Chapter 79 – In which they have a nightmare (4)

Citrie looked at the bed with a determined expression.

‘Let’s get it over with.’

Because he was thinking about useless stuff, he felt unusually tired.

He should quickly get through it and get some sleep.

Or he will suffer in the spice hell for an entire week.

Thankfully, sleep didn’t elude him as usual.

He fell asleep almost immediately.

And then fell into a strange dream.

“I told you not to come.”

Those were the first words that always greeted him.

The voice that usually sounded melodious now sounded like a grindstone.

And the owner of the voice stood before him, glaring at him with blazing eyes.

The awaken Citrie always found the appearance of this person unusual.

Excluding the strange clothing, that according to his research dated to the time pre-Luminere, the man in front of him had hair in such a vibrant color of red, you could mistake it for fire and eyes shining with such intensity, it felt as if someone took the setting sun and put it into the man’s eye sockets.

But what was most eye-grabbing was the red crow mask hiding half of his face.

It was eye-grabbing mostly out of regrets, as both the awake and dreaming Citrie wondered what the full face underneath looked like.

But the dreaming Citrie didn’t have time to wonder, as the man glared at him with disapproval clearly written on his face.

He didn’t want him here. He didn’t want him here at all.

Yet the dreaming Citrie pretended not to notice, as he smiled brightly and said:

“And I didn’t listen. Didn’t you say it yourself? I’m ‘not your family or a friend’, so I shouldn’t come. But doesn’t it mean I also don’t have an obligation to listen to you? So I’m here.”

He said that with a bright voice, but his throat tightened at the last syllable of ‘I’m not your family or a friend’.

He prayed that the man in front of him didn’t catch that.

“…”

The man in the crow mask didn’t answer straight away.

He crossed his arms and tapped them with his fingers, which dream Citrie knew very well was a thing he did when thinking about something deeply.

“Are you really not going to leave?”

It sounded almost like a plea.

But dream Citrie pushed away that thought and tightly held onto to his resolve.

“I won’t.”

He had to be firm, and he had to stay here no matter what.

If the man tried to teleport him away, he was ready to grab him and threaten him with cutting his hand off, if that was what it would take for the man to agree.

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Perhaps the man in the crow mask could see his determination, as he just sighed and mumbled:

“You dumb cat.”

Then he turned around and started walking.

But stopped after taking a few steps, and without turning around, he said with a firm voice:

“After it ends… We have to clear something up. And have a talk.”

Then the man in the crow mask started to walk again without waiting for the answer.

The dream Citrie followed him in silence.

*-*-*

They climbed a low hill.

A dark forest of strange twisted trees spread out under it.

The Crow-Mask stopped there and turned to dream Citrie.

“Stay here.”

“I’m going with you.”

“No.”

Citrie opened his mouth to argue, but the man shook his head and tossed him something from his bag.

Citrie had to close his mouth when he caught it and saw what it was.

“I’m not kicking you out, so cooperate. I have to go there. Alone. You’re staying here.”

The man pointed at the depths of the forest.

Citrie, who had good night vision, couldn’t make out a single shape in the darkness beneath the tree branches.

Just looking at this forest gave him the creeps, but…

He glanced at the man.

The blazing eyes scrutinized his face, as if looking for a single trace of disobedience.

If Citrie tried to follow him into that forest it was certain that the man would make sure Citrie wouldn’t be able to move a finger until he was done.

Getting so far was the limit.

Dream Citrie decided to yield.

“What do you need me to do?”

“Get out?”

“… I’m sorry, wrong question. What can I do for you here if I absolutely refuse to leave?”

“First, after I enter the forest, use that talisman.”

The Crow-Mask first pointed to the thing he tossed to Citrie a moment ago.

It was outside of awake Citrie’s knowledge, but the dreaming Citrie knew very well that it was a fire and heat protection talisman.

A quite powerful one.

“When the operation starts, everything from this hill to that one…”

This time the man pointed at the hill about one kilometer away, visible on the other side of the forest.

“Will be set on fire. The magic formations keeping up the fire are hidden on those two hills so guard this one, because the enemy will try to destroy them by any means necessary.”

“Got it. Who is on the other hill?”

“… No one.”

Citrie fell silent.

‘You crazy bastard. Did you plan to carry out this entire operation alone then!?’

If he didn’t come here, then this man…

“If you look at me like this, I’ll kick you out.”

“Yes. My apologies, commander. I was just in awe of your mind’s clarity.”

“Really? How cute. If only you were dumbstruck by it before you came here.”

“I wouldn’t be able to appreciate your extraordinary thinking if I did that.”

The man stared at him silently for a second, then turned his back to him and started walking towards the forest.

Citrie was shocked.

‘You’re leaving? Just like that?’

It’s not that he expected anything special.

He just thought that… He deserved a simple ‘goodbye’ at least.

Citrie opened and closed his mouth a few times.

But he wasn’t able to find his voice in the end.

When the crow mask disappeared between trees, Citrie activated the talisman and then started to make barriers around the hill.

Layers upon layers until the entire hill was snow white.

And then the fire broke out.

*-*-*

They came in massive waves, crawling on the bodies of their fallen comrades to avoid the raging fire.

Dream Citrie’s barriers were destroyed one after another.

‘It’s too hot…’

Citrie frowned as he looked at the approaching wave of enemies.

To deal with the enemies, the fire grew even more fierce, but it meant that metal that Citrie controlled was melting like butter.

If that went on, rather than Citrie protecting him, it would be Citrie, who would be protected.

‘Are you doing it on purpose…?’

He looked at the fire that seemed especially strong around him and clenched his fists.

The talisman seemed too good, because he wasn’t even able to feel the terrible heat around him.

And therefore he noticed it only now.

‘You were playing with me from the beginning.’

He was doing it on purpose.

Even now, in the middle of a hellish ordeal, he was controlling the flames to keep Citrie away from the enemies.

‘I let my guard down, because of how shocked you were when you saw me here…’

Citrie thought bitterly about the moment he thought was a little win for him.

What win?

What win, you dumbass?

A win against the man who had thousand back-up plans?

He doesn’t want you here.

“But I want to protect you at least once.”

He told the flames, as if begging.

But flames had no ears to listen.

“…”

He examined the line of enemies that were approaching the hill.

Right. He was already here against the man’s better wishes.

Then it doesn’t matter what he does, right?

Because it can’t get any worse.

‘I’ll make it damn sure that no one but you will be able to approach this hill.’

So he did something that man couldn’t expect.

He let his metal melt and merge with the fire.

Even though his abilities had a spiritual source, they relied on mana manipulation.

One was an extension of the other.

So if he diligently studied mana operations formulas…

‘I can use magic too.’

*-*-*

‘Complete…’

He couldn’t think straight.

His ears were buzzing, his vision was white.

His mind was breaking under the pressure of calculations that kept going through it.

But he was certain.

He did it.

No one could approach this hill now.

Even when the raging flames of the man in a crow mask died down at some point, the flames created by Citrie kept enemies away.

No one set foot on the hill.

Crack.

Something cracked. He wasn’t sure what.

It didn’t matter.

He did it.

“Yo—… W—… W-…”

There seemed to be a voice, but he couldn’t hear it properly.

It was too broken.

Something warm brushed against his cheek.

Come to think, it was quite cold.

Well, it also didn’t matter.

Because he did it.

“I protected you.”

He was safe.

He protected him to the end.

Dream Citrie fell into a cold darkness satisfied.

*~*~*