"...." I woke up with a start. My eyes flared open, and the mont I regained consciousness, I felt my entire body drenched in what appeared to be my own sweat.
It soaked the bedsheets beneath and made feel incredibly sticky. Despite that, I couldn't find it within to care about it I felt my heart race through my mind. 'What was that...?' It felt like a dream, and yet... Everything felt so vivid. Was this a vision? But since when did vision show the past? This didn't make sense at all. "Ukh...!" I held my head as I felt my head throb massively. The pain was so intense that I found myself groaning from it. Even when I was all battered up from the Vice-Chancellor I didn't feel this much pain. What in the world was happening? "You're awake." A soft voice jolted out of that state. When I turned my head, my entire body froze. It suddenly felt as if the very air had been sucked out of the room, and every single hair on my body stood. My breathing quickened slightly, and it took every part of to stop myself from showing the changes that were occurring to . Had it been the past, I would've struggled to do so, but right now? "...." In a few seconds, I was back to normal. With two familiar yellow pupils and golden hair, Atlas sat on the seat opposite my bed. His expression was warm as he looked at . "....How are you feeling?" "I'm fine." I forced myself to say with an even face. "That's good to know. You've been sweating quite a bit in your sleep. You sustained quite a heavy injury, but it's good that you are fine." He almost seed proud as he addressed . ".....It's a pity that I wasn't able to see it for myself, but I've heard all about it. To be able to withstand five strikes from the Vice-Chancellor of the Bremr Central Academy... I'm impressed. Not many people can do what you've done." Lifting himself up from his seat, he walked over to . I raised my head to look at him. Every part of my body scread as he approached , but I remained put. "You did good." He pressed his hand against my shoulder. "....You did very good. You've improved since the last ti that I saw you. It's nice to see that. Continue this way, and you will be rewarded." Those were the last words he said before leaving. Even as he left, I remained on my spot and stared in the direction of where he left. mories of the vision continued to replay in my mind. Thousand of questions flooded my mind, but those questions only led to more questions. Especially since Atlas's age suddenly beca a mystery to .
'If what I saw is real, then he's at least a thousand years old...' My mind throbbed with even more intensity, and just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I felt sothing tug at the back of my shirt. It was a familiar sensation that I had once felt before, and when I turned my head, I caught sight of a long thread that connected all the way up to the sky. "Ah." Yet again, I felt myself lose my breath. Staring up, I was yet again reminded of the large hand that lood over the sky. I knew it had all been an illusion back then, and I didn't quite understand why I had seen it back then, but now I knew... Bremr. No, the grail Estate. All of it was nothing but a puppet. A puppet for the faceless man. We...
Were all puppets. *
Things were quiet for the next few days. I took my ti to rest and recover from my injuries while also focusing on preparing for the upcoming play. There were many things that I wanted to do, but had no choice to set aside for later due to my current state. For now, my current priority was the play. "What is wrong with you?" Or at least, that was how things were supposed to go. Staring at Aoife who was sitting on the seat opposite , I could feel the frustration on her face. "Is that really the best that you can do? Why is it so difficult for you to do this part?" She was currently lecturing . Yes, I was currently being lectured. "...." The worst part? There was only one day until the main play, and we were currently practicing one of the most important scenes of the play. There was only one problem... ....I couldn't argue back at all. "Even I can do this. How is it so difficult for you?" There was only one day until the main play, and we were currently practicing one of the most important scenes of the play. There was only one problem... "You nailed every single part, but can't do this one? Aren't you an Emotive Mage? Can't you try to at least make yourself look like you fell in love with ? Your face is as flat as a cardboard." Indeed, my current struggles were all due to the fact that I couldn't make a face that made it seem as though I was in love. Everything else was easy. .....It was just that part that I wasn't capable of achieving. "Give so ti. I'll figure it out." "We don't have ti!" Aoife ruffled her hair in frustration. "We've been trying for the past three days. There's been little to no improvent! You keep saying the sa thing over and over again, and yet, you don't improve at all!" I could understand her frustration. She had been trying her best to help . The sa was true for the others, but I simply couldn't do it. I simply just... didn't know anything about love. 'Right, it's the only emotion that I've yet to unlock.' Just like with my spells. In order for to use them, I needed to unlock them. The process of unlocking my first two [Curse] spells was extrely long and arduous. ....I could still rember just how much I struggled just to learn those two spells. It was for that reason that I never bothered to do the sa for the [Love] emotion. I never once thought it would co to use for , and even then, I thought I'd eventually figure it out, but even as more than half a year had passed since I had been stuck in this world, I still hadn't unlocked it yet. For that reason, even as the wheel paused on [Love] several tis in the past, I received nothing. Without unlocking the spell, it was impossible for to learn anything related to it. 'This sucks.' Especially since I now only had one day left. How was I going to figure this out? 'Should I do like I did last ti...?' I lowered my head to stare at my forearm where a certain tattoo appeared. The idea was pretty straightforward. Use it on soone who was madly in love and replicate what they felt. ....It probably had the highest chance of getting there. With that being said, 'I feel like I'll throw up.' Especially since there was the very real possibility I might fall in love with the person in the mories I'm reading. The thought made my stomach churn, but turning my head and seeing Aoife's frown, I found myself scratching the side of my face. '....If it cos down to it, then I'll do it.' The play was sothing that I couldn't afford to half-ass.
Especially since what happened a few days back. Though we had so faults in the situation, I wouldn't say I liked the words that Olga had said to . This was sothing that I needed to do to prove her wrong, and at the sa ti, push myself to learn the last remaining emotion that I had held back. "Get up." Feeling a tug on my arm, I looked up to see Aoife pulling up with her arms. "What are you doing?" "....We have to go." "Where?" "Did you already forget? Today is the day the Four Empire Summit starts. We have to head over for the formal greeting." "Ah." There was indeed such a thing. Stretching my arms, I moved out of the bed and followed Aoife out of the room. "....." Coming out of the room and into the main streets of Bremr, I lost my breath at the sight that greeted .
A large shadow cast over the area, plunging everything into an eerie darkness. In the sky, an enormous wooden ship hovered, its massive bulk obscuring the sun and casting a dark pall over the city. The ship's side bore the unmistakable insignia of a large half-moon as it moved slowly toward the grail Estate. "It's those from the Verdant Empire. They're here." Aoife's tone lowered as she gazed at the ship in the air before nudging with her head. "Let's go. We need to hurry up." As Aoife beckoned with her hand, I stared at the ship with narrowed eyes. A thought suddenly crossed my mind as I stared at it. 'That Empire...' I licked my lips which had suddenly gone dry as I was reminded of a certain scene. '....It's not like this Empire, right?' *** "The city looks quite nice from here. It isn't too different from Carbinga." Several youths stood by the deck of the ship, overlooking the land beneath. Judging from their denour, they all seed relaxed as the ship approached the imposing structure that belonged to the grail Estate. "....It's alright, I guess." With his body leaned over the side of the ship, a young man with long black hair and gray eyes stared at the scene beneath with a lazy look. His appearance could hardly be described with words. Just one glance, and he'd attract the attention of anyone that was looking. It wasn't strange for him to be stopped in the middle of the street by won who wanted to get to know him, but he was indifferent to all of this. There were very few things that could excite him. His world was a boring one, and the reason he had co to the Summit was to see if there was anything worth entertaining him. "Why do you always act like this?" Approaching him from behind was a young girl with platinum hair and blue eyes. She had a gentle look on her face as she looked at the young man in front of her. "....You weren't like this in the past, All." "People change." The young man lazily replied as he looked at the city beneath. His eyes were squinted, and he seed to be looking for sothing. Too bad he couldn't find it from where he was. "Are you still hung up about that?" All blinked slowly before turning his head to stare at the girl. "....I'm not." He quietly mumbled, lazily stretching his neck in the process. "He's dead..." All repeated, his voice barely a whisper, as his eyelids grew heavy.
"My brother is dead."
Reviews
All reviews (0)