Chapter 5 : An old memory

In one of the rooms of St. Anthony's Hospital a man with short black hair and an unshaven beard, dressed warmly, was looking at a young woman with a pale face and a cap, lying on a bed and holding the hands of the man who was sitting next to her with a smile.

"You've lost weight, even I'm not at home, so that's no reason to neglect your diet."

The woman said slowly in a low voice as if she had difficulty speaking properly while taking a breath of air from time to time between each word.

"I don't have much of an appetite these days but I'm going to try to eat better."

"Will you stop eating fast food? Do you promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Will you also stop smoking?"

"I,... it's complicated to quit smoking so quickly."

"Do you promise to stop smoking?!"

Seeing the threatening look of the young woman the man had no choice but to sigh and slowly nod his head.

The woman saying these words while looking at him with a stern look quickly had a victorious smile on her lips as if she had succeeded in convincing a stubborn donkey to stop kicking.

"The doctor told me that your condition has improved slightly in the last month and if we tried the new treatment he told us about next month.

The man said in a low voice as he looked at the young woman whose smile disappeared as she began to bite her lips.

"Stop..."

"I did my research, there are new treatments even better than chemotherapy and ..."

"Stop!"

"The man hearing the faint cros of the woman was then silent and lowered his head while clenching his teeth.

"We've already talked about this, choeses are fine with me as they are, I just want to spend the time I have left with the people I love."

Hearing the faint murmur of the young woman in the room he rose abruptly from his chair clenching his fists.

"Why are you talking like you're going to die, what about all the plans we had, I wouldn't give up and neither would you! Why are you..."

The man then looked up and saw tears falling from the young woman's eyes.

He slowly unclenched his fists and stood still for a moment before taking the woman in his arms who was crying.

"We'll find a solution, I promise you, it won't end like this."

"Miles, I just want to spend the time I have left with the people I love."

"I...I...I just want to spend the time I have left with you."

. . . . .

Slowly opening his eyes, Miles remained silent for a moment, staring at the dashboard of the pickup with a confused look before sighing deeply.

He looked out the driver's side window and saw the three men sitting in front of a campfire boiling a pot.

"Those three there look like old friends, they also look friendly or at least they don't look threatening except the man named Fujiwara."

"He is thorough, but according to the words he said earlier, he thought I was some kind of demon or bait from other mana users with malicious intent."

Miles thought as he watched the three further away laughing together next to the campfire.

"Everything that is happening to me is completely delusional, I feel like it's a nightmare, but I have to accept this absurd situation as reality as soon as possible."

"First point the supernatural exists, what happened to me is irrefutable proof of that, secondly I am in a world with the parameters of a novel I wrote, Miles' memory, the words demon and mana user are proof of that."

"Third, I have impulsively entered into a situation that may cause me to suffer things worse than death, according to the words used by the so-called God I have met."

"Fourth, the only solution for me to solve all this is to save this world from an abominable and almost unstoppable end."

"What a mess I got myself into, I should have let this god destroy the universe and die in peace, shit why am I busting my ass when I just wanted to die!"

"Fuck! Fuck!"

He put his hand in his pocket in search of a cigarette and remembering that he was in the body of a 10 year old he hit the dashboard hard in anger.

"I'm in trouble."

"Kid, when you're done hitting my dashboard, come eat before these two bastards eat everything."

Miles gasped as he heard the voice of the man named Aron in the distance before opening the car door and walking to the campfire and sitting down next to them.

Aron with a proud look removed the pan from the fire without paying attention to the temperature of the utensil before opening it, revealing a mouth-watering meat vegetable soup that immediately made Miles and the other two drool.

"Spicy Deer Meat Vegetable Stir-Fry, Mama Castle's recipe."

"God bless Mama Catsle!"

"Remind me to bring her back a gift on our next visit."

Aron smiled with pride at Fujiwara and Tae-Wook's multiple compliments then looked at Miles with a frown.

"What's the matter kid, mama Castle's recipe not working for you?"

These words immediately froze the smiles of Fujiwara and Tae-Wook who looked at Miles with a look that said it.

"Kid, it's a matter of life and death, please answer correctly."

Miles seeing the serious looks three immediately said with an innocent childish smile.

"No, this dish looks so delicious to me that I have no words to describe it, I'm sure mama Castle must be a first rate chef."

"Haha let's not exaggerate mama is an excellent cook but not to this extent."

Although Aron said these words, Miles was speechless and could see the big, pride-filled smile on his face.

Aron then served them with a big smile while gradually reverting to a stoic expression while eating.

Miles devoured his soup like a hungry beast, which made Aron secretly smile for a brief moment before continuing his meal.

"I'm full!"

Miles having finished his plate lay down on the floor slowly rubbing his belly.

"I'm still hungry, Aron is there any left?"

"No you and Fijuwaira just finished the last portion."

Aron said as he shook the empty pan before putting it away to the side.

"Too bad, hey Miles it looks like you enjoyed your meal."

Tae-Wook said as he also rubbed his belly while pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it as Fujiwara lay on the ground.

"It was delicious."

Seeing Miles stroking his belly with a satisfied look Tae-Wook laughed before lighting his cigarette and then after taking a puff he said with a slight curiosity in his voice.

"If you don't mind, Miles can you tell me who taught you how to use mana."