episode_0167

Swish.

Following the gentle breeze, ripples spread across the water.

Smelling the salty air that brushed past her nose, the fox lifted her closed eyelids.

Lukewarm air caressed her cheeks.

……

What met her gaze was none other than the endlessly sprawling open sea.

Warm sunlight ruffled her reddish-orange hair.

Only familiar silence lingered in her ears.

It was a strange scene.

Gently undulating waves. An endlessly stretching water surface. The sky-blue background resembled a painting of the sea.

The fox realized she was in a nightmare.

‘This is…’

A hard object pressed against her back.

Turning around at the strange sensation, she saw straight iron bars surrounding her.

Their surface was rusted as if weathered by a long passage of time.

It was a single-celled prison standing in the middle of the sea.

The girl smiled bitterly.

‘……It’s been a while.’

The dream that had plagued her for years. At the same time, it was a nightmare she had almost stopped having since she was with him.

A faint sense of déjà vu flickered.

-You will be trapped in eternity.

-In a place where one hour is like one year, you will meet no one and live out a thousand-year sentence.

-Is your selflessness and resolve strong enough to bear such sin?

They called it a mental world.

Was it a reflection of her subconscious?

Or was this prison on the water’s surface truly a representation of her inner self?

The loneliness she thought she had forgotten poked at her heart.

Irene had to force herself to look away.

“……”

A sight filled with refreshing clarity, like a summer day.

Waves that rippled so calmly.

The bottom was slightly submerged in the water.

Thanks to this, the lapping seawater covered the girl’s ankles.

Yet, her clothes and tail were not wet at all, clearly indicating it was a dream.

Her movements swayed.

‘It’s quiet.’

Whoosh.

Suddenly, the sea breeze tousled her hair.

The fox, who had been fluttering with the wind for a moment, soon leaned against the old iron bars and sank down.

The rusted iron lever groaned with a clank.

Screech.

Regardless, the fox hugged her knees.

Beyond the bars, nothing existed.

Only empty waves flowed.

As her gaze drifted beyond the horizon, a faint sense of exhaustion soon weighed down her shoulders.

Only the blue sea was deeply reflected in her dark eyes.

Irene was so fragile she seemed as if she might break at any moment.

“……There really is no one.”

She murmured faintly.

This place was lonely.

As if the entire landscape had been formed to isolate her.

There was no sign of human presence, let alone any other living creature.

A horizon where only the sea and sunlight existed.

The girl was perfectly alone.

“How long will I have to wait?”

A sinking silence.

The peaceful scenery was beautiful, but beyond that, it was cruel.

The girl shook off unnecessary melancholy and fell into thought.

Her thoughts turned to a certain boy.

-Irene.

The fox let out a faint smile.

Soon, her eyes gently closed.

She whispered words that couldn’t be heard aloud.

It was a monologue that completely filled the emptiness.

“Please come quickly.”

Perhaps it was weakness.

With a hint of fear, the girl confessed her fragility.

“Because a world without you… is this lonely.”

Swish.

Only the sound of waves remained in her ears.

Of the thousands of days she had to endure, this was merely the first.

The fox waited in silence.

***

When I heard the news and returned to the academy.

The situation had already concluded.

-Only the bodies of the assailants remained at the scene.

-Regia student carried Irene on her back and ran to our faculty infirmary.

-We immediately issued a lockdown order for the entire academy.

-We apologize for our belated response.

Professor Cadell’s voice explained the situation.

Ignoring the inaudible noise, I could only look down at the fox lying on the sickbed.

Perhaps seeing that my expression was particularly uncontrolled.

Cadell hesitated beside me for a while, then uncharacteristically patted my back.

And then offered awkward words of comfort.

-Irene… protected the academy.

-Everyone in the academy owes her their lives.

-My condolences.

I listened in silence.

Because I didn’t know what to say about the scene before my eyes.

Even so, Irene showed no sign of movement.

As if she were asleep.

‘Inner slumber.’

According to the infirmary’s diagnosis, the fox was trapped in her mental world.

It seemed to be the price for forcibly drawing out her dormant power.

As I looked down at the girl who had fought alone, Selena, who was standing beside me, suddenly spoke.

The woman’s voice was cautious, unlike usual.

I quietly looked back at the drunkard.

“Yuda student…”

“What is Irene’s condition?”

“Since she’s trapped in her mental world… her life isn’t in immediate danger, but I don’t know if her mind will hold up afterward.”

“……”

Right.

Because a mental world is different from the real world, it maintains its own unique concepts.

The most representative example is that the flow of time is different.

When one hour passes in reality, one year passes in the mental world.

That’s why her mental state is a concern.

Because time eventually breaks down the inner self.

“How much time has passed?”

“Approximately… five hours.”

“That means five years have already passed inside.”

There was no time to delay.

Even at this very moment, Irene must be enduring an eternity.

As I maintained a serious expression for a moment, the whimpering girl suddenly clutched my sleeve.

It was Regia, who had been holding the fox’s hand beside the sickbed.

The pink-haired girl broke down with heavy tear stains.

“It’s all my fault.”

“Regia.”

“Irene… because of me… trying to protect someone like me…”

“Don’t cry. This isn’t anyone’s fault.”

“Because I’m weak… still lacking, I ended up being a burden.”

“The situation was simply not good.”

I gently admonished the pilot.

She was merely targeted, not in a position to feel guilt.

If blame were to be assigned to someone… it would rightfully fall to me.

Because I failed to fulfill the responsibility I had promised from the beginning.

‘I should have protected her.’

I hadn’t anticipated the cultists’ movements.

Of all days, today, when I had left to discuss defense measures for the academy.

I hadn’t known that their infiltration would coincide with that time.

I clenched my fist, realizing I had been complacent.

The skin where my nails dug in stung.

‘I am…’

At times like this, I couldn’t help but remind myself.

That I was not a god.

I was neither omnipotent nor omniscient like one.

I was merely an ignorant puppet even in the face of tomorrow.

As I calmed my churning thoughts, Selena then posed a question.

It was a question of my intentions.

“According to records so far… there are almost no cases of recovery from a state like Irene’s. Most people live the rest of their lives unconscious, they say. Yuda student, what do you intend to do now?”

“……Of course, I must fulfill my duty.”

I answered.

Without a trace of hesitation.

“I will save Irene. Even if it means direct intervention.”

“Direct intervention… Surely you don’t mean entering her mental world yourself?”

“You heard correctly.”

Selena was literally aghast.

She furrowed her brow, meeting my eyes as if asking if I was sane.

The pupils, tinged with vivid red, were somehow sad.

“You know how dangerous that is… Yuda student.”

“Life, by its very nature, is accompanied by danger.”

“This isn’t a matter of assessing risk! It’s simply considered impossible.”

The woman spoke with a somewhat agitated voice.

I understood her reaction.

Because stepping into another person’s mental world… was no different from saying one would swim in lava.

The process of invading a being with an established ego entails countless risks.

One could easily be absorbed into the mental world itself.

As such, the mental realm was treated as an absolute domain.

And I had just said I would break through such a place.

“I have a responsibility.”

What is essential is invisible to the eye.

Just as the rose was precious to the prince in the fairy tale, the reason the fox is precious to me must be because of the time I invested in her.

People, through generations, eventually lost this truth.

I hoped not to.

“I must go.”

One is always responsible for what one has tamed.

Therefore, I must take responsibility for my rose.

As a certain fairy tale says.

“……”

I held a resolute gaze.

Our gazes, chillingly intersecting.

Perhaps she realized I wouldn’t back down.

Selena, who had been looking up at me for a while, then spoke with a complicated sigh.

Her expression looked as if she desperately craved alcohol.

“You won’t listen… even if I try to stop you, will you?”

“I apologize for being such a stubborn student.”

“It’s good that you know.”

Ultimately, the master conceded to the student.

Because there was no time to waste like this.

The drunkard took my hand.

“I’ll assist you. To help you enter as safely as possible.”

“That would be a great help. Thank you.”

Waving mana fluctuations.

Feeling my consciousness grow hazy, I unfolded my shadow without hesitation.

With a gently extended finger, I touched Irene’s forehead.

A soft, blooming light resembled a star.

I closed my eyes, ready to enter.

Snap!

The clear snapping sound echoed between my fingers.

Snapping my fingers, I also performed the illusion.

And the next moment.

“……”

Swish.

When I opened my eyes again.

The faint sound of waves reached my previously silent ears.

I stood in the center of a vast sea.

***

From then on, it was a continuous wandering.

Crossing the transparent ripples, cutting through the calm waves, I sailed the sea of unknowing.

The small boat woven from shadows faithfully performed its role.

How long had I been breathing in the sea breeze?

“Haa…”

By perception, nearly half a year had passed.

The scenery here resembled the ‘nightmare’ Irene often spoke of.

It seemed her subconscious had influenced the mental world.

While worrying about the fox who must be suffering from terrible loneliness, I steeled myself and rowed the oar carved from shadows.

With the belief that the girl waiting for me would be somewhere beyond that horizon.

I traversed the sea for a long time.

And then.

“……”

I finally reached my destination.

An iron cage floating on the water’s surface.

As Irene had described, a single-celled prison floated there.

Beyond the bars, reddish-orange hair was faintly visible.

I steered the bow of my boat towards it.

Swish.

Waves gently touching the surroundings.

In the center of such a scene, the fox quietly kept her eyelids closed.

Her pale complexion suggested she was exhausted from long solitude.

Clear tear stains marked her fair cheeks.

It was time to return.

Beyond the worn sea, to the home we had shared.

‘Together.’

From outside the prison, I knocked on the bars.

A low metallic reverberation spread.

Clink clink.

“……?”

An unfamiliar sound.

At that, the girl’s closed eyelids fluttered open.

Her stiff neck turned, and soon her dark eyes met my gaze.

Beyond their transparent surface, only the blond boy was fully reflected.

Her eyes showed disbelief at the present moment.

Her lifeless pupils began to tremble.

I waved my hand towards Irene.

A gentle smile formed on my lips.

Our gazes, crossing each other, resembled a certain time.

Like the moment we first met.

-It’s a pleasure to meet you.

-You probably can’t imagine how much I wanted to meet you.

Just like then, I smiled.

A faint monologue colored the scene.

“Irene.”

I told you.

That I wouldn’t leave you alone.

“I’m sorry for making you wait so long.”

The serpent found the fox.