The deputy commander still hadn’t woken up.
The head of the outpost’s words were enough to stir a deep sense of unease within . At this point, after so much ti had passed, the deputy commander should have woken up by now.
People like the deputy commander, who are accustod to constant fatigue, usually can’t sleep for more than 12 hours without waking up due to back pain, hunger, or other reasons.
"Have you tried waking him?"
"…That’s why I’m asking you. Was there anything strange that happened while you were dealing with that foreign shard?"
This wasn’t sothing we could overlook.
I headed straight to the deputy commander’s office at the knight's headquarters to check on him. The person who opened the door for was the knight commander.
“Commander.”
I straightened my posture and saluted, but she tilted her head in confusion.
“Why do you greet that way?”
Perhaps I had been a bit too rough when dealing with the chef earlier, but if I’d known she was the knight commander, I wouldn’t have acted like that.
She still didn’t seem to fully recognize her position as the knight commander. It was no use if she forgot everything right after turning around.
But that wasn’t the issue at hand.
I quickly explained that there was an urgent matter and asked for permission to enter. She stepped aside, allowing to approach the deputy commander.
I placed my fingers near his nose, worried that he might be dead, but fortunately, he was still breathing.
“Deputy commander, it’s ti for duty.”
I wasn’t exactly being polite, but given the circumstances, I felt it was necessary to shake him awake carefully. But just as the outpost head had said, the deputy commander showed no signs of waking up.
What should I do?
My head throbbed as I struggled to co up with a solution.
“Commander, how many people have been here to check on him?”
“Hmm.”
The commander thought for a mont, then nodded and said, “Those two who always travel together ca by.”
…She must be referring to Alpha and Beta. As the deputy commander’s direct subordinates, they would have checked on him imdiately.
At least the rest of the knight order wasn’t aware of the situation yet, which was a relief. If word got out that the deputy commander was unable to wake up due to the influence of a foreign shard, all of Rondan would descend into chaos.
Ti was of the essence.
“Commander, I’ll be taking one of the sleeping potions with .”
“Hmm? Understood.”
It was a formality to report my actions, but I did it nonetheless. Grabbing one of the sleeping potions, I hurried back to the knights’ resting quarters and quickly swallowed the potion before falling asleep.
Darkness enveloped my consciousness.
What should have been a typical dreamlike state—unconscious and drifting—was instead one where I had full control over my body and limbs.
The reason was clear.
“Well, you’re here already?”
Nytriche.
The foreign shard who managed dreams had intervened.
Nytriche approached with a friendly smile, but I wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries. As she got closer, I grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Huh? What’s gotten into you?”
“The deputy commander still hasn’t woken up.”
I wasn’t sure why her face flushed for a mont, but her expression quickly turned serious when she heard my words.
“What?”
“I thought it might be the lingering effects of the sleeping potion, but no matter how much I shake him, he won’t wake up.”
Nytriche sighed heavily, running a hand over her forehead, her expression growing more somber.
“Now that you ntion it, there’s one consciousness that still hasn’t disappeared. I figured it would resolve itself in ti.”
“Could it be because I interfered with that dream earlier?”
I recalled the dream that had been blocking our path earlier. I’d intervened because I couldn’t just pass by it, but ssing with soone’s unconscious mind wasn’t exactly a great idea.
It could easily lead to problems.
But Nytriche shook her head.
“No, that’s not it. The owner of the dream you interfered with has already woken up.”
“Oh, really?”
Knowing that I hadn’t caused any issues eased my guilt sowhat. But if that wasn’t the cause, then what was?
“The human unconscious isn’t sothing that’s invulnerable to disruption, even if it appears stable.”
Nytriche tossed out a new idea as she began to explain.
“Imagine a strong stream of water hitting a rock. At first, the rock might seem fine, just a little worn down. But if the water keeps hitting it, over ti it erodes completely.”
Boom.
Nytriche stomped her foot, producing a loud sound as if to mimic the crash of a crumbling rock. I jumped a little at the noise—not that I’d admit it.
“…So, it would eventually break?”
“Exactly. It’ll split and collapse. The unconscious is no different. Just because soone can handle it now doesn’t an they won’t eventually break. And it seems that’s what happened in this case.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
I now understood that the deputy commander had sohow fallen into a deep sleep because his unconscious mind had collapsed. But what was the solution?
Surely Nytriche had a plan, otherwise, she wouldn’t have explained all this.
Her expression grew even more serious.
“There’s only one way. It’s similar to what you did yesterday—you need to enter his dream directly.”
“…You want to ddle with his unconscious mind?”
“That’s right. You’ve got it.”
Interfering with soone’s unconscious mind…
There’s a saying when dealing with depressed patients: you should simply listen to what they say without offering instructions or making decisions for them. Trying to control the situation can do more harm than good.
Wasn’t the deputy commander’s condition even worse than that?
A ntal scar deep enough to cause the unconscious mind to collapse…
Was it really okay for to enter his dream and ddle with his mind?
What if my interference only made things worse?
“You’re having foolish thoughts, aren’t you?”
It must have shown on my face, because Nytriche smirked at with a mix of amusent and mockery.
“…What do you an by foolish thoughts?”
“Let guess, you’re thinking ‘who am I to ss with his unconscious mind?’ Right?”
“…Yeah, sothing like that.”
Nytriche sighed in exasperation.
“You just woke up after eating sothing made from the flesh of a foreign shard, didn’t you?”
“…That’s true.”
“And now, after putting your body through that, you’re hesitating? You’re like soone who cooks an elaborate al, sits down at the table, and then suddenly says, ‘I don’t feel like eating.’ It’s ridiculous.”
…Nytriche had a real knack for using analogies that perfectly captured the situation. Her tone was lighthearted, and her expressions made the whole thing oddly entertaining.
Thanks to that, my worries began to fade a little.
“…You’re right. Thanks, Nytriche.”
“If you’re really thankful, start thinking of what we’ll do for fun next ti. Words are nice, but actions are better.”
“Haha, got it. I’ll co up with sothing amazing.”
“Good. I’m looking forward to it.”
She flashed a bright smile and gave a thumbs-up. I couldn’t help but smile back.
Nytriche took my hand, and we approached the black sphere that seed a bit larger than before.
“This is it. Once you go inside, you’ll enter his consciousness—what you’d call a ‘dream.’”
Nytriche turned to .
“Are you ready?”
“…Yeah, I’m ready.”
With the knight commander incapacitated, the future of the Rondan Knight Order depended on the deputy commander. He was the pillar holding everything together, and without him, we were in a state of ergency.
I had to restore him, no matter what.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Nytriche entered the black sphere first, pulling along with the hand she held.
The mont we entered the black sphere, a fierce wind swept over us.
Or rather, that was the dream’s setting.
It was as if the sky had a gaping hole, dumping endless snow down onto the ground, making it nearly impossible to see.
“Is this…”
Sothing about this place felt familiar.
Yes.
This was the mountain before we reached the distant snowy giant—the snowy mountain.
“Commander, it’s too dangerous!”
A desperate voice echoed in the storm.
Piecing everything together, I realized what dream the deputy commander was trapped in.
The Snowy Mountain Expedition Disaster.
He was still stuck in the nightmare of that tragic event.
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