When Rex closed his eyes in the domain, the light from it vanished.
He returned to himself as he always did after experiencing Lustia’s domain: imdiately and wholly, without any transitional state between being unconscious and fully awake.
The room around him was his own at the Silver Rest. The light streaming through the window was at the perfect angle and quality for midday, not morning, indicating that he had been unconscious for much longer than he had intended.
He was familiar with the ceiling of his room. The mattress beneath him was a comfort he had grown accustod to.
The familiar aroma of the inn’s kitchen wafted up through the floor, signaling it was noon.
He rubbed his eyes and sat up, attempting to shake off the lingering effects of sleep. The sounds of laughter and the clinking of dishes from below reminded him that life was moving on, patiently waiting for him to rejoin it.
"Yeah... my infinite regeneration really did wonders for my stamina, it seems."
"I guess it’s not entirely a scam." He glanced to his side.
To his surprise, Marceline Bancey sat in the chair next to his bed. He had been expecting Lily or Mara, but he was fine with her presence as well.
She wasn’t looking at him when he woke up because she was sitting in a way that showed she had been there long enough to move from the active-watching phase to the patient-presence phase, which didn’t require as much focused attention.
She gazed out the window, cradling a cup of sothing that had likely been warm when poured but was now at room temperature.
She looked at him when he moved. "Ohh..."
The expression that appeared on Marceline’s face was one Rex had encountered only a few tis before. It held the quality of sothing that had long awaited replacent and was now undergoing that change.
Her eyes were red in that distinct way that indicated they had been expressing emotion for a long ti and had only just ceased.
"You’re awake," she said, her tone wavering as if she were uncertain about what she once believed. "Are you feeling alright...?"
"Yeah, I’m alright," he said. "What ti is it...?"
Marceline placed the cup on the side table carefully, a gesture motivated more by her need to occupy her hands than by any concern for the cup itself.
"You’ve been unconscious since last night," she said. "It’s now 12:30."
Rex thought about it for fourteen hours.
’W-what the fuck...? That long?!’
’Did that fucking Goddess prank ...?!’
’There’s no fucking way I’m that weak to wake up in the middle of the afternoon.’
He rubbed his temples, trying to rember what happened before he passed out. "What happened? Why can’t I rember anything?"
"Talyra carried you in from the street, with Diana’s assistance," Marceline explained. "You ca down the eastern approach to the plaza, and Lily called us imdiately."
"I see..." Rex said. "Thank you for that."
Marceline looked at him with an expression that had completely replaced her previous one, now embodying relief as she continued to process the event that had made it necessary.
"We didn’t know if you were injured or if it was exhaustion or if sothing had happened to your body."
"It’s so energy exhaustion," said Rex. "And my body is still working fine."
She glanced at him one last ti, as she often did, as if ensuring that both the statent and the person delivering it were in sync. Then she exhaled, and that sigh released all the tension that her red eyes had been holding.
"Good," she said. "I’m glad to hear that."
Rex sat up slowly, and his body conveyed the typical signs of soone who had been lying down for fourteen hours after extensive physical and ntal exertion: functional, stiff, and surprisingly more rested than he should have felt considering the evening’s events.
Marceline reached over and placed the back of her hand on his forehead, seeking one final confirmation that the information they had received was accurate.
"Thank goodness..." She said, "You’re not running hot."
"No," Rex said. "Like I said... I’m fine."
’She really starts to act like a mother, huh...? Maybe I’ll make her pregnant tonight with that caring attitude toward .’
’But still... I want to see her husband first and what he looks like to waste such a diamond like this.’
She pulled her hand back. "I hope I don’t annoy you."
"Not at all."
"Lily was here until about nine this morning. Diana was here earlier than that. Mara brought food up twice, but you didn’t..." She paused. "You didn’t need it yet."
"Well, I need it now." Rex said, "I’ll eat anything... even you."
Marceline blushed. "Oh my... being cheeky now, are we?"
"It’s the middle of the day, and I’m still busy," Marceline sighs. "We can save it for later."
"I’m joking, and... I really an it with anything that relates to food."
"Oh, right." Marceline got up from the chair, and the movent had the quality of returning to function that ca after the kind of vigil she had clearly been keeping. "I’ll send it up."
"Marceline," Rex said when she was at the door.
She turned around and looked at him. "Mm?"
"What’s wrong, dear?"
"We can do it again if you want, but this ti... I want you to introduce to your husband first to see what kind of a man cheated on a sexy, beautiful wife like you."
Marcelina smiled with her eyes closed. "He’s coming back tomorrow, so I’ll introduce you to him."
Marcelina’s playful tone showed how excited she was when she said, "You might be surprised by what you’ll see."
"But just to clarify... I won’t act again in front of that bastard." Marcelina’s laughter echoed through the room, brightening the atmosphere as she added, "I have a few tricks up my sleeve to ensure he realizes exactly what he’s missing."
"Well, okay then. Thank you, by the way," Rex said, and he added more to what he ant than just thanking her for the vigil, which was real.
He also noted that the vigil had been maintained because she had chosen to uphold it, and that decision carried its own significance.
For a mont, Marcelina regarded him with a deanor different from the one she displayed in the common room and the one she wore while managing the inn. It was a rare expression, typically concealed beneath her more familiar personas.
"I’ll make sure to bring so good food," she told him, and then she left.
...
The afternoon unfolded in a manner typical of post-significant event afternoons, characterized by a mode of assessnt rather than action, all while individuals engaged in various activities.
Rex walked around the city with Lily and Diana.
It wasn’t a comprehensive tour or a detailed damage assessnt; instead, it was the kind of stroll taken by those familiar with a place, prompted to examine it more closely than usual while sharing the experience together.
The northern market district had the most visible damage, and the construction crews that had been organized since early morning were already at work on the structural stability assessnt of the buildings that remained standing.
The western district was blocked off, which was the right thing to do because a third of the buildings had serious structural damage and the other two thirds had not yet been checked.
The cordoning was well-organized, which ant that Elizabeth was involved, and the organization was like a system that had been following a set plan instead of being thrown together in the chaos of the aftermath.
Rex walked around the cordoning area and looked at what he could see outside of it without going inside.
Lily walked beside him with the sa effortless ease she displayed whenever they were together, but this ti, she wasn’t putting on a show; she was simply being herself.
From what he could gather, she had slept for about four hours and returned to the inn by midmorning. Marceline ntioned that she had been there when he woke up, but she had left to attend to so matters before he was fully awake.
Diana walked on the other side of him, close enough to talk but paying attention to the situation as it deserved, which ant that she was using her tactical read on every physical situation to check out the cordoning and the construction organization.
"Elizabeth has the western district secured through the end of the week at minimum," Diana said at the point where the cordoning’s northern edge t the main road. "She pulled engineering resources from the Academy."
"Well, that’s the right thing to do," Rex said.
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