We found ourselves on another mid-high cliff that overlooked the forest I traversed earlier. Standing behind a large building that seemed to be some sort of closed antique store on opposite sides, we were able to safely survey the area where the stone fountain was situated through a narrow alley. We could hear a loud sigh coming from the guard who had given up in his pursuit.

With a sigh, the guy hunched over to grab a cigarette from the ground. He then took a lighter from his pocket and lit it up. His overly laid back and comfortable demeanour felt paradoxical; as if he completely forgot about the dilemma we had earlier this day.

As he let out a puff, he spoke with a friendly tone, side-eyeing me over his shoulder.

“What the hell were you doing? I was gonna have a calm smoke until I heard some commotion. And lo and behold… it’s the skinny twink from earlier today.”

I remained silent in response with an expressionless face.

“Heh… still feeling butt hurt? There’s no reason for you to feel that way. You’re just weak. That is your reality.”

He then took another puff, continuing.

“There’s no reason to feel bad for being born with a certain eye colour, is there? The same goes for you, but it looks like you don’t understand that.”

…There was a stark contrast between being born with something you can’t or can change. I assumed he was just being cocky once more, so I brushed his words aside and brought the conversation to its purpose.

“Why did you help me?”

“Why? Well, why not?” he responded, chuckling. “You may be a little twink, but I don’t hold any resentment against you.”

“Resentment? Heh, I see,” I chuckled. “I guess that’s a large difference between us. You remind me a little of myself, you know? Someone who is a little further stretched than most people.”

I then slowly turned towards him, my smile slowly fading away.

“…But compared to me, you’re an actual piece of shit. I do resent you. You run your mouth without considering how your words can affect people. You’re too full of yourself.”

It appeared that my natural sense of confidence had returned. I knew well that this was the same guy who overpowered me earlier, but I got the impression that he was never told, or scolded for his faults. I decided to become that person, regardless of how strong he may have been.

Besides, I was feeling rejuvenated at this point. Meaning that if we were to be fighting again, it wouldn’t be as one-sided.

“I see,” he nodded slowly. “Why not try and put me in my place then? If I’m such a shit head, then, as the better person, you should be able to do something about it, no?”

“There is no ‘better person’ here,” I retorted with a serious tone. “That would be my older brother. He would never step down to the point where he would actually fight you in order to teach you a lesson. He’s far better than that.”

I then stepped away from my side, and took a stance right in front of him. Without thinking twice, I took his cigarette from his fingers and threw it to the side. A wide smile then began to slowly tug at the corners of his lips, but it somehow didn’t faze me one bit. I felt ready. Perhaps, it could have been adrenaline, or the sort.

“However, I am not. I will make you regret sprouting that bullshit to my face. You will apologize for talking about my brother like that!”

He began to chuckle, which then transitioned into a burst of full-on maniacal laughter as he covered his recoiling head with his hand.

“You’re amusing, little twink! I may have had a wrong impression of you. You might actually be entertaining, as opposed to that pretty faced bitch you call your brother!”

I stared at him for several seconds until I swiftly threw a right punch aimed at his face. He was quick enough to catch it with his evidently larger hands. He began to crush my hands within his grasp, laughing slowly as I could only grimace in pain.

***

-Five minutes later-

…Soon after my initial move, we would have a heartfelt brawl. I was lucky enough to land a few hits, but none of them bore any fruit in the end. I had lost to him again, my clothes and face appearing entirely dishevelled and wounded. He stood atop my defeated body with a wide smile on his face that was shadowed by the brimming moonlight behind his figure.

“Come on, come oooon! Don’t tell me this is all you got! I’ll have to push you a little further! I know you got something that’ll entertain me!”

He slowly lifted his right leg, purposed with absolute malice. And as soon as he was about to stomp my chest, he suddenly stopped, and leapt backwards. Consequently, I heard footsteps approaching from behind, followed by a loud, androgynous, but authoritative voice.

“That shall be enough for today.”

Grasping my chest, I slowly turned around, and saw Lunar approaching me with his hands crossed behind his back.

“…Lu…nar…”

“Ah, it’s you,” the guy said from a few steps away, laughing. “The smaller twink. How’d you know we were here?”

“What kind of stupid question is that, Emory?” Lunar chuckled. “The both of you had gotten quite loud. So much so that I had to prevent the guards from reaching this place.”

He then squatted right next to me, gently placing his palm on my forehead.

“It seems like you were trying to get my friend caught, didn’t you?”

“Heh, not really,” the guy named Emory shrugged. “He’s a pleasant punching bag, I have to say. I was lucky enough to encounter him here. Fate has had it this time, I guess.”

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His smile then slowly wavered, and his tone took a rebellious tone.

“I do find it annoying you had to stop our battle midway, though.”

“Pardon me. I will need this fellow alive for the upcoming Inquisition,” Lunar responded calmly, closing his eyes. “I couldn’t bear watching the onslaught any further.”

He… was watching us?

No, put that aside for a moment. What I found even stranger was how loudly the guy named Emory began to laugh. His head facing the sky, as if he was triumphing over some significant discovery.

“Jormunandr! Not a group of complete losers, it seems!”

Lunar slowly helped me get on my feet. I couldn’t bear looking at that guy anymore. I averted my head with expressionless eyes, as we both turned around and stepped away from him. He began speaking to us as if handing us a final farewell.

“I’ll let you off the hook this time. But I can’t promise your safety during the Inquisition. Lunar was your name, no?”

Lunar didn’t bother responding to him and continued helping me walk. Prompting him to continue.

“Remember this well! The Creed Crest shall be ours! This is not a mere phenomenon where one wishes to graduate from the temple and become an actual Sequencer! Our credibility and reputations are on the line! Money, lots of money is on the line! If you want this as much as we do, then don’t hold back! I want to make this Inquisition as fun as it can possibly be!”

Following his anecdote, he began laughing maniacally again. This caused Lunar to halt for a moment, and look at him over his shoulder.

“Correct. I wouldn’t want this to be any less exciting either. I’m looking forward to it, Emory Yraemonde.”

“Of course, Lunar Geinzwalt!”

After their prompt exchange, we made our way back to the dorm.

I wasn’t ready for what was awaiting me. I essentially closed myself off from everyone around me ever since returning from the academy. Additionally, besides Lunar, they all believed I was resting in my room…

…so I tried my hardest to convince Lunar to at least let me sneak back into the dorm without them noticing, but it was impossible to win him over in such a state. I lost the moment he interrupted my brawl.

I had to prepare myself. I was thankfully not very wounded, nor did I have a complete lack of energy like earlier. I released myself from Lunar’s grasp as he gave the front door a few knocks. As soon as the door opened, I averted my gaze as I nervously grasped my left arm.

“Caelum!” Declan’s voice rang out. He reached for me, placing his hand on my shoulder as Lunar chimed in playfully.

“Seems like I forgot my keys.”

“What… happened?” he asked. “Was he not taking a nap upstairs?!”

“Declan? What’s going on?” Geneve’s voice sounded from within the dorm, gradually growing louder as she approached us.

“…Caelum…”

“He got into a fight with someone from another group,” Lunar said.

“Who? Who did this to him?!” Declan exclaimed. I then mustered up my courage and spoke to them.

“Vaelen… where’s Vaelen?”

“Caelum…” Declan muttered, disregarding my question. “Who did this to-”

“Where’s Vaelen?!”

“…He’s… I don’t…”

Them knowing about my situation was… just fine. I noticed that Vaelen wasn’t around in the living room. So I took this chance to try and convince them to at least withdraw themselves from telling him about this.

“He’s currently upstairs,” Geneve said. “Do you want me to bring him here?”

“No, don’t… tell him,” I muttered, feeling relieved. “Please, don’t tell him.”

“…Why?”

Lunar relaxed his eyebrows and glanced at me, as if attempting to read my mind in silence. I considered explaining to them why I didn’t want Vaelen to hear about this, but Declan was still insistent.

“Caelum, what’s going on with you today? Earlier at the academy, you looked worn out after we finished our class. Are you sure you bit your lip? Or was it the same person you fought with right now?”

“…I feel like shit, but it’s nothing to really worry about,” I responded. “It’s just a moody period I’m having. That guy… he’s just…”

I slowly began to lose my speech, as my mind wavered off the bridge of reality.

It seemed that I hadn’t rejuvenated as much as I wanted. I remembered rejecting Vash’s offer of drinking a recovery potion… if only I accepted it.

However, worrying about that now would be useless. It felt as if I was slowly falling asleep, but this time, my mind would start to bubble like a pan full of boiling water—the rising smoke slowly filling up my entire head.

And soon after, their voices grew distant. And I couldn’t discern who was talking anymore.

“Damnit… he can’t even talk anymore. Do we tell Vaelen, Lunar?”

“…We’d definitely be in danger if Vaelen decided to act impulsively. Declan, I know you’re also trying to get a hold of that person, but please hold yourself in. Let’s bring him to his room. We won’t tell Vaelen about this. As for us, in particular… the person in question is Emory from Pale Fangs.”

“That tall guy? What does Caelum have to do with him?”

“I can’t say for sure, but they both have similar personalities. I can only assume that this plays a role in their… dynamic. However, we’re going to have to keep an eye on this fella so he won’t get into trouble again.”

“…Fine by me. It still doesn’t feel right to keep something like this a secret, though. It’s as if we aren’t even trying to fight back against someone who hurt our friend…”

“Just for now, Geneve. We’ll eventually tell him. I’ll bring him to his room and tend to his wounds. You both make sure that if Vaelen shows up and asks about Caelum, tell him he’s still deep in sleep.”

***

-The Gaian Administrative Office-

Vash stood by himself in a dimly lit, stone-walled room with a table that carried dozens of neatly-placed envelopes. He was holding one himself, which he placed on top of one of the staples with a sigh and a closed smile. His seemingly wholesome moment was short-lived, as the adjacent door creaked open, revealing a middle-aged mailman dressed in a round-collar black suit.

“Ah, there you are, Vash.”

“What is it?”

“Here, I’ve got three more mails from Ventoria. Personal ones,” he responded, handing over three envelopes. “I’m assuming they hail from the students’ parents. It’s Tuesday, which means we’ll be sending them over to the dorms tomorrow.”

“Ah, right…” he muttered, reading the front contents of each envelope. He glided his eyes over the names the first two envelopes were comprised of… until he took a sudden halt, and squinted his eyes upon the third envelope that had the name ‘Aurora Jinton’ written on it. Then, as if the sense of suspicion never washed over him, he raised his head and smiled at the mailman.

“It seems that one of the letters is designated for two of my students. I’ll personally hand this over to them.”

“Fine by me,” the mailman answered, stepping away as his voice echoed throughout the hall. “Make sure to lock off the room properly. We’ve mysteriously lost a few envelopes during the past few weeks.”

“I got it,” Vash responded. As he closed the door, he began scrutinizing the contents of the envelope. It was a letter that started with: ‘To my dear sons’. This was enough to convince Vash that this was indeed meant to be given to Caelum and Vaelen.

He let off a small, malicious chuckle as an evil darkness danced in his eyes. He ripped the letter in multiple pieces. He then formed the scraps into a ball of paper, and placed it in his pockets.

Following this, he exited the room after making sure he had picked up all the scraps from the ground, firmly closing and locking the door afterwards.