Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

Kairen gasped quietly.

“Isn’t Fate too cool?”

“...Cool?”

The redhead repeated, his face stupid found.

“Um... I mean, he is literally a god!”

Reynold shook his head.

“No. He is not. He’s just Fate.”

Now that they were talking about Fate...

.....

“What is a Thread of Fate?”

Kairen asked the question that was long on his mind.

“A Thread of Fate is... One of Fate’s ways of controlling, and sometimes twisting Fate. They are his subordinates, which follow his will and intervene in the world when there is a need for it.”

“Why is there a need for him to intervene in the world and twist fate when he is Fate himself?”

Reynold shook his head from side to side.

“You’ve got it wrong. He is Fate, but that doesn’t mean that he is the writer of destiny. He is just a ruler, not the creator.”

“Then, who is the creator?”

“No one!”

Reynold suddenly got up from the floor and dusted his cloth.

“Destiny is shaped and written on its own, by the world, by the universe. Not even Fate can revise it much. Though, he has ways of intervening in some matters. One of them is a Thread of Fate that you’ve seen before.”

“Then, why did the Threads of Fate pull back Aaron and not me?”

The redhead raised his head to look at Kairen, a small smile etched on his lips. He walked towards the bed and picked up the empty plate and the empty glass.

“Probably, your fate was not to be saved by Fate.”

“Huh?”

Kairen watched as Reynold moved back to the table on the other side of the room. In the dimly lit room, the redhead’s silhouette got fainter the more he walked away.

‘Does that mean that my fate was to be saved by this dude?’

That wasn’t unlikely though. Also, there was another question he had to ask.

“Then, what is a Child of Fate?”

Kairen couldn’t help but remember Ariyan’s face once he said those words. Pain struck his heart as he was reminded of that child. He had left him alone again, and he wasn’t even sure if he could see him even again... Like, he was in a creepy land in nowhere with a man who had serious mental problems. He didn’t know if he could go back to his home again.

“A Child of Fate...”

Reynold murmured.

“You are asking way too many questions. These are matters that are not related to you, not even a tiny bit.”

Kairen stared at the man’s back, which was only half visible from where he was sitting at.

“They wouldn’t appear in my life if they weren’t related to me. Also, you haven’t answered my other questions yet!”

The man talked about how his world got destroyed and how he and his friend fucked up several worlds but didn’t answer Kairen’s question about how he had gotten this power from him or about the past life that the man mentioned in the beginning.

‘Wait, did he tell all of those to avoid answering me?’

Now that he thought about it... Wasn’t that what Reynold did? He suddenly talked about his past, something Kairen never asked about... And something Kairen couldn’t really accept.

The story was just... Too unreal.

Yeah. He understood the philosophy about the world and the chain, The Reason, Fate, and other stuff, but he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that two tiny humans can cause such a massive incident in the whole chain.

Like... Yeah, twisting the chain was not really a good idea. It was something that even Kairen could understand, but how come Samuel, a great scientist, didn’t know about the consequences of his actions? There is no way that he wouldn’t suspect that something big might happen after he interrupts the chain.

Also, there were too few details about the device Samuel used to twist the chain. Reynold just called it something easily made but was that really possible to easily create something that could cause such a grave incident?

Kairen didn’t think so.

‘But he didn’t seem to be lying.’

Reynold seemed sincere the whole time. He looked to really believe what he was saying. Kairen could feel how guilty he was feeling about the thing that happened to his home, even if he didn’t explain things much in detail. He also didn’t seem to blame Samuel that much for the thing that happened. More likely, he was blaming himself for allowing that man to do whatever he wanted.

Also, The Reason was also too passive for a god! Like, you are asleep, then you wake up, break the chain of the world, then divide yourself into different parts. Bye Bye!

That’s not how a god should be!

Also, Reynold seemed not to be able to remember some things. He said himself, that he didn’t know what he talked about with The Reason before she vanished.

And that was super suspicious.

‘Hmm... I want to know more...’

He was suddenly curious about the incidents of the past. He had always been interested in these kinds of things. It was interesting to find out the answer to his questions after searching for them in books in the library and also to read about Atypical matter on that USB. Kairen wanted to know more about this stuff.

‘But first... I need to know where I am...’

He was literally in the void!

“A Child of Fate...”

Kairen pushed his thoughts to the back of his head and turned to Reynold.

“Is a human chosen by Fate.”

Reynold turned around. Kairen could see his face now. He was holding a bowl in his hand as he strolled toward Kairen.

“When there are the possibilities of great twists of fate by a variable in a world, Fate chooses a human being to lend them a small portion of his power in order to keep the fate of that land in check and under control. The chosen person mostly has a connection to the variable and has the means to interfere in them. Fate mostly chooses unborn or newborn children to grant them his power, as they have a pure soul that can contain his power without getting stained or damaged.”

“Ah...”

That was... unexpected and interesting. A Child of Fate was a chosen one to keep fate in check... Someone close to a variable...

“What is a variable? Also, how can you tell that someone is a Child of Fate? Alllsooooo, what powers does a Child of Fate have? Can they see fate?”

The redhead, who was bombarded with questions, pushed the bowl to Kairen. The bowl contained some liquid that smelled like medicine. He gestured to Kairen to drink it while turning his back to Kairen and walking away again.

“...A variable is someone affected by chaos or irregularity. Yeah. That’s the simplest way to describe them. I can’t really tell you about the powers a Child of Fate has. Fate wouldn’t leave me alone for exposing him otherwise. And yes, they can sometimes take a glimpse of destiny if Fate allows them, although the children would know nothing themselves. Well, you can’t really know if a child is chosen by Fate in regular situations, as they don’t usually show their faces and don’t do much. Those children actually live their own normal life, unless they are put in a threatening situation or are deeply affected by the variable... Though... if you want to distinguish them... Hmm... Gray mostly represents Fate.”

Kairen jolted up in his bed.

“Gray? Like... Like dark gray eyes? O-or gray hair strands?”

Reynold nodded his head without turning back to look at Kairen.

“And...”

Kairen was reminded of another gray thing that he had seen. A gray light that he saw before he was moved away from his world.

“A gray light? A gray sphere of light. Is that also related to Fate?”

Creak

Reynold opened the wooden door of the room. No light was seen on the outside, only darkness was seen on the other side.

“That’s enough for now.”

“Huh? No, wait! Answer me!”

Instead of an answer, the red-haired tall man only stared at Kairen’s face. For a moment, the found and nostalgic expression he had at the beginning of their conversation was back on his face.

“Rest. I won’t stay at this place for long and you have to leave with me as well, so you have to get better soon.”

Leaving those words behind, Reynold stepped into the darkness of the outside, seemingly becoming one with the darkness, and closed the door behind himself.

Kairen stared at the closed door for a while before moving himself and laying down on his bed.

“He didn’t deny it...”

The man didn’t say that the gray light was related to Fate, but he didn’t deny it either.

“Fate...”

Kairen mumbled under his lips.

“Tsk! He didn’t answer my question about that past life in the end!”

Kairen punched the mattress on the bed. Why mention something when you don’t want to explain it? Damn you, tomato head!

.....