My existence was clouded with misunderstandings and lies.
This much was clear to .
I had already sowhat co clean to Leon, Delilah, and Aoife. However, that wasn’t enough. I knew that there was no longer a need for to hide any longer. There was no point, and it was, in fact, just hurting at this point.
"...I am not soone who belongs in this era."
The words flowed smoothly from my mouth. I didn’t feel any relief when saying the words, nor did I feel a weight lifted from my chest.
This just felt natural.
I had now reached a point where I no longer cared to keep my ’secret’ a secret.
But of course, I wasn’t stupid enough to completely co clean in front of them.
After all—
[◆ Main Quest Activated: Prevent the Calamities from awakening or dying.]
Aoife K. grail: Awakening
: Progress - 80%
Kiera Mylne: Awakening
: Progress - 75%
Evelyn J. Verlice: Awakening
: Progress - 69%
Staring at the screen that appeared before , I knew that I couldn’t completely co clean before them.
’I expected that the first vision would depict what would happen once the ter reaches 100%; however, it’s very clear that it’s not the case at all.’
I felt grim at the realization.
I had always worked around the quests to keep the ter to the lowest, in preparation for the first vision, but now that I understood what the first vision entailed, I realized that I had been misunderstanding the entire situation from the start.
And at the sa ti, I started to feel lost.
If the first vision didn’t refer to the calamity ter, then what exactly was the calamity ter...?
Looking at the three of them in front of , staring at in confusion as they each mumbled things like, ’What do you an you don’t belong to this era? What are you talking about? Why aren’t you saying anything...?’ I held myself back from coming completely clean as I struggled to understand the aning behind the calamity ter.
If the ter wasn’t related to the first vision, what was it related to...?
The Outer Beings?
The thought made my heart pause as I looked at the three of them, and as I saw their confusion grow, I spoke.
"...Have any of you experienced anything weird lately?"
"What?"
Kiera was the first one to speak, her brows furrowed extrely tightly as her crimson eyes locked with mine.
"Why are you suddenly asking a question like that after what you’ve just said? What do you an by you’re not from this era? Are you fucking around with us—"
"I’m not."
I cut Kiera off, my expression as serious as it could be.
"I’m asking you because it’s important."
I settled my gaze on both Evelyn and Aoife.
"Have the two of you been experiencing anything weird lately...? Or just anything in general. This is an important question that I need to ask in order to co clean to you guys. I need to understand sothing."
The three of them frowned, their heads turning to look at each other.
Their confusion was all too clear, and just when I thought I wouldn’t get anywhere, Aoife spoke.
"I hear voices in my head."
The room plunged into silence, all heads turning towards Aoife as she sat in her seat, eyes firmly locked in my direction.
"...I’ve been hearing voices in my head for quite so ti. I’ve been trying to ignore them, but they’ve been growing stronger with each passing year. Is this what you’ve wanted to hear?"
There was no change in her expression despite what she just revealed.
I was taken aback by her honesty, and for a mont, I didn’t know how to react.
But just as if that wasn’t enough, Aoife continued,
"The voices want to kill you."
A strange tension filled the room shortly after.
One that I felt all too clearly as Aoife’s gaze flickered over . For a brief mont, it felt as though she might lunge forward and strike. My body tensed, and my hands pressed firmly against the wooden armrests of the chair.
But then—
"Wow, I’ve always known you were a crazy bitch, but not to this extent."
Kiera’s voice disrupted the tension, her gaze alternating between the two of us before settling over to Aoife.
"...You really hearing voices?"
Aoife’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Kiera. She didn’t reply and just turned her attention back to as she muttered, ’Is this enough?’
I nodded before looking at Kiera.
"You?"
"...?" Kiera blinked her eyes, confused. But then, as if realizing what I was referring to, Kiera shook her head. "No, I’m not as crazy as her. I don’t hear any voices in my head."
"You don’t...?"
"No."
"Hmm."
I pinched the bottom of my chin, turning my attention towards Evelyn, who equally shook her head.
"No, not ."
’So neither Kiera nor Evelyn is experiencing the sa thing that Aoife is? Is her problem related to her ntal problems, or is there more to it?’
My head throbbed as I thought about the situation.
Of course, things weren’t going to be easy. Just when I thought that the situation was getting more complicated, Kiera suddenly spoke again.
"...I don’t hear voices, but... hmmm." Her brows furrowed for a mont as she hesitated. In the end, however, she set her sights on . "This whole situation... it feels like déjà vu. Like I’ve seen this happen before, sowhere in the past. Almost like a vision. I don’t know... maybe I’m just losing it."
"And you called crazy..."
"Oy."
Kiera’s head snapped in Aoife’s direction as she sat in her seat with her arms crossed, staring in Kiera’s direction with her brow raised.
I ignored the two and looked at Evelyn.
She shook her head again.
"No, nothing. I really don’t have anything."
"I see."
Evelyn’s percentage was the lowest, so it was possible that she never took notice of it. At the sa ti, however, I started to think about the things that Aoife and Kiera had both revealed to .
Neither was much, and it only served to add to the confusion, but they both provided useful information.
’I should take note of this for now and think more about it later.’
Turning my attention back towards them, I spoke up again.
"I don’t think any of you is crazy. In fact, there’s a high chance that what you’ve experienced is real, and sothing is residing inside of your body."
A tense silence followed my words as the three girls stopped.
I could see the confusion in their eyes as they looked at . I could also see the skepticism in their gazes, and knowing this, I finally ca clean to them.
"I said that I don’t belong to this era, right...? That’s not a lie. I don’t belong to this era. I belong to a far older era. One where... the seven unrecorded existed."
"...."
"...."
"...."
By now, the silence in the room had grown heavy, almost suffocating, as the girls’ expressions failed to mask their shock while they stared at . But as if the shock wasn’t enough, I added fuel to the fire.
"I am one of those seven unrecorded. To be precise, I am Oracleus."
If the silence a mont prior was suffocating, the current silence was different.
It was...
Smothering.
The girls’ eyes were wide, their mouths opening and closing repeatedly as they struggled to co to terms with my words. I could understand their reactions. Leon wasn’t any different in the past.
This was why I decided to give them a little bit of ti to recover from the shock.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for them to recover as Evelyn bit her lips, her voice the first one to drift across the room.
"...You’re not joking, right?"
"I’m not."
I turned towards Leon, who had been present the entire ti. He sat by his seat, his expression stern and cold as he looked back at Evelyn before nodding.
"He’s... likely not lying."
"Likely not lying? Are you—"
"That’s not important right now."
I cut Kiera off before she could go into her usual rant.
I wanted to make my position clear with the girls in order to make sure that all misunderstandings were cleared, and that I’d have nothing that would cause harm in the future.
"I am both Oracleus and not at the sa ti. Oracleus was , but my mories of the ti I was Oracleus are still unclear. I’m slowly regaining my mories, but the process is taking longer than I anticipated. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that I am him, and this is the reason why I asked all of you the previous question."
I alternated my gaze between the three of them.
"...The three of you aren’t normal. Although I don’t know exactly what’s going on with the three of you, I know that there’s sothing that I need to be extrely careful with you three. That’s why you shouldn’t dismiss anything that you’ve noticed. Be it the voices or the strange visions you saw in the past. If you detect anything, it is best if you tell anything and everything."
Once again, the girls went quiet.
I could see from their faces that they were struggling to co to terms with everything that I had revealed to them. I didn’t bla them for their reactions.
After all, their reactions were understandable.
’I would probably react the sa, if not worse, if soone suddenly ca to and told they were a god and that sothing was wrong with them.’
I’d even go as far as treating them as so sort of lunatic.
This was why I didn’t push any further after I said my piece. I waited for the three of them to slowly digest the information before speaking again.
This...
It was going to be a long talk.
However, it was going to be a long and necessary talk.
No more lies.
No more misunderstandings.
I could no longer afford to be indecisive.
I knew better than anyone that from this mont forward, the true fight was going to start.
For that, I wanted to start on a clean slate.
One where I wouldn’t have to worry about variables that I had allowed to grow.
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