Beep, Beep—
The familiar honking sounds.
…The familiar flashes of green, yellow, and red.
Di, di.
And the countdown that came shortly after.
“…..”
I stared at the scenery presented in front of me, breathless. I didn’t have any words. The world around me felt so familiar at the same time.
From the tall pillars that stretched all the way to the sky, seemingly trying to touch the sun, to the people walking around the sidewalk, their eyes glued onto their phones.
Wait, phones…?
“Ah, yes. Those devices there are called phones. You can only use them here and they’re rather handy. Do you want one?”
When I raised my head, the young man from before spoke, his hands in his pocket.
He followed the others, walking past the cross-road.
Snapping out of it, I followed after him.
“Phones? What would one need them before?”
The man just smiled at me.
The way he looked at me made me feel like I was some naive country bumpkin.
Bastard…
I’m only just acting. Do you think I don’t actually know?
“Rather than telling you, it’s best if you experience it yourself.”
“Wait, I will be getting one?”
“Of course you will. You wouldn’t be able to live without one in this place or the other stations.”
“…Oh.”
I guess not much has changed since that time in my memories.
Phones were pretty much an addiction.
“We’re here.”
We stopped in front of one of the many skyscrapers that loitered across the space. I could count fifteen from where I stood, and in the distance, I could even see more. Just how many were there?
Swoosh—
As the doors came apart automatically, I raised a brow, pretending to look surprised.
“Heh.”
This earned a chuckle from the bastard.
Yeah, his name was bastard.
“Pretty neat, right?”
He pointed at a small box above the doors.
“…There’s a sensor on top that detects your movements and activates the mechanism that opens the doors for you. The best thing about all of this is that it doesn’t use any mana whatsoever. It’s all powered by electricity.”
“Electricity?”
I covered my mouth to display my shock.
An award-winning level of shock.
“That’s very impressive.”
“Right?”
The bastard chuckled again and entered the building. At the same time, as his back turned against me, I overheard his faint murmur, ‘Your face doesn’t change much? Pftt— Should’ve seen the faces you made while looking at the doors.’
I scratched my inner ear.
‘Did I do too much?’
“Hello, are you here to register?”
Near the entrance of the building, a young lady stood behind a sleek rectangular marble desk, greeting me with a bright smile. With just one glance in my direction, she seemed to instantly understand the purpose of my visit.
“Yes, he’s new here. We’re here to get him registered and help him get a phone.”
“I see, very well.”
With a bright smile, she held her hand in my direction.
I tilted my head in response to her action. What did she want me to do? Shake her hand?
“Your hand.”
Thankfully, the bastard stepped in to clarify, pointing at my right arm while tugging down his sleeve to reveal his own symbol. It was different from mine, resembling a four-part honeycomb.
I understood then and removed everything from my arm, revealing a four-leaved clover.
“Inverted Sky? Nurs Ancifa Empire?”
“Correct.”
“That’s quite a rare guest.”
Grabbing onto my arm, the lady took out a strange scanning device and hovered it over my arm. A red holographic line appeared shortly after and following a few tense seconds, she let go and sat herself down while her eyes trained on the computer in front of her.
“All is in check, may I have your name?”
“…Julien.”
“Surname?”
“Evenus.”
“Let me see if we have you in our databas—”
Her face froze mid-sentence, the sudden shift in her expression impossible to miss. Even the bastard noticed it.
“What’s wrong?”
He grew curious enough to lean behind the desk to take a look at the display and it was then that he also noticed whatever was on her computer as his eyes widened.
“This…”
He raised his head to look at me.
At that moment, I felt a change in the surroundings and I started to tense up
‘What’s going on? Why are they suddenly reacting like that?’
Realistically speaking, I was indeed part of the organization. However, I had never been here. Did I miss something? Did I—
It was then that it happened.
Swoosh, swoosh—
The two of them hurriedly lowered their head under my presence. Their actions were synchronized, almost as if rehearsed at the same time.
Everything started to click then, but their next words made me fully understand what was going on.
“We greet the one beneath the Dawn, the ruler of light.”
Ah.
The world around me seemed to suddenly pause at the announcement. When I looked around, I saw that everyone had stopped and were looking at me with all sorts of expression.
However…
“We greet the one beneath the Dawn, the ruler of light.”
“We greet the one beneath the Dawn, the ruler of light.”
“We greet the one beneath the Dawn, the ruler of light.”
Their reaction was no different.
They all bowed down in my direction as they greeted me.
I could only silently curse my situation.
‘Now, there’s no way I can get out of this place so easily.’
*
The Citadel.
Housing a population that neared three hundred thousand, it was a fairly large city. The city was split into seven urban zones, each governed by its own administrator. Each zone contains different rules and standards.
Ruling above all seven administrators, and the true ruler of the Citadel was the Governor.
In this case, Governor Dreamist.
Not much was known about him besides the fact that he was very powerful. Be it his age, or appearance, nobody knew, however, he had eyes everywhere.
Nothing escaped his grasp.
His grip on the Citadel was so absolute, it felt as though he held the entire place in the palm of his hand.
No one could quite understand how he managed it, but his mere presence was enough to dissuade anyone from even thinking about breaking the law. To anyone who refused to follow the rules, he’d be able to tell.
Depending on the crime, some might even be found dead in their sleep.
“Governor Dreamist, huh?”
Rushing out of the registration building, I barely managed to excuse myself from all the eyes.
I knew that anytime soon the news of my appearance would start to make rounds, and I wanted to find a way to change my appearance in the meantime. Thankfully, I still had the mask from before and could do so at any moment.
The only issue was whether it was allowed or not.
…It was for this reason that I thought about the Governor.
The fact that so little was known about him made me rather apprehensive.
Whoever I asked, they’d just give me the same answer; “I don’t know,” “He’s the one ruling this place. That’s all you need to know,” “Who are you?”
His name alone appeared to make some people visibly fear.
“How troublesome.”
Then again, his name could also be a clue.
Dreamist…
‘Maybe he can make people dream endlessly?’
That would be pretty creepy.
“With that being said…”
Covering my mouth I yawned.
“Huam.”
After that, I glanced down at my hands and pulled out the phone they had given me. Sleek and black, it felt surprisingly light. It was thin, with the entire surface dominated by the seamless display. Considering the holographic technology within the Empires, I was surprised by the fact that they didn’t add such technology to the devices.
Then again, it might make the phones feel overly complicated.
“Let’s see.”
I scrolled through the device, sorting through everything.
“Huam.”
I yawned again.
In general, there was nothing new. It was what one would expect from a phone. It had a camera, a messaging app, a navigation app, a paying app, and so on…
There was nothing about it that felt any different from the phones that I knew.
There was even a rules book within the phone, and when I pressed on the app, I saw an endless row of rules that made my head spin.
Closing that tab away, I pressed on the navigation map.
It was there that I was shown the full map of the Citadel, with all the labels and streets.
“There’s even a subway?”
What a crazy place.
From cafes to stores, and all sorts of places that I was familiar with. This place had it all. However, what truly attracted my attention was a certain place.
[Citadel Museum]
Something about it felt extremely enticing.
‘For such a large place to be built, I’m sure it wasn’t easy. Maybe I can find some clues regarding Sithrus and perhaps even…’
I stopped there.
Whatever the case was, since I was here, I was planning on exploring the place a bit.
“Huam.”
Yawning for what felt like the tenth time, I stepped forward and followed the direction of the navigation device.
[Turn right across St. Mary Street]
Certain places were more crowded than others.
The further I went out from the area that I was previously in, the fewer people were present, until eventually, my surroundings had barely any people.
Looking at the map and seeing that I was still following the right way, I turned another corner and moved into a small and narrow alleyway. It was dark in the alleyway, but sensing no danger, I stepped in.
“Huam, I feel kind of tired.”
Perhaps I didn’t get enough sleep while I was with Owl-Mighty.
I made a mental note to myself to sleep more.
“Huam.”
But the more I walked, the more tired I felt.
…It was almost unsettling.
And… before I knew it, the drowsiness was starting to take over my mind.
“Huaam…”
The world around me began to sway, shifting left and right, as a lightheaded sensation took over. Hanging by the side of the wall, I swallowed deeply and tried to force myself awake, but regardless of how I tried, it almost felt impossible, and…
“Uh…?”
Before I knew it, I was falling forward.
Thump!
My vision grew dark shortly after that.
But only for a brief moment, as the world around me shifted and I suddenly found myself inside a small office. Large windows stretched before me, offering an expansive view of the city beneath.
Opposite the windows was a large wooden desk, cluttered with papers, but my gaze paused on the black chair turned away from me.
There, I could feel the presence of someone.
Creak—
As the chair slowly turned around, I felt something press against the back of my throat.
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“…For such an esteemed guest to come to my city, what an honour.”