"Oi, you alive? You probably won't hear this but it's kinda amazing that you're somehow asleep on the stone pathway."

I groan and swat the hand away when I felt someone poke my cheek. Groggily getting up, I rubbed my eyes a bit but suddenly felt one of my hands rub against leather. Oh right, I was told to wear an eyepatch, huh? ...wait. I suddenly sat up and hurriedly looked around, realizing I was no longer in the cafe. 

I was now in a town where pristine white buildings were either floating on small islands or stationed down on the huge landmass that I was on, complemented with azure, golden, and white flowers blossoming around the buildings and the cut grass hedges. It was very much like a royal garden that you would find in the Astrum kingdom, extravagant and beautiful to look at. The pathway that I was lying unconscious on was made up of light gray stones that lead to a similarly pristine royal castle over the horizon.  There were some benches where angels were sitting and ponds with weird-looking fishes too. ...and they were all looking at me, except the fish.

...this is bad. Really bad. I thought to myself as I gulped nervously, feeling like a deer caught in headlights. ...d-do I just ignore them or run away? I'd like to run away but that'd be too suspicious. ...w-what do I do?! Before I could do anything out of panic and perhaps embarrass myself, the voice I heard earlier ago spoke up again.

"Calm down, miss. No one here means any harm. We're just...surprised. They'll quickly lose interest though, don't worry."

I glanced beside me and saw a blonde spiky-haired male with a single streak of orange hair and silver eyes standing there, wearing black athletic shorts with white and yellow stripes, a black t-shirt with a white dragon, a bracelet with orange and blue colors, fingerless black gloves, and then white sneakers. As far as I can see, there were no wings on him at all. ...he sure looks sporty. Was he doing some jogging before finding me collapsed on the floor, snoring away...? I quickly averted my eyes away and coughed to myself while blushing, suddenly feeling very self-conscious about strangers possibly seeing me drooling and snoring on the stone pathway of all things.

"...you alright? People that enter Heaven sometimes end up in really awkward spots like appearing in a pond full of fishes, a water fountain, or the bathroom so I don't think your current position is that bad..." he asked as he tilted his head in confusion.

I sweatdropped at that, suddenly glad that mine wasn't as bad as I thought it was. I don't think I'd be able to live down the embarrassment of appearing in one of those places. Just imagining myself appearing there out of the blue and there are people around to see it fills me with dread. Experiencing it, on the other hand, would make me wish I was dead.

All of a sudden, I heard him cough, snapping me from my train of thought. I turned my attention back to him with a slight flush on my face, cursing myself mentally for the awkward first impression. Not wanting to go off into my mind palace again in case I make this even more awkward, I attempted to talk to him. ...except all I could do was open my mouth and then close it, words failing to come out of my mouth and my brain not knowing what to say. The male sent a small smile to me, clearly worried, causing me to groan as I buried my now red face into my hands. ...why did I accept that mission again? Like, I accepted it because I wanted to help out but...!

"By the way, judging from that uniform, are you perhaps a mage? It's unusual for a mage to appear here," the blonde inquired and I looked back up at him in surprise. "Most of us here, including me, are normal humans. Well, we're angels now but still."

...that means I'm gonna stick out like a sore thumb. It was surely something to lament but at the same time, that also meant I didn't need to deal with mages. Normal people treated me like an actual human being, compared to them. It's a little embarrassing but it's better than the harsh treatment that I dealt with most mages so I just need to push on!

"Y-yeah! It's not something that fancy, really!" I replied nervously, trying my best to ignore that some people were still staring. "...but still, an angel? You don't have wings though...?"

"Oh, that? I made mine disappear for now because I didn't want to risk accidentally slapping someone with them while jogging," he answered with a laugh and then timidly looked away, blushing. "I-it happened before so...y-yeah..."

Noticing that the mood got even more awkward, I desperately tried to change the subject, not wanting to have to deal with that silence again. "R-right! So what's your name? My name is Stella Valor!" I exclaimed, keenly aware that I wasn't subtle about it at all.

The blonde glanced back at me and smiled a little as if he appreciated it. "The name is Leo Albus. I serve as a guide for newcomers here in Heaven," he answered. "Still, the fact that you appeared near one is pretty fortunate! Normally, if you're not near one, a nearby angel has to report that a newcomer arrived to our higher-ups, and then a guide will try to get to you as fast as they can!"

"I'd have to just sit around and wait? Sounds like it'd be a pain for both the guide and the newcomer..." I commented with a frown, which Leo nodded his head in agreement to.

"Yeah, so you spared me from all that effort!" Leo admitted, chuckling. "Wish more cases were like this. Seriously, it's so stressful and inconvenient when it happens while I'm doing something. Like, I don't mind working hard but the job seriously pushes it way too much. I'd like to quit but there's nothing related to adventuring..."

"Are you not able to leave Heaven?" I asked and he shook his head in response. "How come? Is there like a rule over here regarding that?"

Leo let out a sigh, then averted his eyes to the side. "Sadly. They say it's for safety reasons but it's really frustrating for me," he admitted, frowning. "I've always wanted to be an adventurer and travel the world but I died before I ever got the chance. The town I lived in was near the outskirts so it was sorta exposed to monsters. I'm not new to fighting so I could stand my ground fairly well but...a group of abnormally strong monsters invaded our town one day. We tried our best but..."

I flinched, knowing all too well what he was talking about. It was a famous incident that happened a few years ago where a town near the outskirts of the Astrum kingdom was completely wiped off. Reports say that even when the reinforcements arrived there as fast as they could, there was absolutely nothing left by the time they arrived. It was basically a wasteland with numerous craters. There weren't even any corpses. Strangely enough, the monsters didn't bother aiming the other towns and targeted specifically that one. No one knew why and it remained a mystery, even now. A part of me wanted to ask him further about this but it felt wrong to do so. He was clearly upset about it and I didn't want to bring up more horrible memories. Probably better to ask when he's ready. ...whenever that is.

"So, what's a guide supposed to do anyway? Lead me around Heaven while telling important info?"

The blonde looked back at me, blinking his eyes in surprise. He expected me to pester further, huh? I thought with a frown. I can't blame him. Lots of people would want to know but...he doesn't need to revisit his past any further just for my benefit. So, at the very least, if I have to unravel that incident, I'll try to find another way if need be. Though how will I—. The sound of laughter interrupts my train of thought, causing me to turn my attention back to Leo and raise an eyebrow at him.

"Sorry, it's just I'm a little touched," he explained as he smiled at me. "Honestly, you're quite the kind and caring person, huh?"

"...eh? Ah, no, no, no! It's something that a normal person would do! It's nothing special!" I blurt out, clearly in denial. "It's only common sense! ...yeah, common sense!"

"...if you say so," the angel responded as he chuckled to himself, but soon glanced towards the castle. "...well, I think it's about time I actually did my job as a guide instead of us chatting here for who knows how long. First things first, it's mandatory for me to bring you to the castle so you can be recorded as proof that you're here. We can continue talking while walking towards there, alright?"

I nodded my head in agreement. "Sure, I don't mind. Besides, I was getting tired of just sitting on this rock pavement..."

The two of us stood up and started walking side by side towards the castle. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Leo glance sideways at me. "So, how did you get here then?" he questioned, causing me to internally groan. "I sure hope it's not a painful death. It'd be kinda sad if someone like you were to suffer something like that..."

How should I respond to that question...? I could lie about it but there's a chance his superiors will know about situations like mine, causing that lie to backfire on me and ruin his trust in me. Aware that he was waiting on me, I let out a "hmm", making it clear to him that I was deep in thought. I could only hope it didn't come across as suspicious.  Right now, honesty seems like the best way to go but...would he believe that? ...then again, Leo could always just verify the info with others. I'm sure there have been others like me that got here with the method that was used for me, right? It would be awkward if there wasn't...

"I'm not completely sure about the details but I think I got sent here to Heaven as a living human, rather than dying and being sent here," I admitted, silently noting his shocked reaction as he stopped walking. "It's probably related to the eye? I was told to wear an eyepatch and cover my right eye to reach a certain place so..."

"Really?! Wow, there's actual magic that can do that?! That's amazing!" Leo gushed excitedly, leaning towards me with his silver eyes sparkling. "So what happens if you cover your left eye instead and not the right eye? What happens if you don't wear an eyepatch? Will you go back to the real world? Can you bring someone from here back to there? Can you take me back there? ...actually, would I need permission for that? ...probably..."

Feeling overwhelmed from the bombardment of questions he hurled at me, I quickly waved my hands back and forth in front of me, trying to get him to stop or at least slow down. "Wait, wait, wait! Just a moment, please! I can't keep up!" I exclaimed frantically, caught off-guard by his reaction. "B-besides, I genuinely don't know! I was hardly told anything about it other than the fact that I'll need the eyepatch and that it feels like my eyes changed..."

"Your eyes changed...? Your eye color wasn't that light yellow to begin with...?" the angel asked, turning his attention to my left eye.

"...eh? It's not brown?" I inquired and the blonde nodded his head. "...I...didn't know that..."

I wonder if that's a side effect of what Rex did. I detect no magic on me so I assume it's a different kind of power that doesn't rely on that. ...I haven't heard of any kind of power like this though... With a sigh, I continued walking and the blonde did the same, who was probably still curious but decided it was better to ask his superiors about it. ...speaking of Rex, I still have questions regarding him. The strange magic, him being sad about me not knowing him, and him stating that I'll be one of his Apostles. I wonder, is he connected to a religion somehow? I remember the term Apostle being used by acolytes whom they would refer to as one of their superiors, especially since they said that word when making those empty threats at me.

"Looks like we're here now."

That sentence brings me out of my mind palace and I turned my attention to what was in front of me. The castle entrance stood in front of me, which were two white marble doors that had golden decorations with star emblems embedded into them. Wait, stars? Was this castle made to reflect the same royal castle back in reality? I frowned and turned to ask that question to the blonde but saw him shrug his shoulders before I could say anything. Guess that question was asked a lot, huh? ...makes me wonder how he feels about being asked the same questions over and over again...

"Before we enter, let me clarify one thing. I heavily advise against asking questions to the regulators," the male warned as he went forward and put a hand on the doorknob. "They don't take it too kindly when newcomers do that. In their eyes, those newcomers will become suspicious, and well, could potentially go really badly. So, just leave it to me to get info for us, alright?"

"I-I see. I'll keep that in mind..." I replied, suddenly worried as to what that could be implying. "I'll leave it to you then..."

"Anyways, you ready? We won't do much paperwork this time, thankfully, since your situation is unique," he admitted with a laugh. "Doing paperwork all day long is such a pain."

I chuckle a little in response and nod my head. "Yeah, might as well get this over with."

With that, the angel opens the door and we walk inside.