Reincarnated in the Astral World

Chapter 15: Getting Hungry

After receiving special care from Nyx, Arthur returns to the tavern's main hall with a proud smile and that special sparkle in his eyes.

His father and Margaret's father exchange looks and laugh, thinking Arthur is in such a mood because of her.

"You seem revitalized," Draven speaks to Arthur. "Did she take good care of you? Ah, what a silly question, it's quite obvious!"

Arthur has only Nyx on his mind, but he is also grateful for Margaret's good intentions, so he just nods to his father.

Draven smiles and hands him a mug of beer. "You shouldn't be embarrassed about receiving care from a woman, but rather be grateful to her for it."

When saying that, Draven can't help but feel bad for not having Aria's love for so many years. He had to look for other women in the village to satisfy his needs and it only made him lose any chance of having Aria again, even though he still isn't willing to give up.

"I see," Arthur truly feels grateful to Nyx. He also takes the beer and tastes it.

"This is good!" Like all the food so far, Arthur finds the taste of the beer very good.

The food in this world seems much better than in Liam's world. And, of course, the food Aria prepares with love is even better.

Arthur also feels the alcohol in the beer, but it doesn't seem too strong thanks to his regeneration, which is better than a normal person's due to Draven and Aria's lineage.

Seeing Arthur drink all the beer from the mug quickly, Draven is again surprised as he didn't like that strong taste in his first experience.

But for Liam, who nearly starved to death many times, even the cheapest beer was delicious, so Arthur can only be grateful to have it.

"You're almost a fully grown man, hahaha…" Draven laughs proudly and slaps Arthur on the shoulder.

Mr. Carpenter also laughs and collects the empty mugs from Draven and Arthur. "I'll get more beer, we need to celebrate!"

"Oh, better not," Draven speaks in a friendly tone. "We really have to go."

Arthur notices that Draven still seems concerned, which makes him also concerned and curious.

Mr. Carpenter can't help but feel disappointed; he would have liked to spend the entire night thanking Draven and Arthur for saving him and especially his daughter.

But no one in the village dares to say no to Draven, not out of fear but out of respect.

So, Mr. Carpenter just nods and accompanies the father-son pair to the door. "I still want to do something to thank you, Draven, please allow me that."

"There's no need for thanks here, old friend," Draven responds amiably and then places his hand on his son's shoulder.

"Arthur would never hesitate to help Margaret, right, son?" He asks, and Arthur nods honestly, after all, he already likes that girl as a good friend.

Unlike Mrs. Carpenter, who is very dreamy, Margaret's father never really thought she had a chance with Arthur.

But seeing the boy who always had a gentle smile on his face and never hurt a single animal in the village turn into a violent beast when Margaret was in danger changes his perspective.

"Alright, alright," Mr. Carpenter pats Draven and Arthur on the shoulders. "I won't talk about it anymore then."

"Good," Draven nods and then starts walking towards the road after saying goodbye.

Arthur follows his father, but then he hears Margaret calling him. "Arthur, wait!!"

He turns around and sees the sweet girl carrying one of her classic food baskets. She has been giving him one of those whenever she can since he was eleven.

"Here," Margaret, with sweat trickling down her cute face, clearly put effort into preparing this basket quickly; or was it already prepared and she just grabbed it?

"I made this for you," She hands over the basket filled with fruits, snacks, and even a bottle of juice to him.

Arthur is used to accepting her food baskets so his parents don't suspect there is another girl in his life.

But now, he is really hungry after using a lot of energy in the fight against the trio of ruffians, so he gladly accepts the food basket.

"Thank you, Margaret," He speaks in a friendly and kind tone.

Her smile becomes radiant and she quickly kisses him on the cheek before running back to the tavern, clearly playing her cute act.

Arthur doesn't try to compare Margaret with Nyx, as that would be unfair to the poor girl, but he begins to appreciate her qualities.

Then he follows Draven, and they walk side by side under the full moonlight.

Arthur, feeling hungry, starts eating the snacks Margaret made for him, which are delicious by the way, due to all her love and effort in making them.

Draven can't help but smile seeing his son devouring the food. "That girl really likes you," he comments.

"I wouldn't know," Arthur muses aloud. He feels comfortable talking about girls with his father.

Draven shakes his head. "You're an odd boy."

"Is that something a father should say to his son?" Arthur comments in a mock offended tone but ends up laughing.

Draven laughs too. "Seriously, I don't understand you. Sometimes you're so smart and mature, and other times you pretend not to notice things like the fact that the girl has been in love with you for years."

"I know she feels something for me," Arthur speaks honestly. "But it's not necessarily love, and since I'm not sure if I feel that way about her, I prefer not to take advantage of her."

"Oh, you care about her honor and purity?" Draven respects Arthur even more for that. "You keep surpassing me in every way. I couldn't have resisted the advances of a girl like that at your age."

Those words should make Arthur proud of himself, but he only feels bad every time he has to reject Margaret's feelings because he doesn't want to risk his relationship with Nyx.

A part of him would like to have them both, but that seems greedy as hell, and he has to be grateful for the second chance to live he has and not become greedy.

As Arthur wonders how to deal with Margaret and Nyx, he continues walking and eating the snacks from the basket.

But then he notices that his father is restless, probably immersed in his own thoughts as well.

"Any problem?" Arthur asks.

Draven wears a thoughtful expression. "What did you think of that trio?"

"The shitty ruffians?" Arthur gets furious just remembering the men who tried to harm Margaret.

"Easy, boy," Draven can see that his son has a rather dark side, which concerns him. "You need to control your anger, or it may get you killed in a dangerous situation."

Arthur doesn't see anger as a weakness that clouds his mind as Liam learned to use such feelings to strengthen his determination and become the best assassin of his world.

But of course, not everyone can remain cool and focused while also being furious.

As Arthur can't explain how he does such a thing to his father, he just nods. "Got it."

Draven sighs. "About the trio, what did you see beyond just bad guys wanting to harm your girlfriend?"

Arthur ignores the comment about Margaret and focuses on remembering the trio. "Adult men, in their thirties, stronger than a farmer but not so healthy, dirty clothes, even dirtier old weapons…"

"Exactly," Draven agrees. "I saw while you were fighting; there was nothing else with them, no equipment and not even coins to pay for the beer."

Arthur starts to understand what his father is thinking. "They didn't seem like travelers who strayed from the main road."

"That's it," Draven agrees again.

"But if they aren't travelers, then…" Arthur begins to wonder about that and also becomes uneasy.

"Why were they in this area?" Draven asks. "That's what I can't figure out… also, people like them usually travel in larger groups than trios."

"That would explain the lack of equipment," Arthur wonders and becomes even more concerned. "Their group must be nearby!"

Draven stops walking and looks towards the horizon in the direction of the road leading out of the village. "I'm afraid so."

"Then let's follow them!" Arthur quickly suggests.

But Draven seems hesitant. "I'm not a good tracker at night…"

He looks at Arthur with a concerned expression. "I think we've had enough tension for today, I can't take you to chase a possible gang of bandits just like that."

Arthur understands the reasons that lead his father to be apprehensive about his state, but even having been tired after fighting against the trio, he feels totally restored now.

In fact, he began to feel his internal energies regenerate much faster after kissing Nyx in the tavern's bathroom.

He thought that was just excitement, but his body really recovered very quickly.

The only thing he could complain about was having been very hungry, but Margaret's snacks solved it too.

"I'm fine," Arthur says to his father with a determined expression.

Draven can see that his son seems really energetic, but how is that possible?

"I don't know…" He can't help but think about how Aria could be mad at him. "It may be something much more dangerous than killing a Direwolf and beating up three drunkards… Your mother would never forgive me if something happened to you."

Arthur can't think about going home to sleep while other thugs might come back to attack the people of the village, especially his sweet Margaret.

"I'll be fine," he says to his father. "If the situation becomes dangerous, I'll retreat and let you deal with it."

"Will you listen to me if I tell you to back off?" Draven fears that Arthur may no longer be willing to follow his orders and something bad will happen.

"Of course," Arthur nods. "Do you think I'm stupid? I don't want to die, just let me track them for you."

Draven can't deny that without Arthur's help he'll spend the entire night looking for traces of those guys and probably won't find them.

He may have immeasurable strength, but his tracking skills are not good.

"Can you really track them at night?" He asks.

"Let's find out," Arthur is confident in his tracking skills because of his experiences as Liam, but he won't start getting overconfident.

He puts the food basket on the fence but takes all the leftover snacks and puts them in his backpack while Draven watches.

"How can you eat so much and still be thin?" Draven asks. He is a very big and muscular guy, so it's normal for him to eat a lot, but Arthur shouldn't feel so hungry.

"I don't know, I think it's because of that ability," Arthur talks about when he used a lot of internal energy in just one moment.

But the truth is that he always gets very hungry after interacting with Nyx and feeling his body get much stronger.

"I see," Draven doesn't have time to think about that because he's worried about a possible gang of bandits near the village.

He's used to dealing with such things alone, even if it takes days, so having Arthur help him is really good.

"Shall we?" He asks.

"Yeah," Arthur nods, and then they both run back to the tavern and, from there, follow the bloody tracks of the trio.