Kiera took a moment to fully digest my words. Pinching the middle of her brows, she opened her mouth and then closed it before opening it again and closing it again.
“You what now?”
When she finally managed to speak again, I found her looking at me as though I was some sort of lunatic.
No, I really wasn’t lying…
“I can see the future.”
“Yes, I heard you the first time.”
“Then…”
“You’re drunk, aren’t you? What sort of bullshit are you spouting?”
“No, I’m not.”
I lowered my head to stare at the cigarette nestled in my fingers. With a shake of my head, I flicked the cigarette away.
“Oy.”
“….You did it too.”
“But this is my room.”
“Too late.”
“Tsk.”
I disregarded her and stomped my foot on the butt of the cigarette, extinguishing it. In the meantime, Kiera sat down on the chair next to her desk.
She sat there in silence for a few seconds before finally opening her mouth again.
“So… about the nonsense you previously said, are you for real?”
I raised my head and looked at her.
Her expression changed shortly after that. Given my current expression, she probably got the message.
“…And you’re saying that the reason you think I have the Mirror is because of your ability to see the future?”
“Something like that.”
I thought for a moment before adding.
“I can’t see much of the future. Just flashes and images. It happens randomly, and it’s part of my innate skill.”
“Oh.”
Kiera still didn’t seem very convinced.
Couldn’t really blame here, but considering how many unique [innate] skills existed, this wasn’t too farfetched. There were, after all, many people who had similar ‘foresight’ types of skills in the world.
There were types that required certain relics, while others were more random, sporadic like mine.
…And in truth, I wasn’t actually being extremely truthful to her.
I was severely downplaying my ability by quite a lot, but it couldn’t be helped. The ability to see the future was very closely tied to ‘Oracleus’.
Regardless of how much I wanted to tell someone about Oracleus, there was simply no way for me to do so. Especially not when there was a maniac who had eyes and ears all over the entire world.
Even mentioning the name ‘Oracleus’ set me on edge.
For now, this was probably the best explanation that I could use to avoid any ties with the Inverted Sky.
“Future, huh…”
Kiera massaged her chin. She still seemed unconvinced, but the more she mumbled to herself, the more relaxed her expression became.
It was then that she looked at me.
“…Is the reason why you disappear so often related to that ability of yours?”
“Eh?”
My face almost cracked at her sudden question.
“That also explains how you suddenly become so strong whenever you return. Fuck…”
She looked at me.
“…You fucking cheat.”
“Oh.”
I forced a smile.
Yeah, no. She was way off the mark here.
If only the visions were the reason for my disappearances. Many times, the visions had nothing to do with them. My increase in strength was also due to a different thing, but…
‘I guess this works.’
“You got me.”
And so, I rolled with it.
“The ability lets me glimpse into futures that are loosely connected to me in the form of images. Not long ago, I saw a vision of you, holding a mirror. I wasn’t sure what the mirror represented, but its image stuck with me. So, I went to the library to dig deeper, and that’s when I discovered the Astral Mirror.”
“…..”
Kiera’s crimson eyes stared intently at me the moment I finished speaking. I felt sweat trickle down the side of my face under her gaze.
Did she believe my lie, or not?
All sorts of thoughts swam in my head as I tried my best to recall my words and see if there were any holes in anything that I had said.
I was nervous, but I didn’t show it.
I couldn’t show it. The mirror was of great importance to me so I couldn’t screw this up.
I was just worried she’d call me out on my nonsense.
Just as the silence started to feel suffocating, Kiera’s lips parted,
“How accurate do you say your ‘images’ are?”
“…More or less accurate.”
“More or less?”
“Unless I do something to alter that future, it is accurate.”
“I see.”
Kiera licked her lips, her brows furrowing tightly.
“…And what exactly was I doing in that vision of yours?”
“You were looking at the mirror, in your room.”
“In my room?”
Kiera raised her brow.
“Yes. The room in your house. The one with the big single bed, pink curtains, the large wooden wardrobe, the big wooden table, and all those teddy bears—”
“Alright, enough!”
Kiera suddenly cut me off before I could continue. Because it was dark, I couldn’t quite see her features, but I could see that she was embarrassed.
This was what I was aiming for.
Having caught a glimpse of her memories using the second leaf, I knew exactly how her room looked. I used this information that I shouldn’t have been able to know to make my claim a lot more believable.
…And staring at her face, I could tell that she was pretty much convinced.
‘Good thinking.’
I secretly sighed in relief while waiting for her to recover from her embarrassment.
“I don’t jud—”
“One more word and I’m calling Aoife over to sing for you.”
“…..”
My mouth shut faster than I ever thought was possible. For a brief moment, I even thought I saw a string of notifications appear in my vision.
They were just hallucinations, but I was convinced they’d become real if Aoife truly came and held a concert.
“Oh god.”
I even found myself biting my own fist.
“Right?”
With a subtle ‘kaka’ Kiera leaned back on her chair, seemingly looking more relaxed. If she didn’t buy my story before, she seemed a lot more on board now. At the very least, I was no longer worried about her getting suspicious about my ties with the Inverted Sky.
‘I guess I somehow managed to make things work out.’
Things were going smoothly and I was just about to sigh in relief when…
“It’s all good and all, but…”
Kiera looked at me with a somewhat helpless expression.
“…Even if you asked me, I actually don’t know where the mirror is.”
“Eh?”
“The mirror shit, I don’t remember anything at all. I’ve tried recalling, but it’s as if there’s a hole in my mind. I have no idea where the mirror is.”
“Ah.”
Suddenly recalling what had happened when I tried looking through her past, I knew that she wasn’t lying.
Indeed, even in her memories, I couldn’t see what had happened.
That…
Just when I was on the verge of giving up, Kiera spoke, pulling my focus back.
“But it’s not like I am completely clueless about where the mirror could be.”
“Eh?”
My brows jumped up.
I was just about to speak again when she cut me off.
“The only issue is that I don’t want to go back there.”
Her face scrunched up.
“…That place, I don’t want to go.”
***
Academy training grounds.
“Hmm.”
Aoife fixed her gaze on the ground in front of her, where a collection of weapons was spread out. In the distance stood several training dummies, set up to test her strength. These dummies were exceptionally durable, requiring a powerful blow to break through their tough exteriors.
In the events that followed the exhibition, Aoife found herself lost in her own thoughts more and more.
She raised her head and looked around her.
The training grounds were mostly empty, with only a few people scattered around, yet as she stood there, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being surrounded by countless eyes, all watching, all judging…
Every glance felt heavy.
Every silence, defeating.
Every sound felt loud.
Aoife bit her lip, fully aware that it was all in her head. The glances weren’t truly aimed at her. The silence wasn’t a judgment. The sounds weren’t whispers of scorn directed at her.
But she couldn’t help it.
…No matter how hard she tried to reassure herself, her mind refused to believe it.
She knew that there was a lot to be desired from her. She was the princess of the Empire, someone who was going to be looked up to by many of the people in the Empire.
How could she proudly raise her head when she was so painfully weak?
With all her advantages, and resources… how could she be lagging behind?
Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire
While she knew the judges and stares were merely in her mind, she also knew that they did exist. Someone out there was speaking about her, talking about her inadequacies and comparing her to the others.
It made her uncomfortable.
…Worst of all wasn’t even her lack of strength.
The worst part was that she had become so complacent with herself that it took Kiera’s words to snap her back to reality.
Everyone was growing, but what about her?
Had she grown?
‘This can’t go on.’
They had a week off.
In that week, many of the cadets were given time to go back to their families and rest.
Aoife discarded all of that. She was lagging behind, and she knew that she had to catch up.
Staring at the array of weapons laid out before her, she raised her hand, and the bodies of each weapon hovered in the air before her. From swords to spears to hammers, a variety of weapons floated effortlessly around her.
“Theresa.”
Calling out a name, a little figure appeared next to her legs.
Blinking her large eyes, she looked around, her hair a little messy.
“I need some help.”
“…Oh.”
Yawning, Theresa flicked her hand, and several of the weapons instantly transformed. The sword erupted into flames, the hammer was encased in a thick layer of rock, and a gust of wind spiraled around the spear, causing it to rotate rapidly.
Aoife’s face paled considerably at the sight before her.
She felt her mana draining from her body, but as she gazed at the weapons before her, her eyes sharpened.
Her performance at the exhibition had been disappointing. She knew it, and because of that, she dedicated most of her time to refining herself.
She completely overhauled her regular style and opted for something different.
This was the result.
‘There’s more to work on, but this is definitely the right step…’
Biting her lips, Aoife extended her hand forward.
Without hesitation, the weapons around her spun into the air, then shot off sharply into the distance.
The spear was the fastest.
At the speed that took one to blink, it appeared right before the nearest training dummy, impaling its core in a smooth fashion.
Swoosh—
The sword followed, slicing through the dummy with precision, cleaving it in half. A sharp, red line appeared across the severed section of the dummy.
And then…
A large shadow loomed over the dummy, steadily expanding as layers of earth piled up around the hammer. Until, with a deafening crack, the ground beneath the dummy shattered, sending debris flying as the hammer surged with power.
BANG!
A terrifying explosion reverberated through the surroundings, forcing Aoife to cover her face as her hair fluttered back.
By the time everything settled down, nothing remained of the dummy.
In its stead was a massive crater.
“Haa… Haa…”
Breathing heavily, Aoife looked at the crater with a confused look.
‘That… That was me?’
She blinked her eyes, and it was then that she noticed it.
The gazes.
They were looking at her again.
But this time, they were different from the previous one. She couldn’t see any judgment in them.
No, all she could see in them was shock and horror.
Ah.
Aoife found herself licking her lips while lowering her gaze to stare at Theresa.
Maybe…
Just maybe, she was growing.