Kather had to admit that counting sheep was definitely one of the greatest inventions of the ancestors.
At least with its help, he had managed to fall asleep.
…It would have been even better if someone hadn’t suddenly shaken him awake.
Kather opened his eyes with great reluctance, only to find Denia standing beside him, quietly looking at him without saying a word.
(Denia is just watching you.jpg) Consequently, he forced himself to suppress his sleep-deprived irritability.
“I’m hungry,” Denia said to Kather.
“What do you want to eat?” Kather asked, his voice slightly raspy from sleep.
“Whatever.” If it were any other girl, “whatever” might have some hidden meaning, but if Denia said “whatever,” she probably really wasn’t picky.
“Then sit for a bit.
I’ll go make you some food.” Kather threw off the blanket, climbed off the sofa, and stretched his somewhat stiff and sore neck.
“This apartment is too small.
I should move to a bigger place some other day.
I can’t keep sleeping on the sofa forever,” Kather thought to himself.
Wearing slippers and sporting dark circles under his eyes, he walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and rummaged through the remaining ingredients.
To be honest, living alone, he rarely cooked anymore, but that was purely out of laziness rather than an inability to cook.
If he actually had to step into the kitchen, he could at least whip up a decent meal of three dishes and a soup.
…Though during the hardest times of his life, he couldn’t even afford vegetable soup.
Kather took some green onions and still-fresh lean pork from the fridge, grabbed a few eggs, and walked over to the stove to start working.
Pots, pans, bowls, and plates clattered in the kitchen, sounding like a mini concert, and Kather was their conductor.
Sitting on the sofa, Denia could see Kather’s busy figure in the kitchen from where she was.
In truth, she hadn’t figured out her current situation yet either.
She had clearly been asleep at home, yet when she woke up, she was in a completely unfamiliar place.
But Denia had actually enjoyed a rare, sweet sleep.
After all, she hadn’t slept well before this; the whispers of Aleph-1 always kept her from resting peacefully.
So when she shook Kather awake, she actually felt a bit guilty.
She knew very well that being woken up by someone was a highly irritating thing, but she was simply too hungry.
To Denia’s surprise, however, he had an unexpectedly good temper.
He merely asked what she wanted to eat before getting to work to prepare food for her.
“He’s a pretty good person.” This was Denia’s first impression.
While Denia was lost in her thoughts, Kather was already nearing the finishing stages.
He placed the cooked noodles into a bowl, layered the cooked pork slices and boiled eggs on top, sprinkled a handful of green onions, and finally poured a ladle of delicious broth over it.
Although it was a simple dish, it won on being hearty and filling.
“You can come eat now,” he called out.
Hearing that it was time to eat, Denia trotted over with quick, light steps.
Set before her was a large bowl of noodles, accompanied by pork slices and boiled eggs, and garnished with a layer of green onions.
It looked delicious.
“Then…
I shall begin?” Denia said, seemingly asking for Kather’s permission.
“It was made for you,” Kather said with a gentle voice, the corners of his mouth curving upward.
Seeing this, Denia stopped being polite.
She picked up the utensils Kather had already prepared and began to enjoy her breakfast at a leisurely pace.
Strange to say, she clearly ate very slowly, with an elegance akin to a swan sipping water, yet the bowl of noodles was disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
“Aren’t you eating?” Halfway through, Denia finally remembered that the cook who made this meal didn’t seem to have eaten yet.
“Go ahead and eat first.
The ingredients are ready, so making another portion won’t take long,” Kather said calmly.
Only after receiving his answer did Denia comfortably resume eating with her head down.
“Good, good.
It seems she quite likes my cooking,” Kather breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
For the next short while, the situation was basically Denia eating with her head down while Kather watched her, giving off a somewhat peaceful and beautiful vibe.
“I’m full.” Denia pulled out two tissues and wiped her mouth in a ladylike manner.
Looking at the bowl—good heavens, it was completely clean, with not even a drop of broth left.
“It’s good that you’re full.” Kather collected the bowl and utensils, tossing them casually into the sink.
“I’m going to catch up on some sleep first.
I’ll take you out to buy some clothes this afternoon.
Here’s the TV remote, just press whatever you want to watch.” After briefly explaining how to use the remote and its functions, Kather yawned and went back to his room to catch up on sleep.
Kather was actually incredibly sleepy.
Now that he had finally fed Denia, he could successfully withdraw and get a nice, beautiful sleep.
Denia had no objections and watched him walk straight back into his room.
With a click, the living room and the bedroom became two separate spaces, and Denia finally had time to think about other things.
“There doesn’t seem to be any Resonance Ability or Threnodians in this world.” This was Denia’s first discovery.
Most of her power came from the Threnodian, Aleph-1.
After arriving in this world, not only was she unable to call upon the power of Aleph-1, but even her original Resonance Ability was restricted.
Of course, this wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
At least she didn’t have to hear that fellow muttering nonsense in her ear every day anymore.
Since there was no Resonance Ability or Threnodian, there naturally wouldn’t be any Sentinel or tunneler.
Because of this, she was even more curious about how the civilization of this world had managed to survive.
Pressing the buttons on the remote, she found a historical science channel and began to learn the corresponding knowledge.
Denia’s second discovery was about Kather.
Although she wasn’t entirely sure, she felt that Kather must have some sort of connection to the Rover.
Perhaps the Rover was Kather himself.
She felt that Kather himself was more human than that Rover.
The Rover was equally peaceful and gentle to everyone, saving even someone like her.
This was good, but also not so good.
The Rover was like a dazzling sun; she could bask in its radiance and feel its warmth, yet it was out of reach.
In comparison, Kather was too ordinary, but to Denia, he was within reach.
The educational program happened to be broadcasting the history of hominids evolving into true humans.
When the word “evolution” was mentioned, Denia couldn’t help but feel a shiver of disgust from the bottom of her heart.
“Evolution…
Hah, that crazy woman harps on about making humanity evolve all day long.” But in fact, wasn’t that just turning back the clock of history in another sense?
Denia quietly watched the educational program like this, listening to the ticking of the clock in the living room, and suddenly felt a bit sleepy.
In a way, this educational channel was quite useful—at least it helped with sleep, Denia thought.
She then found a relatively comfortable position on the sofa and lay down, drifting into a dream accompanied by the narration of the educational channel and the ticking of the clock.