Chapter 19 - The First Visitor
Joren was surprised to learn that the place that they were going to was towards the lake.
When he saw the teenage girl and Virena walk towards the lake, sinking down until they are halfway there.
"We... are going to swim?"
Joren asked.
"No, we will dive." Virena indifferently replied.
"Dive...? How deep?"
"Hm... more than a kilometer down?"
"That will kill me."
Virena turned around with a slight frown as she glared at Joren.
"You\'re an undead."
"I know but..."
"Do you have split personalities?"
"W-why do you say?"
"... nothing."
Virena thought for a while and reached out her hand.
"I don\'t think you have the strength to dive down that deep, come here."
Without warning, Virena used her control over Joren. The latter walked into the lake and towards Virena out of his own volition.
"Give me your hand."
"Seriously..."
Joren could only sigh and have his hand be pulled. There was no point in resisting.
\'If they intended to kill me, they would\'ve done so. I think I can trust them. I basically saw my stats so I\'m confident I will not die.\'
But there was something Joren forgot-
BLURBULBLURBLURB!!!*
Being dragged down at an intense speed deeper underwater with lots of pressure hurts like hell!
Before he knew it, they were already inside a house. Joren dropped onto the floor gasping, vomiting water, and whatnot as if he was dying which he should be if he was not undead.
The teenage girl looked at this with peculiarity.
"I want to say don\'t make a mess in the Principal\'s office but..." Virena just gave up and decided that she will just clean this later. She then saw the strange reaction from the teenage girl and tilted her head in question.
But the teenage girl evasively turned around with a flustered expression on her face.
Not knowing what this is about, Virena began to speculate things.
"My hand..."
"Hm?" she looked down on Joren was seemed to be recovering but still pathetically kneeling on the floor, wet.
"Let go of my goddamn hand!"
He sharply said before realizing what he said.
"Ah, sorry, on the verge of death but not dying must\'ve made me cranky."
Virena looked and saw that she was still holding her hand. Without any reaction, she dropped it.
"As for the mess, is there a mop? I\'ll clean it." Joren turned to his normal self as he stood up.
"Ah, don\'t worry about it. I\'ve already cleaned it."
The teenage girl said which only made Joren realize his surrounding. Not only was his mess was gone but he was also dry as if they didn\'t dive deep underwater in the first place.
After noticing that shocking revelation, he also found what kind of a room he was in. His eyes looked round and round.
Seeing his scrutinizing gaze, the teenage girl blushed in embarrassment.
"I\'m sorry for the mess." she said as she picked up the piled-up books on the floor. Those books had a large variety. There are comic books, novels, light novels, and even mangas.
"Principal Ness, let me do it. You can sit down and relax."
Virena offered her hand and as if her movements were fast-forwarded, she quickly organized the room into a neat one.
Joren didn\'t know where to react and how. What should he do? Should he sit down on the chair in front of the principal\'s desk? But they were filled with figurines and merchandise from different franchises.
The teenage girl which Virena called \'Principal Ness\' presses the power button on the remote in her hand. But before she picks up where she left off, she looked at Joren and realized that he was there.
It seemed that when she entered her comfort zone, she subconsciously forgot that they had a visitor.
"Umm... do you have any movies you like? I have everything from umm classics to anime movies."
Ness offered innocently yet confidently.
Like a super maid or a reverse tornado, every place that Virena goes through got cleaned. Thus, when she went through the chairs in front of the desk, it was ready to be sat on.
Seeing the expression \'make yourself comfortable\' on Ness\' face, Joren sat on one of the chairs. Since the giant screen was plastered onto the right wall, he sat on the opposite to face it.
"If you don\'t like movies, I have a lot of series too. Oh! Do you want me to pick?"
Joren felt like he entered Ness\' territory. The shyness she held earlier when they were outdoors significantly decreased.
"Sure..."
He nodded.
"Ah, then I\'ll let you watch- wait! We can also play games, if you want!" Ness jumped off from her office chair that seemed to be modified to be much more comfortable to be sat or lay on.
"Psst! Principal!"
Just as Ness opened the cabinet that revealed dozens of different consoles from handheld to home consoles, she turned around to see Virena peeking her head out from the kitchen room.
Virena used her hands to convert - SOS
Ness nodded and said to Joren.
"Umm, you pick whatever you want. I\'ll go get some.... uhmm... water."
"Okay..."
Joren watched her leave before he noticed that there is already a pitcher and a glass of water on her desk. With one look, it could easily be noticed that it\'s cold and new.
Afterward, he heard their voices from the other room. Their voices were hushed but it was still loud enough for him to hear clearly.
"What is it, Virena?"
"I\'m so sorry, Principal. I don\'t know if I should bring out coffee or tea."
"Oh no, why are there so many types of beverages...! I\'m panicking a bit... this is the first time we have had a visitor ever since forever! I\'m sorry if it was a mess earlier..."
"Don\'t worry about it, Principal. He\'s just some pervert. We shouldn\'t care what he thinks."
"But... but..."
"I know, I still don\'t know if I should bring out coffee or tea. From what I know, humans are easily offended by everything. What if he got offended by coffee?"
"Eh? I thought we shouldn\'t... no, we can just give him both coffee and tea."
"What if he got offended because he thinks we think he\'s fat and needs twice the drink?"
"Muuu... this is a dilemma."
"I don\'t know what to do, Principal. This is the first time I have had a servant. How should I treat him?"
"Don\'t panic, Virena. Stay calm. We can do this!"
"You\'re so reliable, Principal. Thank you."
"Y-yeah. I think he\'s a tea man so give him tea."
"Okay... okay..."
Joren, who was listening to the whole conversation thought.
\'Why not just ask me?\'
Sometime later, Ness came back while fanning herself. She was sweating a bit.
"So, have you chosen what to play?"
\'Are we here to play?\' Joren wanted to ask but refrained himself. He just picked a familiar console which Ness readied in seconds.
"This is the most popular one. I have a lot of games in this!"
Ness excitedly gave Joren the second controller which he took.
\'We\'re seriously going to play a game?\'
While they were picking out games to play, Virena came out. She was no longer wearing her long mantle and shows her secretary outfit with an apron on.
"Here\'s tea."
She coldly looked at Joren.
"Thank you."
The latter nodded and drank but was uncomfortable under her gaze.
After taking a sip, Joren smiled and commented.
"It\'s good tea."
Virena was visibly, albeit slightly, shocked. She then turned around and went back to the kitchen while leaving the words.
"I didn\'t ask. Of course, it\'s good tea."
Joren glanced and saw that when she turned around, her usually motionless face made a small smile.
\'Now I want to ask if they have split personalities too.\'
After a while, the two finally picked a game, a racing game with an Italian plumber as its main character.
Virena soon brought snacks and joined the game. Soon, Ness was laughing as she won consecutively. Even Virena seemed to be competitive and since Joren has some experience, he didn\'t lose out that much.
Hours passed and they have finished the third game they played. Joren dropped the controller.
"Why the hell are we playing!?" he finally snapped.
Virena and Ness who were happily chatting were startled by his shout.
Virena glared at him and said.
"You\'re complaining even though you\'re enjoying yourself quite well."
"Yeah, you\'re words aren\'t particularly heavy with you still holding the controller and searching for another game to play."
Ness tilted her head in confusion.
"Is it bad that we\'re playing?"
"No... it\'s not but..."
"Then what do you suggest that we do, pervert?" Virena raised an eyebrow.
"You have used that a thousand times already, Virena, it already has no effect. But I thought we need to talk about something? Now, I forgot about it."
Ness then pointed out, "Oh, about you becoming an undead?"
"Yeah, that! I want to talk about going back to normal." Joren finally placed the conversation on track.
"What? Why would you want to go back to being normal?"
Virena was legitimately confused.