Reincarnate in Honkai as Arthur Pendragon

Everything was slow, the eyelids felt heavy, barely parting to let in the faint morning light, filtered through the window.

He didn't remember when he had fallen asleep. He only felt the slight pressure of the mattress beneath his back and the warmth retained in the sheets.

His muscles didn't want to move. Not out of pain, but simply out of resistance to leaving that small corner of tranquility, silence embraced him.

The mind, still half-awake, wandered among disconnected thoughts.

Where was I? What day was it? Did it matter?

The feeling of being between sleep and wakefulness... was almost comforting.

That brief moment where there are no worries yet, where only the weight of the blanket and the calm breathing exist.

And for a moment, he wished he never had to move again.

Why can't I stay like this for the rest of my life?, so warm, so soft, so... wet?

He blinked.

The sensation in his left side didn't match the rest of his body. Cold. Sticky. Disturbing.

He slowly moved his hand under the blankets and slid it to the source of that unexpected dampness.

He touched. Felt.

Hair?

Quickly, I slid off the blanket that had wrapped him, and there was the culprit.

White hair, silly smile... and drool dripping right onto his chest.

Kiana.

She was sleeping deeply, curled up like a cat. Her cheek pressed against his chest, half her body on top of him, as if that were the most natural position in the world.

"..."

The drool slipped a little further.

"Hey!" he whispered, trying to move away without waking her... unsuccessfully.

Kiana frowned in her sleep, murmured something about "flying pancakes," and adjusted herself... even more on top of him.

Arthur let out a defeated sigh.

System, any ideas?

…

None?

That's what I thought...

Since it appeared with its shiny rewards, the system hadn't said a single word more. No alerts, no missions, no messages. Just... silence.

Had he left?

Did he have office hours?

Was he on vacation?

Or was it a bug? Do systems have bugs? I thought as I carefully brushed a strand of white hair from my face.

Maybe it was a spontaneous appearance, like those annoying pop-up pages that promise you a prize, but then you never see again.

I pressed my lips together.

Great. I got stuck with the social anxiety system.

I sighed and let myself fall back onto the blanket again. Kiana's body heat was still there, and although I tried not to think about it too much... I couldn't ignore the faint sound of her breathing and how her face pressed against my chest left a line of warm drool.

I tried to move a little, but the girl clung to me like a koala with a living blanket complex. Arms and legs tangled.

A part of me considered pushing her, but another more rational and cowardly part remembered that I had seen Kiana hit a tree for "looking at her funny." And the tree definitely didn't win.

The rough wooden ceiling, with its knots and lines marked by time, seemed like a good place to get lost while thinking about everything... or nothing.

Yesterday, while convincing a young lady who was running an inn to let us stay for free, I also took the opportunity to gather information about exactly where we were.

Europe.

Before migrating, I wanted to see the Eiffel Tower and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Maybe now I can do it.

My thoughts wandered as the dawn timidly filtered through the cracks in the window.

And suddenly, I heard a hoarse, half-asleep voice next to my ear.

"Mmm..." "Arthur?"

"Yes?"

"Good morning..."

"Good morning to you too, Kiana"

…

"Kiana, eat slowly, the food isn't going anywhere."

Kiana, who was eating like a pig, stopped and looked at me with an expression I couldn't tell if it was remorseful... or if she was just calculating whether she could keep eating without me complaining more.

"You don't understand, Arthur." This is delicious! These pancakes are very different from the ones my stinky old man used to make. They're not burnt, they don't smell bad, and they're not hard to chew.

I chuckled softly. At least his enthusiasm was contagious.

"Just don't choke, okay?"

Kiana raised a thumb without stopping chewing.

I took my own fork, giving the pancakes a small bite. They were surprisingly good... soft, fluffy, with just the right sweetness.

"Arthur," murmured Kiana, softer now, with an empty mouth and eyes shining with satisfaction. "Thank you for staying with me."

I smiled at him.

"Thank you for not leaving me frozen in the snow."

We both laughed, and the sound echoed in that small inn, warm like the steam rising from our cups.

…

"So what do we do now?" asked Kiana, sitting on her backpack as if it were a throne, nibbling on the last apple they had managed to get.

"Any clues about your Father?"

Kiana put on a serious expression as she turned the apple between her hands, as if trying to get the fruit to give her the answer.

"Mmm... no. But I had a dream I was drinking in a tavern and grinning like an idiot"

"...That's not a clue, Kiana."

"Of course!" "My instinct tells me he's near a city with cheap liquor!"

Arthur brought his hand to his forehead.

"Is that a Kaslana method too?"

"Exactly!"

He sighed and unfolded a map that one of the villagers had given him the night before.

"The nearest city is... Novosibirsk?"

Arthur frowned, looking at the map again as if that would change the name.

Kiana leaned over his shoulder.

"Novo... what?" asked Kiana.

"Novosibirsk. Sounds like a good place to find taverns, trouble, and possibly your father."

Kiana crossed her arms and nodded.

"Then let's go to Novosis... Novo... Nova... that weird city!"

"According to this... it's to the northeast." On foot... maybe three days.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Kiana...it's the other way"

Kiana stopped dead in her tracks, with one foot already raised in the opposite direction. She slowly lowered her leg, turned on her heels with all the dignity she could muster, and said:

"I was testing you. I wanted to see if you were paying attention"

Arthur looked at her without saying anything.

"... Did it work?" 

"No."

"Tch."

He sighed, puffed out his chest, and pointed decisively towards true northeast.

"Then, now for sure!" To conquer Novo-whatever-it-is!

I sighed. "Kiana, first we need to get blankets and food for that trip."

Kiana slowly lowered her arm, thoughtful, and murmured:

"Then first...¿Look for a store?"

Arthur nodded while checking the contents of the bag they used as a backpack.

"Store, market, or even a stall. Something where we can get blankets, dry food, maybe a flashlight, matches..."

"And pancakes."

"Kiana..."

"¡For the road!"

Arthur sighed.

"Alright, but only if there's money left over."

Kiana clasped her hands as if praying for that miracle.

Luckily, the performance we did gave us enough money.

Three days on foot.

And that, if we didn't stray off course.

This was going to be... interesting.