“You’re free to go.” “Eh?”
“What’s with that look of yours?”
“No, it’s just that…”
I’m free to go?
Like that? Just free…?
“You think that you should be staying here more?”
I hesitantly nodded my head.
“…Yes.”
Usually, I would stay for a bit longer than the time that I had currently spent. Furthermore, with everything that had happened, surely there was more to check, right?
“What for?”
“For my injuries?”
“Which are?”
“Eh…”
Opening my mouth, I was left stumped.
Thinking about it, what were my injuries? In fact, was I even injured in the first place? Checking my body to see for any injury, I realized that I wasn’t injured at all.
I was as healthy as I could be.
Then…?
“The only issue you had was with a foreign entity taking place in your body, right? That’s not something that I can handle and since the Chancellor and the others are not here, what is the point in keeping you here? That is unless you want to stay here…”
As the Doctor’s eyes narrowed, I shook my head.
“No, no.”
I desired nothing more than to leave this place. By now, I was frequenting this place so much that it almost felt as though it had become my second residence.
I couldn’t let that be true.
“Okay, go. I’ve got other things to do.”
“Yes.”
Without further thought, I picked up my stuff and returned to the dorms. The distance wasn’t far, about a five-minute walk.
It was dark outside, and a faint breeze wafted in the air.
‘I wonder if they’ll leave things be for now?’
The fact that I was possessed was now something most of the higher-ups within the Academy were aware of, and although it was currently contained, it was still not completely taken care of.
I was worried they might try something later.
The thought only made me reinforce my thoughts about hurrying up and getting Kiera to lend me the mirror.
Creak!
As I opened the door of the residence, I saw faint lights coming from the nearby common
room.
“People are still awake at this time?”
Surprised, I checked the time.
Sure enough, it was; 02:53 A.M.
“Who’s awake at this hour?”
Curious, I decided to get a better look. Either way, I had to head to my room which was in the same direction. A thought occurred to me as I drew closer.
‘Surely it’s not Theresa, right?’
I did recall her being quite addicted in the past.
“Ah, fuck! This is too much!”
My steps came to an abrupt halt when I heard a familiar voice shouting in frustration. It was none other than Kiera.
“Eh? What is she doing awake at this hour?”
Kiera wasn’t the type to stay awake at this hour.
Something didn’t add up with the situation. Curious, I decided to get a better look.
“…I want to die.”
The closer I got the more hysterical Kiera’s complaints became. It also made me more curious. What exactly was torturing her so much?
Why was she…?
“Stop shouting. I’m trying to focus.”
As another voice suddenly rang, my brows jumped up a little.
‘Aoife?’
She was also awake?
What in the world were the two doing up at his hour?
“It’s easy for you to say.”
“…It’s not. I just don’t waste time complaining like you do. The more time you waste complaining the harder it is to focus.”
“She’s right, you know.”
“Ah, fuck.”
A third voice sounded and my confusion only grew from there.
‘Evelyn? Why is Evelyn also there…?’
Was there some sort of event that I wasn’t aware of? Unable to hold my curiosity any longer, I
decided to directly enter the common room.
“You two wouldn’t get it. For you it might be easy-”
As if sensing my presence, all three stopped talking and turned their heads in my direction.
“Oh, you’re here.”
“Uh, oh.”
“How was your vacation?”
Compared to the reaction that I was expecting, it felt rather lukewarm. It was almost as if they weren’t surprised by the fact that I was there.
This felt even more odd to me.
“What’s going on here?”
When I got a better look, I was surprised to see the numerous books that were stacked at the top of the table. Seeing how messy the table was, I could tell that the three of them had been
studying for quite some time.
This made me even more surprised.
“What? Why do you look so shocked?”
Turning to look at Kiera and then the books, I didn’t need to open my mouth to express my
thoughts.
“Tsk.”
With a click of her tongue, Kiera leaned back on her chair.
“It’s not like we have a choice, alright? Do you think I want to be here with these two to study?
I’d rather die.”
“Hey.”
“You were the one who begged us.”
“Shut up. I never begged.”
“Really?”
As Aoife raised her brow, she suddenly retrieved a recording device. The drowsiness in Kiera’s
face snapped away and her back turned upright.
“Holy fuck, you recorded that?!”
“Nope ”
Aoife shook her head, a small smirk tugging at her lips.
“But you just admitted to begging us.”
With a ‘kaka’ that seemed oddly similar to Kiera’s, Aoife turned to Evelyn and high-fived her.
She too let out a familiar, ‘kaka’.
What the fuck? What did the two of them go through over the past few days to become like this?
“I swear to god.”
Kiera raised her fist, ready to swing it. But just as she raised it, her eyelids dropped and she
soon lowered it, mumbling something along the lines of, ‘Too tired for this shit. See what I’ll
do to you tomorrow.’
With a ‘huaaa’, Kiera stretched her body and slumped head first on the table.
I looked at the scene for a few seconds before shaking my head. Besides looking tired, Kiera
also looked pretty depressed.
‘Should I cheer her up?’
“Hey, Kiera.”
“Uhm?”
Leaning her head to the side, just enough for her eye to face me, I clenched my fist in
encouragement.
“Cheer up. There’s a lot worse things you know?”
“Like?”
“Being trapped inside an underground hole of water.”
“Eh? What does that…?”
“I just mean well.”
||||
A strange silence fell over the room. Seeing the looks that everyone was giving, I frowned.
What’s with the atmosphere?
“Fuck.”
Covering her face with both hands, Kiera’s eyes turned bloodshot.
“Fuuuuuuuck.”
Raising both hands up, she looked up.
“I can’t deal with this shit. No, fuck. Kill me.”
Shaking her head, Kiera grabbed her stuff and directly left the common room. I stared at her
departing back with a stupefied look. What just happened?
But if that wasn’t enough, Evelyn followed right after her.
As she passed me, I heard her soft mumble, ‘That was too much even for me’ as she shook her
head in disappointment.
The hell?
“Pftt.”
A snickering sound brought me out of my confusion. It came from Aoife who was the only one
remaining in the common room.
“…Huk. That was pretty funny. Not bad.”
“???”
Funny?
What was funny?
“Pft-! You should’ve seen Kiera’s face. If only I could’ve saved a picture of her face when you
told her the joke.”
“Eh? Joke? What joke?”
I told a joke? When?
“Huk. Don’t worry, I thought it was funny. You don’t need to be embarrassed.”
Amidst my confusion, Aoife stood up and grabbed her stuff. Walking past me, she covered her
mouth again.
“Khk…. I didn’t know you had that in you. Anyways, you should sleep.”
“Yes?”
“We’ve got an interview to attend tomorrow?”
“Uh?”
Taken aback, I fell into a short daze. By the time I snapped out of it, Aoife had already left.
“Interview? What sort of…?”
It was then that it hit me.
‘Being trapped inside an underground hole of water.’
‘I just mean well.’
“Ahhhh.”
I bumped my fist against my palm.
“…So that’s what they were talking about.”
I shook my head.
“No wonder they didn’t like it.”
It was all about the delivery.
All about the delivery.
***
The ‘interview’ was a simple event organized by the Academy in order to get the first years to
familiarize themselves with the second years.
Given that in the past each year didn’t have much of a relationship with the other, the
Academy figured it was best to do this in order to improve the relationships with the cadets.
This was why they organized an interview.
It was just a friendly event for the first years.
“Hey, Linus. We should hurry up. The interview will be starting soon.”
Fixing his tie, Linus looked towards the door of his dorm. Several cadets were waiting for him
there.
“Yes, I’m coming.”
Shifting his attention back towards the mirror, Linus fixed his tie. As he did, he made sure to
cover the faint purple marks on his neck. They were still there.
His teeth clenched tightly at the sight of them.
‘He’s no different than how he was in the past.’
Thinking about the events that had transpired not too long ago, Linus’s eyes narrowed.
“No, he’s even worse.”
He seemed to resemble more and more the same figure in his nightmares. From his cold and
indifferent gaze to his unhinged and crazed expression.
Linus bit his lips as he thought about what had happened in the room. From how he had been
so easily taken by him and almost killed.
The entire time, he was helpless.
He could hardly put up a fight.
…. And it was that thought that made him angry with himself.
‘I have to hurry up and get stronger.’
He didn’t have much time left, and the gap between him and his brother was only growing
each moment.
Linus knew he had to become stronger faster.
But how exactly could he do that?
It would be great if he could become the year’s Black Star, but that was impossible.
This year’s Black Star…
He was a monster. Someone whose talent far outclassed his.
The gap in talent between the two was enough to make him feel despair.
So how?
How could he become stronger?
“Linus?”
“Coming.”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Linus forced a smile. Then, shifting his attention towards the
entrance of the room, he rushed to where his classmates were.
In either case, he was going to see his brother again soon.
He really wanted to see how people perceived his brother within the Academy.
Could he still maintain that facade of his?
Linus thought he couldn’t.
And he was proven right shortly after in the interview.
…But not in the way that he expected.