The sight made Aoife’s chest drop.
‘W-what’s going on?’
Was this some sort of dream? It felt like it, and yet… It all felt so real. How could this be?
Staring at her brother who was lying beneath the dark silhouette, Aoife wanted to reach forward to tell them to stop.
However, she couldn’t move at all.
All she could do was listen.
Listen to her brother’s soft and frail voice.
“…Y-ou’re a lot stronger than I thought. W-ere you hiding your strength?”
A sense of despair washed over Aoife as she watched the scene. The sense of despair didn’t come directly from her but from somewhere else. Aoife couldn’t quite explain where it came from, but it almost felt as though she was being instilled that sense of despair.
From who?
“….”
As a strange silence descended on the surroundings, the dark silhouette raised his hand in the air, revealing a sharp sword.
The sword had intricate patterns to it that Aoife had never seen before, gleaming under the flames that surrounded them.
‘No, wait…’
Aoife felt her chest tremble uncontrollably upon seeing the sight in front of her.
She wanted to scream.
Shout…
‘Stop, don’t!’
But the words just refused to leave her mouth.
And then…
Shiiing!
The sword fell down and blood filled the air.
Aoife’s world froze right then and there.
Her entire body started to tremble, and before she knew it, the surroundings changed back to the one she was previously in.
The sound of crumpling paper snapped her out of it. When Aoife looked down, she realized the report in her hand had been crushed into a tight ball.
“Haa… Haa…”
Her breathing was rough, and sweat poured down from the side of her face.
Flashes and glimpses of the vision continued to replay in her mind as her chest squeezed tightly.
Opening her mouth, she found herself able to speak again.
“W-what in the world was that…?”
***
Pain.
All Linus felt upon waking up was pain. Upon opening his eyes, what greeted him was a dark room. He could hardly make out the ceiling around him, and although he tried to sit up, he found his body refused to listen to him.
“W… Where am I?”
Blinking his eyes, he tilted his head to get a better look.
It was there that his surroundings became clear to him.
“Ah, isn’t this…?”
“Oh, you’re awake.”
Click!
Linus squinted his eyes as the lights turned on.
“Hm.”
Turning his head slightly, Linus managed to catch a glimpse of the figure that had entered the room. Although Linus had only seen him once, he recognized him immediately.
“Doctor?”
S.”
“Ah, yes, yes.
The Doctor waved his hand dismissively, shook his head, and grabbed a clipboard. Retrieving
a pen from his breast pocket, he began jotting something down.
From his demenour, he looked less than pleased.
“Does it run in your family?”
“Excuse me?”
Confused, Linus tilted his head.
Run in the family? What does…? Does he have some kind of genetic disease?
“No, yeah it must be.”
“??”
Shaking his head, the doctor sighed and wrote something down on the clipboard. Linus could only stare at the doctor with visible confusion on his face.
“You know…”
Putting the clipboard down, the doctor looked straight at Linus.
“…Despite this Academy having a lot of cadets who fight every day, I don’t actually get very many patients.”
Although Linus didn’t know where the conversation was going, he still decided to nod.
“Usually, most of my days are free. This is why I like my job. I get paid quite a lot of money for
doing nothing.”
“Oh.”
Sounded like a dream job.
But why was he…
“That was until he came here.”
A hateful look flashed across the doctor’s face. It was enough to make Linus flinch. What in the
world was happening?
“Ever since he came, I’ve been busier than ever.”
With a visible clench of his teeth, the doctor looked at Linus.
“And now…? Not even a couple of months since the start of the new year and his brother is
here? Is this some sort of joke?”
A laugh escaped the doctor’s mouth. It was a vicious laugh that made the hair on Linus’s body
rise.
“Do I look like a joke to you?”
“No, no…”
Linus hurriedly shook his head.
“I’m not?”
The doctor smiled.
“Then stop getting yourself injured!”
Bang!
The doctor slapped the clipboard down.
“In particular, that brother of yours. I swear to god he’s going to get himself killed one of
these days. Do you have any idea how often he comes here?!”
“…No.”
Linus shook his head.
This was news for him.
“Too many times for me to count!”
The doctor held onto his hair.
“This place has practically become his second home, and just a few hours ago he came to drop
this.”
The doctor rummaged through his pocket before retrieving a small letter which he tossed in Linus’s direction.
“I wouldn’t normally be mad about this, but the fact that the nurses and the staff didn’t even bother to check his identity before letting him in is what is bothering me. You need to tell your brother to stop getting injured. No, in fact, you need to stop getting injured as well. You
two are going to eat away at all our budget!”
Spit flew all over Linus’s face as the doctor continued to rant.
The poor Linus could only quietly nod his head while his entire body was in pain. He wanted
to cry, but nothing came out.
Thankfully, the rant didn’t last for very long.
It was over after several minutes. After which, the doctor tossed him the letter and grumbled
his way out of the room.
|| ||
When silence finally returned to the room, Linus felt his mind relax.
By this point, he didn’t even feel the pain from before. His head hurt more than the physical
pain he felt, and turning his head, his eyes paused on the letter that his brother had left.
‘Why did he leave me a letter?’
Curious, Linus reached out for it and opened it.
The letter was short, but the contents within were enough to make Linus’s expression stiffen.
==
Next week, training grounds.
Meet me there at 5 A.M.
I will come to find you if you’re not there.
==
Flipping the letter to make sure he was seeing it correctly, Linus’s face fell.
“What in the…”
***
Two days later, Saturday.
Tr triiing-!
Turning off the alarm and checking the time, 8:00 am, I felt like a new man.
The morning air felt fresher, and even my apartment didn’t seem as gloomy as it usually did.
No, I more than embraced the gloom. It was a nice change of pace.
There was just something fundamentally different about today than any other day.
‘Who would’ve thought I’d long for such a day.’
It was the weekend.
This meant that I didn’t have any classes or anything to do.
“Haa.”
I continued to lay in bed for the next ten minutes. I tried getting more sleep, but my mind
refused to go back to sleep.
‘I guess I’m now too used to waking up early.’
Not that it was a problem.
Sitting up, I went to the training grounds to train. They were strangely empty today but I
didn’t think too much and exercised until I couldn’t.
By then, I went back to my apartment and took a shower which I soon followed up with a good
breakfast.
It was all good, but…
“….I’m bored.”
I blankly stared at the ceiling of my room.
No matter how much I thought about it, I really had nothing else to do. Before this, my life
had all been about training and troubles.
But now that there were no missions, and I had already trained, I realized that I didn’t have
anything else to do.
Just what in the…
“No, things can’t go on like this.”
At this rate, I was probably going to waste my only day off.
But what could I do?
“Ah.”
It was then that it hit me.
“I should leave the Academy and go relax in Lens.”
Lens was the nearest city to the Academy and the closest place I could go to get some fresh air.
Once the idea settled in my mind, I was quick to the action. Putting on a jacket, I sneaked out of the dorms and took the first train to Lens.
The trip was merely a few hours and by the time I arrived in Lens, the city was already bustling
with activities.
“Low-tiered pill! Anybody interested in buying a pill?”
“Green ranked manual! Buy a green-ranked manual here!”
“Buy one get one free.”
The area outside the station was bustling with activity, with stalls lined up on both sides of
the street. It was clear that I had arrived on a day when a pop-up market was in full swing.
There were a lot of things being offered, but none of them quite tempted me.
I walked around for half an hour before entering a nearby pub. Compared to the outside, it was not as loud, but it was still relatively loud. Especially
considering that everyone was watching the projections up above the displayed different
channels.
I glanced at the nearest one before ordering one of the local beverages.
Nothing alcoholic since I didn’t really feel like it.
“Not bad.”
I took a sip of the hot drink, leaning back on the wooden chair as I savored the flavor. It was
smooth and mellow, with just the perfect hint of sweetness.
Apparently, there was no sugar, but it tasted sweet to me.
In any case, taking another sip of the drink, I felt at peace. But the peace was only momentary.
When I opened my eyes again, my eyes fell on the nearest projection.
Clank!
That was when I lost grip of my drink, spilling whatever remained on it on my trousers.
But I couldn’t care less.
Staring up ahead, my mouth opened as my heart dropped.
“Ah… Great.”
I had completely forgotten.
Today…
Was the day the interview was going to be aired.