The gentle tune of the violin whispered in the otherwise silent room.
Sizzle
Oil splattered in the air as the pan sizzled.
With rolled-up sleeves, Hollowe flipped the pan.
“Oh, oops~”
Letting go of the pan, Hollowe grabbed the nearby towel and wiped his collar which was stained in the oil. Even though he wore an apron, he still had some oil splatter on his clothes.
“Ah, and I really liked this one.”
With a gentle sigh, Hollowe moved away from the pan and walked to the sink.
He was just about to turn on the tap when his pocket vibrated.
Vr Vrrr-
Hollowe’s eye twitched faintly, but he held back his annoyance and picked up the communication device.
With a gentle ‘click’, he placed it to his ear and listened to the message sent.
His expression didn’t change much upon hearing the message. The message wasn’t very long either. In a few seconds, he pulled the communication device away from his ear and shook his head.
“What a pity.”
Sizzle-
While the pan still sizzled in the background, Hollowe went over to the living room and sat down on the single-seat red sofa.
Accompanying the faint sizzle in the background was the soft and melodic sound of the violin playing. It came from one of Hollowe’s favorite collections.
Listening to it helped him relax.
Closing his eyes, Hollowe embraced the darkness.
His mind relaxed, and his eyes soon opened. That was when the scenery before him changed.
No longer was he sitting on the sofa in his apartment.
A large desk appeared in front of him, light filtering through from behind. A figure sat at the desk, his head hunched over it, and the pungent smell of alcohol wafting through the air. Several bottles were scattered across the desk, and the man’s blonde hair was disheveled. Behind him, several people tapped on his body, trying to wake him up. However, no matter what they did, the man didn’t budge. He was completely out of it.
‘Sir…! Sir, please wake up!’
‘Sir!’
‘Why are there so many bottles here?’
‘Oh, no. What should we do?’
Hollowe sat on the sofa, staring at the unfolding events without much of an expression. Despite his presence, nobody seemed to take notice of him.
He watched the unfolding events with an impassive expression. He didn’t spare the people in the room a single glance and just stared at Ivan. Within his body, six orbs appeared. They all had their own distinctive color, each one pulsating faintly.
It was then that Hollowe’s lips curled and he leaned his head back.
“Haa.”
Taking a deep breath, faint, colorful tendrils emerged from the orbs and into the air before they flowed into his mouth.
The orbs shrank rapidly, and Hollowe’s expression turned euphoric.
As the orbs continued to shrink, Ivan’s body started trembling. This was enough to alarm the people around him who hastily tried to help him, but with time, the trembling grew worse and worse.
‘Hey! Something is happening!’
‘Sir…!?’
‘His body is trembling!’
‘Quickly get some help!’
‘Ukh…!’
Saliva flowed out of Ivan’s mouth as his eyes turned white. Everyone in the room began to panic with the exception of Hollowe who was surrounded by six different colors, all entering through his mouth as his expression became more and more euphoric.
‘Someone…!’
Despite everyone’s best attempts at trying to calm Ivan down, nothing could be done. They could only watch his body tremble continuously.
Eventually, his body managed to settle.
But the damage was already done.
‘Where is the help!?’
‘He has calmed down! Hold him down, quickly!’
Wiping the corner of his mouth, Hollowe glanced at Ivan, whose body was completely gray, and exhaled a breath of turbid air.
Staring at the unfolding scene before him, Hollowe smiled before closing his eyes.
As the darkness once again took over his surroundings, the background noise faded. What replaced it was a calmer and more tranquil one.
Sizzle~
With the sizzling sound of the pan, Hollowe opened his eyes and saw he was back in his own
apartment.
The violin gently played in the background and he stood up.
“Ah, that was delicious.”
Walking to the kitchen, he approached the pan and stared at the steak cooking in it. With a spatula in hand, he flipped the steak over.
Sizzle!
Oil splattered across his face, but he remained unfazed as his skin started to melt, revealing the face hidden behind it. They were soft features, one of a delicate girl with clear eyes and
auburn hair.
But was that really the real face?
Wiping the side of his cheek, Hollowe’s face returned to normal as he began to hum quietly. Suddenly, a phrase he had once said in the past came to mind, and a faint smile tugged at his
lips.
It was something he had said as a joke, but who would’ve thought it would end up being the very thing that formed his nickname?
Still, he didn’t dislike it.
“You know I exist.”
“But you don’t know where I am.”
“I am everywhere and nowhere at once.”
“I am the whisper in the silence, the figure you can’t quite find.”
“I am the one who walks among us.”
To Tok-
Coming to a sudden stop, Hollowe looked in the direction of the door and wiped his hands
with the nearby towel.
Rolling his sleeves down and putting the apron away, Hollowe walked towards the door and
opened it.
“Ah, you’re here.”
He smiled widely.
“…Thank you for joining me for lunch, Julien.”
***
“You’re saying that you weren’t able to find a thing despite the amount of time that you
had?”
In a small classroom, a figure with long black hair and a teardrop mole beside her cheek stared
at the communication device before her, a frown darkening her expression. Elizabeth’s expression was dark enough to make anyone around her move away.
It was a good thing that she was the only one in the classroom. She was also not very worried
about being discovered since she had set up a sound barrier around her.
-Yes, we have never heard of such a woman before. We’ve looked at her picture but she
doesn’t work for the Academy.
“Then have you tried checking with the interview crew that came?”
-Yes, she also doesn’t seem to belong with them.
“…How strange.”
Elizabeth’s expression darkened further.
She couldn’t forget those cold eyes that looked down on her, making her entire body shiver.
Even now, she had a hard time sleeping just thinking about those eyes.
They seemed to chase her everywhere she went, seemingly looking at her from all directions.
It sent shivers down Elizabeth’s back, making her extremely paranoid.
‘If she’s not from the crew, and not the Academy, then who is she?’
This woman was a variable.
Especially considering that she was close to Julien, or as some might call him, the heir of
Dawn. Elizabeth wanted to get closer to him to see if the rumors were really true.
No, they were probably true, but she just had to make sure.
He was currently one of the biggest targets within the organization. Whoever managed to
defeat him would replace him as the next heir, but Elizabeth knew things wouldn’t be quite that easy.
She had to approach carefully, and the woman in black was preventing her from doing so.
“Wait, what if…?”
That was when something suddenly hit Elizabeth.
“Thinking of it that way, then it all made sense!’
Right…
No wonder the woman in black was from neither the Academy nor the interview staff and felt
so strong.
She was…
Julien’s bodyguard.
The one given to him by Dawn.
“Ha, it’s no wonder she looked at me with such hostility when I approached the heir.”
It was because she was his bodyguard.
Why else would someone so powerful look at her with such an oppressive and dangerous
gaze? It was merely a warning from her.
“So that’s how it is.”
Shaking her head, Elizabeth put the communication device away.
“…. It looks like approaching the heir might be a little bit more difficult than I thought.”
Even so, Elizabeth smiled.
She quite liked the challenge.
***
“I’m glad you were able to come. It’s been a while since the two of us last talked with each
other.”
Coming into Hollowe’s apartment, I looked at the neatly arranged desk and was left quite impressed. The food looked amazing and there was a nice scent that lingered in the air. I almost felt my stomach rumble at the smell.
Managing to stay composed, I picked up one of the appetizers and had a taste.
‘This is insane.’
There weren’t many words I could use to describe the taste of the appetizer. It was beyond
what I had expected.
“So? How is it?”
“…I didn’t know you were such a good cook.”
“Haha, well, it’s a little hobby of mine. This alongside the music.”
“Ho?”
Indeed, there was a faint tune playing in the background. I hadn’t noticed it at first but it was
there. It was quite a relaxing tune.
“Do you like it?”
“…Yeah, it’s not bad.”
I wasn’t really interested in music, but this music felt strangely fitting for the occasion.
While I still didn’t know why Hollowe had invited me for a meal, I didn’t think too much about it. Professor Hollowe was someone who I got along quite well with. Furthermore, I was also sure he had something important to talk about given how serious his tone had been when
he asked me to meet him.
“Have a seat, have a seat. There’s a few things that I want to talk to you about.”
Pointing at the nearby sofa, I did as he requested and sat down.
As I sat down, he handed me a cup of water which I took.
“Haha.”
All of a sudden, overhearing Hollowe’s laugh, I tilted my head and looked at him. What’s so
funny? Why was he laughing?
“Ah, sorry. I was just reminded of something funny.”
Hollowe waved his hand and placed the cup down. With a simple smile on his face, he looked
at me.
“I don’t really know why but you really remind me of someone that I know. Someone that I’ve
known for quite a long time. From your jokes to your mannerisms.”
Hollowe laughed again, his tone growing dryer.
“…You really do remind me of him.”