Your fault......

It's all your fault.......

If only you didn't exist........

You should've been the one.......

Die

Die Die

Die Die Die

DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE

 

My body immediately sprung up from my bed.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking, I was fully covered in sweat, my body shivered as my mind keeps on reminiscing about that day.

My heart was beating so loudly I could hear them without much effort.

Calm down, it's just a dream.

Taking slow deep breaths, my body started to calm down a bit.

I picked up the glass of water on the desk next to my bed.

As I carried it towards my mouth, the water rippled and splashed around the glass, on the borderline of spilling due to the shaking of my hand.

Chugging down all the content in one breath, I immediately put the glass back.

That dream again.....

It's been haunting me ever since…..

No, I can't get hold back by the past.

For her, I need to move forward.

I let out a sigh, knowing I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep anytime soon.

Looking at the clock on the wall, its currently 5am.

Well, its better to move my body than sit around in this room contemplating, I rather not get another panic attack.

I got up from my bed, though it seemed that I was in worst shape than I thought, as I almost immediately fell down right as I got up.

I had enough time to recompose myself to fall on my knees instead of falling flat down straight.

I closed my eyes and focused myself on nothing other than my breathing.

After about a minute, I opened my eyes back and got back up using the wall as support.

I slowly walked out my room, towards the room next to me.

A quiet, gentle breathing could be heard from the girl lying on the bed.

Seeing her face, my body immediately calmed down.

Her gentle innocent face that's undisturbed by the world.

Her rhytmical calm breathing.

Her hair that's unruffled even though she's been sleeping for hours.

Yes, she's the only reason I'm still living.

Without Cielle, I would’ve probably ended this life myself.

I'm not allowed to fall in despair as long as she's still here.

Grief, blame, regret, I'll take them all on.

As long as I can make her happy.

After gently stroking her head for a bit, I exited and headed down to the living room.

There, an old woman currently sat on the sofa, as if waiting for me.

Honestly, does this woman even sleep?

She would always already be on that sofa no matter how early I woke up.

"Auntie."

"I hope you haven't forget about our deal."

"Of course."

The deal in question was that I was only allowed to live here for 1 month.

It's already been 3 weeks since auntie first allowed us here.

After that, me and my sister have to find somewhere else to live.

Due to all the savings I had in the past, if it's only for a few months, we should be fine.

The problem is, I haven't even finished highschool yet, thus I won't be able to find a decent job.

Sooner or later my saving would run out.

I need to find a stable job for her.

"I'm going to visit their grave. Don't tell her about it."

"Like I care. Just go."

With her cold words, I exited the house.

Walking towards the grave, my mind wandered off as I tried to think about the future.

Even if I were to find a stable income, she would probably be lonely staying at home alone.

Well, she's about the right age to start elementary school, though that means extra expenses.

In the end, it all goes back to money.

While I was deep in thought, before I noticed I already arrived.

I’ve been visiting this place everyday, I guess my body remember the way here on its own.

Standing in front of the grave, I joined my hand together.

After paying my respect to my parent's grave, I walked back to my auntie's house.

 

"Hmmm?"

Along the way, a newspaper carried by the wind got stuck on my foot.

Picking it up, I intended to throw it away but a certain article on the cover immediately attracted my interest.

 

'Amadeus Academy: grand opening

Looking for highschoolers. Guaranteed stable line of work upon graduation. Free entrance fee. Includes accomodation for the student and one invited guest. Come join us and make your own destiny.'

There's more to the articles, but I couldn't care less about them.

Is this real?

No, if it managed to make it's page on the cover of a newspaper then the news is undoubtedly real.

The free entrance fee is probably due to it being a grand opening, which means the school is new, and they sacrifice a bit of profit to get a lot of people attending first and gain name from that.

Even so, it feels way too convenient…..no, I can't be picky.

If the article on this newspaper was really true, then this would be my opportunity.

Well, I could just ask and reconfirm about this when I get there anyway.

With my determination set, I followed the map on the newspaper.

Though for some reason, looking at the location, I can't help but feel like I know this place......

 

"Wait, what the hell......"

No wait, you've got to be kidding me, right?

In front of me, lies a gate and gigantic walls surrounding what I presumed to be the academy.

There's a mountain inside and I could even see large sea of trees one would expect from a forest from behind the gate.

Even when I was walking from a distance away, it didn't seem like I could see the end of the wall.

It's big enough to make a village, or even a small city.

I thought about turning back due to how suspicous it is, but that's not really an option is it?

Seriously, how is something like this even possible?

I know that this land has been owned by someone from long ago, but I never expected that someone would make an academy in it.

I walked towards the gate.

The way in is somewhat similar to that of a train station.

When I got closer, I could see a girl behind the counter.

"Good morning. Are you here to register for the school?"

"Ahhh, yes. Is it true that I can get accommodation here for me and another person I bring while I attend the academy?"

"Yes, accommodation is free. Upon entering, the students would be given a fixed amount of points for food and other expenses regardless of the number of people they invite so the students have to manage those themselves though."

"Points?"

"It is the money system we used in this academy. Here, you can get details about this academy here."

She gave me a pamphlet containing everything about the school.

It seems that any kind of transaction inside uses something called Value Point or VP for short.

So technically they can bring any number of people they want, but the amount of VP they have to spend increases.

Furthermore, about the work after graduation, it seems that one can still, or rather encouraged to live inside the academy even after graduation by working there.

There seems to be other facilities like elementary schools, malls, cafes and other stuffs too, anything one could wish for.

If there’s a facility lacking then you could even request for it to be built.

Again, this sounds way too convenient that I couldn’t help but get suspicious.

Let's rationalize for a bit.

If I were to attend here, Though I can't really say I won't have to worry about living expenses anymore, it seems that our future would be a little more guaranteed here.

If I were to let this opportunity goes, I don't think I'll get anything like it ever again.

It's definitely way better than living in the streets.

I mean, I'm personally fine with that, but I can't drag Cielle through something like that with me.

"Alright, sign me up, please."

"How much people would you be bringing with you?"

"Only one."

"Understood. Here's the key to enter the academy. Please prepare all your belongings as you can't exit the academy upon entering."

She handed me 2 transparent cards.

 

After explaining that I would be leaving tommorow, there's no doubt that there's an expression of joy in her face.

Well, I didn't explain in details of where I'm going, since there's really no reason to.

She really wanted me to leave, huh?

My parents’ relationship with this auntie has never really been good.

When my parents died, the family's wealth was inherited to auntie since I'm just a highschooler.

She's probably delighted due to the fact that nothing's constraining her anymore.

Well, not like I care.

I walked to my sister's room.

"Nii….?"

Seems like she's awake.

She's currently sitting on her bed, Rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"Yo, El."

She got up from her bed and immediately hugged me.

Due to the clear difference in height, her arms can only circled around my legs, as she leaned her head on my tummy.

I caressed her head gently, in which she enjoyed.

"El, we're going to be moving out tomorrow."

"Where are we going...?"

"It's somewhere close to where Nii would be attending highschool at."

She didn't say anything further, but after hugging me tightly one more time, she parted with me and started packing her stuffs.

She’s always been so obedient and trusted me fully.

I should also pack up my stuffs, well though there’s not much to pack in the first place.

I left El to finish her packing alone and went to my room.

After a few minutes, I managed to pack all my stuffs inside a small backpack.

I headed back to El with the intention of helping her out but it seemed like she's finished as well.

I was planning to go back to the academy tomorrow, but since we finished quite quickly, I guess we can go now.

I want to get out of this house as soon as I can anyway.

She would probably be glad to get rid of us as soon as possible too.

"El, would you be okay if we go today?"

"Yes."

Though I didn't expect her to decline, I also didn't expect her to accept so easily without asking anything about it......

I’m a bit worried about her future, it feels like she trusts…..or rather relies on me too much.

When we got back to the living room, auntie wasn’t there anymore.

Seems like she's currently out.

Well, I'm not the type to wait for someone like her.

She would probably know that we're gone after she checked our room anyway, so there's no reason to wait around.

 

Using the card just like one would on a subway station, we got in through the gate.

The moment we swiped it, the transparent card immediately had some writings in it.

My name along with a photo of me.

Wait, when did they even.....I don’t think I gave my name….

I shook my head off the negative thoughts.

No use thinking about it, I guess this serves as identification?

On the backside, it transformed to something akin to a smartphone overlay.

It actually works like one would expect from a smartphone.

I don't really keep up with the technology trend, but I don't think I’ve ever seen something like this.

Maybe a prototype from a certain electronic company?

Geez, how much budget does this school even have?

Looking around, there's multiple road with no sign to where each of it leads.

In the first place, I don’t know where to go…..

Is there no one to guide us?

"Do you need any guidance?"

“UwaaaahHH!?”

The girl from this morning suddenly appeared behind me before I noticed.

That really surprised me…..

I thought about what to ask for a bit before settling on the most important question

"Ummm, where would our accommodation be?"

Yea, first thing first has got to be that.

She nodded and started leading the way.

I held my El's hand and follow her.

 

"Wait, what the hell......"

Rows and rows of houses that one could expect from an entire housing complex were lined up in front of me.

Is this really an academy?

I'm starting to doubt its credibility.

"Students would usually live in the dorm but seeing as you are bringing your little sister along, a house would be better. Though you won’t be getting free meals like you would’ve if you live in the dorm, you get the freedom to do anything you want to your house."

So there's even a dorm for those who comes here alone, huh?

I really couldn't imagine the budget they used to make this whole 'academy'.

“Does living here mean I’m renting this place?”

“You don’t need to be concern about the rent price as a first year student, though after you enter second year, there’ll be monthly fee.”

So it’s nothing I need to worry for a year, huh?

"Do you need help with anything else?"

"Ummm, do you have something like, a map of this whole academy?"

"You can open the map feature provided on your card for that."

Wait, it can do that?

I took out my card and pressed on the compass icon there.

The whole academy's topography appeared.

I can zoom in and out however I want, and there's even an indicator of where I am.

this basically serves as a gps huh?

I have to check out the other apps on this card later.

"Alright, if there's no further questions, I'll excuse myself. You can check the school schedule on your card but there's still 2 weeks until the opening ceremony so until then its free time. If you need any help you can use your card to call an administrative."

"Ahhh, alright."

"Then, I'll be going now."

With that, the girl left us.

"Nii, this house is amazing."

El's eyes were filled with excitement as she sees the house we'll be living.

True enough, for something prepared for a student, this is a bit much......

It's a big house that you would expect from an expensive housing complex, probably enough for a family of 5 to live in together without getting cramped.

We walked towards the door.

When I tried to push it open, it doesn't budge.

"Hmmmm....."

"Nii, El thinks it's like this."

Cielle takes out her card and swipe it on the silver plate next to the door.

A sound of a lock being opened could immediately be heard.

Whoaaa, just like a hotel room.

We walked into the house and closed the door behind us, in which the lock sound could be heard again, probably means that it's locked now.

So the only ones that can enter these houses are their designated owners, did that girl designated this house in advance before we came?

When we finished touring the house, the sky was already starting to get dark.

"El, how about we unpack later and go buy some ingredients for today's dinner first?"

"Unnnn, if Nii says so."

I swiped the card again at the door and opened the map.

"Seems to be a bit of distance form here, but it's not too far."

I could see a convenience store not too far from our house.

El followed what I do and opened the map on her card.

What a fast learner, I don’t think she ever used a smartphone before and yet she’s using it without a problem.

Still, I could see the glimmer of excitement in her eyes as she tapped around.

We walked leisurely towards the convenience store.

On the way, I looked around on what this card has.

There's one that I particularly wanted to check, the academy manual.

Hmmm, it's like what one would expect from an online academy website, neatly organized.

I scrolled down and slowly read through while we walk.

El immediately did the same thing after seeing me do it.

......

Hmmmm, so basically the only currency here is this VP and there's no physical form of it so its like digital money.

One can gain more VP via trading it directly with other people, part time work, and others.

The school seems to give VP to the students every month too, though nothing written about the people the students bring so its most likely like that girl said, I’ll have to split my monthly VP with El.

All of these were pretty easy to understand, but there's one part that really concerned me.

When one's VP run out, that person can be bought by others for a certain amount of VP, depending on the academy's judgement of the said person.

Bought, it probably means something bordering to slavery, or so I have a feeling.

Though it is said too that the required amount is not something one can earn just form the school's provided fund.

Well, it's nothing to think about as long as I don't let myself and El runs out of VP, but it's something to pay in mind.

I asked El how much VP she got on her card, seems like she has 2.000 VP currently.

I got 8.000 VP on mine so that means we were given 10.000 VP from the start, with an 80/20 split.

I immediately transferred 3.000 VP to my sister just to balance it out.

Not long after that, we reached the convenience store.

Though it’s called a convenience store on the map, it was huge enough to be called a supermarket, with a large variety of things inside ranging foods and drinks to even furnitures.

Entering the store, I noticed that there’s was no one inside, not even a cashier.

After taking a closer look, it seems like everything is on a self-serve system, as you’re expected to scan for the items yourself.

Is this really okay……won’t people get tempted to steal something if there’s no one watching?

Is there some sort of hidden cameras all over the store or something?

Well, I don’t have any intention of stealing so it’s not my concern.

We started looking around this large store.

Hmmmm, cooking ingredients such as potatoes, tomatoes, and such are around 5-15 VP.

Pre-made foods are around 50 VP.

There's also utensils for around a few hundreds VP and even simple furnitures varying from around a few hundreds to thousands, with a decent bit of variety.

I wonder, is there a specific shop for furnitures too somewhere?

Hmmmm, I didn't check if we had cooking utensils at home or not.

If they're sold here, then probably no?

"Hmmm, Nii's not sure if there are cooking utensils or not in the house so let's just buy some bento for today. Pick the one you want."

"Unnnn."

Well, I don’t plan to waste VP on a hunch so I’ll wait on buying them.

She looked around the variety of content there were and makes a difficult expression.

Hmmmm, true enough, there's quite a lot of choice with different contents inside.

Hmmm, guess I'll pick the one with karaage and salad in it.

My sister picked one with pickled plum rice and egg rolls.

We head to the cashier and paid them, totalling in 120 VP.

We both used our own VP.

Well, I was insisting to pay for El’s portion too, but she declined it sharply.

With both of our meal on hand, we walked back to our home.

"Nii...."

She looked like she had something to ask.

"What is it?"

"What will El be doing while Nii is away for school?"

Ahhh that’s right, I didn’t get to discuss about things much with El.

"There's an elementary school division here so El will be going there."

"Away from Nii?"

She looked quite sad after knowing we wouldn’t get to be together so much anymore after school starts.

“Ngghh…..I’ll immediately pick El up once classes are over, no detour!”

“Really?”

“Yes, I promise.”

I could see her face brightened up as soon as I said that.

Still, that’s the first time El voiced out her selfish desire like that.

Before this she would never tell me what she wanted and just go along with whatever I said without asking any questions.

I hope she would voice out her desire like this more in the future, it’s not good for her to bottle up her desire.

We got back home in about the same time we took to get to the convenience store.

After finishing dinner, El went to go take a bath while I went to relax in the living room.

They were kind enough to provide a sofa and a table on the living room, though there’s not much else in here besides that.

I started reorganizing my thoughts.

Honestly, this place feels too good to be true, the only worrying thing about this place so far is probably the slavery thing when one runs out of VP.

Still, with this amount of VP, it's pretty hard to run out of them, especially since the academy gives the students more every month.

Still, after looking at the price examples, even with minimal spending every month it's still impossible to amass enough VP to actually buy a person, since the cost range is in the millions.

That means there's probably something like gambling and such, or maybe a competition with VP as the prize.

Eitherway there’s definitely a way to gain more VP, though whether or not those are accessible to students is another question entirely.

Then again, I suppose it doesn’t concern me.

I don’t have any plan of spending until I run out of VP, nor do I have the desire to buy another human being.

As long as I can live with El happily, that's enough for me.

Still, I won't decline getting some VP the safe way since some extra insurance is never bad.

"Nii, I've finished using the baths."

"Ahhhh, alright."

I didn't turn around due to my instinct.

I can hear water dripping behind me.

Is she still naked?

She probably is, or maybe she's only wearing her bath towel, both of which are not good, therefore it would be wise not to turn around.

After hearing her footsteps of going up to the second floor, I went to take a bath myself.

"Ahhh, this is relaxing."

Dipping myself into the warm bath, I immediately relaxed.

The card seemed to be water proof according to the manual so I brought it with me.

I looked at the schedule on the card.

So the opening ceremony is in 2 weeks, on Friday.

Wait, why on Friday?

Strange...... Usually opening ceremony starts on Monday so lessons can be started the next day.

Well, this whole academy is already strange in itself so I guess I shouldn’t be bothered by minor stuff like this.

I suppose that just means I'll have some free time to spend with El before school starts.