The revolver remained steady.
Unmoving against his head.
"What… do you mean someone like you?" Austin questioned, pressing the gun.
"You heard what I said. You are not the original owner of that body, are you?" Antonio answered while taking a slow step back—
cautious enough for Austin not to notice.
Austin's eyes widened in disbelief.
He didn't answer immediately.
"You are not the original owner of that body either, right?" Austin questioned.
"Either? Then I was spot on, wasn't I—"
"Don't change the subject. I only want answers," Austin said in a cold tone.
"Listen, I am not the original owner of this body. But I am not someone who's here to cause you harm either. So, can you now please put that revolver away from my head?" Antonio answered without delay.
"Why should I believe you're not going to harm me?"
"Is there a reason for me to do that? And is there a reason for you to harm me?"
"Reason? Why does that even matter anymore? Isn't survival the word you're looking for?"
"Then let me ask you a question."
Austin didn't answer. He just remained silent, observing Antonio.
"I'll take that as a yes then. Have you been stuck in a place that was possibly looping in time?" Antonio questioned, taking another cautious, slow step back.
"How do you—… No. Were you looping in time as well?" Austin questioned, unable to express his thoughts properly.
"I was, but not in this place. It's only been around a week since I came into this world. I assume you are the experienced one here?"
"Th-Then why are you trying so hard to solve this case?"
"You want to know why?"
"Just spit it out."
"Well, the thing is—"
In an instant, Antonio swung his arm backward, smacking Austin's hand with all his strength and knocking the revolver out of his grip.
"Shit!" Austin shouted in a moment of panic.
Antonio charged toward Austin, not wasting the opening.
Austin threw a kick toward Antonio's face in retaliation.
Blocking the kick with his left hand, Antonio drove his right fist toward Austin's face. Austin reacted quickly, ducking down to dodge.
Austin returned with an uppercut toward Antonio's chin. Antonio blocked the attack with both his hands but got pushed back.
Seizing the chance, Austin rushed toward his revolver.
Recovering quickly, Antonio dashed toward him with his elbow forward, pushing him away and kicking the gun farther from both of them.
"You don't want to do this, Austin."
"Do you think using that cliché line will help you?"
Both of them gritted their teeth, charging at each other.
They traded blows while trying to block and dodge most of them.
A punch to the face was returned with a kick to the gut. A twist of the arm was countered with a kick to the knee.
'Shit! I still haven't practiced physical combat in this body. He's getting the upper hand,' Antonio thought to himself while dodging Austin's kick to the face.
With no other options, Antonio rushed forward, taking a punch to the face.
He grabbed Austin's waist and slammed him to the ground, cracks forming beneath the impact.
"Yea—You… are definitely… not Antonio," Austin mumbled before responding with a kick.
"Kickboxing champion, are you?" Antonio said while dodging the kick and delivering an elbow to the stomach, followed by a punch to the face.
Austin remained dazed for a moment from the chain of attacks.
Seizing the moment, Antonio pulled out the revolver from behind his back.
Click.
Austin immediately looked up at the sound.
"Well, aren't we in the same situation all over again?" Antonio said, pointing the revolver at him, wiping the blood from his lips with one hand and a heavy breathe.
"Going to finish me off?" Austin questioned, trying to compose himself.
"Definitely not. Now get up. Hands in the air and stay right where you are."
Austin followed as Antonio stepped back to pick up Austin's revolver, keeping his own gun trained on him.
"Now, do you want to talk peacefully?" Antonio questioned, slightly lowering his gun.
"What kind of talk?" Austin questioned, his eyes fixed on Antonio.
"A talk that will give both of us the answers we want."
Austin stared at Antonio's face, trying to find any signs of deception.
"You ready or not?" Antonio questioned in a cold voice.
"Fine," Austin replied with a heavy sigh.
"Good. Then let's go to a more open area."
The alley fell silent as they made their way back to the streets, fixing their clothing.
Voices. Footsteps. Carriages rolling past without a second glance.
They made their way to a nearby garden.
The garden was almost empty.
'Weird… or maybe not,' Antonio thought, looking around.
'Well, it would be easy to find a place to talk, at least.'
"Come, let's sit on that bench over there," Antonio pointed.
They both settled down on the farthest edges, opposite sides of the bench.
"So, ready to talk now?" Antonio questioned, looking at the sky.
"…"
"My real name is Aslan Baker. Before coming to this place, I was stuck in a different time loop."
"Baker? Then Austin must have been your ancestor, don't you think? Like going from a farmer to Baker?"
"Is this the time for joking? Anyway, I am sorry—I forgot to laugh," Austin replied with a hint of annoyance.
"Hah, sorry. But what do you mean by different time loop? Do you mean the current situation we're in is also a time loop?"
"I have already looped once. The loop starts on the 10th of September and repeats after the 25th of October."
"So, a total of about a month and a half, huh," Antonio said, rubbing his chin.
"Yes."
"And because of the loop, you already knew what Antonio was going to do, right? And that is also the reason I was caught in the act, I presume?"
"You're right. Unlike you, Antonio wasn't that hell-bent on solving this case. But I had to somehow find a way to solve it since it would've been my only exit."
"Well, I am in the same boat as you. We have to somehow solve this case and get out of here."
"Yeah… anyway, I have said much about myself, but you have said nothing about yourself," Austin said, staring into Antonio's face.
"Ah, you're right, sorry. Then, my name is Noctis Graham, and before coming here, I too was stuck in a time loop. It was in this weird-ass mansion where a little girl had daddy issues, so there's that."
Austin let out a chuckle.
"Well, that must've been hard."
"It was really hard. What about you? Where were you stuck in a time loop?"
"…"
Austin remained quiet for a moment, as if contemplating what to say.
"If you don't want to talk about it, then—"
"I was stuck in a mental hospital."
"…A mental hospital? How? You look perfectly normal to me—other than randomly pointing a gun at my head in an alley."
"My family used to run a business—or maybe still runs it. My disappearance doesn't really matter. I was the oldest child and received a major part of the business to handle. I had two younger siblings—my sister and my younger brother."
"So, your siblings got jealous and framed you as mentally ill?"
"Not siblings—just my younger brother. My sister had passed away in an accident a few months before I inherited the business. But now that I think about it… she may have been killed by my younger brother," Austin said, his body shaking slightly as he finished.
"What a bastard. But how did they gather that much proof? That shouldn't have been easy."
"I don't know how, but he somehow managed to convince my school teachers, college professors, and even my own mother to testify against me—framing me as a violent, mentally ill person."
"…"
"And when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I was put into that godforsaken time loop."
Antonio let out a long sigh.
"I won't ask you anything more. But now that we've cleared that we are not enemies, how about working together to get out of here? You provide me with the information you gathered from your previous run, and we'll use that to solve the case."
Austin turned his gaze to the ground.
Thinking.
"Well, I am ready to help, but… do you think we'll be able to get out of here if we solve this case?"
"I don't know. I have no idea where it will lead me. I don't even know if we'll be able to get out of here."
"…"
"But I want to survive. I want to live. Not because I am scared, but because I feel like I am finally… enjoying the life I have. You may call me a maniac, but I don't care. As long as I survive with my own power, nothing else matters."
"Well, I don't have much to say, but people can have weird quirks, so…"
"Anyway, let's leave it at that."
"Okay."
"Now, let's talk about the information you gathered in your previous loop," Antonio said with a wide grin.