Ch.9792 – Picnic

“It’s easier if you think of this as a dream.”

“A dream…?”

“Yes. Alchemist is magic that stores wishes and materializes them.”

So NoName used magic to realize dreams within a dream?

Yuna still tilted her head in confusion.

With each step, the dew-laden grass rustled beneath her feet, and the cold air entering her lungs felt so real that it was impossible to believe it was all an illusion.

“NoName, what about those people over there? Are they magic too?”

Haru was curious about the blonde siblings.

“Yes, they’re magic in a way. But they’re also people I’ve missed.”

“I still don’t understand…”

“It’s okay to just think of them as people like us.”

Looking into the distance, the sky and prairie seemed to merge into one endless expanse, giving a sense of timelessness and serenity.

The distance from where they stood to the hill had seemed quite far, but somehow they reached the picnic blanket after just a few steps.

Is this why she called it a dream? Haru muttered quietly to herself.

“Hello, kids.”

NoName greeted them first with melancholy eyes.

The siblings, who had been trying to secure the picnic blanket from the wind, stopped what they were doing.

“You…? Princess?”

“Wow! Esha, it’s Esha! You finally felt like coming out of your room? Who are these people? Are they your friends? Can you introduce me too?”

NoName casually advised the bewildered children.

“You know how to play house, right? From now on, you’re Princess Yuna, and you’re Princess Haru.”

“What? House? Suddenly?”

“Eek! Princess…!”

While Haru slightly grimaced, Yuna was bubbling with excitement.

Being a princess had always been Yuna’s long-held wish. She never imagined NoName would share such an interest.

“Let me introduce them properly. This is Yuna and Haru.”

“Oh, um… hello Yuna, and Haru.”

“Hi! It’s so nice to meet you all! Your names are so pretty!”

NoName switched the order for the next introduction.

“The boy here is Hiasen, and his sister is Niobe. Those names aren’t too difficult, right?”

“Um… hello, Hiasen?”

“Hello, Niobe.”

“Hi! Nice to meet you!”

The girls still felt awkward around the blonde siblings.

Perhaps they seemed even more foreign than Han Seo-ri from their class, and it felt strange to hear such exotic-looking people speaking their language.

Their exceptional beauty only added to the sense of distance.

Hiasen’s long eyelashes trembled slightly as he examined the three girls.

“Estasha…?”

“Yes, Hiasen.”

“You’ve changed a lot.”

“A lot has happened.”

“You said you wouldn’t come back until you finished everything. Have you fulfilled all your dreams now?”

“…Yes.”

“Was I there at the end?”

“You were there.”

“I’m glad… that the me out there didn’t leave you alone.”

NoName’s words were only half true.

After all, it was Emperor Hiasen who had taken Princess Estasha’s last life.

But NoName kept this to herself, not wanting to ruin the mood.

“Brother! Why are you suddenly saying weird things and bringing down the mood?”

“Niobe, be quiet for a moment.”

“Yeah, and what are you going to do about it! I’m not playing with you, I’m only playing with Esha!”

Niobe ran over and linked arms with NoName.

“Come sit down quickly! We’ve prepared everything for the picnic. Yuna and Haru, you’re both welcome too!”

What had started as a group of two had suddenly become five, making the blanket seem a bit small.

But this allowed Hiasen and NoName to sit halfway on the grass to make room.

“Um… did you know NoName before?”

Haru asked. Niobe, who always wore a bright smile, answered.

“Of course! Esha is our eternal little sister!”

The words came from a girl with platinum blonde hair that covered her mischievous smile when the wind blew, and golden eyes that seemed ready to drown in affection.

It was funny to hear her call NoName her little sister, but they decided to accept it as NoName had suggested earlier.

The boundary between common sense and nonsense had already collapsed.

“I’d like to ask you something in return. How did you meet Estasha?”

“We’re classmates at the academy!”

Yuna confidently answered Hiasen’s question.

“And best friends…!”

She made sure to add.

“Academy? Esha, didn’t you drop out?”

“I enrolled again.”

“I suppose that makes sense. You always wanted to make friends.”

“I did…?”

“Yes.”

“Hiasen, you’re still talking nonsense.”

“I’m always sincere.”

“Even that tone of yours…”

Everything felt familiar and therefore nostalgic.

Niobe’s playfulness, Hiasen’s sarcasm.

NoName’s expression darkened again at these connections she would never see again.

“Esha, say aah-“

Noticing NoName’s mood, Niobe shoved an éclair filled with cream into her mouth without warning.

“Mmph-!”

“Come on, it’s okay to eat! You won’t gain any weight! Hehe.”

She barely managed to bite off a piece of the pastry with her teeth.

“I just realized. NoName, did you live abroad?”

“You could say that, or maybe not.”

If Alchemist was magic that materialized dreams, judging from the conversation, these people must have been NoName’s acquaintances.

Yuna found it fascinating that such beautiful and handsome people claimed to be NoName’s siblings.

After finishing the éclair, NoName shared her thoughts.

“It’s strange. My world is different, my body is completely different, but the Raul-cyst storage remains intact. Is it because the constellations are the same?”

This strongly supported the idea that NoName’s past life wasn’t just a dream.

Hiasen and Niobe were clearly real people, suggesting that her past life was indeed as Princess Estasha.

NoName had cast this spell thinking she had nothing to lose.

The magic she had relied on during difficult times, the magic that had kept her from succumbing to the sweet temptation of suicide, was exactly as she remembered.

* * *

It was understandable why people in this world mistook Alchemist for simply magic that could see stars.

When the magic was accidentally cast, all they could encounter was the vast universe, making it difficult to discover its true purpose.

Even Raul Luminos, who first discovered the magic in my past life, and Hiasen, who taught me this magic, both thought it was just magic to see stars.

Alchemist is an illusion magic that recombines and materializes one’s happiest moments.

It creates realistic and concrete illusions based on the wavelengths of starlight that reach Earth.

What makes it significant is that it doesn’t rely on imperfect personal memories, but builds a fantasy world based on information stored in starlight.

But it was also a double-edged sword.

The caster can escape harsh reality and enjoy sweet rest, but the emptiness felt upon returning to reality is indescribable.

The happiest memories imply that reality will always be darker in comparison.

I only used Alchemist (Raul-cyst) when I wanted to give up on all my assigned tasks.

I probably used this drug-like magic most during the Sloth Subjugation.

To make the seed of sloth implanted in my body go berserk, there was only the cruel and unreasonable method of not sleeping.

I had no choice but to endure, and endure more.

I used magic to substitute for cerebrospinal fluid, forcibly removing toxins like adenosine and amyloid beta accumulated in the brain, and maximally relaxing muscles to reduce physical fatigue.

But all this was merely artificially substituting for sleep, not completely erasing the desire to sleep.

During that year of torture worse than any other, Alchemist was an essential magic to maintain my sanity.

‘But to have recited this spell even while sleeping, I wonder if I’ve caused my friends unnecessary worry.’

Meanwhile, the fake Hiasen and fake Niobe here were amazed that my body had changed.

Of course, I had cast Alchemist more than ten times.

Even though they were fake personalities created by magic, they would still remember my visits.

“Your new name is NoName? I’ll miss calling you Shasha.”

“That nickname is so old… and I look completely different now.”

“I was a bit surprised. I wondered if you’d swallowed the wrong spider poison again.”

Hiasen said with a smirk.

“Come on, I’m not a child anymore. I’ve lived more than four times your lifetime now.”

There’s no such thing as a spider poison that turns hair black.

If there were, that poison would sell well to the elderly as hair dye.

During our walk, Hiasen and I exchanged meaningless conversation.

Stories about finally defeating Fayran in swordsmanship, about Josephine’s fiancé being caught having an affair with a baron’s daughter and his family being ruined.

He told these stories as if they happened yesterday, but they were events from more than twenty years ago.

He repeated the same stories every time I came here, and I always enjoyed listening.

Because of the nature of the magic, I could only meet Hiasen fixed at the age of thirteen, but he was always so mature that talking to him felt like conversing with a real friend.

It wasn’t bad to indulge in this familiar feeling after so long.

“This is nice. Talking with you is still the most comfortable, Hiasen. Even if your tone is arrogant.”

“I’m young now! Of course it’s comfortable for you since you’ve lived many more years outside. But you know what? Talking to you was the hardest thing in the world for me.”

“What? Are you saying you’ve been forcing yourself to hang out with me all this time?”

This sudden confession feels hurtful.

Is this one of those situations where someone I thought was a friend was just hanging out with me because they had no one else?

“No, that’s not what I meant, Esha.”

“Then what?”

“…I’m never going to tell you.”

“This is ridiculous.”

Hiasen stuck out his tongue.

“Ouch!”

I barely managed to hold back laughter as he bit his own tongue.

I wonder if all those young ladies with crushes on him knew that the man titled “the most handsome man since the founding of Kaizen” was such a klutz.

Would they like this twist in his personality? This looks-based society is annoying. They’d probably like him even if he pooped himself.

“You look really ugly when you frown.”

When I made this comment, Hiasen blushed and turned his head away.

“I-I’m not ugly!”

He seems to know he’s handsome, as he always gets upset and demands I take back my words whenever I call him ugly.

Look at that narcissist constantly touching his flowing curly hair.

If he had a hand mirror, he would probably spend all day just fixing his hair.