on, I wriggled my way out of her arms. I sat up and looked back at Hino, who was still asleep. It was still early in the morning, and she didn't need to get up for a bit longer, so I let her sleep. I got up to take a shower and afterward made my way down to the living room.