"Hah! Hah! Hah!" Aqueo panted as he walked while slouching forward. "This feels so weird!" Another panting. "I feel tired and weak and the warmth and relaxing feeling that you're giving me are making me feel sleepy. But I'm so hungry and this pulsing feeling in my head is making me stay awake."

    Silence.

    "Hey, answer me!"

    Another silence. Aqueo knew that the spirit couldn't talk, but he felt like he was going insane so he had been talking non-stop for a while like a drunk man. It was also his way of trying to keep himself awake, as if his hunger level wasn't enough to keep his mind on survival mode. His stomach had been feeling so empty since they landed on the ground and had been feeling emptier and emptier by each passing second.

    "Haaah! I can't take it anymore—eh? Is that a house?"

    At a distance to his right was a house full of plants and vines all over it. A good distance ahead, there was a pathway connected to the main road that led to the house. He thought it was just a cluster of trees and shrubs a while ago.

    "I wonder if somebody's inside." He sighed upon suddenly thinking that they might not welcome him even if someone was indeed there.

    Aqueo sighed once more, "I'm going to die of hunger if this continues further anyway."

    So with heavy feet, he walked until he finally reached the pathway at the right side of the main road. He sighed triumphantly and started walking weakly at the small path.

    "Where are you going?"

    A voice from his right side suddenly said. It would have made Aqueo jump, but he felt so weak and hungry to even react. If the owner of the voice was a truck going in his direction, he must've already been transmigrated to another world once again.

    He turned and saw a teenage girl at the side of the small pathway, wearing a mage hat and the deep-brown uniform of the Hyndrel Academy—as he could remember from the spirit's memories. The teenager was shorter than him and she looked so thin. Aqueo knew from the spirit's memories that the academy wasn't for the young, but her thin body and height made Aqueo describe her as a midget. Midget sounded like an insult and he felt bad so he just decided to call her a petite mage, but on second thought, petite sounded like an insult too so he just decided to call her a mage.

    "Whatever you do, don't sell that herb to my father. He is currently horribly sick and that herb is the cure," the mage immediately added.

    Aqueo flinched inwardly at the seemingly disturbing thing he just heard, 'Thi-this mage. Her father is horribly sick and she doesn't want him to be well—. Wai-wait a minute! Why did she slowly speak the word horribly as if to emphasize it?'

    Aqueo didn't know what to say so he just cleared his throat.

    The mage noticed the uneasiness in his body language. "What's the problem," she asked, unaware of what Aqueo might be thinking.

    "Uh—uhh~ about that. . . Do you happen to have food? I'm so hungry. I can trade for the herb that you want. I have seven different kinds," Aqueo presented the bouquet properly. "Also, which one here were you talking about?"

    Right now, Aqueo was so hungry and weak. He didn't want to inquire about why the mage didn't want her father to be cured. Seeing she was a mage student and hearing the way she spoke, especially her confidence in announcing that she didn't want her father to be cured, he felt like the mage wasn't that simple. Witnessing things in the spirit's memories, he knew this world was different. The mage might be dangerous and he felt rather vulnerable so he added, "You-you know, I'm pretty useful right now, you know! I have more of these herbs—most of them are rare, so—so . . . it—it'll be much rather preferable to keep me alive."

    The mage was taken aback. "Why do you sound like you're pleading for your life?"

    "Uh-uhhh, ahaha~ Do I—that doesn't matter! Do-do you have food? I'm dying here, you see!"

    The mage felt the urgency in his tone so she said, "We have food in the house. I'll trade with you but you won't like the price—"

    "Any amount will do—" he immediately answered. He wanted to add 'as long as it is reasonable and I'll have enough to last me for several days', but he felt he was in no position to make conditions and further discussion would just prolong his suffering. "—so-so please, just feed me."

    The mage expressionlessly looked at him and sighed, "Alright, follow me."

    After a walk that seemed so long to Aqueo, they finally reached the house. Somewhere inside the house, the mage made him sit on a chair. Aqueo slouched in exhaustion.

    "Just wait here. Also, I'm confiscating these herbs. I know they're real and expensive, so I'm taking them as hostages just in case you do something funny. Don't think I believe everything you said about having so many rare herbs."

    The mage immediately went out of the room without further ado, leaving Aqueo with no chance to say anything.

    Aqueo could barely remember the details of the hallways they passed through because of his condition, but he was sure the house was really large. He didn't notice it earlier because of the trees blocking some parts of it. Or maybe, he thought, he wasn't seeing things normally because of his current condition.

    The room he was in had three long tables. There were only a few chairs here so he thought it couldn't be the dining room, and that the room was too small to be the dining room of a mansion—because that was just how big this house was, befitting to be called a mansion.

    A short while passed when a familiar pleasant smell suddenly permeated the room. There were one big window and two doors—one connected to the hallway and another door connected to the next room. The door to the next room was the only one opened, the smell must've come from there.

    Aqueo knew the mage instructed him to stay there, but he really wanted to see what was in the next room. He thought he wasn't doing anything bad so he followed his instinct. Food. That must be the smell of food being cooked. Even though he never smelled anything like it before, the salivating and appetizing smell told him it was definitely food.

    The sound of clanging metals and the delicious smell of food greeted him in the next room. It was a large kitchen full of cooking materials displayed all around—at the shelves, dangling from the ceiling, and a lot of them neatly arranged on the several counters. A man wearing a black uniform was cooking something, expertly maneuvering a large wok in the middle.

    "I told you to wait there, didn't I?"

    Aqueo looked at the side of the doorway, the mage was standing there looking at the man in black uniform.

    "Uhhh, I-I'm sorry! I just got curious, I couldn't resist. It's my first time smelling that."

    "Nevermind that. Azbert is finished cooking."

    Just as she said that, Azbert was already transferring the food from the huge wok to a plate.

    "Let's sit here. I'm going to interrogate you while you're eating."

    "Y-yes!" Aqueo answered thoughtlessly, seemingly hadn't heard the word interrogate.

    There was a set of table and chairs in the kitchen. They sat there as Azbert served him the tray of food—a large plate of sauteed meat and vegetables and a red colored drink. Aqueo briefly said his thanks and immediately grabbed the spoon and started eating. He hadn't even fully seen the beautiful garnish when he ruined it with his spoon by digging right in the middle.

    Azbert just stood beside the mage sitting across the eating Aqueo. Aqueo ate ravenously, alternating with the reddish colored drink and the sauteed meat and vegetables, not minding the world around him.

    The plate was almost empty when Azbert whispered something to the mage's ear, the mage just nodded. Her eyes had been narrowed the whole time since a few moments after Aqueo took his first bite, carefully observing him. What she noticed made her put off her interrogation plan while he was eating.

    "Azbert, prepare another serving for him."

    "Yes, young master." Azbert politely said and swiftly went in the middle of the kitchen.

    Aqueo had just spooned the last of his plate when Azbert removed it and replaced it with another plate full of the same dish. He just briefly nodded while chewing and just like the previous one, he just ruined the garnish without fully seeing it and appreciating the beauty of it even one bit.

    The plate was already halfway empty and Aqueo was still at the same pace as he started. And the same still was the mage's expression of narrowed eyes while carefully observing Aqueo.

    "Azbert," the mage said.

    "Yes, young master," Azbert answered, understanding the intention of his master despite her only calling his name. There was no more serving for another plate, so he started to prepare a new dish.

    Aqueo finally swallowed the last of his current dish and frantically drank all the content of his colored drink. He laid it down with a thud and a satisfied sigh.

    "Uhhh, can I—can I have that?" Aqueo asked, obviously referring to the plate of food Azbert was holding with his one hand. Aqueo didn't notice him moving and getting a new plate of food there. The mage commanded Azbert to just hold it there a while ago right after he prepared it.

    "Y-you know the herbs are expensive, right? S-surely, it's not worth less than three plates of food. R-right? Right? Right?" He was rather reluctant because it tasted so delicious unlike anything he had ever tasted in his previous world. The dishes might've been really expensive—especially with the spirit's memories, he vaguely knew that there were some really expensive cuisines here that the spirit encountered, although he couldn't remember the exact details.

    "Answer my question first," the mage said in a negotiating tone. "How did you feel while eating?"

    "H-how did I feel while eating," Aqueo asked while dazedly looking at the plate Azbert was holding. "Hungry. I just feel hungry and I want to eat."

    The mage noticed the oddness in the way he responded and the way he looked at the food. She thought the guy was still not quite sane because of his current condition, just like how he answered her questions while walking along the small path.

    She just sighed a bit and with her hand, signaled Azbert to finally serve the plate to Aqueo. Aqueo immediately grabbed the plate from Azbert when it was finally within his reach and dug right in the middle of it.

    Seven plates. After the third plate, Aqueo was still not quite sane and kept asking for another serving. Azbert had to cook a third new dish and he made sure to double the amount compared to the previous ones. There were still a few leftovers enough for a plate, but Aqueo finally stopped asking for more.

    Aqueo, with eyes closed from satisfaction, wiped his mouth with the table napkin because it felt wet from the sauce of the last dish. He laid it down and started folding it.

    "Right here."

    Aqueo stopped folding the napkin and looked at the mage, she was pointing at her chin.

    Aqueo looked puzzled so she spoke again, "You still have a sauce right here."

    "Ah-ahh, I see. Thank you." Aqueo wiped his chin. "And thank you for the food," he added while bowing his head in sincere gratitude.

    The mage just sighed, "I'll interrogate you later. Azbert. Call Hermina to lead him to a guest room. Make sure no one else will see him."

    "Yes, young master." After bowing faintly, Azbert immediately went out right after saying that.

    "When Hermina is here, go with her. You can clean yourself in the guest room. The servant will prepare clean clothes for you. And this time, make sure to just stay there. No one else except us must see you here. Do you understand?" the mage said to Aqueo.

    "Yes. Thank you for that," he said obediently.

    'J-just how old is this mage to act like this?' Aqueo thought secretly.

    He felt somewhat odd that he was being ordered by a person who obviously looked younger than him—short and thin as he had initially described her that he thoughtfully considered as must be insulting—, and that he had been answering her like she was his senior. The way she talked to him and ordered her servants was so mature and imposing, in addition to the fact that she was obviously a mage student and a young master in this mansion, not to mention that he deemed her as potentially dangerous because she didn't want her father to be cured. Who knew what kind of dark family drama was happening in this mansion?

    Azbert came back with a servant who led Aqueo to the guest room after a brief courtesy to his master and Aqueo.

    The mage and Azbert were left in the room.

    "Azbert, what do you think?" She asked while holding a glass filled with the same reddish colored liquid Aqueo was drinking.

    "The young man shouldn't have been able to walk in his condition—no, he should've been unconscious—"

    "He should already be dead," the mage swiftly interjected. It earned a shocked look from her servant.

    "But—how could he still. . ."

    "Yes. My thoughts exactly. How can that man still be alive with those severe symptoms of life force depletion."