Is It Possible To Fill This Empty Space In Ourselves?

Chapter 9

On the day he first got to work, Ernest woke up ahead of his usual schedule. Maybe the constant reminder he did to himself so as not to oversleep before going to bed last night created a disruption to his natural clock during here—unlike before, he doesn't always have a fixed natural reminder so wake him up early.

Waking up and sitting on the lampit, Ernest rubbed the back of his neck and stretched his waist. Successively sleeping on rattan lampit for more than half a month began to make his body sore. Since when has he been this pampered?

Letting the blanket pool at his waist, Ernest stared at the still-darker room— darker than the time he usually woke up. Slightly moving his hand to the side Ernest came into direct contact with the sword he had always placed by his side during bedtime.

Ernest sighed as he felt the comfort of his weapon, he knew this was not normal but the habits brought from the battlefield were very difficult to remove and there the weapon was the same as the body parts. The loss may also feel like your hands and feet are being cut off, making you feel sick and vulnerable.

The Major General had warned before his departure that the more he headed to the center of the country, the more restrictive the control of carrying weapons for ordinary people would be. In Lutua County which is still quite far from the state capital alone Ernest has not seen people casually carrying weapons on the streets.

Not like before when he was just getting out of the North.

The first time he got here, though, Ernest gained many frightened and wary gazes from the villagers upon seeing his sword even the person who hired him in the sub-district market that day hesitated before desperately using it as there was no other choice.

Therefore he was surprised when a bunch of thugs dared to come to him after he beat up one of their members. He was off guard because he thought everyone here was afraid of someone carrying a sharp weapon.

Ernest's day could have ended quickly, but he was afraid that it would create troublesome problems if the government got involved for accidentally killing them.

He thought of Major's name if her origin was traced, her leader who had accepted her while she was in blind rage and let her go when she felt she had no purpose there anymore, even kindly still gave her an identifying mark that she could use while she looked for a place to settle down before making a permanent identity.

Because of his concern, he accidentally gave a gap to the thugs so that they could hurt him quite badly.

Recalling that day made Ernest sigh aware of his recklessness.

“You're noisy.”

Complaints with a hoarse voice because he just woke up made Ernest turn to look at Arsyana whose silhouette showed the shadow of someone who was still lying. He does not know if the woman is still closing her eyes or not, “I did not say anything.”

“Your mind is too hard.”

“You can't hear it.”

“Not mean it doesn't interfere.”

“How?”

Arsyana turned her head, “your anxiety in self-pity seeped out.”

“Ah,” Ernest stunned to see that brown eyes look slightly shining in this low-light space, “I'm sorry.”

“Too excited for work?”

“More precisely happy to be back to take self-control.”

“Mm, it can indeed feel stuffy if your life continues to be handed over to others,” agrees Arsyana with a voice like a whisper.

Somehow Ernes felt the woman's approval was not just a remark coming from the shadows.

Arsyana moves and positions herself sitting on the mattress, “ don't want to sleep anymore?”

“I'm worried about misfortune if I do.”

“Then get up and clean your bed or you will come back sleepy.”

“You can still go to sleep,” Ernest said as he watched the woman lift half her body with her knees as a pedestal to open the bedroom window.

“Nothing, this is not too far from the usual time.”

Fresh but cold air enters the room expelling any remaining drowsiness from the two. Ernest saw the darkness of the forest outside.

Arsyana stood up and went to the candle on the table and lit it to make the room brighter, fortunately the weather was only cold because of the humidity of the night and not windy so that the fire was not blown off.

Seeing the woman come back and make the bed, Ernest consciously folded the blanket and placed it on the pillow and put them on the floor so that he could roll up the potholder he used last night.

As Ernest brought his bed to the side of the closet to rest on, he saw Arsyana putting the pillow that had been on the floor onto the mattress, piling up with the woman's own pillow. It made Ernest feel a strange pulsation in his mind.

Of course he realized that it was done so as not to block the road and make this room look messy until it feels narrower. He had already taken up additional space to put the pile of clothes he had worn while he was here, right in the bottom corner of the room opposite the closet.

So, there should be nothing to dispute with the arrangement that the woman made with her sleeping gear. All of this is for the sake of comfort.

Arsyana turned her head and saw Ernest still standing by the closet with his hands resting on a roll of reclining mattresses, “what are you daydreaming about?”

“Nothing.”

Despite feeling a little suspicious of the man's quick rebuttal, Arsyana did not look at him further. Sometimes a person can suddenly sink into his mind just like that.

“Do you want to practice?” asked Ernest knowing the possibility of what the woman who often woke up before him was.

“Once you want to see my ability?”

“You kept avoiding me from seeing it.”

“Of course, don't want the surprise effect to disappear.”

“Make what?”

“What ‘make what’?” asked Arsyana in a light tone while standing up and picked up the lit candle from the table.

“The surprise effect you said, why have it?”

“You can't possibly not know.”

Ernest stepped towards Arsyana who was starting to approach the door to exit, “explain to me.”

“You tested me.”

“I just want to know your reason.”

The door was pushed open but instead of continuing to walk forward Arsyana stopped and turned around. The woman came face to face with Ernest who stood about two feet away from her and smiled, “that makes you more careful in doing things isn't it?”

Ernest did not reply, but his eyes looked straight at the brown net and somehow only because of the reflection of the candlelight that Arsyana was carrying, but Ernest seemed to see the warning lightning there. And maybe a little threat.

He almost forgot that they were originally just two strangers with ignorance of each other's character.

There are several possibilities that a person can do when first facing something that is not known to his ability.

…they will carefully observe and find out before deciding what moves are appropriate and most profitable to make against the unknown.

Arsyana is something whose ability is unknown.

The fools who met her might carelessly assume she was just an ordinary woman and did something that would result in regret on their part, he said, it is also rather unlikely to meet someone who is immediately frightened at the first meeting with the woman unless they meet in unusual circumstances. Like himself.

Ernest is not a coward—an uncountable ghost who will run away when he finds something he does not know and also not a fool who will deliberately run towards it without preparation.

He believed that although he was not the smartest, it was still enough to judge the situation on the unknown.

Arsyana probably thought about it all so she deliberately did not show the extent of her ability to protect herself and also…

…wanit tested it.

Clearly still did not believe it and neither should Ernest feel sour because of it.

“Do you want to keep standing there?” arsyana asked as she felt that they had been standing in the same place for quite a long time.

Ernest shook his head and responded with another question, “what do you want to do now?”

“Face-washing, after all do you not feel uncomfortable with that newly woken face?”

Being reminded that he had just woken up made Ernest unconsciously yawn. Closing his mouth with the back of his hand, he saw the woman chuckling softly.

“Come go wash your face so that your sleepiness is gone.”

“Ya.”

Arsyana turned around and continued her steps out then turned towards the kitchen followed by Ernest behind her.

*

Take a spoonful of water from the jar and bring it to the usual place of dirty equipment washed—so that the water that falls will not wet and pool on the kitchen floor. Ernest felt his mind become more awake as the freshness of the water touched his face.

Put the water spoon back on the lid of the jar while rubbing the eye with one of the heels of his hand to get rid of the remaining water flowing from the forehead, Ernest found the kitchen to be much brighter because Arsyana was lighting a fire in the furnace.

Seeing the woman still crouching to steady the flames so as not to be extinguished immediately upon abandonment, Ernest decided to pick up the bellanga located not far from where the kitchen utensils were arranged.

Feeling the water ripples from inside as the object was lifted, he opened the lid to see there was still a little bit of content—less than a quarter there. Ernest looked for the jug on the table and spilled the remaining water in the pot into the pot of drinking water and then turned back to the jar.

“How much do you want to fill this?” asked Ernest when he opened the jar.

Arsyana turned her head, “how much water left in the jug?”

“Full.”

“Less than a quarter then.”

“OK,” Ernest murmured while reaching for a water spoon to fill the gap that has a middle line and height of approximately one and a half inch for its size.

“Coffee or tea?”

“Mm, nothing to think of.”

Arsyana hummed lightly as she went from her position to take two cups and put them on the table, “still sleepy?”

“No,” Ernest closed the jar and lifted the filled pot into the furnace that had been lit with moderate fire and put it there, “only felt a little cloudy.”

“Not sleep well?”

“Maybe.”

“Ah,” Arsyana is standing next to the table with her hips leaning there and looking at Ernest who is still standing in front of the furnace, “go open the door before smoke piles inside.”

“You should have opened it earlier.”

“I let you have the honor to do that task.”

Ernest rolled his eyes but still went to open the kitchen door. It's still dark outside.

He turned around and walked towards the chair on the table where Arsyana was standing.

“What time do you go?” ask the woman.

“I was asked to be there before 7.”

Arsyana pulls a small round-shaped object that hangs on a white chain that runs down her neck, “you still have about an hour's free time before you need to get ready.”

Another thing that surprised Ernest was the timepiece that the woman had. At first he was not surprised when he did not find a clock in this building, Arsyana lives alone and tends to avoid others.

Moreover, the woman can work at will without determining the target of completion when, so the need for a timepiece does not seem too needed.

Ernest remembers Arsyana almost throwing a dagger as she stared at the woman's chest for too long when she first learned that the pendulum was a pocket watch.

Actually it was not the first time Ernest saw the object, it was just that in the past he saw such a clock brought by soldiers who came from the capital of the country or its surroundings. One of the people Ernest knew had that pocket watch was his Major General.

So, Ernest couldn't help his surprise and curiosity when he found out that Arsyana had it because, like, it was, according to those who know pocket watches are still only available in some places and the price is still relatively expensive even for the low quality.

But by looking at the details of the image carved in the pocket watch protector Ernest felt the quality could not be bad. Again it raises questions about the origins of Arshana.

“Wind spice tea?” tanya Arsyana.

“If not troublesome.”

“Well, I'm also looking to drink that.”

The woman went to the place where the dried spices were placed and stood there for a while, Ernest noticed Arsyana's fingers picked up the ingredients and chose the parts that want to be used—such as cinnamon, lemongrass, lemongrass, and the cleaned ginger is also flaked before carrying and putting everything in a pot of water that is being boiled.

Ernest thought that the furnace that had been burning for a while had made the kitchen space even warmer than before.

***