"Just sign here and the house is yours"
"W… what?"
Van could not help but squint his eyes as he looked at the paper in Sarah's hand. He then furrowed his eyebrows as he stared Sarah straight in the eye, "What do you want in exchange?"
"Just take care of the house", Sarah instantly replied, her words blunt as she also stared at Van's eyes.
"S… shall we go in first?", Andrea, who watched as the two fiercely stared at each other, could not help but let out an awkward chuckle as she pulled Van to the side.
As the three finally entered the house, Sarah quickly looked around the house and let out a satisfied breath, "The house is cleaner than I thought it would be", she said as she trailed her finger on the wall, "I was expecting your clothes to be sprawled all over the floor"
"What?", Van slightly raised his eyebrow. Did he really look like a messy person?
Sarah then sat down on the sofa and placed the parchment on the table along with a pen, "Just sign here and the house is yours"
"This…", Van looked at the paper with a complicated expression. He then read its contents, and although there were some words that he found difficult to understand, it would seem that the contents of the paper really was just the deed of the lot.
Seeing Van's complicated expression, Sarah could not help but let out a hum, "I forgot you didn't know how to read"
"N… no", Van quickly shook his head, "I have learned how recently"
"Really?", Sarah's eyes widened in shock, "That's... quite fast"
"Hm", Van only nodded in response as he continued to deliberate on what to do. It is true that Sarah has been doing nothing but helping him a lot, and he had no reason to doubt her now. But still, he still couldn't help but be suspicious.
"Why… are you really giving me this house?", Van once again looked at Sarah straight in the eyes.
Hearing Van's apprehensive tone, Sarah could not help but let out a sigh, "I already told you…", she breathed, "The country might need your help someday… You have quite the special System, you see"
"Special?", Van could not help but be curious, "Do you know something?"
"Maybe", Sarah let out a tiny chuckle, "I am not too sure myself, so I can't really tell you more"
"This…", Van could not help but lower his eyebrows. He knew in himself as well that his System was different from the others. Even when he met the members of the 7-Headed Cerberus guild, they did not really show anything near to what his System could do.
Sarah seems to know something about his System, so staying close to her would be beneficial to him as well. So far, all she has done was help him. And so, with a sigh, Van reached his decision.
He grabbed the pen and immediately signed the paper, "Thank you, I will repay this someday", he said as he handed the paper to Sarah.
"That's yours", Sarah waved her hand as she chuckled, "You didn't actually need to sign it right now"
"W… what?", Van blinked his eyes in confusion.
"Hm", Sarah nodded her head, "Having the paper is proof enough that you own the house. I just made you sign right now so I can be sure you won't sell it to someone else", her chuckle then turned into a burst of laughter.
"Pft", Andrea, who had been quietly watching on the side, could not help but snort, "That does sound like Evans, doesn't it?", she then also let out a giggle.
"W… what!?", Van once again furrowed his eyebrows. Is that what people really think of him?
"Then, if you will please excuse me", Sarah then patted her legs as she stood up, "I still have some matters I need to take care of"
"Wait", Van also stood up as he remembered something, "There are… women's clothes in my closet, I assume it is yours?", Van said, "Do you want to get them now?"
Hearing Van's words, Sarah could not help but pause on her steps, "N… no", she stuttered, "Please… keep them for now, you can also throw them away"
"You should get insulation to preserve your food since Andrea will be living here with you now", she then quickly said as she looked around, completely avoiding the topic altogether.
"...Insulation?", Van could not help but tilt his head.
"To keep your food frozen so it won't spoil", Sarah mentioned as she walked to a corner of the house, "This house used to have one, but… we had to throw it away. You're rich so you should be able to buy one"
Hearing Sarah's words, Andrea's eyes quickly lit up, "We should buy one as soon as possible!"
"This--"
"Right, off to my meeting", before Van could even say a word, Sarah clapped her hands, "Miss Andrea, please do take care of the house"
"Hm", Andrea quickly nodded her head in response, "Let me escort you out", she said as she opened the door.
Andrea then walked with Sarah all the way to her car. Sarah was about to get inside the car when Andrea suddenly spoke to her.
"The clothes that Van mentioned earlier…", she said in a quiet tone, "Are they a family member's?"
There was a slight stutter in Sarah's breath as soon as she heard that. Her eyes could only look downwards as she could not utter a single reply towards Andrea.
"You don't have to worry", Andrea then added, "I will make sure to take care of--"
"...It's my sister's", Sarah said as she looked Andrea straight in the eye, "She ki--", she was about to say more, but just shook her head instead.
"...I see", Andrea did not fail to notice the sorrow in Sarah's eyes. Andrea then slowly walked towards Sarah and gently held her hands, "I promise to take care of it… and the house".
Sarah could only raise her eyebrows and sigh as she felt Andrea's calming touch, "Thank you", she stuttered.
"We should be the one thanking you", Andrea quickly replied as she let go of Sarah's hands, "It was nice seeing you again, Miss Sarah… Thank you", Andrea smiled.
"It was also nice seeing you again, Miss Andrea", Sarah also smiled as she got inside the car.
"...", Van, who was listening in on the two of them from the door, could not help but let out a sigh as he heard their conversation.
As soon as Andrea got back inside the house, Van quickly showed her her room, and without even having the chance of saying good night, she fell on the bed and quickly fell asleep.
Both of them had a long day. However, Van's wasn't over yet. He had been feeling an irritating feeling on his back ever since he got out of the Portal.
And so, as soon as he got inside of his room, he quickly lifted up his shirt, but before he could take it off, he remembered something…
...Didn't he take off his shirt during the fight with the arachnaea? He also broke two of his fingers.
He only remembered now since everything happened so fast and the next thing he knew was that he was out of Portal. But disappearing crystals, his shirt coming back, his fingers recovering like nothing happened, and most importantly, a talking monster.
Was his encounter with the Portal Boss...
...all but a dream?