Chapter 6 - Like a rooster

<> 

The guy at the window spoke calmly. His large smile showed some fruit peel stuck between his teeth. His dark brown eyes were looking at him curiously. His long black hair was held back by his ears, which pointed directly towards him.

<> The guy was leaning his chest against the base of the window, his arms falling lifelessly inside the little house.

Judging by his thick arms, he seemed to have a sturdy bone structure. In his right hand, he held a round red fruit that had been nibbled on, from which drops resembling water were falling.

<> Roi asked, slowly crawling away from him.

<> He rested his head on his naked shoulder. He didn't seem to wear any armor, just a green, poor-quality shirt. 

<> He said with words slightly distorted by the position of the head. 

Roi had his mouth open in horror.

<> Roi sat up at an astonishing speed. 

Derlom took a bite of the fruit, chewed noisily, and swallowed. There was something wrong with his gaze. He looked like a pervert. 

He raised his arms in a sign of peace and spoke.

<> He stopped at the third raised finger.

<> He continued eating the red fruit, sinking his mouth deeper and deeper into the fruit. 

Roi remembered seeing two people chasing three chickens, roosters actually. He tilted his head, watching him eat.

Overlooking his passion for watching people asleep, he does not appear to hold any hate towards him. Could Jest and the Bastard be exceptions?

<> Roi didn't want to be so straightforward, asking immediately about Jest and the Bastard. Derlom looked at him, chewing. <>

The guy's brown eyes studied him from head to toe, as if he hadn't already done so while he was sleeping. 

<> He said, still chewing, and disappeared under the square hole. 

The enormous whirlpool was still deforming the sky. But now, sitting, he could see not only the sea of leaves, but also a tiny glimpse of blue on the left side of the window.

<> 

The wooden door was swung open, and a red fruit flew, hitting the Roi's forehead and falling straight into the bucket. 

The door was slammed shut in an instant. 

Derlom's head reappeared in the window, laughing. Roi was massaging his forehead, that fruit was as hard as a rock. 

"Okay, this guy is no better than Jest and the other one."

<> He asked. 

<> Derlom was laughing while he said that. Seeing hate in the look of the Outsider, he raised his hands once again as a sign of peace. 

<> The two of them looked at each other for a moment before Derlom continued to talk.

<> He raised the half-eaten fruit.

<<-Is called Heart. They are not ripe yet, look how much water is dripping. When they're fully ripe, all of this water is absorbed. It turns red and very dense, like blood. Try it, it's not bad.>>

<> Roi was confused and a bit disgusted. This did not stop a trickle of drool from escaping from the sides of his open mouth.

<> He pointed his finger as if to command him. 

Derlom opened his eyes wide, surprised. 

<> His eyes were traveling all over the ceiling. <>

<> Roi remembered perfectly that Greth said that someone told him about the Outside. A place he has no memories of.

<>

<> Derlom was taken aback by that revelation. 

That reaction proved Roi right. He took advantage of that moment of indecision to accuse him. 

<> His accusatory tone made Derlom's eyes fly over the room, except for him. 

After what felt like an eternity, he sighed and answered as if he were sorry. 

<> He lingered for a while, stroking his fruit with his thumb. 

<> He looked straight into Roi's eyes.

<>

Roi lowered his gaze. Various dots connected in that instant. 

<> Derlom concluded at the end. 

Roi just nodded to him. 

"So that's why that asshole broke my ribs. That's why they treated me like shit. All of that just because I had blue eyes. But why Sun God choose me if I'm the result of a blasphemous union?"

He looked at his fragile body. He could count how many ribs he had without problems. He was just a skeleton covered with skin.

"Am I that special?"

<> He said, pushing his chest away from the window. 

<> 

He disappeared beyond the right side of the square hole before Roi could raise his head. The Savior followed with his eyes where he might be, beyond the wall, until he reached the door. 

The door had no locks, at least not visible ones. It was swung open and slammed closed without any problem. 

<> He shouts out to Derlom, who reappeared with a raised eyebrow. <> He asked, genuinely curious. 

Derlom lingered before speaking. He took a long, good look at Roi. 

<> An uneven smile appeared on his face. 

He took another long look at Roi, then he returned to look right. But his eyes looked beyond as they were lost searching for something invisible. 

His smile disappeared from his face, becoming hollow of every expression that made him alive. His voice was cold and distant when he spoke to him. 

<> He looked at Roi. <> 

He disappeared again beyond the wooden walls. 

Roi, once again, moved his eyes on the wall, followed him. There was a little hole in the angle near the wooden door, large enough to see a glimpse of the temple, some people walking, and Derlom walking away. 

He was nodding and...

"Did he give himself a pat on the back?"