Swaaah—
Waves rippled gently, following the quiet breeze.
The fox lifted her eyelids, catching the salty scent brushing past her nose.
Lukewarm air caressed her cheek.
“......”
What stretched out before her was none other than an endless, boundless sea.
Warm sunlight tangled with her crimson hair.
Only a familiar silence lingered in her ears.
It was a strange sight.
Gently undulating waves.
A surface of water that extended without end.
The pale blue backdrop was like a painted sea.
The fox realized she was inside a nightmare.
‘This is...’
Her back pressed against sothing hard.
When she turned around at the unfamiliar sensation, rusted iron bars stood upright, surrounding her.
The surface was worn and corroded by ti.
A one-cell prison standing alone in the middle of the ocean.
The girl let out a bitter smile.
‘...It’s been a while.’
The dream that had tornted her for years.
The nightmare she had rarely seen after being with him.
A faint sense of déjà vu shimred in her mind.
You will be trapped in eternity.
In a place where one hour feels like a year, where you will et no one, where you will serve a thousand-year sentence.
Is your heart truly strong enough to carry such a burden of sin?
So this was the "ntal realm" they spoke of.
Was this a reflection of her unconscious?
Or was this prison above the sea truly a representation of her own inner self?
The loneliness she thought she had forgotten now pierced her heart again, sharp and unforgiving.
Irene had to look away.
“......”
A field of vision filled with a refreshing clarity, like a sumr day.
Waves rippling gently.
The shallow seabed just beneath the surface.
Because of that, the lapping seawater ca up to her ankles—
Yet her clothes and tail were completely dry.
A clear indication that this was a dream.
Her body wavered slightly.
‘It’s so quiet.’
Whoooosh—
A sea breeze tousled her hair.
As the wind swept through her, the fox slowly sank down, leaning against /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ the rusted bars.
The old iron groaned with a dull creak.
Creak.
But she didn’t care. The fox hugged her knees.
Beyond the bars, there was nothing.
Only the hollow movent of the waves.
As her gaze fixed on the distant horizon, a vague lethargy settled on her shoulders.
Blue ocean filled her dark eyes.
Irene looked as fragile as if she might shatter at any mont.
“...There really is no one here.”
She muttered faintly.
This place was lonely.
As if the entire landscape had been shaped to isolate her.
There wasn’t a trace of another presence—no life, not even a single sign.
Only the sea and the sun existed in this desolate expanse.
The girl was utterly, perfectly alone.
“How long do I have to wait?”
The silence sank further.
The scenery was beautiful, in a way.
But it was also unbearably cruel.
The girl shook off the creeping gloom and let herself drift into thought.
It was about a certain boy.
Irene.
The fox let out a faint smile.
Her eyes gently closed.
And though her lips moved, no sound escaped.
It was a monologue that filled the void.
“Co quickly.”
Maybe it was weakness.
A hint of fear—she confessed her own fragility.
“A world without you... is this lonely.”
Swaaah—
Only the sound of the waves remained in her ears.
This was the very first day of the thousands she had to endure.
The fox waited in silence.
***
When I returned to the academy after hearing the news,
everything was already over.
“There were only the corpses of the attackers left at the scene.”
“Regia carried Irene on her back and ran all the way to the staff infirmary.”
“We issued an imdiate lockdown across the academy.”
“We have no excuse for the delay in our response.”
It was Professor Cardell’s voice, explaining what had happened.
I could only stand there, listening to the noise that barely registered in my ears, while staring down at the fox lying in the hospital bed.
Perhaps noticing the way my expression had slipped,
Cardell hesitated awkwardly beside , then uncharacteristically patted my back a couple of tis.
His next words were a clumsy attempt at comfort.
“Irene protected the academy.”
“Everyone at the academy owes her their lives.”
“You have my condolences.”
I said nothing.
I didn’t know what I was supposed to say in front of what I was seeing.
Irene remained perfectly still.
As if peacefully asleep.
A state of inner sleep.
According to the infirmary’s report, the fox was trapped inside her ntal world.
It was the price for forcibly drawing out the power that lay dormant within her.
As I looked down at the girl who had fought alone, Selena, standing beside , finally opened her mouth.
Her voice, for once, was quiet and cautious.
I turned to look gently at the drunkard.
“Yuda...”
“How is Irene’s condition?”
“She’s trapped in her ntal world... There’s no imdiate danger to her life, but I can’t say if her mind will survive it.”
“......”
Of course.
A ntal world isn’t like reality—it has its own internal logic.
The most notable example being the flow of ti.
While one hour passes in reality, a year passes in the ntal world.
That’s why they were so concerned about the fox’s ntal state.
Because ti, given enough of it, will erode everything.
“How long has it been?”
“Roughly... five hours.”
“That ans it’s already been five years for her.”
There was no ti to waste.
Even now, Irene was enduring eternity.
While I stood there silently, a girl’s trembling hand tugged at my sleeve.
It was Regia, who had been clutching the fox’s hand at the bedside the entire ti.
Tears streaked down her pink cheeks as her voice broke.
“It’s all my fault.”
“Regia.”
“Irene got hurt because of ... because she was trying to protect soone like ...”
“Don’t cry. This isn’t anyone’s fault.”
“I was too weak... I’m still not strong enough, and I just got in the way.”
“It was just a bad situation, that’s all.”
I gently tried to reassure the pilot.
She had simply been a target. She had no reason to bear guilt.
If anyone was to bla—
It had to be .
I was the one who had failed to uphold the responsibility I had promised.
I should’ve protected her.
I hadn’t predicted the cult’s movents.
Of all days, it was today—when I had stepped away to discuss counterasures for the academy’s defense.
I hadn’t expected the timing of their infiltration to overlap.
I clenched my fist tightly, furious at my own complacency.
My nails dug into flesh and left a sting.
I am...
It was in tis like this that I always rembered.
I am not a god.
I am neither omnipotent, nor omniscient.
Even when facing tomorrow, I am still just an ignorant puppet.
As I tried to calm the storm inside, Selena asked a question.
She wanted to know what I was thinking.
“As far as records show... there are almost no cases of recovery from a state like Irene’s.”
“Most people who enter such a state remain unconscious for the rest of their lives.”
“What do you intend to do now, Yuda?”
“...Well, I intend to fulfill my duty.”
I answered.
Without a single trace of hesitation.
“I’m going to save Irene. Even if I have to intervene directly.”
“If you’re talking about direct intervention... don’t tell you an entering her ntal world?”
“You heard correctly.”
Selena was visibly appalled.
She furrowed her brow and looked at as if I were insane.
The red in her eyes shimred with sothing almost mournful.
“You know how dangerous that is, Yuda.”
“Life is always lived alongside danger.”
“This isn’t about danger! We’re talking about sothing considered impossible!”
Her voice rose with emotion.
And I understood her reaction.
To enter soone else’s ntal world...
Was like trying to swim in molten lava.
The process of intruding upon the psyche of an established consciousness carried endless risks.
If things went wrong, the intruder could be absorbed into the ntal world entirely.
That’s why the inner realm—the heartform—was treated as sacred, untouchable.
And I had just declared I would break through it.
“I have a responsibility.”
What’s truly important is invisible to the eye.
Just as the rose was precious to the prince in the fairy tale, the fox was precious to because of the ti I had spent with her.
People, through the generations, had long forgotten that truth.
But I hoped I never would.
“I have to go.”
What is tad must be cared for.
That is why I must take responsibility for my rose.
Just like in that story.
“......”
My eyes held a firm, unwavering resolve.
Our gazes t—cool and sharp.
Perhaps she realized that I wasn’t going to back down.
Selena, who had been watching in silence, finally let out a complicated sigh.
It was the face of soone craving a stiff drink.
“You’re not going to listen even if I try to stop you, are you.”
“Sorry I’m such a stubborn student.”
“Well, at least you’re self-aware.”
In the end, the teacher gave in to her student.
There was no ti to waste on arguing.
The drunkard reached out and took my hand.
“I’ll assist you. I’ll do what I can to make the entry even a little safer.”
“That’s a huge help. Thank you.”
Waves of mana stirred.
I could feel my consciousness beginning to drift, hazy. Without hesitation, I unfurled the shadow.
I gently touched Irene’s forehead with my outstretched fingers.
The softly blooming light resembled that of a distant star.
I closed my eyes, ready to begin.
Snap—!
A sharp crack echoed as my fingers snapped together.
I completed the illusion even as I flicked my hand.
And in the next mont—
“......”
Swaaah—
When I opened my eyes again—
The quiet hum of waves reached my ears.
I stood in the middle of a vast ocean.
What followed was a stretch of wandering.
I crossed crystal-clear waters, cut through calm waves, and sailed across a sea of ignorance.
The small shadow-woven skiff perford its task faithfully.
How many breaths had I drawn beneath the ocean wind by then?
“Haa...”
By my own sense of ti, it had already been over half a year.
The scenery here resembled the "nightmare" Irene used to ntion often.
It seed her unconscious had indeed influenced the shape of this ntal world.
Worried for the fox who must be enduring this hellish loneliness, I steadied my heart and rowed onward with oars carved from shadow.
With the belief that sowhere beyond the horizon, the girl who waited for still remained.
I crossed the sea for a long ti.
And then—
“......”
At last, I arrived.
A prison floating atop the surface of the sea.
Just as Irene had once described, a one-cell cage.
Through the bars, I caught a glimpse of orange hair.
I turned the bow of the boat toward her.
Swaaah—
Gentle waves rippled through the surroundings.
At the center of that still scene, the fox sat quietly with her eyes closed.
From her pale complexion, she looked completely drained by long solitude.
Tear stains traced clearly down her white cheeks.
It was ti to bring her back.
Across this worn and weathered sea—
Back to the ho we shared.
Together.
I knocked on the bars from outside the cage.
A soft tallic echo spread outward.
Clang, clang—
“......?”
The unfamiliar sound stirred her.
Her eyelids, long shut, slowly lifted.
Her stiffly frozen head turned, and black eyes ca into view.
Reflected in their clear surface was a single golden-haired boy.
Her eyes, lifeless until now, began to tremble.
I waved at her.
A quiet smile curved across my lips.
Our gaze—eting—resembled a distant mont in ti.
Like the first ti we t.
It’s a pleasure to et you.
You probably have no idea how long I’ve waited to see you.
Just like back then, I smiled.
A quiet monologue colored the scenery.
“Irene.”
I told you.
I wouldn’t leave you alone.
“I’m sorry I made you wait so long.”
The serpent had found the fox.
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