Chapter 245 Diary [1]
245 Diary [1]
It took
a while to piece together my mories completely. Rembering the ti when I had lost all my mories was relatively easy to digest.
On the other hand, recalling the events after I erged from the Dragon Will was much more challenging.
The mories were fragnted, and they weren't exactly pleasant.
But gradually, they too started to make sense.
"Ah, I see..."
I turned my head in a specific direction.
There, I t two pairs of eyes. They stared back at
with complex expressions, and I shrugged.
"I didn't expect things to turn out like this."
Glancing at my status window, I switched to the quest log.
[ ◆ Main Quest Activated: Survive the cultist.]
: Character Progression
385%
: Ga Progression
11%
Failure
: Calamity 1
7%
: Calamity 2
9%
: Calamity 3
13
Indeed, the quest was still active. I vividly rembered receiving it right after entering the strange fog.
My mories of that ti were still sowhat hazy, but I recalled receiving the quest and the vision that accompanied it.
...In that vision, I saw everyone seated rows as the Archbishop prepared for the blood ritual.
It was a suffocating sight, where I felt helpless watching everyone perish before my eyes.
It was also in that vision that I noticed soone standing beside the Archbishop.
It was Kaelion.
Yes, he had betrayed everyone, just as he was doing now.
I was rely speaking nonsense when I said what I said he did well.
...He had indeed betrayed everyone, and I was ensnaring him.
'I am now holding onto your weakness.'
If I could use soone, I intended to do so. Like Owl-Mighty, I planned to employ anyone who could aid my cause.
So what if they had tried to kill
at one point... If they proved useful to , it didn't matter.
It made things simpler for .
...It ant I didn't have to form attachnts.
"Hey, you bastard!"
A voice interrupted my thoughts. Turning back, I locked eyes with soone.
Her expression seed a mix of emotions, but anger was definitely present.
"...I won't ask you anything now, but this hurts. Would you mind?"
"Oh, right."
Looking around, I saw everyone nailed to their seats and scratched the back of my head.
"...I almost forgot."
Turning to Kaelion, who obediently nodded, I moved to help the other cadets. They glared at him, but their intensity had faded to confusion.
"Damn, it hurts."
Kiera groaned as I removed the nails holding her in place. She winced but otherwise didn't seem overly bothered.
"There."
Blood stained the floor where I removed the nails. Kiera quickly channeled her mana to stem any further bleeding, but she would need professional care.
There were also so cadets with missing limbs. I couldn't help in that regard, and the only way was through so really expensive dicine that the Empire was probably going to provide as compensation for the situation.
Or at least, I hoped that would be the case.
I wasn't quite sure whether they'd actually do that.
"Ugh, go help the others."
Kiera said, rubbing her neck while muttering to herself, 'Damn, this hurts more than I thought.'
Seeing that I was still looking at her, she raised her head and waved her hand dismissively.
"I'll ask later."
"....."
I nodded without saying a word and went on to help the others. I started with the people that I deed were in the most critical condition. Those with missing limbs or who were on the verge of dying.
The blood had all been taken by the Archbishop, and thus I couldn't find a way to help them.
"Here, get so rest."
Helping a cadet from the Aurora Empire down, I shifted my attention towards Aoife.
"....."
She didn't say anything as I helped her take off the nails that bound her.
"Tell
if it hurts."
She nodded silently as I assisted her in removing the nails. She didn't even flinch throughout the entire process which was a little surprising.
'I guess she must have a high pain tolerance.'
"As a princess, I've been trained since childhood to endure this level of pain. It's so that if I'm ever tortured, I won't reveal anything."
"Oh."
That made sense.
She was indeed the cadet who scored highest in the pain tolerance test.
That explained it.
"...You were gone for quite a while."
"So I was."
Finishing with her left hand, she spoke again. This ti, her words were a lot softer. It was almost as if she was scared of my reaction.
"In the ti you were gone, I beca the Black Star."
Her words made
pause. Raising my head, our eyes t.
"You finally noticed."
Aoife spoke, her gaze piercing.
"You act like you don't care, but you do care about the title, don't you?"
"...A little."
It made things a lot easier for .
I regretted losing the title, but it was understandable. I had been absent for almost half a year.
Soone had to fill the role while I was away.
Besides, her strength seed to have increased significantly.
She wasn't a bad Black Star.
But what about Leon? Did he decline the role?
I wouldn't be surprised if he had.
It seed typical of him.
"Do you want the title back?"
Aoife's unexpected question caught
off guard. As I paused, our eyes t again.
"If you want it, I can give it back to you. I didn't earn the role, so you can have it. I'll retrieve it. Yeah, I'll get it back. Don't overthink it. I'll be fine."
'...Your tone suggests otherwise.'
I held back those words and focused on removing the remaining nails.
"Why aren't you answering?"
Despite her persistent questioning, I continued to ignore her. She wasn't in the right state of mind; emotions were clouding her judgnt.
I couldn't bla her.
But deep down, I knew there was truth in much of what she said.
"Let's discuss it later."
After removing the final nail, I wiped my hands and prepared to move on.
"Hey, wait."
But just before I could leave, Aoife stopped . Turning to her, I t her gaze.
She hesitated, opening and closing her mouth several tis. The word that she wanted to say never truly left her mouth as her mouth continued to open and close like a fish out of the water. It would've been funny had my cara been here.
But it wasn't.
Frowning, I waited.
"If you don't have anything to say, I'm leaving."
"Ah..."
A sound escaped her lips, followed by words.
"...It's good to see you back."
Taken aback I looked at her for a brief mont. Then, registering the words that ca out of her mouth, I let out a short breath before turning around.
"Hmm."
I nodded slightly, a small smile forming on my lips.
"Thank you."
It was good to be back.
Not just in terms of mories, but for my sanity.
My issues...
They had all been resolved. The voices had ceased, and my mind felt clear. It was an unfamiliar sensation, one I hoped would endure.
It was this feeling that truly made
realize that I was back to normal.
....It felt really liberating.
But of course, now was not the ti to think about it.
'I should stop wasting ti.'
After assisting Aoife, I moved on to aid the remaining cadets. Finally, I reached Leon, who appeared sowhat disgruntled.
Stopping before him, we exchanged glances.
Despite the gag in his mouth, his eyes conveyed his thoughts.
'What took you so long?'
His expression seed to say.
"...I don't play favorites."
'Ha! You helped everyone else before ! If you don't have favorites, you have an undesired advantage!'
"You're imagining things."
'Yes, you're probably right.'
'No, that's not what I said.'
"Tsk."
I clicked my tongue.
He was adept at reading my mind, too.
Shaking my head, I began removing his nails. It was a quick process, and soon he was free. He was in a pretty sorry state, more so than the others, but unlike them, he didn't seem to care about his body as he started to massage his muscles.
"Ukh."
He groaned in pain several tis before raising his head to look at . There seed to be a lot of things that he wanted to say to .
"Spit it out."
It was only after I urged him to speak that he finally spoke.
"You've been here all along. Why didn't you say anything? If I had known, I wouldn't have..."
Leon paused, his face twitching.
"Betrayed ?"
I finished his sentence, and he pursed his lips.
"I was just—"
"No, it's fine. I don't hold a grudge."
I cut him off before he could make excuses.
I definitely didn't hold a grudge for what he did back then when he exposed '' in front of everyone.
"I wasn't in the right state of mind anyway. What you saw was , but not
at the sa ti. You're fine."
"Ah, now I get it."
Suddenly, realization dawned on Leon.
"You left
for last because you hold a grudge."
"You're overthinking."
That wasn't it, but unfortunately, Leon seed convinced of his analysis.
"It is, isn't it!"
"No, it's not."
"....I didn't know you were this type of person."
"Then what did you think I was?"
"Hmmm."
Leon frowned before eventually, his face twisted.
"No, you're right. You're like this."
"....."
Shaking my head, I turned away from him and approached the Archbishop's body.
"What are you doing?"
Leon called from behind. I glanced at him before answering.
"Hmm, just checking sothing."
Approaching, I studied the transford body for a mont. It looked nothing like before, almost monstrous.
There were many questions I wanted answers to. Without hesitation, I pressed my hand against its body and activated my skill.
'Let's uncover your secrets.'
"..."
I stood with my hand on the Archbishop's body, waiting for a response. But to my surprise, my skill didn't work.
"Uh?"
Confused, I checked my arm, but the tattoo was still there. It was confusing, and I struggled to hide my surprise. I could feel the curious glances from those behind , whispering among themselves.
'Why isn't it working? Is sothing preventing ... Ah.'
Suddenly, realization struck as I glanced at one of the vials on the ground.
"The blood."
My heart raced with sudden insight.
'Could the blood be blocking
from reading his mories? Wait, could it also be the reason why I lost my mories?'
Pursing my lips, I glanced around before quickly searching the Archbishop's body. I patted it all over in search for sothing.
"Julien?"
Turning, I felt all eyes on . I opened my mouth, pausing briefly before saying,
"Stay here and rest. I need to investigate sothing."
"Huh? Where are you...?"
"Rest. I'll be back soon. I can't promise it's safe out there."
Without waiting for objections, I left. As I walked, my heart quickened.
For so reason, I had a strong feeling that I was about to uncover a clue related to my sudden arrival in this world.
The Seven Gods.
It had to be connected sohow.
Reviews
All reviews (0)