“…..”
Delilah stared at the wrapper in her hand, her brows knitting faintly. There, neatly tucked inside the wrapper, was her favorite chocolate bar.
It was something she couldn’t do without.
Her addiction. Her obsession.
And yet…
“It’s tasteless.”
Taking a small bite of it, her deep eyes turned hollow. She couldn’t taste anything. The explosion of sweetness and flavor that she once used to enjoy was suddenly gone.
Like that.
The one little joy that remained with her was gone.
Tak!
The chocolate bar fell onto he desk as her face blanked. In the meantime, a small crow appeared from behind her, secretly eying the chocolate bar as it cautiously looked in Delilah’s direction before moving stealthily towards it.
Its beak was just about to reach it when…
Wham!
“Akh!”
The crow was suddenly thrown towards the other side of the room as Delilah blinked her eyes.
“…Oh.”
She didn’t even mean to do that.
It was purely out of reflex.
But that wasn’t the issue at hand. The issue was her sudden inability to taste the second thing she adored the most. She didn’t even need to think much to understand the reason for the sudden change.
Delilah nibbled her lips, lowering her head to stare at the piece of paper nestled on her desk.
[Mirror Dimension Expedition]
This was the finalized sheet detailing the graduation trial for the third year.
The trial was going to take place in exactly two months, and in those two months, the cadets would be left in a red-ranked zone for a month or two. The goal was to survive there. Of course, this would be under her supervision.
They were precious cadets. With their already bad reputation, they couldn’t afford to have any of them die.
This was especially so when taking into account that all of them had very important positions.
Not just in the Nurs Ancifa Empire but also in other empires.
….The third years were a diplomatic mess.
The fact that this entire expedition needed the approval of the Four Empires was proof of this.
But nonetheless, Delilah was going to make this happen.
If he truly was alive, then…
‘I’ll find him.’
Normally, she wouldn’t be allowed to enter the Mirror Dimension by herself. Her position was quite important. She was a living weapon. Any action from her would make any Empire wary. As such, entering the Mirror Dimension was a hard task for her, unless it was strictly approved by Central and the Empire.
This time, she felt that if she played her cards right, she’d be given access to the Mirror Dimension.
And she was going to make sure it happened. Even if it meant using force.
It had to happen.
Delilah nibbled her lips again, turning her attention towards the chocolate bar on her desk.
Her hand slowly curled into a fist as she retrieved a green book from her drawer.
Opening the first page, a glaring title appeared.
[Julien Curse Diary]
It was already filled with all sorts of bullet points.
Thinking of how he had suddenly left and pretended to be dead, Delilah’s hand trembled, and she brought her pen down.
She then began to write her curse.
[Stupid]
Of course, one wasn’t enough.
She wrote another.
[Bastard]
No, too mild.
[Cheater]
That he was.
Even though it was a misunderstanding, he was still a cheater.
[Bastard]
[Cheater]
[Stupid]
Delilah filled the page with all sorts of curses. She went on like this for the next ten minutes, wholly absorbed in this new hobby of hers. It was only during these times that she felt her emotions return. That… she felt alive.
And when she was finally done, she looked down at her diary.
Her face changed subtly after.
“When…?”
That was because she realized something.
Somewhere in the middle, the curses changed into something else.
And when she looked at the diary, all she saw were the same three words.
[I miss him]
Delilah dropped her pen and looked away, her blank gaze focusing on the window of her office.
Staring towards the blue sky above, her obsidian eyes flickered.
If he really was alive… No, he was alive.
She was now certain of it. The ring was perfect proof of that.
Delilah’s fist clenched tightly.
“….Just see.”
***
At the same time, Virith-Anash.
Within a certain shop, a calm voice echoed as several people moved furniture around the shop.
“Yes, you may move that there. Mhm, that’s… “
Lazarus stopped mid-sentence. Frowning, he looked around. For some reason, he suddenly started to feel chills.
Was someone targeting him?
Lazarus calmly looked around his surroundings, but found nothing out of the ordinary.
In the end, he shrugged and forgot all about it. This wasn’t the first time he had felt like this in the Mirror Dimension, where voices whispered in the air.
Even now, he could still hear them.
But Lazarus was able to ignore the voices without a problem. He was slowly starting to get accustomed to them.
Still, there was something unsettling about the voices.
The more he interacted with them, the more he felt them try to crawl into his mind. It was almost as if they were trying to take over his mind.
If not for his high mental strength, Lazarus would’ve been put in a very dangerous situation.
Clank!
All of a sudden, the door to the shop opened, and an all too familiar figure entered.
Lazarus smiled as An’as came into the shop.
“Ah, looks like you had no trouble finding your way here. Welcome.”
He looked happy to see An’as as he greeted him with a warm smile. On the other hand, An’as was anything but pleased.
He didn’t originally want to come.
However, thinking about the previous conversation, he grew paranoid. He knew just how strict those of the temple were.
If he had truly leaked anything to them, then his dream of being a Luminarch would shatter before he could even take a step towards it.
He couldn’t allow that to happen.
He had to become a Luminarch. This was something that he couldn’t compromise on. It was the very reason why he lived.
The Goddess was his everything.
“It’s a good thing that you’ve arrived. Things were getting quite hectic. Here you go.”
Bringing An’as out of his thoughts, Lazarus shoved a box into his hands.
“Umpf.”
It was rather heavy.
“Wait, why are you—”
“I’m going to take a walk now. I’ve been working since early in the morning. I trust you can take care of things while I’m gone.”
“Eh?”
An’as stood blankly, his mind lost. Then, staring at the merchant who suddenly turned away and walked towards the door, An’as snapped out of it and tried to call for him.
“What, wait…!”
But it was too late.
By the time An’as snapped out of it, Lazarus was gone, his figure blending in with the people of the city.
“Shit.”
An’as cursed, his expression contorting.
To make matters worse, just as he turned around to look at the shop again, he was met with several workers looking in his direction.
“Where should I put this?”
“…Is this okay?”
An’as wanted to rip his hair out in that moment. However, taking a couple of seconds to calm himself down, he started giving out some orders.
“Yes, that’s okay. Keep it there. That’s fine.”
Thinking about it, this situation… it wasn’t bad at all.
Now that he was inside the shop without the merchant present, he could take his time to carefully analyze his goods to determine some clues about the merchant.
However, a few seconds into his investigation, his expression changed.
‘This is…’
Staring at the numerous goods that were within the many boxes around the shop, An’as felt a lump form in his throat.
“How… could this…”
From bones that seemed to come from all sorts of monsters, to finely woven cloths, rich and fresh ingredients, books, and relics… An’as felt his mind go blank upon seeing the goods that were present within each box.
If he had to make a total estimate of the worth within each box, he’d find that not even the Temple within the city would be able to possess such wealth.
An’as felt his entire body shudder as he looked around, his eyes narrowing as he looked towards the workers.
If he could see the items, then so could they…
What if they wanted to take them?
“Eh…?”
However, contrary to his expectations, the workers didn’t even seem to be at all attracted by the items. No, it was more like they couldn’t see them at all.
What sort of situation was this?
An’as covered his mouth, he felt the situation to be a lot more complicated than he had originally expected.
Staring at the boxes, he felt a twitch in his body.
He was tempted to take the items and run away. However, he was rational enough to understand that such action would only lead to his death.
No simple person would be able to bring such goods here.
In spite of his background, An’as was actually quite intelligent. The only reason he had managed to survive this far was because of it. Not luck, not strength, not even charm.
Just his mind.
He’d learned to read patterns in people, to smell lies the way others sniffed out wine. He could remember details like a sort of photographic machine.
And right now, every instinct in that calculating brain of his told him: This is dangerous.
Not in the obvious way…
Not the kind that came with monsters or assassins, ready to snatch his head off at any given second. No, this was quieter.
Like a chessboard already set, and he’d arrived mid-game.
‘It’s obvious that once these goods hit the market, they’ll attract the attention of a lot of bigwigs within the city. Taking into consideration that he wants to go to the South Remnant, could this be his goal?’
Did he want to use all of the fame and attraction that his store would bring in order to get one of the seven lords to accompany him to the Remnant South?
‘No, I don’t think it’s that simple…’
An’as shuddered the more he thought about the situation.
He could feel it in every part of his bones.
Something big was going to happen.
