Orla came down; as I saw her, she must be careful to get out from the upstairs, because Chis was still lying on the ground. She must not be trying to step on her, or maybe she would accidentally kick her; nobody knew.
As her foot stepped into the downstairs, her eyes met mine.
It wasn't the sharp, commanding gaze of the First Commander. It was the stare of a student who had just realised their entire life was based on a lie. She looked haunted.
Immediately, she walked towards me, and I just played with my phone.
In front of me, she took a glare toward my drink, my coffee.
"You already drink that…"
"Drink what?" I asked.
"That, Koffi, the thing you called it."
"Is there any problem with it?"
"Well," she gestured stiffly toward the hallway. "The Vampire Lord is the evidence of it. She is still lying on the ground in front of the door. If that drink can make her like that... what about a human who drinks it?"
"Her case is different," I said, finally looking up. "She drank a coffee with ten shots. That's ten portions of the drink at once. Of course, she would be acting like that. If a human drank ten shots of this..." I swirled the black liquid. "Their heart would be racing."
Orla stared at the cup with renewed suspicion. "So this drink isn't healthy for humans?"
"It depends on the dosage," I replied, taking another sip. "Water is the source of life, but if you drink a gallon of it in one breath, you will drown from the inside. It's the same principle."
I tapped the rim of the cup.
"Coffee is a stimulant. In simple terms, it blocks the signal in your brain that tells you that you are tired. It doesn't give you energy; it just kidnaps the messenger who says 'go to sleep' and ties him up in a closet for a few hours."
Orla stared at me, her face twisting in a mix of horror and confusion.
"You… deceive your own mind and everyone who drinks it?" She whispered. "You silence the body's natural warning? That sounds… barbaric."
"I don't care about that; the one I care about is… it makes me wake up…" I leaned back. "So, your face tells me that you want some words from me to answer your question."
"Basically, not just some words, but truth…The book…You had given me. It denies the very foundation of our existence and everything that I had learnt for years. It claims that inside us, there is no flame. No mana furnace. Just… pipes. And a pump."
This is a challenge for me. She wants the truth. However,.
She looked at me, her eyes wide and desperate. "If there is no fire to burn the mana… what keeps us warm, Darya? What keeps us moving?"
"It's just… food," I said, sliding off from my seat and walking toward the kitchen.
It's time for breakfast.
"You eat, your body breaks it down, and you get energy. It's not a heat furnace… It's just digestion."
I scratched the back of my neck, trying to find a simpler way to put it.
"Look, basically, your tank is empty. You don't need a furnace; you just need a refill."
I pointed at the counter. "Sit down. You look like you're about to collapse. Your 'pump' needs fuel."
Orla took a seat.
"What have you read in the book?" I asked her.
"The thing called… 'Respiratory System,'" she murmured. "It says we do not breathe in the spirit of the wind to nourish our soul… but we breathe in… 'Oxygen'? And we trade it for… 'Carbon Dioxide'?"
She looked up, her brow furrowed. "We trade air? Like a merchant trading wares?"
"Basically, yes…" I said. "It's a gas exchange… What else?"
"And the thing called… 'Circulatory System,'" she continued, her voice trembling slightly. "It says the blood is not moved by our will or the flow of mana… but by pressure. By the 'Heart'. It says… it is a closed loop. Just… pipes."
"Like I had told you… Basically, like a pump…However, Orla…" I paused, as everything in the book was based on humans in my own world, so I needed to tell her that there must be something different between her and me. "Don't treat the book as truth, one hundred per cent. If you have read the book, there is something missing, right…Mana and your furnace."
"What do you mean?"
"The book doesn't tell you about mana and your furnace, because the book just told you about the basic system of the human body. Mana is the life force energy that powers your abilities, and your furnace is where that energy is stored and utilised. So the book won't cover that…"
Because Mana isn't a real thing in my world.
"Do you mean that I don't need to believe the book in its entirety?"
"Maybe yes, maybe no; what the book tells is the truth. However, your own truth isn't being told by the book. It's your job to understand that… Why is there no Mana? Why is there no furnace? You need to challenge what is in the book. You need to question the information presented and determine what resonates with your own beliefs and experiences. It's important to critically analyse the content rather than blindly accepting it as the absolute truth."
I added.
"As you had said, you have learnt for years about this matter. Those years learning it and reading the book have equipped you with the knowledge and critical thinking skills necessary to form your own conclusions and interpretations."
Orla fell silent. She looked down at her hands.
"To challenge…" she whispered. To find the bridge between the furnace and the pipes."
"Exactly," I said. "But you can't build a bridge on an empty stomach. How about having breakfast?"
"Do you make something?" she asked.
"I am thinking of making fried rice…"
I took some rice and ingredients for three people… I crushed garlic and shallots.
I fired up the stove. I took a wok and poured oil into it, followed by crushed garlic and shallots. The aroma hit the air instantly, pungent, savoury, and aggressive. It was the smell of a heavy morning in my hometown or peace under the moonlight, a scent that woke you almost as fast as the coffee.
"It smells… strong. Intense. Like… alchemy ingredients." Voiced behind me, it was Orla watching me cook.
"Just spices," I said. I tossed in the white rice and began to stir.
Then came the ingredient that made fried rice different. Most fried rice, the kind you found in the other parts of the world, focused on salt and savoury notes. They were usually golden, yellow, or kept their pristine white colour. They were about balance and lightness.
But back home? In Java? If you visited it. We didn't do 'subtle'. We liked our life a little sweeter, a little heavier. We wanted the sugar to fight the heat.
I grabbed the ingredient. A bottle of Kecap Manis or Sweet Soy Sauce.
"In my hometown, fried rice isn't white," I whispered, uncapping the bottle. "It's the colour of the night. Sometimes you need a sweet in your boring or hard life or a little darkness in your bright life."
I poured the soy sauce over the white rice. The rice sizzled and hissed, turning from a pristine white to a deep, dark brown, almost black.
Orla gasped behind me.
"Darya!" She warned, her voice rising in panic. "It is turning black! Is it… is it corrupted? Or overcook?"
"It's soy sauce, Orla."
I continued to stir as the smell of caramelising sugar and soy filled the shop. "It's fermented soybeans and brown sugar. It's sweet. It's not overcooked or corrupted. It's just… caramelised."
"Fermented…" Her eyes remained suspicious. "You eat… rotted beans that turn food black?"
"You can say that…"
I plated the steaming dark rice. I continued to fry the egg. There was no comment from Orla as I made the fried egg. I plated the egg on the dark rice, sunny side up, on top, and garnished it with a few slices of cucumber and a cracker. I took the three plates toward the counter.
"Are you that hungry, Darya? You need two plates."
"Ah, the other one is for the rug…" I walked toward the stairs. Checking on Chis.
There was no sound emitted from her. Is she dead?
"Yo Chis, you can speak now…" I said.
"~…Ah Yes…Is there anything… you need…~"
"Do you want me to set you free or just be here for all days…"
Days, that word…Immediately made her face light up and drool with excitement.
I couldn't maintain my face to play her again… I didn't want to do this play again.
If I kept maintaining the play, she could become my pet. And I didn't want to do that…
Of course, the devil side of me would whisper to do that… But I wanted to keep my own sanity.
Seeing her, her mouth was drooling to the floor as just hearing the word 'Days' made me shiver. I had to resist.
I deactivated the skill immediately.
However, Chis was still lying on the ground…
"Get up!" I commanded.
She immediately stood up.
I knew I had to find a way to break free from this dangerous game before it consumed me completely.
"Ah, Chis…Why do you need to wait for my word before getting up?"
She stared at me, her red eyes slightly unfocused, a lopsided, dreamy smile plastered on her face.
"~…The gravity magic may be gone…~" she rasped, bringing a hand to her chest. "~… But the gravity of your will…remains…And your explanation to Orla last night… gave me an idea… 'mind control' basically…you will remain to be the one in control in front of her…But I want to explore it more…~"
I rubbed my temples. Great. She's romanticising it.
"Go wash your face. You have drool on your cheek. You look like a tragic accident."
"~…Tragic…~" She touched her cheek, her eyes sparkling with that disturbing adoration.
"~…Ruin… looks good on me…~"
"Just go. The food is getting cold."
"~…Food?~"
Her nose twitched. The smell of the caramelised soy sauce and garlic finally seemed to penetrate her delirium. She blinked.
"~…It smells… heavy…~"