Ch.14Chapter 14: As the Day Draws to a Close

#

Looking at the ceiling that was more familiar than any hospital room could ever be.

I dismissed the pathetic thought that this might be a dream, and while still lying down, I slightly turned my head to survey my surroundings.

‘It’s exactly the same…’

The bleak scenery contained only the essentials needed for daily life: a desk, a chair, a bed to lie on, and a wall clock that allowed me to check the current time while lying down.

Through the large window, which had become an outlet for the inferiority complex that had been endlessly accumulating from a certain point in time, a moderate twilight that even the moonlight couldn’t fully dispel indicated it was nighttime.

And the gloomy grayish-white ceiling that first caught my eye as I lay in bed—so dreary it seemed to embody the depressed state of mind that had been crushed under my inferiority complex.

There was no doubt.

This was my room.

It was a space filled with complex memories and emotions, where a boy who once wanted to become a star that illuminated others had spent most of his teenage years.

Originally, it had been a place where I challenged myself to achieve my dreams, rested my tired body and mind, and dreamed of a better tomorrow.

But it was also where a boy who realized he could never become a star had curled up to sleep, ruminating on layers of inferiority complex that accumulated as he grew older.

As I turned my gaze around the room, it eventually returned to the grayish-white ceiling I always stared at before falling asleep while suppressing my gloomy sense of inferiority.

“…”

My body tried to curl up instinctively as I recalled my wretched self from back then.

But unlike before, I wasn’t alone in this room now.

*Swish*

A gentle touch landed on my forehead as I lay in bed, weakly staring at the ceiling.

“No fever…”

The owner of that voice, containing an immeasurably great warmth.

“Thank goodness…”

Was by my side.

Perhaps that was why.

This gloomy grayish-white ceiling that I used to face with hollow eyes before forcing myself to close them while soothing my mind that was always deteriorating from an inferiority complex.

Now, strangely, it didn’t feel gloomy at all.

My lips were softening into a gentle smile.

I didn’t know the exact reason, but I think it was because I could see your warm smile that I thought I’d never see again. Just as I was about to open my mouth to express my gratitude to you,

“Are you… alright?”

Lost in my thoughts, I hadn’t properly responded to Shizu’s kind question, causing her voice to grow increasingly worried.

‘I shouldn’t be spacing out. I need to quickly tell her I’m fine.’

With a sense of guilt for not giving an appropriate response despite having resolved just hours ago to make her happy, I quickly began doing what I needed to do.

First, I carefully removed Shizu’s gentle hand from my forehead using my own hand.

“Ah…”

I heard Shizu’s voice filled with disappointment as her hand moved away from my forehead, but this was unavoidable.

My forehead where Shizu’s hand had touched was sure to heat up like it was on fire if this continued.

I clearly remembered how Shizu had acted when I was sick around this time.

-We need a wet towel… no, ice chunks!

It was quite a while ago, even by the standards of this time.

I recalled the moment when Shizu had struggled to nurse me as I lay unable to move in this room, slightly warmer than now, suffering from severe body aches.

‘I don’t want you to struggle because of me.’

I acted out of a desire to prevent her from worrying about someone like me, but I couldn’t help but notice the disappointment and regret evident in her expression.

“I’m… fine now.”

Without sitting up, I turned my head slightly to meet Shizu’s eyes, then delivered a brief but warm response that matched the warmth she had given me.

“Are you okay?”

I immediately asked about her physical condition.

As I spoke, I realized I had already asked this question right before falling asleep, and felt regret for asking something unnecessary.

“Yes!”

But the moment I saw you smiling brightly at my simple question.

My eyes, still drowsy from just waking up, opened wide.

Eyes that were on the verge of closing again due to drowsiness.

Were too inadequate to capture your smile that was incomparable to anything else in the world.

So I made myself open my eyes wide to properly greet it.

And as my eyes opened wide, I realized anew.

That marble sculptures praised for perfectly expressing the beauty of a goddess.

Were mere stones compared to you, Shizu.

#

The current time was 9 PM.

It was the time when the moonlight at its peak completely dispelled the twilight that had fallen over the night sky.

It was also the time when the moonlight, containing a gentle rather than intense light unlike the midday sun, fully illuminated my window.

And in my room like this, I was now.

“…I see.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, facing Shizu, I listened attentively to the story coming from her lips.

I nodded briefly after every few sentences she spoke, trying not to miss a single word of her story.

Seeing me like this, Shizu continued her story with a subtle smile.

After hearing all the essential parts of her story, which wasn’t very long,

“First of all, congratulations on your victory.”

I conveyed what I should have said to Shizu, albeit a bit late.

“Thanks…”

Shizu accepted my congratulations with a bright smile.

The martial arts tournament had ended with Shizu’s victory.

I couldn’t understand just from hearing briefly, but after listening to Shizu’s full explanation, I finally understood.

The devastated training ground, Shizu standing there exhausted, me sleeping in an unseemly manner beside her, Dan Augustine who had lost consciousness outside the arena, and Professor Maximilian who was at the sidelines without knowing what had happened—the scene seemed to have skipped the middle process from when they were about to enter the arena. The commotion from the spectators showed no signs of subsiding.

But when Shizu tried to explain everything properly to Professor Maximilian who was trying to assess the situation on behalf of me who had collapsed, the institution had already been aware of the situation and had taken appropriate measures, she said.

And the person who had stepped forward for that appropriate response was none other than…

“…Director Belpheus?”

“Yes. As soon as time started flowing normally again and you fell asleep like you’d fainted, Director Belpheus personally entered the arena, spoke on my behalf, and declared me the winner by his authority as the director.”

The commotion in the noisy arena filled with voices of people confused by the unexpected situation was calmed by the appearance of one person, she said.

Director Belpheus, who appeared with graceful movements as he made his way through the space, captivated the audience with his dignified appearance and presence that made his age impossible to determine by appearance alone, and calmed the commotion.

And after the officials and students had calmed down sufficiently, he announced the fact that might shock them—that a Mein, and moreover, one bearing the Bloody Pentagram, a mark of being favored by a Mein God, had penetrated the institution’s strict anti-Mein barrier, she said.

There was no one who wasn’t shocked by those words, but that was only momentary.

He simultaneously announced that before he could step in himself, Lillian Shizu Proxian, who was present there, had ‘vanquished’ such a Mein with the power of the holy sword Lumen.

The arena, which had been restless with anxiety, then erupted with relief followed by enthusiasm.

After calming the spectators who were chanting Shizu’s name, Belpheus declared that he would grant Shizu the rights of the martial arts tournament winner for defeating the Mein with the Bloody Pentagram.

No one in the arena objected to those words, she said.

What happened afterward was swift, she said.

Dan Augustine, who had lost consciousness due to the shock of having his body hijacked by a Mein, was immediately transferred to a special ward in the Cradle to minimize any potential side effects of the body hijacking.

And I, who had collapsed ungracefully in the middle of the training ground, was diagnosed by Director Belpheus as merely having fallen asleep and was immediately moved to my own bed, she said.

‘Well, I guess it makes sense since there was no reason for me to go to the infirmary…’

After thinking that I should express my gratitude to the Director if I get to meet him separately later, I opened my mouth to resolve some questions I had from Shizu’s story.

“Did the Director announce that you defeated the Mein without you saying anything separately?”

“Yes. I’m not sure, but it seemed like he confirmed that I defeated the Mein based on circumstantial judgment.”

“I see…”

Although Shizu herself spoke with an uncertain voice, not knowing whether it was a decision based on circumstantial judgment or accurate observation, I thought I understood.

Most likely, Director Belpheus had properly observed me and Shizu confronting the Mein Laplace.

There is evidence. It’s merely an extension of something I vaguely know from experiencing it a few times in my previous timeline.

The Director of the Cradle, Belpheus, is a being unaffected by space-time control spells such as frozen time.

I don’t know exactly how he remains unaffected, but that’s beside the point.

Perhaps the secret lies in how he has endured a thousand years with a human body, unlike Professor Grace who is of the dragon race, but that’s just speculation.

Belpheus.

One of the legendary heroes who survived the Mein God’s Advent a thousand years ago with a human body.

And also a noble strong one whom the malice that had consumed my body when I lived as a monster in the previous timeline didn’t even dare to think of confronting.

‘And like Professor Grace, he’s also a comrade of my ancestor, Lord Lumen.’

As I recalled that fact, the shocking words I heard before fainting came to mind.

-The red hair is similar, and now that I think about it, that swordsmanship that cut me down in full armor is similar too. Is this also fate…

The fact that my ancestor, Lord Lumen Ranos, once had red hair.

A statement left by Mein Laplace that was unknown in the family traditions passed down through generations, whether it was a lie or truth, made me think.

That the two comrades who had fought through the bloody battles a thousand years ago with my ancestor would know about it well.

‘Since Professor Grace is hiding her identity, I can’t ask her carelessly, but if I get the chance, I should ask the Director later. …Though I don’t know when that will be.’

Director Belpheus is not someone you can meet easily just because you want to.

Even the Solar Emperor, the most revered being of the Human Integration Empire, can only meet the Director after coordinating schedules in advance. The most towering tree supporting humanity is a being that even secular power spanning a thousand years cannot influence.

I was about to sigh at the daunting prospect of finding a way to resolve the doubt that had seeped into my mind, but.

“And Cal.”

“Yes?”

“The Director asked me to tell you to definitely visit the Director’s office tomorrow.”

“…Just me?”

“…Yes.”

Feeling that the opportunity had come sooner than I expected, I withdrew the sigh I was about to let out and.

“I can’t ignore a summons from the Director.”

With those words, I expressed my intention to meet Director Belpheus.

Now that I had finished understanding what had happened while I was asleep.

It was time to discuss the personal matter I had been talking about with her earlier.

“Shizu, it seems like you’ve finished telling me everything you needed to.”

“Y-yes. I didn’t realize how time flew while talking. Hehe.”

Even though we had just exchanged simple conversation, Shizu’s expression showed a faint but incomparable smile, as if she had enjoyed talking with me, which made me feel like my entire face, including my eyes, was melting with warmth.

But this wasn’t just a topic for pleasant conversation, so I composed my mind and voice before slowly opening my mouth.

“Earlier, I mentioned that I knew you could use sealed magic power.”

“…Yes.”

At my words, Shizu’s smiling expression also took on a slightly serious tone.

“Cal… How did you know I could use sealed magic power? It’s an important secret that I haven’t even told my family…”

Although her expression had turned serious, it showed only pure curiosity directed at me without any trace of shadow, which momentarily made me feel relieved.

‘To feel relieved about something like this, I really am…’

Thanks to having memories from the previous timeline, I hadn’t burst out with my inferiority complex towards her.

But remembering how I had knowingly and unknowingly stabbed her with daggers until just before that.

After resolving to tell her exactly what I had seen and then offer her a proper apology.

“When the moonlight is bright, my room’s window has a really good view of the training ground outside.”

“…Ah!”

I first gave her the answer to how I knew she could use sealed magic power, preparing for a long conversation.

“I have so much I want to say…”

It would be a confession of the baseness that had taken root in the heart of a certain man, stemming from an incident that happened about a year ago even by this timeline’s standards.

It was about a girl who, even when all other students of the Cradle were deep in sleep, sacrificed her sleep time to whip herself into training after training, yet felt frustrated at the reality that wasn’t improving.

And about a man who had only seen such a girl as someone to be protected, but then realized that while she was becoming a being filled with tremendous brilliance over time, he himself had not gained even a bit of that brilliance, and had only pushed her away one-sidedly with incomprehensible jealousy and inferiority complex.

It was, in a way, a confession.

“That day, like today, was a day when the moonlight shone so brightly without a single cloud.”

Seeing me begin to speak calmly, Shizu’s expression became subtly knowing yet unknowing.

I was curious about how that subtle expression would change after my story ended.

‘But whatever it changes into, if that’s the karma I must bear.’

I would endure it silently.

Steeling my resolve, I calmly began to unfold what I had seen.