Published: July 30, 2025
The Next Day
Huh?
When I opened my eyes in the morning, I noticed that the room looked different from usual. The only light source was the magic lamp by the pillow. It was dim because the light was toned down, but I immediately realized what was different: there were no items.
Oh, right, I packed up yesterday... I almost convinced myself, but on closer inspection, something was definitely off.
I channeled mana into the magic stone by the pillow to light up the room, and there wasn’t a single item inside. During packing yesterday, I put everything I could into the Item Box, but I left furniture like the table, chairs, and shelves. I don’t recall breaking any of them. Yet, there was no sign of them anywhere. Even the bed I was sleeping on had disappeared.
What’s going on? Could it have been stolen...? No way. If a thief had broken in from outside, I would have noticed, and the slime would have sensed it and caused a ruckus. Last night, the people from the Duke’s household stayed at the house, but I doubt they'd steal anything.
Besides, furniture made from earth magic stones like that wouldn’t fetch a good price. Who would even think there’s anything valuable in this kind of cave? The spoils of war and other items were already inside the Item Box. The only things left would be the slime...! The slime!?
“Whoa!?”
I couldn’t spot the cleaner slime that usually stays in the room. Just as I was about to jump out of bed, my body suddenly felt weightless, then I was hit by a sharp impact and dull pain.
“Wait, what?”
When I sat up, the surroundings dimmed again. When I lit the lamp, the room looked normal this time. It was sparse due to the packing, but the furniture like the desk and chairs were definitely there. The shock felt like it came from falling off the bed...
“So it was just a dream...”
Calming down, I saw one cleaner slime leaning over me from the bed. I confirmed the other slimes were all back in the cave.
Honestly, don’t scare me like that... but who should I complain to in this situation? Come to think of it, how long until sunrise? I think I saw something on the desk yesterday...
“...Here it is.”
On the desk was the magical tool clock I received yesterday. The clock face was a thin, round metal plate with numbers and two hands, supported by a Y-shaped metal stand on a round base. The base, stand, and face all had modest, elegant decorations. Because there was no visible mechanical structure to power it, I initially thought it was a mirror when it was taken out of the package. In fact, the back of the clock face was polished enough to be used as a mirror.
The numbers 1 to 12 were arranged like on Earth’s clocks, one lap equaling 12 hours. Two laps made 24 hours for a day. One hour was 60 minutes. So, I could easily read it like on Earth.
But staring at it, I felt the length of one minute in this world might be slightly different from Earth’s. Then again, I never cared about the length of a day since arriving here, and since I lived a life disconnected from time for three years, maybe my internal clock was just off...
Anyway, according to that clock, it was almost 5:30. The clock didn’t indicate AM or PM, but it was obviously morning. If it were afternoon, I’d have overslept badly.
I could try to go back to sleep lightly, but I wasn’t in the mood. Just then, I heard footsteps coming up the hall.
“Mr. Sebas?”
“Good morning, Lord Ryoma.”
I looked toward the direction of the footsteps, and saw the Duke’s butler walking toward me.
“What’s the matter?”
“After hearing that strange noise earlier, I noticed light leaking out in the hallway.”
Apparently, he heard me fall off the bed.
“Did I wake you?”
“No, we servants are usually awake by this time, so Arone and Lilian are also up. Some others are still sleeping though.”
“I see...”
Well, the sun should be up soon, so I might as well go draw water from the river. Killing time doing nothing was pointless, but messing around here might bother others.