Part 1: Mystery Woman

 

"Siqura! Siqura!"

A manifestation protuberance attuned to those snowy clouds covering the late-evening sun. Snows grew tighter on the minty forest that seemed to lose in possession of ghosts. The visibility slacked, the sunburst became soften for hanging up too long. The heat was damped and muffled against my skin, my cursed dress somehow prevented it from turning my body into a block of ice. Yet, I felt overbearing cold. Or was it hot?

How should I transcribe this surreal illusory? It had been three times over today, astonishment encounters had been dislocating a shard from the bottom of my memory. It shoved a prognostication to my stiffening-chest about a massive burning rock that was dropping from those weightiness clouds. A meteor precisely. Was there such time had befallen in the past? Or it was a desperate sign from the future?

No matter how far my resolve to fray deeper, I couldn't muster more than my extremity's strength. The sunset vicinity granted a high heat over my heart's perception. It hurt my skull, I wished to suspend my agonizing about things that never had any proof for its actual arrival.

"Stop daydreaming!" Erika anchored my space on the bench seat in-between my teacher and herself. "You're going to fall."

Two glowing jade-color cobbles gleamed the quad throughout the corners and beneath the seats. This luminance alleviated my motion sickness a minimum. Reverberating upright of a good night's sleep each day nevertheless didn't adequate to free nausea and the impression of hazy delusion. When would I ever wake from this uncomfortable apparition?

"Hm..." I motioned my gaze into the clueless Erika.

"What...?" Erika looked with a puzzling gesture, some dried-pieces spilled from the biscuit. "S-Siqura? W-Why you mad? I'm sorry for disturbing your date with nature but there is a storm outside. You don't want to get dragged out by that."

I didn't bargain for the stare. My expression couldn't be switch on right in the rouse of the headache. I retained squeezing my eyes to draw a line between real and obscuration. Right, the renura lu never yet disappear. That said, a sudden blank finally got me, I lost my attention over where I put the footsteps.

The overweight platform succeeded to tug my legs off on the way to my seat. My head bashed aimlessly straight to Ainari's thighs who sat across. The whole transport halted in flashy friction, honked a nut of gas to all revolting passengers. That what I could make sense anyway.

"W-What's going on?" said Thlesy, feverish lingered in her over-vivid orange eyes. "Was it a landslide?"

Ainari broke loose a gasp, pulled her eyebrows down over her armed arms without bringing the accidental topic. "Can you wake up, now?" She offered me a hateful smile along with that question.

Erika, Ainari, Thlesy, and Onyeka, held their heads in shrilling and confusing.

"That was dangerous." Erika stood and poked out of the window.

Our teacher who sat near the window appeared to sleep soundless, regardless of the noise that shattered our safety of traveling on the high mountain. We could fall to the foothill while rolling on the train.

Despite the emergency, I riposted toward my seat and opened my journal to escape Ainari's tormented stares. Several previous articles seemed so distant by now. My pen scratched the fiber of sheet to the frame about a little while ago renura lu. I was forced to work out, as many details as possible.

Rock and horse. How those related to the renura lu of flying giant rock? Prior to now, it vanished shortly. I relieved I could save some, my pen gently leaned down to the paper.

I attempted to peek at Ainari, fishing the result of the accident but she resisted a silencing barrier against me, continued talking with two girls about the noise. They didn't have a close relationship but just normal classmates. She was a popular girl because of her beauty while Erika because of her smartness. Though, I was sure she preferred to be in my seat. Popular people were suitable for a popular circle only.

"Siqura."

"Hah?" I closed my journal in a hurry and faced toward her.

Erika had tossed a sweet ball to my unguarded mouth as I picked several conductors and mechanics at outside ran through airy-snowflakes toward the front of the train.

My watery-tongue rummaged around the heated-sweet taste, trying to guess its origin. "Brown sugar?"

"How you can mistake a famous smoothie of chocolate for that lame?"

I covered my lips as the chocolate ball melted and almost flooded out its inside milky cream. It had been a while since I had a meal other than pie and bread. Probably before the debt befallen on us. "What's going on at the outside?"

"Don't you hear the anger of the mountain?"

"Hm?"

"No. That's a joke." Erika pushed aside her small bag after fetched a new chocolate bar. Its seal was unwrapped layer by layer as she talked to me. "A lighting might strike tree ahead and block the road. We might be stuck till tomorrow if the tree dropped directly on the train."

Thunder? Rock? That sounded almost matched with the suggestion I wrote in the journal. Right. My memory of renura lu disappeared howsoever I reiterated the information based on the entry.

Did my renura lu predict a future? That was surely ridiculous. I meant, it occurred at the same time by chance. Perhaps, the loud noise what triggered the renura lu. Not the train or the trunk. Something else before that.

At the ceiling of the cabin for six passengers, there was a pipe with a small portion of the honeycombed cover. The voice came out from it, traveled along open narrow in the whole train.

"[This is Captain of the Myrid Aladus(Apple Express).]" If the captain himself made the announcement, it was unlikely a piece of delightful news. "[I apologize for all of your inconvenience during our transportation. The obstacle is in the middle of clearing out and there might be a slight impairment to the archetypal schedule as the main engine had been damaged. Your consideration and patience are needed,]" enounced of the man's tone in Alobic language. It was commonly used around the world as much as Veizralish, thus we could understand that as one of six second-languages we learned at school.

"Like consideration and patience will fix the engine," said the thick-haired girl, Thlesy.

"Since the captain itself who spoke the news," Erika repeated what I a moment of earlier thought, she straightened her legs, "they must really an imposition. Aaaah! I want to stretch my knees already."

"Is it still a long way to Avicenna Island?"

"About two hours more... Uhuhu," responded the brown-dark girl sat next to the window, Onyeka. She said in the mystery of a giggle. Like an unbreakable facade.

I could hear people next to this cabin lamented. It had been half a day we had been locked in this train for more of any consideration. The storm was slowing all of us. We were supposed to arrive a couple minutes ago considering the train developed for speed and the cabin didn't include beds as it took only four hours.

Our goal for the trip was Avicenna Island. The name was after a scholar who found the secret of elixir, a medicine that able to treat all manners of diseases even blind and deaf. An unfortunate mortal with ruined limbs or totally withdrawn would grow back in time. Also, scariest cancers disappeared after continuously took this elixir. It was a one-of-trillion discovery that entirely changed the course of medication.

The only problem was the time to heal. If someone got a cold, by swallowing a medicine it could be done after one or two days. However, with this elixir, it required five to six days. Thus, it always became number two.

Until instead of improving medical subjects, his son invested his father's research in al-khemia technology. But he maintained the secrecy for his next generation, over the next generation up to the seventh generation before it was revealed during after the fall of the last Ottoman Empire. Only some powerful knowledge remained in the background among four chosen pupils before his last breath. That later grew into million of their disciples into hundred of groups with specific-scope for one and the one only, {Alchemy}.

All these astonishing things had spread into many places such as Avicenna Island and it had turned it into one of the best tourist spots in the world. Many activities and art showcases could be explored.

In short, almost all passengers on this train were tourists and any difficulty of the travel would put the Myrid Aladus business in a very un-redeeming pinch.

"[Wait. Who is that?]"

We all hawked at the channel except our sleeping teacher sat across Onyeka, leaning to the between of the wall and the back seat. The teacher was my escort for someone like me with the Kingdom's Betrayer and that was why he was here among students instead of teachers.

The captain forgot to close the vent, we heard a bit of the conversation before he sealed the sound about a famous alchemist.

Erika from her usual look remained like a sainted lady. But then when a call for her interest was invoked, she rather crawled out of the roof than using doors ordinarily. It was fine for her fantastic sporting ability. To me, I dropped flat on the snow bed upon landed with one leg.

People exited from the train and began peeking about what chanced at the front.

After invested time in a long chain of train-conveyances, we reached the driver room. In front of it, there was a large glass container tank filled with an engine and a leaf fuel, eufbauna. The construction was supported by wood frame but the black polished trunk had tumbled and craved out nicely segment from the reinforced-tank.

Where was it coming from? As if someone intently threw the squared wood.

The tank didn't break but the connecter part to the metal-rings might need to be reposition. It was the most sensitive part that my boss always warned me to be thrust focus when fixing that section.

During my part-time in the garage workshop, my boss shared his secret of why he could survive in a poor business. Sometimes among the requests about the engine, it only required a small adjustment that could be done with zero mechanic skill. But he charged the customer so high as if it was serious damage because not many people knew that. He taught me various methods to restore most of the transportations, and then later the secret before his business went bankrupt due to debt. A debt was undeniably destroying someone's life.

Anyway, thanks to that, I grasped how to treat the engine in a couple of minutes with whatever lying around. Especially, the sensitive connector.

"This is bad," said the captain. "We might need to wait for a better hand."

My boss's secret was coming true. Even with mechanics on the board, they didn't know that tiny part. It was quite hidden among a hundred gears and mechanisms. It was something always overlook because it wasn't easy to budge out of the slot.

"Anything?" asked Erika, standing on a log.

"Just around the engine," I stepped down of the log. Since my height a bit lower than her, I couldn't see the most. Perhaps, it was tall from the log.

"Oh? That man seems familiar."

"Your boyfriend...?" I tried to make a joke.

"No. It's that man...the Queen's Watchdog thing. Who his name again?"

As I holding myself for leaving Erika alone, my eyes marked one of the polished trunk sets in the roofed stockpile had its wire cut off. Also, it appeared one trunk was missing from the set. At nearby right on the sideway of the foundation, there were foot trails from the train leading to the forest. Funny though, the shape was similar to an adult foot. Did he seriously move outside without clothes? Neither. This shape I had seen in the biology class before. This was a trace of bones. Foot-bones. Weird.

"Erika... Let's go back to the marmath(train) now... Haah... Sleepy." I shook my hands and pulled my hood up. If I just stayed on the train... "Sorry, Erika. I'm going to leave if you want still stay."

"Wait."

* * *

Erika jumped out to the train station and exchanged the legs while dancing around. "Da-da-dang! We're here! Banzai!"

"Too much for excitement." Ainari followed from behind. "It's better than never."

We're too tired to talk or do anything. The schedule didn't miss a small but the whole six hours. It was late-twilight.

"What with the mood?" said the teacher who had a nice relaxation through the trip, Benseling. He moved at his own relaxing phase. "We're in the place where alchemy is born. Come on, spirit up."

Other than having an exhausting timetable, the engine served somewhat doable. The mechanic was late due to the unpredictable thunder of the bad weather.

Be that as it might, we're here now. The captain called another specialist to deal with the engine, thus the train wasn't able to operate tonight ― or morning.

"Where is the hotel?" said Thlesy. She had a few little freckles on her cheeks. "I want to charge a bathroom before bed."

"Agreed." Black skin, however, she had exotic yellowish eyes that gave a seduction look. I didn't sure why she had many bracelet rings on both her arms and neck though. He wasn't born in Veizralia, but a student from oversea at a large country, Abwica. Thlesy also came outside from a country known as Dasherwin(dash-sher-win).

Another unique thing about the girl, Onyeka, she loved waving her limbs like a snake. At one point, she explained that was a pray for a blessing. I didn't mind if solely that, but here again when she fared well the {pray}, it attracted some to her noticeable body part just like Ainari's secret admirers. Ever since that, she seemed to love to do it here now and again.

Probably because these two girls were from the oversea, they didn't bore any hatred toward me or bother about the title given by the king. There had no swelling pain and mistrust for being standing closer to me. I could act without much over-cautious.

"This way. Make sure don't forget anything." The female teacher, Halvenzo, began leading everyone into the quiet street, yawning with tears too. But she quickly slapped her cheeks, tried to be mindful. All students started moving, guided by another two teachers on this trip. Four all together.

I took my luggage from the back...no need. <Do I have to walk in this dress for the entire three days?> I stared at a humble bag while everyone had tremendous baggage along with skating beneath it too.

"What she is marketing around this time?" Erika steered at a hidden stall beside the street, moving out of the students' direction. The robed woman wore a shadowed mask, she had a glass ball on the table along with few collections.

"Is this a gift shop?" said Thlesy while snuffing a black bottle. Tiny green lights appeared then disappeared.

"Stop it!" The woman snatched the bottle in a split second and spent a long time to reposition into its place. "Welcome to the mystery corner. Have a look but ehehem...be careful not to lose your hand. Some of these had a strong lifetime curse."

I swallowed and sweated, stepping back.

Ainari and Onyeka on other hand ogled and touched randomly, showed disbelieve. Erika was in their company, eager to shake and explode something.

While admiring among collections that had dark vibe raining through up and down of the table, I came across one particular object of strange, unique, and cryptical characteristics. The sand was flowing up. Additionally, it had no pile of sand ―top and below― and neither attracted to the gravity. As if there were infinity sand and space in both lids.

"Is it nil?" I said in Alobic language. Sometimes they called it Algebraic language because a lot of the pronunciations suggesting shapes and numbers. And they had a very enormous number of genius math yielded every year.

"Enigma...wasn't it?" said the woman, attended by a hand covering her below side of the shrouded expression. She seemed too suspicious. Should Ainari, Onyeka, and Erika learn the application of restriction?

Well if not for my magic knowledge and this cursed dress, I might in the same mentality with them for not believing in superstitions. They said, the more advanced world, the more people put blind eyes on things that couldn't be reason by the alchemical method.

The sandglass had a twisted frame, simple yet elegant, carefully manufactured to produce such fluid bends. As for the sand, it faintly glossing in majestic-purple. I could strive to value it like a real girl. I meant, I never bought something wasteful such as maiden's wardrobe. I guessed even I attempted to myself a prettiness, it wasn't like I had anyone to flaunt off. No one wanted to stare in my eyes for long. Such fault for the Kingdom's Betrayer.

I risked for a flip, the woman monitored my act closely. Now at least, I had the idea of why no touching. If we wanted to test the tricky and puzzling device, it had to be purchased first. Everyone thought the likewise about the cozenage, they began to leave when the area started increasingly unhearable.

Albeit so, the shady woman grabbed my arm eagerly as she had an impregnable intention to not grant me permission to leave.

"Ah...w-what? I-I...didn't break anything. No, I didn't steal too. Here, here." I opened my palms, revealed empty hands.

She put the sandglass into my hand. "I give you. As a present for being an honest patron."

I didn't buy anything how I could be one?

Ainari, the last, left me alone with the lunatic enthusiast, Erika soon awoke my name and yelled about the condition of the teachers and students already went afar.

Whilst I was about to do the corresponding, the shady woman cut and seized my opportunity in dexterous aim, snatched the sandglass again. "Be careful." She shouted a piece of high-attention advice, dragging me into a chill at the back of my hand.

Would I be haunted again?

Besides, the shady woman had an unconventional view that I couldn't grasp. Moderately, she descended the sandglass into my palm once more. "Don't forget." She sat on the chair, who knew if she was shutting her eyes or just nodded.

"Does anyone know a direction to our hotel?" asked Erika in a disturbing tone. We understood what it would be if we late.

I turned at the voice and then chased to them when realized they had been reverted back to the station.

"Sir, where is...where again?" asked Thlesy to the captain who watching the specialist fixing the train engine. "We're at lost here, suppose to sign into the hotel."

The captain glanced over her head to watch the side of the train toward the cleared station. "How you can fumble them?" Talking in standard world language, he tossed the problem into the specialist. "Do you know anything?"

"<Hah?>" His voice sourced from below, rolled out his body that laying on a simple flat cart, gripped at the edge of the front train, he lifted himself up. The facial was raised. "What is it?"

"They tried to find hotel ―"

"― ah. Just go along that road to the shore of the land, you should see several cable cars. All the vacation stuff would be on that island."

"Thank you," said Thlesy, upraised her arm, walking toward the direction.

"Hm?" The specialist stared at me. "Oh, we meet ― aaa...what?"

I crossed my hands, sent a hushed message.

Erika who first heard that checked at the path. "Do you know him, Siqura? We need to hurry to compensate a losing time. Unless, it's interesting to you, listening to Halvenzo's speech for an hour."

The specialist was a man I saw during my panic about the debt in the cave closed to my home district. It was a lucky day since I found a treasure box there, after hearing about this rumor.

Though, it was only a very short encounter since the man promised to keep my discovery with a little share. I wondered if he had been searching for the treasure too. He could have threatened me. But, he didn't. I was grateful for that.

Even when he was crawling under the train, he didn't neglect the wide brim hat and the dog for carrying all his equipment.

"Siqura!" Erika grabbed my hand. "Are you serious? Come on. This way."

He displayed an agreement with my intention, dispensed a smile. "Sorry. I mistake someone else."

About a certain amount of second passed, I froze, looking at the man. He had the same smile as my father.

"Siqura?" Erika wrapped around my arm when I didn't want to move. "Now." She showed me her watch. It came with a metal cover and a marked screen. When opened, there was a glass-covered in water, an arrow in the middle that always keep an eye on the sun. The screen was labeled to tell what time at every position of the sun's orbit.

Benseling realized we ― the Kingdom's Betrayer actually ― had gone missing, he held the cable car while looking for us. With his carefree attitude, he asked us if we encountered anything exciting. But I kenned the answer was indicated to me only. I was able to save myself with Erika and them here.

However, another teacher was waiting, the unstoppable administer of this school trip, Halvenzo. She was hard strict and hyperactive simultaneously. Because of that particular reason, we got lectured for two hours, we ended late to the hotel, few two-beds rooms were vacated for the academy.

I thought I was going to be with Erika, but she chose another student who not part of our little group. Thlesy joined with Onyeka. All remaining without a room was me and Ainari. I tried to stop Erika but she went ahead with the girl to confirm their room.

The teachers had their own special suites. But for me, I had no choice. I could rent with my own money a better room but the staff said there was no other open room. Neither the expensive suites on the first floor. He said if I a bit earlier, I might have an opportunity.

It was a vacation season always on this island. Having the academy to get most of the whole hotel for all students was already impressive.

"Here." Ainari gave me the key. One only for one room. Did I have to hold all the time?

"Why I had to do this?"

"Because someone's luggage seems smaller."

It was quite true. She had a bigger bag than me but her other hand was still free. I wished to retard but sharing a room with her bad mood, might transforming something hideous.

I snatched the key and threw it into the lock. "Here. It...open..." This was bad. Really, bad.

"Well done, my servant." She entered first, giving me that high-risk praise.

Some part of me wanted to run and cry over Erika's leg, begging even I had to shred her dress. But, I shouldn't disturb her all the time. She had her own life to worry about.

After getting a bath, we couldn't sleep for some reason. Probably because of starving. We didn't feed any since yesterday morning. Only several lightly stuffs to reduce the temptation. Erika, Ainari, and Thlesy went down to shop some refreshments while I and Onyeka stayed in her room.

She was looking at the photo of her family.

The little girl like Onyeka had hair a bit wrapping ponytail, a rope pattern. There was red makeup across her eyes, the same by the most of members in the photo. With kind of unsure what emotion she had.

"That's a very big family." I felt guilty thinking she lived in the jungle with animals. The background vaguely explained that expectation. The constructions had clean stone hemispheres. A homunculus with hat walked in the background, helping the artist to paint the giant mural on one of the hemisphere building. The only quarter was exposed in the photo, out to the corner right.

At the section above the girl which pointed by Onyeka, had a white furry bear armed in black armor. The man in the black suit of esegua was probably the girl's father. Esegua was the police of some sort that dealing exclusively with someone who used special-type alchemy. They trained in alchemy combat and had an animal partner increase the chance of winning. In his case, the white bear.

"Your sister?"

"It's me when I was in first grade."

There were two girls in the photo, I had mistaken the last girl as her.

"The others are people who lived in the city." She did indirectly explained who the picture of a big family suggested. "Wish I had better."

"Better...?" I summoned a strength to continue the talking. After Erika returned to Jitfon, I would not have anyone to talk to anymore. Having some friends would improve my survival skill against school life. Although, it was several months before the final exam of the last semester.

"Hm." Onyeka's thumb patted the man on the surface. "Dad wants me to protect myself better. With his dangerous job, he always told me to never let go of the bright path after he went."

That sounded different than mine. I knew my father did an unsafe job but he constantly demonstrated how powerful he was whacking bad guys and gave many stories about saving the world. He never told me he was going to die one day.

"He actually died a few days later." She didn't look at people that was mistaken as a family but only his father. "Better picture of him. This what left of him. There used to be this time when Mom returned late and Dad tried to cook his special recipe but ended with burnt chips. I got sick for a week. Uhuhu." She giggled. "How about you Siqura?"

"Me... Hah? What? Me?"

She asked about my father. That was a weird way to put me on the spot since we didn't that close yet.

"I don't know..." I still confused up till now what truly followed with my father. Was he dead? Was he alive?

Owning no answer to reply, I retreated my eyes toward the window that described the night ocean between curtains. The sounds of plopping everywhere were swept by the salty breeze that stepped in. It made me thirst again.

I queried if my father did betray the kingdom after all and I just didn't want to accept it. How could this occur? My mother seemed to fend it off when I asked about him. Perhaps, she might be having her own battle against her trust and love.

One thing I knew for sure, my father had a secret position in the kingdom like a spy or something. Because when he went for a job, habitually it got a couple weeks. Long work, long rest.

Perhaps, he did kill someone.

Uno uno uno.

He was a hero, saved people in the shadow. Wide brim hat and armed with revolver spigen.

<Spigen...>

I remembered. He was a magician too. And he had...no. The renura lu was about to vanish. I grabbed my journal and...the ink didn't drop on the paper. It was a water drop. I couldn't finish it.

I believed him. I trusted him.

Indeed. The kingdom. The king himself was the blame. He could make everyone hate each other with one word. But what I could do? I was a powerless as a young woman. I had nothing to protect myself. I was alone with my mother. All the time.

"Hey hey, hungers. Who wants some pasta?" Erika endured about four meal packages, two in each hand.

"You're hindering the way. Move elsewhere." Thlesy carried a basket full of local snacks. "Have some before we sit down."

"Sorry~"  Erika set the meal to the table. "Wow. We're a professional critique here. Let's taste our first menu. Bring it, chef. Chop chop."

Ainari closed the door behind and dropped other packages contained some wrapper loaves of bread with vegetables and meats already inside, the curry chickens with rice, and the eastern chilies salad.

Thlesy pushed the basket away, focused on the dinner first.

"Are we going to eat all of this?" Ainari pointed with her index finger. "This is not what five young girls should do."

"It's just one night. No different one or two fat."

"No." Ainari strained her forehead. "Please, don't mention it."

"On a diet?" Erika poked her body. "Wow, Ainari. Not something I heard from you. You already had a good style, how much greedy you are?"

"Stop! Ah! Aaah..." Accidentally let out erotic nature, she closed her mouth instantly. "Seriously, Erika."

"You have a secret killer move, Ainari. No man would ever resist you."

Somehow I knew what Ainari felt when Erika overly of sort sister-lovely with me. No wonder she appeared to want to push me away from her best friend. Though, I had a bit dislike when my heart skipped one heartbeat.

"Are you going to back to Jitfon soon?" Thlesy ate the curry rice in a whole big spoon. She didn't seem fat but her mouth a bit bigger than the rest of us.

Renura lu about the dwarf. <Hm...> I wrote this in the journal.

"Um-hm. My father's job would be over after the trip. So, it would be my last three...correction, four days here. You're all better give me a lot of love from now on before regretting later."

"Then, it will alright to toss some bad memory at you. Hm...what should we do? I know. Let us leave her alone tomorrow. How that sound?"

"Give me a good memory! Are you try to offer me a nightmare?"

"Wait? The sun is about to raise a few minutes more. We need to put Erika to sleep quick! Let's tied her and shoved this spicy salad."

"I will not sleep. Let's stay all until the morning."

"Now," said Ainari, licking her thumb after a bit of the salad. "Don't tease her all night. We need to discuss our plan."

"We have factories visit on the first day." Onyeka ate the wrapper bread.

"Ah, right. They put us in one group as punishment. Don't bark like one." Erika finally stopped paying attention to Ainari. I hated it when it eased my chest. That blew like a triangle love idea that the math teacher made a gag the other day.

"I want to see the axe smith." Thlesy showed the west factory at the map of the island. "I heard they are going to make a bulk of weapon for excavators. We're going there on the second day anyway."

"We talk about day one. The factory seems near to ore refinery." Ainari tapped next to her choice. About one or two minutes apart.

"I want to go here, this fabric maker. They produce armour for the esegua." Onyeka's choice was south of them, very close to our hotel.

Thlesy recorded on her notepad.

"Then, a medical centre," said Erika to me.

I blinked and pretended to look at something behind me.

"It's only you here except a haunted spirit of the Bloody Mary."

I gave a nod since I didn't care much about career now.

The medical centre and the fabric maker were too far each other. We weren't able to visit all places in one day.

"But still, you're boring." Erika covered the whole body on top the map out of sudden. "Why you think about having jobs when we in the vacation. This is meanest than career scouting."

"Technically, it's study vacation." Thlesy knocked the pen on Erika's head. "Like you have a problem with your smart-ass brain. Hah!"

"Oh." Erika hit her palm, ignored Thlesy's remark. "Let's see cute dolphins. Goal to the aquarium. Che-cha~ Ke-cha~ Cha~" On her hand, there was a boat made of bread, crossing the map.

No good. It was too far, closer to the other side of the shore. We might be done in one day, but it took a long hour to return back into the hotel. If the four of us could give up one of our plans, we might able to include it. Then, it should be mine.

"I..."

"Oh-kay?" Erika shouted.

I wasn't able to say in time.

"No-kay." Thlesy sputtered without holding back. "It has a shark! Many sharks! Shark shark!"

"Sharky twinkling!" Erika tried to make it articulated not horrible and scary. "We're going to see a dolphin show. What are you afraid with a cute little inoffensive creature?"

"Of course, nope! It's a sea predator and I hate those sharp teeth. Dare put your head inside?"

"We could propose to utilise carmath to travel to the other side..." Onyeka gave a suggestion, accepted the aquarium plan.

Carmath was some alternative of a cable car, but it was more like a cable train. It used aether energy rather eufbauna. Because it was still in beta phase, it could only be used inside the island. It was certainly saved some time if we could ride. However, it had a great expense fee for one short ride. Aether was a strong energy source but expensive. It might cheap after a couple years.

"No way." Erika rebutted when Thlesy thought it was the aquarium plan should be cut off. "We should just kick other this career scouts. But the medical centre stay." Erika still remembered me. "Enough is enough."

That was not what Erika should say.

"Stop spoiled Siqura."

I crawled down my head. "I'm sorry. It's okay if I didn't go there."

"Ah. No, Siqura." Thlesy's smile began to waver.

"O-Ooh! Someone made Siqura cry."

"No. I'm fine."

"Tch." Ainari created a loud unfit statement.

"Hey." Thlesy swung the pen to Ainari's head.

She budged in acute spring. "What was that for, Miss Thlesy?"

 "We're in the vacation mood, don't make it goes astray with your arch enemy."

They started to talk and complain, bringing many results that might have no chance for fulfilment. I sat at the bed as I was watching a stage play. What I was fearing for. Being discarded as a stranger. Perhaps, it was my inability to communicate. I gaped what I had to do in this situation. It felt as I shouldn't be here from the start.

"What do you mean?" Erika put the potato chip bag.

"Uhuhu." Onyeka showed two routes on the map. "Since the aquarium had direction close to the ore refinery and the medical centre, either one of you chose who should go with Erika."

"No. Erika is the bad apple here. So, Erika, if you wanted to go to the aquarium, go by yourself."

"It's fine. Nothing can stop me from those cute dolphins. Haah... Haah..." She breathed heavily with squirming fingers. It didn't look quite healthy.

"Then, I will go with Erika." Ainari shot my approach first, she pulled Erika's hand to between of her refined breasts. They were shaped under the slender attire.

I knew this happened. So I smiled. Or tried to.

Even I gave Erika to her, she displayed a flat gaze toward me. I wondered what I did this time. Perhaps, it was my presence all the time that made the state gravest. Better left them alone before it destroyed this heartwarming stage. Having shared a portion of food for a few minutes was enough.

I speechlessly moved back and sneaked toward the door.

Erika probably heard my footstep, she said, "Sorry, Ainari. I think I will visit with Siqura. She is my cousin after all."

"No!" I said it unconsciously. I grieved all of sudden.

They all stopped abruptly, glancing at my direction.

"Ah, no... Y-You should go with her, Erika. I feel sick, so I will stay at the hotel." I didn't sure how convincing was that but I opened the door anyway.

"Is that so?" Erika seemed not pressing the matter further. "Then, Ainari, should we hit someplace beforehand?"

Ainari's body appeared stiffening and bore a hard expression. Her treatment remained bitter for me to swallow. Perhaps, it was better to leave her alone with Erika. I was a fool. Really, a fool.

* * *

In one or two hours, the sunrise would stand on the border. And been burdened with this short slumber had become something hard to sustain. I might need an alarm clock.

That wasn't the main concern here.

The moment someone was cursed as the Kingdom's Betrayer, it was also a declaration that the person completely the kingdom's property. As what happened to them I didn't sure. But Benseling told me if I graduated from the academy, I had to work under the kingdom full time. Of course, I had no idea what was the job.

I learned this when Benseling passed the career list paper before the school trip. Then after school, he called me to the office and told me that being a doctor was unable to realize. Well, I only desired such a career to save a lot of people and snatched the pride that my parents had lost. It was still prickled.

It might not painful to accept reality and go with the flow. There was nothing I could do to change that statement. Yes. This was perhaps my fate.

Was this the end of my life?

A long arc hallway spanned to almost whole of the island's inner shore. It was so ridiculous number of rooms available only by one floor. At the other wall of the hallway, a pane glass meshed toward the front free space of the hotel. Many trees hugely planted in a fixed distance between each other along the length.

Not that only, every building I could find outside had many bright green leaves around windows and top roofs. No matter where I set my eyes, I could observe half of the vision covered by the brisk flora. It had more to it but it was too dark to see anything.

When I arrived at my room, Ainari had already standing quiet, looking at the outside next to the handrail. I spent a long time with Benseling after escaped from their discussion. I forget to recall her ability to enter ceased without the key.

"Hey, dumb." That what she called me most of the time. "Let's drink downstairs." She said in kind uneasy or uncomfortable posture after saw me about to retreat.

The second floor of the hotel only for the rooms but everything else they put on the first floor. Including expensive suites.

I stared at her for a while. "I... I open the door for you."

"What the hell wrong with you?" Ainari raised her tone in surprise. "What's happening around these days? You look more sad than usual."

<Hm?>

All the time, I would cover my emotion with my sleepy face. But if Ainari could see the different details I did strongly to protect than was it too obvious? If it was so, then my heart still had a hard time to process what I heard from Benseling.

I wondered if Mom knew about my father.

How long was that since the last time? The accident in the gym class was about six months ago. So, that had to be when the bully stopped. What I could remember about her last act was throwing water of red dye into my librarian uniform. That day, I was forced to clean the only uniform I had for the library before allowed to go home.

That month's debt was also at its peak because if I went to work that day...

<No, I can't.> When Ainari turned to thought, my head perpetually went dizzy from the craziness of the debt. "I'm sorry..."

"Damn it! How you always look down and give up easily, made me want to do bad thing further..." Ainari sighed. "I'm not to give you another hard time. I... I just..." She took a long breath and pause. "I want to apologize. I'm sorry."

My head jerked back.

"So, let me treat you caffular." She said in the tone of distinctively difficult to confirm.

Caffular. A sweet coffee that didn't need sugar to blend. It was also a standard way of showing affection since most coffees had a slightly bitter taste at least.

I nodded somewhat half-hearted for an agreement.

"Hah. You are really good for nothing. How honest you can be? I know what I did is wrong. But if the victims don't give an effort to fight back, it's their fault. You know that? That's why the more foolish you are, the more I want to see your face in tear and fright. So, stop playing like an innocent ― there again! You look on the floor for a second time. It's very rude."

What I could do? Her face was too scary.

Suppressed my emotion like this had become a routine when dealing with Ainari or everyone else. I armed with calmness at the front while guarding myself to not losing mind. I had a bad position and no matter what I did, it appeared I on the losing side each time. I didn't have friends or powerful backup like Ainari. All teachers trusted her and...her grandfather, Zelrami, had helped the king a lot. And my title dropped a heavy scale to my guiltiness.

If I was alone in this world than I was better begone. I scared to die. It didn't mean I couldn't hack my neck off with an axe. Simple. It was because of my mother, I stayed alive. She the only person I could work hard to prolong my lifespan.

No ambition. No interest. I had nothing to preserve my aliveness for something meaningful. I lost my will to live, a long time ago. If not, I wouldn't buy the knife. It was all because of my mother who saved me from been murdered by myself. She was my saviour.

With late to discern about Ainari shoving me aside, I heard a gunshot and her head bashed straight to the floor in restricted timing. Before I turned around for a second sound, the muzzle burst for a fraction of second at the corner of my eyes.

That moment of my last, I realized that I still had the will to live. And the first image appeared wasn't my mother, not myself, neither my father nor Erika.

It was something I less expected, the king's face. Someone who caused my life went to doom. The revenge grew along with the regret and the fear to confront death.

Gradually, my legs leaned closer to the floor, the bullet became slower. The wall burned red. The ceiling, the plants, the floors. Everything brightened in furry and exposure of madness.

At the end of my shock, the bullet and my body suspended. A total muteness. For any wait passed, it became even more blinding as if I continued to let it be, it would put me to the real last of my breath.

I had to do something. I could only move my head a bit lower. When I did that, the bullet progressed through the air and combined toward my head's movement.

The bullet greased crossing my side face and ate my right ear. The pain spread every muscle in my body as if all senses were focusing on my ear. Similar to the taste of toothache.

As soon the slowing reverberation vanished, my head knocked to the floor, holding my unspeakable of pain in my ear. So much that I could bear for my brain to beat vigorously.

However, when the gun had fired, something happened to my dress. The greyness shifted to redness. The green outlines transformed into the glowing red. And the result I could perceive and understand was my chest. My heart was drumming so fast that I felt so awake and full alert. I could feel blood running through veins and elements of hyperactive readjusted to crush the limitation of human's emotion and senses. That what made me feel too much of normal pain. It stimulated anything that appeared or I made it appeared in my mind.

A strong carving to fly, walk, run, swim, dive, dance, turn, hop, talk, smile, blink, smell...no matter what I think, it created unspeakable motivation from nowhere that if I attempted suicide, it happened before I snapped my finger.

There was a man with a gun and an intention already penetrated my mind.

There was a holding thought about whether to reveal my magic or not. I knew it. But the motivation and the teeth that leaked through my mouth, lured me to just do whatever I desired without care for the consequence. Thus, any secondary thinking was left for the future me.

I threw Mana Ingle with extra speed and strength, enough to kill a man. My lips rapidly moved, word by word, I almost needed not a mental concentration or the chanting. The spell launched before my tongue contacted the base of my mouth, I halted the activation in the mid while the spell ran smoothly. That gave a laugh even I didn't sure what was funny.

The man dodged the mana arrow barely, looking at me outstanding. "Wah... Your friend just died and you can smile like that."

I dropped my face but my overspilled emotion remained. I, for a minute, had forgotten about her. I had to save Ainari first beyond other things, including my desire to use my all magic abilities even though there was a small voice telling me that Evana would torture me if she knew I used her evoker ability out in the open.

"What was that? That doesn't seem like a normal transmutation. Is it a new type of alchemy?"

I dragged Ainari to my back and dashed forward with Eagelin. Normally, I had no time for additional modification. But I could with my current state, thus the wings flew strongly and intelligently to jump from the second floor and moved through stairs.

Down at the foot of the stairs, there was a man in pyjama. All papers in the briefcase were spilled out. There was also a trace of a shot in the chest.

Because my emotion over-flooded, anything came into my eyes I felt hard to ignore or miss. That was why I saw his glasses broke while he was still wearing and it had a tiny burned mark.

<Where the hospital?>

The man raced through the glass pane on the second floor and turned into something I had seen before in that cave.

The clothes burned out, purple flame brushed over his hand and it slashed through my mana wings. Which impossible for a physical attack. But not the flame.

I dropped Ainari due to the ambush, my wings lost control and I ended crush to a nearby tree. Several leaves descended into a grassy square.

My emotion was suddenly replaced by a negative thrill. A skeleton raised from the ground and shook his neck-bone. I heard the breaking sound. The flame had gone but it was different than what I saw in the cave. His bones were white. And his skull had no facial expression. Just like a normal shape. There were red points inside the eye-holes. They moved and could increase the brightness.

"I don't know what you did but that certainly a strange type of transmutation. Better kill you before you give me trouble."

I stared at my hands. The emotion that allowed me to conquer the panic had gone when I saw that skeleton. It was so terrific that I recalled something I didn't wish for.

As I retreated at the ground, I hit Ainari who already dead a long time ago. My bundle emotion had cut that observation about her eyes still opened and no air expelled from the nose.

My dress blinked in the pattern created renura lu, it returned to original form.

No. This wasn't the time. I had four mana points left. I had to run or I would die for sure.

Out of panic, I cast as fast as I could when the skeleton man crashed toward me in the very fast-breaking. More agile than a lion or Mana Ingle. I whirled to the side while tried to finish the spell.

Then I flashed into the air while casting Vizeleass for another speed.

He jumped. Higher and higher. After the second floor, he almost got me on my shoe. Too bad, he couldn't. Once he hit the ground, a loud noise bumped, I could see the crack even in the darkness, the tree nearby split in half. It was a normal human size but so heavy bones. He hawked at me from the down below and I accelerated the level of distance. I managed to escape.

I saw a red light from the remote. There was a magic circle. Two, and three. Six...I didn't know what spell but it was high tier than I could achieve now. Thus, I couldn't find a way to prevent it.

A transparent giant sphere spawned with one glowing ball exploded inside.

My wings suddenly flickered. It kept moving up and down. Sometimes, left and right. The knife spigen also showed a strange static sound.

It was too late. If I perceived a bit quicker, I would run out of the range before the sabotage spell finished the countdown.

The knife spigen was unable to invoke for any new spell. And my evoker ability couldn't help it. My wings were there, still active, but it didn't move under my operation. I dived toward the skeleton, the undead.

His bone arm merged a flame again, black fire at the outer but very deep purple inside. It was a flame that displayed a life with an aura of fear.

It was over. I would be dead in any second. I should fly away whenever I could, instead of charging to him. What I could do, my emotion took over me.

I looked away and caught another glowing light coming from my pocket. It exited from it and a sandglass moved down faster than me, it created an intense brightness next to my nose. My face collapsed.

A few seconds later with no interval, I got a painful renura lu. A bit by bit, my memory popped everywhere in my brain, connected many holes that I attempted to fix with the journal.

I sat watching Ainari in front of me. She sipped the bottle and closed the lid. Onyeka and Thlesy were there too, playing the old maid with trump cards. My seat shook.

This... This...was inside the train.

I turned around to confirm the situation. <Did I die?> Before I knew, I hugged Erika.

"Eh-eh! Siqura. You hurt me."

<I'm still alive. I'm still alive.>

There was not only that. Why there was a lot of renura lu going on? I understood now. I remembered who I was. This wasn't my world. This wasn't my life.

<Where I am actually?>