Conversation in the Night (1)

A few hours later, the doctor authorized Claire's discharge.

Apparently, he confirmed that the most dangerous moment had passed, though he told them that they had to pay attention to her state during the following days.

However, Claire was still feeling weak and she was attacked by short bursts of headache from time and time. Moreover, sometimes she felt something strange beating on her chest. The doctor said that it was something normal after a sudden increase in the body's temperature.

Due to it, Aleen had to take Claire out of the hospital in a wheelchair. They then took a cab until their home.

Aleen invited Aya over when they were taking the cab, and although she initially tried to reject him, she ended giving in before the siblings' insistence.

Like that, the three of them returned to Aleen's home.

It was already late, so Aleen ordered takeover for dinner. He would've liked to cook something for Claire, but they were too hungry to wait.

They conversed about different topics while eating, but it mainly was Aleen and Claire talking. Aya, on the other hand, simply ate silently while hearing the siblings' conversation.

Once they finished eating, Aya raised her face and looked at the siblings with an ashamed expression while holding Lily on her chest.

"I think it's better if I go now…"

Aleen and Claire put on surprised expression but quickly understood Aya's worries.

"No, Aya… You can stay here tonight." Claire said gently, but Aya shook her head.

"… I don't want to inconvenience you anymore."

Aleen looked deeply at Aya's blue eyes and sighed. "It's not an inconvenience… Besides, you helped me during the game and I want to thank you for it."

"You helped me too; besides, you already did more than enough."

Aleen shook his head with a firm expression. "Anyway, I want to thank you. Why don't you stay here tonight and leave tomorrow after breakfast?"

Aya hesitated slightly, but after Lily meowed something softly, she agreed.

Aleen sighed in relief. "Let me know if you find the couch uncomfortable, I think I can find something better if I search for a bit."

"No" Aya shook her head expressionlessly. "It's more than enough."

Aleen nodded and did not insist more on the topic. After all, he could see that Aya was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

The group continued speaking, but after a while, Claire said that she was feeling tired. Aleen nodded and helped her until her bedroom. At the same time, he got a new set of clothes for Aya. The clothes that Claire gave her before were dusty and tattered after the game, so Aleen simply decided to get her new ones.

When Aleen made sure that Claire was asleep, he left the room and went to the courtyard.

From the day when D'vina taught him the basics of swordsmanship, mana, and circulation; Aleen formed a habit of training every day following D'vina's schedule. Unfortunately, he had been unable to train today because of the game and later because of Claire's illness.

Aya was already sleeping on the sofa, so Aleen tried to be careful while training to not disturb her rest. He began his training swinging the sword tens of times in each stance.

But when he was in the middle of training, the bracelet on his wrist ringed.

"Uh?" Aleen gazed at it and realized that it was a call from D'vina.

He answered the call without hesitation and a screen was projected from the bracelet instantly.

"It has been a while, Aleen." D'vina appeared on the screen and nodded to Aleen with her usual cold expression. She was seated cross-legged in her bed, wearing tight casual clothes and with her pitch-black hair wet due to taking a bath not long ago.

Aleen smiled awkwardly when he saw her 'daring' appearance.

"How are you?" He asked.

"I'm fine. I saw your game today, and you did a good job. A shame, though, you deserved a win."

Aleen smiled wryly and nodded to D'vina's words. "Thank you, it was due to your guidance."

"It was not. Although I admit that I contributed to your improvement, it's mostly due to your own efforts."

Aleen smiled embarrassedly due to D'vina's uncommon praise.

Aleen and D'vina had been communicating regularly through the intergalactic communicator from the day he used the Body Enhancement Drug.

Every time they talked, D'vina would instruct him in his training and pointed out his mistakes. Aleen was very grateful to her due to that and had come to trust her from the bottom of his heart. So, he was understandably a bit happy when he heard her praise.

"It's the truth." D'vina said again seeing Aleen's embarrassed expression and showed a rare smile on her face. "Your improvement when it comes to your skill had been astounding, and if not because I was there when you first acquired your skill, I would have thought that you have trained it for half a year, at least."

Aleen nodded to her words, but before he could rejoice, D'vina's next words cooled his happiness.

"Unfortunately, your swordsmanship is not improving as fast." She said

Aleen's shoulders fell when he heard that.

It was true. Though his improvement with his skill could be considered very smooth, his swordsmanship's training was much rockier. He did improve, but not as fast as D'vina expected.

D'vina said that for someone that improved his skill so quickly, it was strange to improve slower when it comes to swordsmanship or mana manipulation.

"Anyway, you need to train your sword more." D'vina said helplessly.

Aleen could only nod.

D'vina then continued lecturing Aleen for a while, mentioning the mistakes he committed in the game and telling him about how he could have done better. She praised 'Dynamic Sight', saying that it was something that he was not supposed to be able to do yet, at least, not after only half a month of acquiring his skill.

Aleen listened seriously and analyzed D'vina's words carefully. He had noticed during their chats that, though D'vina's expression was pretty cold, she was very kind inside, and she always made sure that Aleen understood her words before continuing.

After a while, she finished speaking.

Aleen then asked her about some doubts he had regarding his training. D'vina answered them and told him that it was time to finish their chat.

But when she was about to cut the communication, she seemed to remember something.

"… Aleen, are you going to team up with the cat girl?"

Aleen was startled by the question, but after hesitating for a moment, he answered honestly.

"I don't know."

"Is it so? I think it's a good idea."

Aleen put a surprised expression before nodding.

"Think about it, goodnight." With these words, D'vina disappeared from the screen.

Aleen stood on the courtyard thinking carefully about D'vina's words.

As he said at Claire, he had a good impression about Aya, however, he was not completely sure if he wanted to team up with her.

Besides, he did not know what she thought about it. Maybe it was possible that she was not interested.

While Aleen was lost in his thoughts, he heard a muffled sound of footsteps.

The sound was very soft, and Aleen heard it thanks to his enhanced senses.

He immediately entered the house to check the sound. Then, he saw Aya opening the door and trying to leave secretly with Lily on her arms.